“The nurse in me would say for you not to eat anything, least of all chili.”
“Trust me, I know my body, Angel.”
“Whatever.”
After he took in a large spoonful of chili, he closed his eyes and moaned in appreciation. “Damn, this is really good.”
“Thank you.”
“So you can cook too?”
“A little. My grandmother is a diehard Texan, and that’s her secret recipe.”
“It’s fucking amazing.”
I grinned. “I’ll be sure to tell her just that.”
He snorted. “Yeah, right. Although you have a potty mouth, I can’t see you dropping the f-bomb in front of your grandma.”
“True, very true.”
We sat there in silence for a few minutes while he devoured the chili like he hadn’t eaten for days. I couldn’t possibly see how he was going to keep it all down or how sick he might be tomorrow, but I kept my mouth shut.
Finally, Jake glanced up at me. “Abby, we need to talk about earlier.”
“We do?” I asked, playing with a frayed string on the placemat.
He bobbed his head. “I know I was totally fucked up this afternoon, and I don’t know what all I said to you.” He winced like he was in pain. “I have a pretty good idea that I was a disrespectful douchebag to you about Bree. I should have never brought her on the bus with you here. I’m sorry.”
I think my mouth dropped so far open it banged against the table at him once again giving me such a heartfelt apology. Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more shocked, he continued on. “You’ve been nothing but caring and compassionate to me even when I didn’t deserve it. And trust me when I say it, that I really and truly am sorry.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“So are we good? No hard feelings and all that?”
I laughed. “You believe in instant forgiveness and no grudges, huh?”
“Not exactly, but I hope you won’t hold what happened against me for long.”
“I’ll try, okay? I mean, you just can’t act the way you did to me and expect me to fall into your waiting arms.”
His brows furrowed. “I can’t?”
“Um, no, it doesn’t work that with me. Maybe with your harem of female admirers, but I’m different.”
“You can say that again,” he murmured. As his spoon scraped across the bottom of his bowl, I rose up to get him some more. “No, I’m good.”
“Are you sure?”
He smiled. “Don’t want to overdo it.”
I laughed. “I would think even two spoonfulls was overdoing it, but I don’t know your body, right?”
When Jake widened his eyes slightly, I knew I had made a mistake even innocently mentioning his body.
“Listen, I need to ask you something else about earlier.” My breath caught at the thought of even remotely revisiting what happened before. “Did I say something embarrassing to you before I puked and passed out?”
“Jake—”
His blue eyes blazed with emotion when he finally met my gaze. “I remember some of it. I know I said I wanted to fuck you, but didn’t I say something else? Something more…heartfelt, I hope?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“What was it?” he prompted.
Somehow I remembered everything he had told me verbatim, so I repeated it. Jake’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp breath. “But don’t worry about the wanting someone-like-me-to-love-you part. I mean, I know you were drunk,” I quickly added. I popped out of my seat like a Jack-In-The-Box and grabbed his bowl. After hustling over to the kitchen, I put it in the sink and turned on the water.
I gasped when Jake’s body pressed into my back. “Angel,” he murmured, his breath hot against my neck. I shivered in spite of the heat. “I meant every word of what I said—the good and the bad.”
Spinning around, I stared into his eyes. When I saw the sincerity in them, my heartbeat accelerated. “You did?”
“Yes, I really want to have sex while you’re wearing cowboy boots,” he deadpanned.
I laughed in spite of myself. I knew for someone like Jake, all the feelings stuff was getting too intense for him, and he needed to lighten it. “That’s good to know, but sadly, I don’t see it happening any time soon.”
“Bummer,” he replied. He reached over to sweep a lock of hair out of my face. Once he pinned it behind my ear, he smiled.
The sound of my phone ringing brought me out of the moment. When I glanced at the Facetime request, I grimaced. “Sorry. I have to take this.”
“Your parents?”
“No, it’s the guy opening for my brothers. We’re supposed to be singing a duet my first night and throughout the tour.”
“Hmm,” was Jake’s reply.
As my thumb reluctantly slid across the button, I plastered a smile to my face. “Hey Garrett.”
His smiling image reflected back at me. In some ways, Garrett reminded me of a late 20’s version of Justin Bieber, although he was a lot more talented. “Hey beautiful. How’s it going?”
“Good thanks. You?”
“Just ‘good’ is all I get? I mean, your brothers told me all about your little adventure on Runaway Train’s bus.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure they did. I’m kinda the family black sheep at the moment.”
“You’re kinda my black sheep too. I mean, I’m going to be denied precious rehearsal time with you for our duet.”
