Music of the Heart

by Katie Ashley

  She cocked her head to the side and gave me a death glare before pulling herself into a sitting position. “You wouldn’t stop molesting me. What else was I supposed to do?” she snapped.

  Brayden bristled as he closed the gap between us. “Somehow you managed to leave that tidbit out of your story.”

  AJ extended his hand. “Come on, Sookie, let’s get you up off that dirty floor.”

  She gave him a puzzled look. “But my name’s not Sookie. It’s Abigail—well, Abby.”

  Once AJ pulled her up, she fell against his chest, trying to steady herself. I rolled my eyes when he seemed to get a little too much enjoyment out of her pressed against him as her hands fisted his shirt for balance.

  Brayden must’ve realized it too because he took Abby by the arm. “Come on over here and have a seat.” He motioned toward one of the captain’s chairs.

  “Did you have fun feelin’ her up, dickhead?” I hissed to AJ.

  He grinned. “It was a little piece of Heaven right here.” He closed his eyes and swept his hand to his heart. “Diablo linda, esas tetas se sienten increible. Me gustaria metertelo hasta que estes gritando.”

  Abby froze in front of us. She jerked away from Brayden and whirled around. “¡Ni te lo pienses sucio!”

  AJ’s eyes popped open, and his brows shot up in shock. “How the hell do you know Spanish?”

  “My parents were missionaries. I spent most of my early years abroad—Mexico, Central America, and Brazil. My Portuguese isn’t as good as my Spanish though.” She cocked her head at AJ. “¡Pendejo!”

  “Ha! I am an asshole for saying that!” He roared with laughed. “My apologies, Sookie—I mean, Abby.” He then thrust out one of his hands. “I’m Alejandro Joaquin Resendiz, otherwise known as AJ—drummer extraordinaire of Runaway Train and your potential Latin lova.”

  Abby grinned as she reached out to shake his hand. “Abby Renard.”

  AJ’s dark eyes widened. “No shit—Renard, like Renard Parish in True Blood? See you could totally be Sookie!”

  “Quite a charmer, aren’t you AJ?” Abby questioned with a giggle.

  “Anything for you, mi amor. I mean, do you know what a fucking turn-on it is to hear fluent Spanish coming off a pair of lips like yours?” His eyes rolled back in his head with delight.

  “No, but I’m sure you’re going to elaborate for me, right?”

  I couldn’t help snickering. The more Abby/Hell’s Angel spoke the more I started to dig her. She wasn’t star-struck by us, and she gave as good as she got—my sore balls were testimony of that.

  Rhys stepped forward and offered Abby his hand. “I’m Rhys McGowan—bassist and if you’re looking for a real man, a much better choice than that douchebag.” He jerked his thumb at AJ.

  AJ brought Abby’s hand to his lips. “Just remember. Latin men are the best.”

  “I’ll try to remember that,” she murmured. As she took her hand from AJ, she brought it to her head. “Ugh, why am I still so dizzy?”

  AJ dove into the fridge for a bottle of water and gave it to Abby while Brayden knelt down beside her. “Maybe put your head between your knees?” he suggested, in a calm, soothing voice. At the same time, Rhys snatched up a paper towel and ran it under the tap before handing it to Abby. I glanced around at my bandmates with a mixture of disbelief. They were falling all over themselves to impress Abby with their thoughtfulness. That never, ever happened with a woman on the bus. The chicks were there to wow and impress us with their sexual talents. As soon as they were done, they were sent unceremoniously off the bus.

  Well, I guess, Brayden’s motives were different. He was the father figure and caretaker of the band as well as being the father to four-year-old, Jude, and eight-month-old, Melody. And regardless of the tits and ass thrown in his face twenty-four seven, he remained true to his wife. Although I gave him shit about it, I really did admire him for being loyal.

  Abby gave a ragged sigh. “I’m okay. Really, you don’t have to fuss over me.” She smoothed her hair back and wiped a few dust bunnies off her dress. “I’m hypoglycemic so sometimes I pass out when I don’t eat…that coupled with the adrenaline rush of being in a stranger’s bed and seeing you all instead of my brothers made me faint.”

