“No. Evan brought the fireworks. I tried to stop him, but things just kind of got out of hand. Don’t worry. I got into trouble, too. Mom took my phone away for a week and gave me chores. Chores!”

Bristol looked at her mom. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Vanessa waved her off and busied herself with cleaning the counter, which was already pristine. Bristol had a cleaning service every week, even when she was on tour. “You need to stay focused when you’re on tour. Anyway, what time do you want us to be there?”

“I’ll send a car to get you at four. It’ll take forever in traffic. Who are you bringing?” Bristol asked Reece.

“Lu, Tam, and Carter. That’s cool, right?”

It was hard to stay mad at Reece with his sheepish grin and charming demeanor. And Bristol thought his girlfriend Lucy was okay. She’d known his best friend Carter since he was ten, and he was still extremely nervous around her. “Yeah. That’s cool. I need to get ready. Thanks for breakfast, Mom.” She kissed her mother on the cheek and high-fived Reece on her way back to her room.

“Hey, can we do a TikTok real quick?” Reece pulled out his phone.

“Maybe tonight at the show.” Bristol made a circle motion in front of her face. “Not before this is made up.”

“Come on. We share the same DNA. You’re cute enough.”

“Bye, troll.” Bristol stuck out her tongue before turning on her heel to get ready for another grueling night.

* * *

Bristol had just finished warming up with her dancers and was sprawled on her dressing-room couch when Lizzy looked up from her phone, her brow furrowed and her mouth pressed into a straight line. “I guess we know what her answer is.”

Bristol grabbed Lizzy’s phone and stared at the screen. The headline Top Shelf Wooing New Talent? was accompanied by photos of Annie and Sterling holding hands and kissing.

An unwelcomed heat feathered across her cheeks and down her neck. The photo of them kissing infuriated her. “I hope she knows what she’s doing.”

She handed Lizzy the phone back as calmly as possible. Why was she putting so much stock in Annie? There was nothing wrong with what Annie was doing. Except Bristol knew the journey ahead was brutal and Top Shelf was a company that cared about their artists only when they were making money. She knew because Tyson was blowing up her phone. Lizzy was keeping him at bay by telling him Bristol was trying to write songs for a new album, and he was destroying her focus. Lizzy was spreading the same rumor to everyone else connected to Top Shelf.