Hell Bent (Rock Bottom #1) (3 page)

Right now, I'm supposed to be getting ready for graduation—
my
graduation—but I can't bring myself to go. Not yet, anyway. I know everyone is going to be there, and I'm not quite sure that I'm ready to see anyone. Today is supposed to be one of the best days of my life, and the only thing I can think of now that I know the truth is that my mother isn't going to be there.

"Doin' Dirt" by Maroon 5 blares in my ears, and my feet hit the ground to the beat, keeping me going at a nice pace. My eyes burn from the tears I’m attempting to hold back, and I can’t see a damn thing. Slowing my pace as I round a corner, I drop to the ground and flop back in the grass.

“Son-of-a-
bitch
,” I scream, pounding my arms against the ground, ripping my headphones out with the movement.

“What the hell did that grass ever do to you?” 

The deep voice startles me so I crack my eyes open and stare directly at the guy. I’m almost positive I know him, but I’m not sure how until he smirks and speaks again.
Bennett fucking Price.
Bennett Price. Lead fucking singer and all around egotistical asshat of the band Moist Wood.
He looks a hell of a lot different without his face being covered in the black guy-liner and stage makeup I’ve seen him with before.

“Birthday girl…”

Shit, shit, shit, fuck my life.
Bennett Price. I ignore the need to tell him how much of a fan I am of his music, because the other part of me wants to tell him to smarten up and stop doing the shit that lands him on tabloid covers, but coming from me, that isn’t the best advice at the moment. He’s one of the guys from the night of my birthday, but I can’t remember which one…
As if this situation needed to get any more awkward.
How is this even happening right now? Why the hell is he in Nashville?

Can I just come out and ask if I slept with him?

“By the look on your face, I’m going to assume that you didn’t take my advice and you let life get to you. Tsk, tsk, birthday girl.”

“Please don’t call me that,” I groan. “My name’s Izzy, and I would like to forget the bad decisions that I’ve made lately.”

He chuckles and drops into the grass next to me, the sweat glistening on his toned skin does nothing to straighten my mind out. I don’t let on that I know who he is because the second what I did gets out, the reputation of IronSound Records gets put on the spot. As angry as I am with my family right now, I can’t do that to something we’ve all worked so hard to build. “I’ve heard that a time or two from girls that slept with Greg, but everyone makes bad decisions.” He smiles and tilts his face toward the sun. “You’re welcome for that, by the way.”

“Uh, for what?”

Turning back toward me, he pins me with his eyes, and I know exactly why he has every female screaming his name on a nightly basis. “For letting you know that it wasn’t me you slept with that night. Not that I wouldn’t have, but I’m more for relationships and Greg’s more of a hump and dump guy.” I laugh at the expression and love the way his face lights up when he smiles. It’s hard to imagine him like that when I’ve seen the headlines gracing tabloid covers involving him. “You surprised him,” he continues. “He figured you would be a clinger, but when he woke up and you were gone he was kinda shocked.”

“It’s hard to be a clinger when you’ve never been able to keep a grip on anything in your life.”

“What’s that mean?”

“People always leave.”

His eyes narrow in my direction. “What?”

Shit. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“Nothing.” I check the time on my phone and realize just how close I’m cutting it. “Shit, I have to go.”

Before he has a chance to say anything else, I put my headphones back in place and sprint back toward my truck. I’m sure that a female running away from him is a first, but if I hurry, I will have just enough time to shower and get ready without being late.

“Where the
hell
have you been?” Willow screeches as I race into the classroom. Everyone else is already lined up and staring at me as I stumble to my spot behind her and try to zip my gown up. When I can’t get it, she bats my hands out of the way and finishes the job for me.

“Running the park trail. I needed something to prepare me for this shit today. Then I ran home to get ready. Not a big deal.”

“This
shit
?” she whisper-yells. “This
shit
is something special. It’s a day that you aren’t ever going to forget. You can stand here—obviously drunk—in your fucking pity me party because you’re mad at everyone, or you can suck it up for today and make nice so you have something good to remember. Your call.”

Willow spins back around, her scowl firmly in place, leaving me speechless. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her talk to anyone like that.
Where the hell has this feisty side of my best friend been hiding?
I step up to her and wrap my arms around her, tucking my head into her neck. Her hands grip my wrists to hold me there—she doesn’t totally hate me.

“Sorry, I’m a dick.”

“Yeah. You are sometimes.” Turning her head, she kisses my cheek before grabbing the bottle out of my hand and tossing it in the trash can beside the door. She knows as well as I do that the clear liquid in it isn’t water. It hasn’t been for a while. “You don’t need that,” she whispers.

That’s where she is wrong. For the past few weeks, it’s the only thing that I
have
needed. It has kept me sane. It has kept me in a haze that keeps me from going back to Abby’s and saying more things I know I will regret in the end. 

Stepping out of the elevator, I cover my mouth, hiding my yawn as I pass people. Since sucking it up and starting full time the day after graduation, I have had a total of about two hours of sleep a night, and that’s on a good day. I refuse to let people tell me that the only reason I have this job is because it was handed to me. 

“Since you’ve decided to pull your head out of your ass, I’ll hand these off to you.”

Abby’s voice stops me in the middle of my trek down to the booth where I’m supposed to be meeting a new band. I spin around and glare at her, trying to cover my slight stumble. Nope, I’m still not over it, and it doesn’t matter how many times she has said she is sorry, I’m still holding on to my grudge.

