Out to Win


 
 
 
 
 OUT TO WIN
 
 
 
 NORA PHOENIX
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Out to Win by Nora Phoenix (Formerly released as The Time of My Life. This edition has been re-edited and has an extra epilogue)
 Copyright ©2018/2020 Nora Phoenix
 Cover design: Sleepy Fox Studio www.sleepyfoxstudio.net
 Editing and proofreading: Tanja Ongkiehong
 All rights reserved. No part of this story may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form by any means without the written permission of the copyright holder, except in case of brief quotations and embodied within critical reviews and articles.
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The use of any real company and/or product names is for literary effect only. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
 This book contains sexually explicit material which is suitable only for mature readers.
 www.noraphoenix.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CONTENTS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Connect with Nora
 
 
 Publisher’s Note
 
 
 Open Calls
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Call Backs
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Auditioning in LA
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Before the Blinds
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Blind Auditions Prep
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Blind Auditions
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Battle Rounds
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Knock Out Rounds
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 Before the Live Shows
 
 
 Chapter 24
 
 
 Live Shows
 
 
 Chapter 25
 
 
 Chapter 26
 
 
 Chapter 27
 
 
 Chapter 28
 
 
 Finale
 
 
 Chapter 29
 
 
 
 
 Epilogue
 
 
 Signed Paperbacks and Swag
 
 
 Books by Nora Phoenix
 
 
 More About Nora Phoenix
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CONNECT WITH NORA
 
 
 
 
 
 Connect with me on social media:
 Hang out in my FB group Nora’s Nook
 Follow me on Instagram
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 Sign up for my newsletter
 Become my patron on Patreon
 
 And for an overview of all my books and audio books, head over to my website!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PUBLISHER’S NOTE
 
 
 
 
 
 Please note the trigger warning for mentions of domestic abuse and rape.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OPEN CALLS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1
 
 
 
 
 
 Denver Emerson shifted his weight from his right to his left foot, leaning on his guitar case that was set between his legs. The number of people in the Javits Convention Center was intimidating, though it did seem to lessen, if at an alarmingly slow tempo. If this snail pace kept up, he’d never be able to audition before the end of the day.
 They’d have to let him audition, though, right? He had scheduled a time after all, had received an audition number, and he’d confirmed his appointment by email.
 At least they were inside, out of the bitterly cold wind that had free rein so close to the Hudson River. It kept whipping up the snow that had made the streets of Manhattan all but impassible two days before. He loved the city but considerably less in the winter, and this far west side had little to offer other than this giant convention center and the Megabus stops.
 He let out a slow breath and studied the other contestants in the massive hallway. Were they technically even contestants at this stage? Doubtful. They’d only been invited for the first round of auditions, and plenty more would follow before they were official contestants.
 Everyone here had sent in an auditioning video to even get an invite to these open calls—and that had already weeded out a good sixty percent of the applicants. The Right Note, the crazy popular and strangely addictive semireality TV show for singing talent, was anything but easy to get into.
 Denver had watched every episode of the ten seasons before finally forcing himself to audition. He possessed the talent. He just wasn’t sure he had the cutthroat shark attitude that was apparently necessary to make it in the music industry. Plus, up till a year ago, he’d never even had the chance to audition.
 No, he didn’t want to go there. Not today. Not on a day he was determined to make his dream come true, if only the first step of it. That asshole had taken enough of him already. He took a deep, steadying breath and forced himself to focus on the other contestants again.
 The girls were far in the majority, at least by half. Maybe that was to his benefit? Surely the producers would want an equal number of men and women. The auditions were supposed to be blind, but Denver wasn’t that naïve. There were three rounds—four if you included the online video audition—before you even got to sing in front of that famous four-chair panel, and none of those first four rounds were blind.
 Behind him, the first chords of U2’s I Still Haven’t Found sounded. He turned around, curious. A tall guy with dark shaggy hair was playing guitar, putting on a bit of