  After taking a hesitant sip of water, Abby patted her cheeks down with the paper towel. When she glanced up, she found all of us staring at her. “So, um, I guess you’re wondering how I ended up here, huh?”

  Brayden motioned to the authorized pass nestled in her ample cleavage. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say you got on the wrong bus.”

  Abby nodded. She then launched into a story about why she was even at Rock Nation. When she explained about the roadie and Jacob’s ladder, I sucked in a breath. “He thought you were looking for me.”

  “Huh?” she asked.

  “I’m Jake Slater. He probably wasn’t paying much attention, right?”

  She nodded.

  “I mean, Jake Slater and Jacob’s Ladder running together kinda sound similar—if the asshat even heard anything past J. He just assumed you were coming to see me.”

  Abby’s eyebrows shot up. “And you often have random chicks coming to your bus with luggage and a guitar case?” she countered.

  The grin I gave her caused pink splotches on Abby’s cheeks. “Never mind,” she muttered, looking away from me.

  The sound of her phone vibrating on the table interrupted us. She grabbed it and frantically brought it to her ear. “Gabe, oh my God, it’s so good to hear from you!”

  The voice on the other line spoke frantically. She shook her head. “No, no, I didn’t get cold feet about the tour. It’s just…I, um, I got on the wrong bus.”

  At his response, her face clouded over with fury. “Oh really? Well, maybe one of you assholes should have come to meet me!” With his next words, she sputtered with indignation. “Don’t you chastise me about cussing! I’m a grown woman, and I’ll say whatever I want to! I can’t believe you have me on speakerphone. Eli, if you don’t stop laughing, I’m going to beat the shit out of you the moment I see you! And if you think I can’t, just remember Costa Rica!”

  I couldn’t help laughing at her fiery personality. The other guys were equally amused at the spitfire in front of us.

  “How did this happen? There were over a hundred buses out there, Gabe. When I asked about Jacob’s Ladder, they thought I meant Jake Slater.”

  Gabe’s voiced screeched on the other end so loud we all could hear it. “You’re on Runaway Train’s bus?!!!”

  “Yes,” she replied. At his next statement, she snorted. “Well, I’ve only managed to do the drummer and the bassist so far, but I’m thinking I could get a threesome going and knock out the others. Maybe I’ll gang-bang with the roadies when we stop for dinner!”

  Rhys made a strangled noise in his throat while AJ muttered, “Fuck me,” under his breath. Even I couldn’t stop the below-the-belt stirring at her imaginative suggestion.

  She rolled her eyes. “Gabe, would you give me a little credit? I’ve held on to my virginity this long. I think it’ll hold for a while.”

  We all exchanged wild glances. Rhys tugged so hard on his stud it came out of his ear and fell to the ground. AJ fumbled for the beer next to him and drained it in a long guzzle—his chest heaving hard as he stared at Abby. Even Brayden appeared shell-shocked by her declaration. All of us had to be thinking the same thing. How was it possible for a smokin’ hot girl like the one before us to be a…virgin?

  Abby whirled around and saw our expressions. A flush entered her cheeks, and she ducked her head. She sank back down into her chair and buried her head between her knees. “I can’t believe I just admitted that in a room full of men,” she whispered. When Gabe said something else, her voice broke with emotion. “Look, I just need to know how we’re going to fix this.” After sniffling for a few seconds, she raised her head and scanned our faces. “Yeah, one sec.” She handed the phone to Brayden. “He wants to know your tour schedule,
so I’ll be able to get off the bus and onto a plane as soon as possible.”

  He nodded as he took the phone and stepped away from us. “Hey Gabe, this is Brayden Vandenburg, and don’t worry, man, I’m gonna take good care of Abby until we can get her back to you guys—” He jerked back like he had been stunned. “That was so not what I meant. Besides, I’m a married man. Now here’s where we are…” His voice trailed off as he walked down the aisle.

  Rhys patted Abby’s back reassuringly. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”

  With her head buried in her hands, she mumbled. “Thanks. I hope so.”