“Maybe my head wouldn’t be up my ass if one of you had let me in on the biggest lie of my life.” I snatch the file from her hand and flip it open, scanning the pages the best I can.
Fuck, my mistakes are going to follow me forever.
“Bennett Price already has a label, and I’m not sure if you forgot, Abby, but we don’t poach talent here.”

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a second, calming herself down. If I know anything about the two of us, it’s that we have the same temper and it could be catastrophic if they collided at the same time. “He’s looking to make a change. He wants to go solo, he wants to go country, and his label won’t back him.
So
, he’s looking for new representation, and I think he’d fit in well here. You’re so hell-bent on hating me and making it known that you can do this without help, well, here’s your chance. Plane leaves for Chicago in an hour; they’re expecting you.”

“Whatever,” I mutter and begin to walk away.

“Sooner or later, Izzy, whether it’s today or the day you die, you’ll realize that we did it because it was best for you.”

“Abby, a lie of omission is still a lie.”

She says something to my back, but I ignore her and make my way to my office to grab the bag of extra clothes I’ve kept here since I’ve been at the studio more than home lately. Grabbing my laptop and the file Abby handed me, I head out and hail the first cab I can get, closing my eyes until we get to the airport. I plan on going over all the stuff I need to know as soon as I get on the plane, but my lack of sleep catches up with me the second I buckle in. When the flight attendant wakes me up after landing, I scramble to get my stuff and skim it after settling in the back of the black town car. Thankfully, I finish just as we pull up to the arena. After checking my face in the mirror and getting out, I show the guard at the door my ID when he doesn’t believe who I am or where I’m from. When he realizes he is wrong, I receive a personal escort to where I need to be as an apology. 

Keeping my inner-fangirl in check, I stand on the side of the stage, watching in fascination while the band finishes up sound check. Despite the odd name of the band, Moist Wood has some really good music. The deep growl in Bennett’s voice when he screams makes me wonder why he wants to switch gears when he is already so good at what he does. He’s going to be starting over completely, and I wonder if the majority of his fans will follow him in such a drastic genre change.

As soon as I see him heading toward me, I force a smile, trying to hide how tired I am. If anything, the little sleep I got on the plane only made me feel worse. When he realizes who I am, he narrows his eyes and smirks.

“Stalking’s against the law you know.”

I roll my eyes jokingly and reach out to shake his hand. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“What can I do for you, birthday girl?”

I bite my cheek to keep from reminding him of my actual name. I know damn well that he knows it. “I’m here from IronSound. I think we have a meeting scheduled.”

“Ahh.” Bennett looks over his shoulder to where the rest of his band is before turning his attention back to me, and suddenly, the nice guy that I’ve met a few times is gone. Left in his place is the cocky ass that does shit the tabloids eat up. He pulls a cigarette out and lights it, blowing the smoke into the air above our heads. “I was told that I would be meeting with a head of the label. Instead, they send, what, an intern? Assistant? You’re like twelve; what the hell can you do for me?”

By now, thanks to the rise in his voice and his cockiness, everyone has turned their attention to us. His attitude makes me want to throw my hands up and walk away, but as my anger builds, my feet stay rooted in place. I’m anything but a quitter, and I’ve dealt with divas bigger than
this
dick. When he thinks he has me flustered, he speaks again before I have a chance to get a word in edgewise. Each word that comes out of his condescending mouth pisses me off, making me wonder how any girl could ever want a guy like him.

“Since I announced I was looking to make a change, I’ve had every major label in the country after me. I thought they were sending someone worth talking to, like Abby Irons, but instead they send me her assistant. What a crock of shit! You can turn around and tell her no now because of this. I wanted to talk with someone who actually knows something about this business.”

I take a deep breath and hold my hand up to silence him. I might not have wanted him to know who I was because of what happened the night of my birthday, but I damn sure won’t stand for being treated like this. I’m not sure how they do it in L.A., but I refuse to be treated like shit because if he acts this way with me, I can’t begin to imagine how he will treat the rest of the staff.

Pressing my hand against my chest, I smile sweetly up at him and bat my lashes. “Bless your heart, Mr. Price, I don’t think we’ve had the chance to be formally introduced. I’m so very sorry about that. I’m Isabelle Irons, and I own the majority of the IronSound Records. Now, with that being said, if you don’t want to become part of the IronSound family because I am here instead of my aunt, that’s fine. I will gladly walk away and save myself the headache of dealing with you.”

“Excuse me, the headache?” Bennett’s eyebrows practically hit his hairline, and his lips spread in shock. I’m sure since his fame skyrocketed over the past few years less people have had the balls to stand up to him, but I’m not one of those people. I never will be.

Ignoring him, I continue, not caring who is around us to hear anymore. “If you want to work with someone that can help rebrand you as what you claim you want to be, someone that will work
with
you instead of
against
you, someone who will help you, then I
am
who you need.”

Pulling himself together, he straightens his back so he towers over me. I’m not sure if he thinks he will intimidate me by doing it, but it doesn’t faze me in the least. I don’t care that he’s ten years older than I am. I don’t care that more people know his name than mine, and I certainly don’t fucking care if he signs a contract with me now or ever. I will not be intimidated by him. Intimidation tactics will not be a part of this business deal.