I gasped. “Oh no! I totally forgot about that. I’m so sorry. Listen if you don’t think I’ll be ready, I don’t have to do it.”
Garrett chuckled. “Abby, I’m only teasing you. I know you’ll be fine if we get only one run through.”
“Oh,” I replied before exhaling in relief.
“I’m just bummed I miss out on all that time with you.”
As my cheeks warmed, Jake muttered, “Douchebag,” under his breath.
“Excuse me?” Garrett said.
“Oh nothing. Must’ve been the TV on in the bedroom.” Trying to change the subject, I asked, “So are we still on for Sunday night?”
“Hell yeah. I can’t wait to have you on stage with me. I mean, Don’t You Wanna Stay is a hot song, don’t you think?”
I nodded my head.
“Maybe as the tour goes on we can add a few more duets in there.”
“Sure. That would be great.”
“Five minutes, G,” a voice came from over Garrett’s shoulder.
“I gotta go Abby. I just wanted to call and check-in on you.”
“Thanks. But I’m fine. I promise.”
His expression darkened a little. “And trust me, if any of those assholes lay one finger on you, they won’t just have your brothers to answer to.”
At Jake’s growl beside me, I quickly added, “Aw, that’s sweet. But they’ve been perfect gentlemen.”
“They better. See you Sunday.” He gave a short wave to which I waved back. Then he ended the call.
“Ugh, what a tool!” Jake exclaimed.
“He’s really being nice letting me sing with him. It’s a good introduction to the crowd.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Of course he wants to let you sing, Angel. He wants in your pants.”
“According to you guys and my brothers, doesn’t every guy?”
He scowled at me. “Trust me when I tell you to watch yourself around him.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what his intentions are with me. I’m certainly not interested in him.”
“You aren’t?”
“No.”
The corners of his lips turned up. “Is that because of his epic douchery or because you might be interested in someone else?”
I stared at him in disbelief for a moment. Sweeping my hands to my hips, I asked, “Do you always talk in circles when you’re not man enough to make your intentions known?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You really have the nerve to stand there and
ask me that?” When he didn’t respond, I practically growled as I took a step towards him. “You blow so hot and cold with me that I’m not sure which way is up. It’s a wonder I don’t need a chiropractor from your emotional whiplash. One minute you’re telling me you want a girl like me to be interested in you and the next you’re coyly asking how I feel about Garrett.” Finally toe to toe, I glared up at him. “You’re really good at charming the panties off girls at ten paces, but you can’t even tell a girl how you really feel when she’s up close and personal!”
Jake’s eyes bulged while his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “Abby…I…wow,” he finally murmured.
“Excuse me?”
A sheepish grin curved on his lips. “I don’t think a girl has ever talked to me like you just did.” A shudder rippled through him. “Damn, that was hot.”
I shoved him against the kitchen counter. “You’re impossible!”
“And you’re everything I could ever want.”
My mouth, which had opened to lay into him with more insults, instantly snapped shut. Crossing his arms over his chest, Jake chuckled. “Don’t tell me I’ve rendered you speechless, Angel?”
“You keep me in a state of confusion, so I don’t know why you would be so surprised,” I countered.
“Fine. You ready for this?” He pushed himself off the counter to stand in front of me again. “I like you, Angel. I like you a lot. It’s been a whole thirty-six hours, but I like what I see, and I want more. But I’m clueless how to do this, so you’re just going to have to be a little patient with me, okay?”
My heart fluttered both at his words and in the way he delivered them. “So we just keep getting to know each other?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “So I guess normal people go on dates to get to know each other, right?”
“Yeah. Like dinner and a movie.”
He bobbed his head. “Well, we sorta had dinner. So how about a movie?”
I grinned. “That sounds great.”
“Can I count on you being down for inane comedy rather than a chick flick?”
“If you guys actually have a chick flick movie on this bus, I think we have to watch it.”
Jake grimaced. “Yeah, well, Lily might’ve left a few DVDs behind.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, but there’s Disney shit for Jude too.”
“Hmm, let me see what we’re dealing with here,” I replied before I went over to the entertainment center. It was stuffed full of DVDs along with video games.
As I perused the contents, Jake made a pained noise in his throat. “After the dick way I treated you, you’re going to punish me with the video choice, aren’t you?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I threw him an innocent glance. “Me? How could you possibly think such a thing?”
“Whatever,” he grumbled, collapsing on the couch.
I turned around. “Okay, how does Dodgeball sound?” I asked.
His eyes lit up. “Fanfuckingtastic!”
