by Cara Nelson
Gauge
The ProVokaTiv Series
Book 1
By Cara Nelson
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Dedications
I dedicate this book to you, my loyal readers. Wherever you are in this world. Thank you for all the lovely e-mails, reviews, and support. Without you, this wouldn't be possible.
Contents
Gauge The ProVokaTiv Series
Chapter One: A ProVokaTiv Opportunity
Chapter Two: Meeting the Band
Chapter Three: Gauging the Situation
Chapter Four: Savannah Magic
Chapter Five: Outsmarting the Hunter
Chapter Six: Clubbing and Curious
Chapter Seven: The Simon Inquisition
Chapter Eight: The Head Extraction
Chapter Nine: Cutthroat
Chapter Ten: Don’t Hold Back
Chapter Eleven: A Barcelona Birthday
Chapter Twelve: The Morning After
Chapter Thirteen: The Professional
Chapter Fourteen: Finding our Flow
Chapter Fifteen: Ocean Adventures
Chapter Sixteen: Only Me
Chapter Seventeen: Hotel Healthcare
Chapter Eighteen: Giggles
Chapter Nineteen: The Distance Defense
Chapter Twenty: Getting My Head in the Game
Chapter Twenty-One: The Big Show
Chapter Twenty-Two: A Play on Words
Chapter Twenty-Three: Claiming the Prize
Chapter One:
A ProVokaTiv Opportunity
My eyes were burning from the visual. Raw, definitely uncensored, but something I didn’t dare turn away from.
“Holy wow,” Trinity said, “How is he even doing that, Brynn?”
I glanced at the YouTube video by ProVokaTiv, the ‘in’ group, and watched the lead singer and guitarist, Gauge Bronson, acting like a typical rock star—assuming that everyone would put up with whatever he dished out. From the looks of it, he was right.
“No class and so spastic…hot, but spastic. A guy like that would drive me nuts. If he has a girlfriend, she’s patient,” I said, shaking my head.
Jessie took a drink of her wine and set the glass down. “I could never trust him, but damn, girl, you are so lucky that you’ll get to see how often this type of thing happens in person. I think you have the best internship ever. ”
“Compared to studying samples for four months, anyway,” Trinity said to Jessie.
“Hey, not everyone can strut the runway and hang out with sexy musicians. I’m saving the world,” Jessie retaliated.
“Things are going to work out for all of us,” I replied vaguely. I couldn’t take my eyes off from the screen.
The ProVokaTiv band members were no more than veteran frat boys. I’d been focused on Gauge, the lead singer, but then I averted my gaze to what was happening in the background of the video. I could see Hunter Martinez, the band’s bassist, with a girl on each side of him in the background, kicking back on a couch and going back and forth between the two.
“Ménageàtrois,” Trinity said. “Hot.”
“Would you ever do that?” I asked, turning to Trinity. Her black eyes had a gleam in them and she had a cheeky grin.
“Uh…no. I’m too greedy to share a guy I’m into with anyone,” Trinity said, laughing.
“But look at that one,” Jessie piped in. “What’s his name again?”
“That’s Simon Jefferson,” I said, “the drummer.”
“He’s the best looking drummer I’ve ever seen,” Jessie said, leaning in closer. “Come to think of it, he’s the only drummer I’ve ever noticed.”
“He was voted sexiest drummer this past year on Buzzfeed. Makes sense,” I said.
Simon was standing in the back corner of the video. It was hard to see his exact expression, but his body language said quite a bit. He was surrounded by adoring fans, and you could see plenty of leggy girls in stilettos, swarming around him like piranhas ready to feast. He had his arms crossed, though, and leaned towards them just a bit. It was hard to tell if they cared about his inviting body posture—they were all but eating him up.
Gauge scattered the crowd around Simon, running and flailing towards a couch, sending it toppling backwards. Everyone on the couch flew back, their beers fountaining onto their faces.
“Wet t-shirt!” he shouted, pumping his fist into the air.
“Well, you can hear him,” I said. I groaned as I watched their antics and glanced at my besties. “I’m not sure I can do this…it seems so out of my league.”
“You’ll be fine,” Trinity said. “What are a few rowdy boys? You’re always level-headed, and, well…practical. ”
“Practical. Makes me sound matronly,” I said, crossing my arms.
“I somehow doubt that The Rift would risk hiring someone they didn’t think could do the job for their start-up issue,” Trinity said. “You’re travelling across the States and Europe for free all summer. That’s totally worth enduring some fratboys!”
“Says Miss Runway Model,” I said. “Excited for Milan and Marc Jacobs?”
“And you’ll bring back the rejects for those of us on a budget, of course,” Jessie added.
“Look, you just need to relax and use your mad skills to do what you do. You’ll be great,” Trinity reassured me. I rolled my blue eyes and tossed my brown hair, annoyed.
“This is going to sound odd coming from me, but Trinity’s right; you need to relax,” Jessie added.
