Strings of the Heart

by Katie Ashley

  Rhys shrugged. “He obviously needed cooling off to stop torturing us with singing.”

  Jake nodded. “My man speaks the truth. The two of you should be glad he wasn’t plugged up to an amp.”

  I glared at both of them. “You…assholes!” Kissing Jules on the cheek, I then thrust her into Jake’s arms. Without another word to them, I grabbed a towel out of the closet. Then I hustled down the aisle and pounded down the bus steps. After throwing open the door, I jumped off the steps onto the pavement.

  Eli had propped his guitar against the side of the bus and was wringing out the bottom of his soaking T-shirt. “I’m sorry about Jake. That was a real asshole thing to do.”

  “It’s okay,” Eli replied, with a good-natured grin.

  “That wasn’t your favorite guitar, was it?” I asked, already cringing at the thought.

  “No, thankfully it wasn’t.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad to hear that.” When I offered him the towel, he shook his head. Then in a flash, he had his sopping wet T-shirt over his head, leaving me to stare at his broad, tattooed, and very naked chest. He dropped the shirt, and then he reached for the towel. Since I was still staring at his chest, he had to whistle at me to get me to hand over the towel.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  As he wiped off his chest, Eli grinned. “It’s all good. I like the fact you were ogling me.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed, “I wasn’t ogling you. I was admiring your ink.”

  “Riiiight,” he replied with a smirk.

  I shook my head at him. “Well, for what it’s worth, thanks for the songs.”

  Eli draped the towel over his neck. “You’re welcome. The performance was actually a lead-in for a question I wanted to ask you.”

  My heartbeat kicked up a notch. “You wanted to ask me something?”

  He bobbed his head. “Tomorrow night, Jake’s taking Abby to visit some of his mother’s family outside Boise, and they’re taking the twins with them.”

  “Yes, Abby had mentioned something about it.”

  “Since you had the night off, I thought you might like to come out with me and Gabe.”

  “Out?” I questioned lamely.

  “I’m sure Boise doesn’t have a whole lot of happening sites, but we’re going to try to find a club or two to hang out in.” Leaning closer to me, he asked, “You game?”

  I blinked my eyes in disbelief. Was Eli asking me out, like out-out? Or was he just being nice and giving me something to do besides staying in my hotel room on my off night. And if he was asking me out, did I want him to? Was I ready to try dating someone new? My head spun so hard with all the crazy questions swimming in it that I brought my hand to my forehead to calm it.

  “So, what do you think?” Eli asked.

  “I think it sounds like fun,” I answered honestly.

  He grinned. “Good, I’m glad to hear you think so.”

  “Just drinks and some dancing, huh?”

  “Yep. Unless the mood strikes for more,” he replied, wagging his eyebrows.

  I couldn’t help laughing. “I’ll be sure to keep my mood under control then.”

  “What a pity. We could have some real fun together.”

  Cocking my head at him, I countered, “Oh yeah, I’m sure I know exactly what kind of fun you’re talking about, and I’ll have you know I’m not that kind of girl to hop from one guy to another for—“ I paused to make air quotes with my fingers, “Fun.”

  He winked at me. “That’s good to know, Allison. You can keep me an honest man.”

  “Sounds like a challenging job,” I replied, with a smile.

  “It is. It might even be a full-time one.”

  “We’ll just have to see about that.”

  “Look, since it’s freezing out here, I gotta go get out of these wet clothes. But we’re on for tomorrow night, right?”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Good.” He grabbed his wet shirt off the pavement and then picked up his guitar. “Bye, Allison.”

  “Bye, Eli,” I said, waving my fingers at him.

  Once he was out of sight, I walked back to the bus. When I came back up the stairs, I found Jake and Rhys had left, and it was just Abby and the twins. “It seems that Eli has a crush.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not like that. We just like to joke around with each other.”

  Abby gave me a pointed stare. “I know my brother, Allison. Deep down, he isn’t kidding.”

  “Oh,” I murmured softly.