  Edging Rhys out of the way, I knelt down beside Abby. Taking her chin in my hands, I pulled her head up to meet my gaze. “Don’t sweat it, Angel. Your brother and Bray will figure it out. I promise we’ll have you back to your civilized little world as soon as possible and before you can get too traumatized by being in our presence.”

  She smacked my hand away. “What do you mean civilized?”

  I shrugged. “I just meant that it’s obvious you’re used to a certain way of life.”

  Her blonde brows shot up so far I thought they might reach her white headband. “Are you insinuating that I’m some spoiled little brat who is used to having everyone bow to her every whim?”

  “Maybe.”

  Abby narrowed her eyes at me. “My parents were missionaries. Do you even understand what that means?”

  A smirk curved at my lips. “I know all about the missionary position, Angel. In fact, I believe I was trying to acquaint you with it earlier when you cock blocked me.”

  “You’re seriously disgusting!” she cried popping up out of her chair. She almost toppled me over before I could stand up. She poked her finger into my chest. “I’ll have you know that I’m not some prima donna who can’t survive without someone taking care of me. The lives of missionaries and their families are very simplistic, so trust me when I say, I’ve seen a lot of hard shit. Yeah, we lived in major cities like Rio in Brazil and Guadalajara in Mexico, but I’ve also tromped through the jungles and gone days without showers, least of all cell phones and WiFi. So I can assure you that there’s nothing you and your band of merry miscreants can do that would shock or scare me!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh please. You fucking passed out at the sight of the guys, not to mention that you flipped and got your lacy panties all in a twist when I made out with you.”

  “Are you trying to say that I couldn’t make it on this bus?” she countered.

  I cocked my head at her. “Come on, Angel. You would die a thousand deaths if you even had to stay one night on here with us and our raging sex drives, atrocious language, and bad table manners.”

  “You seem to forget I have three older brothers. I’m well acquainted with unruly guys.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I smirked down at her. “So you’re saying if you had the chance to get off the bus in the next few hours, you wouldn’t?”

  She inched forward, standing toe to toe with me. “Are you saying I don’t have the courage to stay?”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  AJ held up his hands. “Whoa, what the fuck do you two think you’re doing?”

  “What are the terms for me to prove myself to you?” Abby asked.

  Without even thinking, I blurted, “One week on the bus.”

  Her tough-as-nails resolve wavered a little. “One week?” she squeaked, her voice cracking.

  Rhys tried pushing us apart. “Okay, that’s really funny, but you two can stop now,” he argued. When neither of us backed down, he said, “Let me remind you that Abby has a tour she needs to be on, and we have one as well. No one has to prove anything to anyone, okay?”

  I tore my gaze from Abby’s to glare at him. “This isn’t anything to you, man. This is between me and Angel.”

  “It’s Abby,” she growled.

  I arched my brows at her. “So what’s it gonna be, Angel?”

  Fury flashed in her blue eyes before she whirled around. She stomped over to Brayden and snatched the phone away from him. “Gabe, there’s been a change of plans.”

  ***

  “Are you insane?” Gabe sputtered into my ear. His voice had risen an octave since I had taken the phone from Brayden and informed him about the bet. I edged away from the guys to where I was practically back in the bedroom I had fled from not twenty minutes before.

  Once I felt I was sufficiently out of earshot, I replied, “No, I’m perfectly sane, thank you very much.”

  I was on speaker phone with all the boys again because Eli came at me next. “Look, Abster, we all know when your temper gets the better of you and when you’re doing the spoiled baby girl ‘I’m used to getting my way’ act. But this isn’t one of us you’re fighting with—this is a mega rockstar douchebag! Trust me, you don’t owe Jake Slater a damn thing. You won’t ever see him again after today, so I would advise you to get over this dumbass bet notion and get the hell off the bus! Now!”

  “Why Matthew Elijah Renard, don’t tell me you’re cussing at me now? And with some of your infamous exploits with girls on and off tour how is that any different than with Jake? I mean, whatever would Mom and Dad say?” I chided into the phone.

  “Don’t get sassy with me, Abigail Elizabeth!” he countered.