“See Brynn? If our sweet, pure Jessie agrees, there must be something to it. ”
I was silent for a moment. I’d researched these guys thoroughly: watching videos, reading stories from fans and critics, and crawling through some really weird fansites. I’d done research on bands before, of course, but this was something else. Everyone—from critics to fans to most YouTube commenters—worshipped them and the ground they walked on.
“Aw, what’s up, Brynn?”
“I bet she’s thinking about Rick again,” Trinity teased. “I don’t know why you went into music journalism—you’ve never trusted a musician since him!”
“Oh, come on,” I countered, annoyed.
“First breakup. ‘The first cut is the deepest,’” Trinity sang, breaking into song mid-sentence. Jessie and I rolled our eyes.
“Well, these guys have lots of energy and they’re extremely good–looking, so it’s natural you’d be cautious. You don’t want to become a casualty. ”Jessie shrugged her shoulders and smirked.
“This is a professional opportunity. I don’t care how cute they are. I’ve handled cute before,” I justified.
“Well, good, then. Problem solved,” Jessie said.
“Yeah,” Trinity piped in. “Just be yourself, tell your story, expose whatever you want to that you learn, and be done with it…on to bigger and better things.”
“I’ll have three months to talk about them, to them, and think about them. That’s enough for now. Let’s enjoy our last night before I take off tomorrow. Warehouse district sound good?”
“Sounds great. Dancing at Aqua or 400 Soundbar?” Trinity asked. She posed, shaking her small butt and flipping her black hair. “I can’t wait to get my twerk on.”
“I say 400,” I said.
“It’s your farewell, so it’s your choice,” Trinity said, a little disappoint
ed. “I’ll call the cab.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were standing outside the dumpy apartment I’d called home for the past two years. Groups of guys were walking by, catcalling and whistling. We laughed off their ploys for attention.
A taxi pulled up and Trinity waved her arm. We all piled in and smiled at the Rastafarian who was going to drive us.
“Hey ladies…where I be taking you?”
“You be taking us to 400 Soundbar,” Trinity said.
“Doing some dancing in the cabana room tonight, hey?”
“And the Russian palace room, and the Asian opium den, too, man,” Jessie said.
The taxi took off and weaved into the traffic, going from lane to lane on the busy downtown interstate stretch. The exit to downtown Minneapolis came into view.
“Thanks,” I said as we filed out.
“Have fun, ladies,” the driver said as I shut the door.
Fifteen minutes later, we were in the club, each of us with a Cosmo in hand, and we were making our way to the Russian palace to dance to a little hip hop. Before we knew it, it was 3 AM and we were making our way back home, exhausted from dancing and laughing from the mild buzz.
“Thanks for the farewell,” I said, getting out of the cab and peeking my head through the window. “You guys are the best. I’m going to miss you. ”
I felt a lump in my throat and fought back tears. Pre-emptive homesickness washed over me, but then, Jessie smiled sweetly. “Maybe we’ll get to come visit you. You never know,” Jessie said.
“That would be awesome,” I said, still a bit choked up.
“I got to go…if you want to talk, I have to turn meter on,” the taxi driver called from his driver’s seat.
“Be patient,” Trinity said, frowning at him.
“I should get upstairs anyway. I have to be out the door at 9 AM to get to the airport in time. ”
“You sure you don’t want us to take you?” Jessie asked.
“No, Mom and Dad are going to,” I said.
“Love you,” Jessie and Trinity called out.
“Love you guys too.”
I walked in and turned my alarm on, settling into my bed for the last few hours of sleep in my own apartment. For the next three months, I’d be living in hotels and constantly on the go. I was ready, and I was certainly excited, but wow, was I ever nervous.
Chapter Two:
Meeting the Band
I settled into the Gregory Hotel in New York City, the place that I’d be staying for the next two nights before setting off on the tour circuit for ProVokaTiv. I’d been to New York City before, but never as an adult. I was stoked, ready to create the prose about these guys that moved the world.
Deciding what to wear to meet the band was surprisingly hard. I had hip, trendy clothes from the ‘must have’ designers in Cosmo for the spring, but also wanted to be taken seriously as a journalist.
Leave it to me to start this off with a lame debate about clothing, I thought.
In the end, I decided on a fun vintage print t-shirt with some jeans and sandals. I headed out of the hotel and onto the streets of the city, deciding to walk over to Narcissa, the restaurant I was going to meet everyone at.
Once on the street, I checked Google Maps and started to make my way to the restaurant. Weaving in and out of the frenzy, I finally arrived. An elderly doorman with a charming British accent greeted me.
As I passed him, I breathed in and whispered, “You can do this,” as if talking to myself was really going to help. I was only twenty-two, too young for that habit to kick in.
“Brynn Morgan, here for …”
“Yes, we’ve been expecting you, Ms. Morgan,” the hostess said, smiling at me politely. She was as polished a hostess as the personal secretary of some corporate hotshot.
“Great,” I said.
I followed the woman to a table in the back of the room and saw four people sitting there: one middle-aged man with spiked hair, graying sides, and a business suit on, and three younger guys—the ProVokaTiv guys.
“Brynn?” the middle-aged guy said.