  “He asked you out tomorrow night, huh?”

  My brows shot up in surprise. “How did you know?”

  Motioning to the window, Abby replied, “As much as I wanted to give you privacy, I was kind of held hostage with the twins.”

  “I see.”

  “So do you think you could like Eli?”

  “I already like him.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  With a sigh, I flopped down on the couch. “Of course I could like him. He’s good-looking, talented and funny.”

  “But he’s not Rhys,” she said, with a knowing expression.

  I vaulted off the couch. “There’s nothing going on with me and Rhys,” I protested.

  Abby shook her head at me. “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

  Panic sliced its way through me. If Abby knew, then that meant she could tell Jake. Everything Rhys and I feared would come to fruition. “Please don’t tell Jake,” I whispered.

  “Of course I won’t tell Jake. What you two feel for each other is not my place to tell.”

  “How long have you known?”

  “Since the twins’ baptism. You needed a chainsaw to cut through the unresolved sexual tension between you two.”

  My cheeks warmed at her words. “We’d already resolved the tension by then. That was part of the problem.”

  Abby gasped. “You slept with Rhys?”

  “Shh!” I cried. Since we were alone on the bus, I wasn’t sure why I was trying to quiet her. It wasn’t like the twins were going to spill anything.

  “When did it happen?”

  I realized it was time to unburden myself of everything that happened in Savannah. So I took a seat across from Abby and filled her in. When I finished, she sighed. “I had no idea that had happened. No wonder you two practically combust when you’re in the same room together.”

  “It doesn’t matter what happened then. Rhys made it perfectly clear then that he doesn’t feel the same way I feel about him, and that’s that.”

  “Well, he’s deluding himself if that’s what he thinks. He doesn’t look at you the way AJ or Brayden looks at you.”

  Images flashed in my mind of Rhys during his fitting. “But that’s just lust. I want him to look at me with more in his eyes.” Feeling tears pricking my eyes, I said, “I want him to love me.”

  “He does look at you with more than lust, Allison. He’s guarded with his feelings for you, but it’s there.”

  Swiping the tears away from my eyes, I shook my head. “Even if he did realize how he felt, he’s never going to go against Jake by pursuing me.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “It’s hopeless,” I murmured.

  We were interrupted by Jax and Jules beginning to fuss at being held captive in their high chairs. As we picked them up and took them to their pallet, Abby said, “There’s something else I need to say.”

  “What is it?” I asked, putting Jax’s favorite stuffed animal within his grasp.

  Her expression had saddened since we left the table. “You know that more than anything, I want you to be happy.”

  “Yes.”

  “Regardless of what happens between you and Rhys, I don’t want to see Eli get hurt.”

  “Me either.”

  “I know that everything between you two is just fun and games right now. But Eli’s already putting himself out there for you far more than he has for a girl in a long, long time. I know it would be easy to use
him to get back at Rhys—”

  “I would never do that to him.”

  Abby sighed. “Deep down, I know you wouldn’t knowingly do anything to hurt Eli. But just be careful how far you let this go with him. If you go out with him and see that there’s nothing really there but friendship, let him know. Just don’t lead him on.”

  “I promise I won’t. I know the agony of caring about someone who doesn’t feel the same way about you.”

  Satisfied with my response, Abby nodded. “Good. Now what exactly are you going to wear tomorrow night?”

  I laughed at the complete change of conversation. “I have no idea. I’m not even sure I have anything with me that is club worthy. I didn’t exactly pack that kind of thing for this summer.”

  “You and I are pretty much the same size. I’m sure you could borrow one of my show dresses off the rack that I haven’t worn.” Her eyes widened excitedly. “There are several really sexy dresses from my pre-twins days.” When I opened my mouth to protest that she looked like she had lost all her baby weight, she shook her head. “I’ve gone up a dress size.” Then with a devious little grin, she said, “I’ll refrain from telling you what Jake had to say about why he liked the weight gain.”