  I exhaled noisily and leaned back against the wall. “Come on guys. A tour is a tour. This is all a learning experience, so in the end, I think this would be a good opportunity for me.”

  Eli groaned. “An opportunity for what? To be degraded, ogled, and potentially seduced into one or more of their STD infested beds?”

  Rolling my eyes, I replied, “No, I think it would be good to see the inner-workings of another band. And I think you’re being very unfair and judgmental about the guys.” Okay, so maybe he was right on the mark about all of them but Brayden thinking that way, but I wouldn’t give in and let Eli know that—I would never hear the end of it.

  “Abby, you’re a twenty-one-year-old virgin who has no experience with men outside the two relationships you’ve had with youth group leaders who probably never got past first base with you.”

  “Ha, I’ll have you know it was second with Paul!” The moment the words left my lips, I cringed. The last thing I needed was my brothers knowing my sexual past…or lack thereof.

  “I think my eyes need bleaching with the mental image I just got,” Gabe moaned.

  “Whatever,” I grumbled.

  Eli snorted into the phone. “Regardless of what you’ve done or not done, since we are guys and have dicks, I think we know a little more about what Runaway Train is thinking about you right now, and all of them, but maybe the married one, wants to screw you!” he snapped.

  I gasped at the same time I heard a smack on the other line. “Don’t talk like that in front of her,” Micah admonished. I was glad to finally hear his voice. He was the shyest of boys, the deep thinker, and the one with a tender heart and soul as deep as the ocean. “What about you, Mike?” I asked.

  He sighed deeply. “While I share some of the boys’ apprehension, I also try to look at this through a greater scheme of events. You’re a bright light, Abby, and who knows the good you might do with those guys in the short time you have with Runaway Train.”

  “Exactly. I mean, Mom and Dad brought us up to give people from all walks of life and circumstances a chance, right?”

  Before Micah could reply, Eli laughed manically. “If you think for one minute that Dad is going to be okay with you on a bus with four hard-core rockers, you have lost your freakin’ mind.”

  The mention of our father doused my confidence. Oh jeez, what had I done? He was going to kill me. Twenty-one or not, overprotective fathers never seem to fully realize that their daughters were grown adults.

  At my silence, Micah said, “Don’t worry, Abby. I’ll talk to him and try to smooth things over. At the end of the day, we all know your true character. We know that you’re capable of doing this and not succumbing to temptat
ion. Right?”

  “Well, duh, of course.”

  “Then I look forward to seeing you in a week.”

  “Me too, Mike.”

  He exhaled noisily into the phone. “But don’t think for a minute I won’t be calling in to check on you every day—maybe twice.”

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t expect any less of you.”

  “Love ya, Baby Girl.”

  “Love you, too.” When the other guys were silent, I added, “And I love you too, Gabe and Eli even though you’re being jerkfaces!”

  A deep chuckle came from Eli. “You know we love you, Abster. You’ve been a sweet pain in the ass since the moment Mom brought you home from the hospital.”

  “Thanks a lot,” I grumbled.

  “If one of those douchebags dares to lay even a finger on you, I’m totally forgetting the turn the other cheek message, and I’ll pound his ass, got it?” Gabe growled.

  I grinned as I shook my head. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “Okay then. I guess this is goodbye for now.”

  A deep chorus of “Byes” echoed around me before I hung up the phone. Cradling it to my chest, a tremble went through me when the enormity of what I had done finally crashed over me. I had made a bet with the notorious womanizing lead singer of Runaway Train to stay on their bus for an entire week. What the hell had I been thinking? I blew out a frustrated breath. Well, no time for worrying about it now. As my mom would say, I’d made my bed, and I had to lie in it.

  I moaned at the thought of bed and sleeping arrangements. I mean, where was I going to sleep? I hoped to goodness it wasn’t going to have to be with one of the guys. I gazed around the roosts, counting them in my head. There were two extra ones if one of the guys slept in the bedroom. Phew, okay, at least I wouldn’t be sharing a bed with Mr. Octopus Arms Slater.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself off the wall and headed back down the hallway. The guys were lounging around the table when I came back up the aisle. “Is everything okay?” Brayden asked, his expression one of deep concern.