“Yes, hi. And you must be Dave Gregors,” I said, extending my hand.
“Yes,” he said, shaking my hand. “Did you find the restaurant okay?”
“I did,” I said, as he pulled out a chair and had me sit down.
Up until this point, I hadn’t looked any of them in the eye yet.
“So, let me introduce you to everyone, and then we can order our food and get down to business, Brynn.”
“Great,” I said. Now I looked up at everyone and saw two sets of eyes on me. The third guy was looking down at the small screen of his phone and licking his lip like he was staring at a piece of candy that made his mouth water. That one was Hunter Martinez.
“Okay, guys, this is Brynn Morgan from The Rift. She’s going to be your shadow this summer while she works on the main piece for the magazine. I can only hope that you’ll all give her your best side, or better than what you sometimes give,” Dave said with a slight chuckle. His eyes said he was serious.
I looked at everyone and smiled. Hunter looked up briefly and paused, scanning me up and down, fixing his eyes on my chest.
“Brynn, this is Simon Jefferson, Gauge Bronson, and Hunter Martinez.”
“Nice to meet you all,” I said.
They smiled at me and didn’t say a word. Oh God, was I supposed to say something, like a speech?
“I’m excited to work with you all this summer and write a great piece about you,” I said.
“And what would make it great?” Gauge asked.
I looked over at him. He was so much better looking than in his videos or pictures. With his full lips, short brown hair, and perfect body, he reminded me of a tattooed version of Theo James, the gorgeous guy from Divergent.
“Well, learning about the real side of you and sharing that with all your fans,” I said. I’d never felt so unsure of myself and I feared that I was ready to start rambling on like a crazy woman. I bit my lip and shut up.
“Oh, all you need to know about us is on YouTube,” Hunter said.
“There has to be more to you than that,” I blurted.
Hunter’s face broke out into a cheeky grin and Gauge busted out laughing.
“You’ve got spunk, “Simon said. “Probably a good thing, because you’re going to need it.”
“Before long, you’ll forget I’m even around,” I said, smiling at them coyly.
“Enough trash-talking Brynn, guys,” Dave said, stepping in.
“That’s okay, Dave, I can handle it. I figure that if I’m going to be hanging out with these guys, I’d better be able to hold my own, right?”
Dave nodded. Everyone else looked at me casually, making me feel like I had to take the lead of the conversation.
That does make sense, I thought. After all, I’ll be interviewing them and creating the story.
“I’ll give you a lay-out of how we’ll approach everything this summer. At any time, feel free to ask me whatever questions you may have, as well,” I said.
“I have a question,” Hunter asked, finally looking up and raising his hand. I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me, but he had my attention.
“Sure, what is it?”
“Are all your friends beautiful, ambitious journalists like you?”
“I…uh…what?” I sputtered. “My friends do happen to be brilliant and beautiful, but I’m the only one who’s a journalist,” I said. There, take that!
“So, compared to your research, what do you think of us right now?”Simon asked, staring at me with his serious intense blue eyes. They were almost hypnotic.
I knew that question was it: the chance to show that I was honest and also gain some control of these three guys. All of them were worldlier than me, a few years older, and definitely were used to getting their way.
“Who should I start with, then?”
“Me,” Hunter said. He leaned forward and looked every bit the arrogant cock that he
was said to be.
“Sure. You, Mr. Martinez, love the spotlight more than anyone else in the band. ”
“That’s for sure,” Dave said. I looked at him, almost forgetting he was there. I was just competitive enough to get wrapped up in the odd meeting. It was hard to imagine that many business meetings started out like this. It was kind of thrilling.
“You’re trying to break away from the logical part of your mind, becoming everything you thought you’d want to be when you were younger. If I recall correctly, accounting was in your future. Since that’s no longer likely to happen, you are trying to break boundaries and be everything but predictable. That comes out through all your sexual trysts, flamboyant statements—ones you probably only care about half the time—and constant demand for attention. If I was going to give you a nickname, it would be Temper Tantrum, because you just keep going until people’s defenses wear down, regardless of what it is. Oh, and as far as the DUIs you’ve had, I’m guessing you were a sucky driver even before them. ”
“Harsh,” Hunter said. Oddly enough, I saw admiration in his eyes.
“Am I close?” I asked.
“About 50/50,” he replied mockingly. “I can try to make you 100% correct, though, if you like.”
“Try whatever you want. I’m writing about the legacy for your fans and critics to read,” I said. “I’m not sure if you want them to know the truth or the image…that’s your call.”
I looked to Simon. “Ready?”
“I think I can handle it,” he said.
“Alright then. From what I’ve read and seen here in this little bit of time, this is how I see you. You seem to be a very laid-back person, although I’d never guess it right now, because you’re having some case of male dominance or something…but don’t worry, I won’t take it personally.”
“You forgot picky and meticulous.”I looked. Gauge actually spoke. I definitely listened.
Simon looked and said, “Nothing more than what you’ve read in a gossip feed. Big deal.”
“You really want more?” I challenged him.
“He doesn’t, but I do,” Hunter offered.
