Page 1 - When It's Real

CHAPTER ONE

Him

“Please tell me every girl in there is of legal age.”
“Every girl in there is of legal age,” I dutifully repeat to
my manager, Jim Tolson.
Truth is, I have no clue if everyone’s legal. When I came
home last night from the studio, the party was already rag-
ing. I didn’t take the time to card anyone before grabbing a
beer and chatting up some eager girls who proclaimed that
they were so in love with my music that they sang it in their
sleep. It sounded vaguely like an invitation, but I wasn’t in-
terested. My buddy Luke took them off my hands and then I
wandered around trying to figure out if I knew even a quar-
ter of the people in my house.
I ended up counting seven, tops, that I actually recognized.
Jim presses his thin lips together before taking a seat in
the lounger across from me. There’s a girl passed out on it,
so he’s forced to perch on the end. Jim once told me that the

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