  Holding up a hand, I said, “Knowing him as well as I do, I really don’t want to know.”

  Abby’s girlish giggle sent a longing ache ricocheting through my chest. More than anything in the world, I wanted what she and Jake had—a great romance, a deep love, and lots of fun and heat in the bedroom. As much as I wanted that with Rhys, maybe it was time for me to try to move on. He obviously wasn’t going to suddenly become emotionally available or decide that all the reasons not to be together didn’t really matter.

  Maybe it was meant for me to truly give Eli a chance. I mean, it didn’t hurt that he seemed to really like being with me, either as a friend or romantically. He had so many admirable qualities like being kind, thoughtful, and good with the twins. Not to mention the fact he was funny as hell. I could see us getting along really well. So there was really no reason for me to hesitate about giving him a real chance. After all, Rhys had made it very clear that we should forget about Savannah and move on. Maybe this was how I was supposed to do it.

  Clinging to that thought, I decided that tomorrow night I was going to be wearing the sexiest dress imaginable, even if I had to make some alterations to it myself. Yes, I was about to change my destiny for the better.

  With my bass guitar strapped to me, my fingers worked to produce the notes that flowed alongside the melodies of Runaway Train’s music. Today’s rehearsal with the guys found us working on some of the new material we were planning on integrating into the show. Usually we only rehearsed the day of the show, but even though we had tonight off, we were making the most of our time.

  While I might have been on stage, my mind could barely focus on anything but Allison. Things had been flowing along so easily between us after our talk on Jake’s bus. That was until yesterday. Fuck, being that close to her for the measurements and then reacting the way I did. I’d wanted nothing more than to bury myself deep inside her or have her luscious lips wrapped around my dick.

  But it wasn’t just the thoughts of screwing that had invaded my mind. No, it had to do with my heart as well, and how Allison had called me out on not being honest about the feelings I had for her. She’d always been a smart girl, and she was smart enough to see I had been lying to her.

  “Okay, I think that’s good for today. Let’s get the hell out of here,” Jake said.

  After I handed off my guitar to a roadie, I started out of the arena to the car that was waiting to take us back to the hotel. “Rhys!” Jake called behind me.

  Pausing, I waited for him to catch up. “Hey man, I need to ask you a favor,” Jake said.

  “Sure. What is it?”

  Jake glanced behind us before he spoke. “You got plans tonight?”

  I grinned. “Besides ordering in room service and crashing? Hell no.”

  “Trust me, that sounds like pure heaven to me too, but I’m taking Abby and the twins out to visit my mom’s brother.”

  “That sounds cool. But where does this favor come in? Don’t tell me you have some cousin you want to fix me up with.”

  With a grimace, Jake replied, “Actually, I need you to go out with Allison tonight.”

  I skidded on the pavement and almost pitched face first into the limo waiting to take us to the hotel. “Excuse me?”

  “She’s going out to some club with Gabe and Eli. Normally, I would be stoked to have her chaperoned with two guys, but the way Eli has been looking at her and treating her lately has me fucking wigged out.”

  My mind instantly went to Eli’s serenading Allison yesterday morning. Ugh, the douchebag. Maybe his actions weren’t just teasing, and he was really going to pursue something with Allison. When I really thought about it, it did seem he had been spending a lot of time with her after the rehearsals and shows. Fucking hell. I knew I had to drive her away, but the thoughts of driving her straight into Eli’s open arms pissed me off. Not that he wasn’t a decent guy—she could’ve sure as hell done worse for herself. While he was known for partying pretty hard and enjoying the company of ladies, Eli wasn’t such a bastard that he would pull that shit with Allison. While he might have to fear Jake’s wrath if he mistreated Allison, Eli wasn’t a total asshole to play on Allison’s emotions. Deep down, I knew his intentions were decent and honest, and he would be good to Allison.

  In the end, it was just the principle of it all that pissed me off so much. Although Eli didn’t know, Allison was my girl, and I didn’t want to think of her with anyone else. The irony that I was having these feelings wasn’t lost on me.

