Page 20 of The Write Track
“Trust me,” I replied. “People will be interested in talking to you. What you need to be prepared for is the wannabe authors who come to these events. They think you have a magic ticket for them to punch to get their stuff published.”
Bree nodded in agreement. “I’m always polite and answer what questions I can. Don’t go into a lot of detail, though. No two authors have the exact same trip to publishing, and if you tell them about your trip and it doesn’t happen for them in the exact same way, they will hunt you down and take it out on you later.”
“No two authors make the same amount of money either,” Hayley added. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t get drunk.”
“Definitely not,” Bree agreed. “Have your cocktail here then start with water for the event. About an hour in, get another cocktail. Let that be your limit, though. There are some readers who will circle like sharks if they smell blood in the water.”
“Wow.” Bella seemed at a loss for words.
“I’m not trying to frighten you or anything,” Bree assured her. “Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder why you were ever nervous.”
Bella didn’t look convinced, and her fear was suddenly a motivator for me. “If you need help, come to me. I’ll walk you through it,” I volunteered. I hadn’t realized I was going to make the offer.
She managed a tepid smile. “Okay. Thanks.”
“I am your boyfriend, after all.” I gave her a hearty wink, to which she let loose a nervous chuckle.
“Right.” She nodded twice. “My fake boyfriend, the horror author.” She looked momentarily perplexed. “You don’t have any weird fetishes I should know about, do you?”
“Not right now. I’ll let you know if I develop any.”
“Good plan.”
ONCE DINNER WAS OVER, I PICKEDup the tab. Bella tried to stop me, but I assured her it was fine. The women disappeared into the bathroom to get ready, leaving Brody and me at the bar to wait for the event to start.
“You’re not going to stick to two drinks, are you?” Brody asked. “I mean, I will if that’s the theme, but I was thinking of having another one now.”
“Oh, that’s just for the chicks.” I shook my head. “I’m totally getting another cocktail.”
We placed our orders and watched as the workers sectioned off most of the rooftop bar. The space was nice, and I liked that it was outside. I was calm and collected, right up until Preston Martin Charles III made his appearance.
“Oh, geez,” I muttered under my breath.
Brody looked in the direction I was facing and frowned. “That’s the guy.”
“I was kind of hoping he wouldn’t come,” I admitted. “I thought he was just involved with the writer’s retreat at the campground. I still don’t know how I let them rope me into that, by the way.”
“It’s because they were less than forthcoming with the details,” Brody replied glumly. “They said it was going to be just like last year but with a few tweaks. They didn’t tell us until we’d already signed the contract that those tweaks included an actual writer’s retreat in which readers would be invited to participate.”
“Yeah, that does feel sneaky.” I nodded. “I can’t help but feel it’s this guy’s influence that made it go that way.” I inclined my chin toward Preston.
“It’s weird, right?” Brody was the intellectual sort, and he appeared to be puzzling things out. “If he was cheating on Bella—and I have no reason to question her version of events—then why would he go to extreme means like this to get her back?”
“Do you think that’s what he’s doing?”
“What else could it be?”
“I think maybe he just wants to torture her.” I had no idea how dark that would sound coming out of my mouth. Once the words were out there, however, there was no dragging them back.
Brody’s eyebrows rose. “Do you think this is just him being on a power trip?”
“I really do.” My stomach threatened to revolt when Preston’s eyes landed on me. “And here he comes,” I said, smiling at the bartender as he handed me my cocktail. “I guess we can test him. Whatever I say, don’t question it.”
Brody’s eyebrows then looked like caterpillars as they moved toward one another. “You’re not going to do anything weird, are you?”
“Define weird.”
“Man, you are going to do something weird.” Brody muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t make out. “Just… don’t make things worse for Bella, huh? She doesn’t deserve that.”