  “So what’s it gonna be, man?” Jake asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “Oh, uh, yeah, I can go with them.”

  He grinned. “Good. I know he won’t try any bullshit if you’re there.”

  Inwardly, I groaned. So far, Eli had been an absolute gentleman, while I’d been the vile motherfucker who had defiled his sister. Not to mention the fact that I had been lying to him about my feelings for Allison for the last month, if not longer.

  As I slid inside the limo, I had the feeling that tonight was going to be a living hell of epic proportions.

  At just before nine, Allison came out of her suite and into Jake and Abby’s where I was waiting to meet her. My low whistle interrupted her stuffing her room key in her purse. She jerked her head up and gasped. I’m sure she had been hoping for Eli or Gabe, but instead she had found me. Her pained expression illustrated the fact that I was the last person on the face of the earth that she wanted to see at the moment. “W-What are y-you doing here?” she stammered.

  I motioned down to my dress pants and button-down shirt. “Joining you for a night out on the town.”

  Her brows shot up in surprise. “I thought it was just me and the twins.”

  Running a hand through my hair, I replied, “Yeah, well, Jake asked me to tag along. I don’t think he liked the thought of you out alone with Gabe and Eli. Well, I guess more precisely being alone with Eli.” I couldn’t help letting my gaze dip down to hungrily take in her appearance. Her long, dark hair fell in loose waves over her shoulders and back. But that wasn’t what had me practically stupefied with lust.

  It was the fact she was wearing one hell of a red dress. Unlike the one she’d had on at Saffie’s, this one molded against her body like a second skin, showing every curve in delicious detail. With its one strap and tight bodice, her cleavage was cinched up again, causing my dick to jerk in my pants. “Of course, I don’t think he would have let you out of the suite in that dress.”

  “This is utter bullshit!”

  “Tell me how you really feel about me going,” I teased.

  Throwing one of her hands up in frustration, Allison challenged, “I’m an adult. It’s none of Jake’s business what I do.” She closed the distance between us in two angry strides. “And I su
re as hell don’t need you tagging along.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah it is. I desperately need to have some fun tonight. Not be constantly reminded of the past.”

  Her words had a greater effect on me than she could have imagined. While I had to get her to fall out of love with me, I didn’t want to hurt her now or ever. The thoughts that what she had experienced with me in Savannah caused her pain caused an ache in my chest. I drew in a deep breath. “Look, Allison, I can never express how truly sorry I am about what happened between us. More than anything, I just want you to be happy.”

  Narrowing her eyes at me, Allison drew her shoulders back. “Yeah, well, fuck you and your bullshit apologies!” She then proceeded to stomp past me. I stared open-mouthed at her retreating form. When she flung open the door, she turned back to me. “Ready, Mr. McGowan?”

  “What the hell is this ‘Mr. McGowan’ business?” I demanded, as I joined her at the door.

  She shrugged. “I figured since you were my chaperone, I should address you formerly. And since you’ve made it very clear that you want nothing to do with me on a romantic level, I figured calling you that kept the distance you so desired.”

  I blinked at her several times. This was a side of Allison I was not used to. Immediately, the expression “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” flashed in my mind. “Um, okay,” I finally managed.

  When we got out into the hallway, Gabe and Eli were waiting for us down by the elevators. The sight of Allison in her dress caused both of their eyes to bulge, but Eli stepped forward to draw Allison against him. “Damn, you look mighty fine tonight,” he said.

  Allison gave him a girlish giggle. “Thank you. It’s one of Abby’s old dresses. I just made some alterations to it.”

  Eli pulled away to grimace at Allison. “Ugh, you just totally killed all the naughty fantasies I had running through my head about you by telling me that dress was my sister’s!”

  As Allison smacked Eli playfully on the arm, I rolled my eyes. At the rate it was going, it was going to be a long, fucking night, and Jake was going to seriously owe me. That was if I managed not to get arrested for throttling Eli.