Shooting him a wicked grin, I replied, “Good. We’ll watch that after Tangled.”
“Seriously?”
I bobbed my head. “Must I remind you that you puked on me earlier this evening?”
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Nope. But besides that, you have a lot of work to do to prove to me you’re worthy of my time.”
“So I have to watch fucking Disney to prove it?”
“It’s a small start.”
I eased the DVD into the player and grabbed the remote. Without even hesitating, I plopped down beside Jake on the couch. “I still can’t believe I’m letting you make me watch a fucking Disney movie,” he grumbled.
“You don’t have to watch it. You can always do your own thing. But if you really want more from me, than you’re going to have to work for it.”
He mumbled something under his breath. Although he may have hated the idea, he gave the movie his full attention when it came on. I think something about it having music in it peaked his interest as much as he hated to admit it. When I snuggled closer to him, he glanced down at me in surprise. “I’m cold,” I admitted.
“Here,” he said, digging in a drawer beside the couch. He pulled out a blanket and wrapped us in it. “How’s that?”
“It feels wonderful. Thank you.”
“No problem.” He then slung an arm around my shoulder, drawing me closer to him.
Halfway through the movie, my eyes grew heavy, and it wasn’t long before I nodded off. I don’t know how long I was asleep before loud voices and laughter, not from the movie, startled me awake. Rubbing my eyes, I looked up to see Jake begin to come back to life as well.
Back from their evening out, the boys were clambering up the bus steps. At the sight of me and Jake wrapped up in a blanket together, they froze. “What the…” AJ began.
He and Brayden then barreled forward like they were about to protect me from Jake’s unwanted advances. I snaked my hand out from under the blanket and held it up at them. “Guys, calm down. Everything is fine.”
Brayden glanced between Jake and me before cocking his eyebrows. “Seriously?”
I laughed. “Yes, it is. Jake’s apologized for his previous bad behavior, and we’re fine now.”
With a wicked gleam in his eyes directed toward the guys, Jake added, “Oh we’re more than just fine. We’re sorta dating.”
A collective gasp of shock rang through all the guys. “That’s not entirely true,” I replied.
Brayden threw his hands up in disbelief. “Excuse me if my mind isn’t able to process such a thought. I mean, just how the hell do you make the quantum leap from banging Bree earlier in the day to dating our Angel?”
“We’re not really dating—we’re just getting to know each other better. He’s going to have to prove himself to me before I’ll date him,” I explained.
Jake bobbed his head. “And I plan on working my ass off to do it.”
Rubbing his hands over his face, Brayden replied, “I’ll be damned.”
AJ’s gaze swept from the TV over to us. “He apologized and he’s watching Tangled. I think Abby brainwashed him while we were gone,” he joked trying to lighten the mood.
Jake and I laughed at his assumption. “Nah, there was no brainwashing involved,” Jake replied. He winked at me. “She just helped me to see the light about what a complete and total jerkwad I was.”
Rhys stood staring at us with a dumbfounded expression on his face. “Dude, I’m not gonna lie and say this doesn’t surprise the shit out of me.” He then stared at me. “Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
“No, not really, but then again, does anyone really ever know?” I countered.
“I guess not.” He winked at me. “I guess that’s why I steer clear of any relationships.”
“Sure it is,” Jake snorted.
When Rhys opened his mouth to argue, Brayden cleared his throat. “Okay, okay, I think we oughta call it a night. It’s been a helluva long day with way too much crazy shit going down, not to mention we gotta show tomorrow night.”
“Yes, Daddy,” AJ teased.
“Douchebag,” Brayden muttered under his breath as he headed to the bedroom.
I unraveled myself from the blanket before making a quick bathroom break. When I got out, Jake was waiting outside my roost. He held the curtain back like a gentleman would a door. “There’s that good side showing through again,” I commented.
He grinned. “Goodnight, Angel.”
“Goodnight, Jake.”
Leaning in closer, he whispered, “Thanks for giving me another chance.”
“You’re welcome. Just make sure you toe the line from now on out, and I’m sure we won’t have any more problems.”
He chuckled. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
I blew him a kiss before shutting the curtain. “Sweet dreams, Angel,” he murmured. Drawing the c
overs around me, I fell asleep with the goofiest grin on my face.
CHAPTER TEN
* * *
Abby
The next morning we crossed over into Indiana—the next stop on Runaway Train’s tour. As we sat around the table eating breakfast, the electricity in the air was palpable. It was amazing seeing the change come over the guys the sooner they got to their next performance. As we got closer and closer to Indianapolis, the more restless they became. The bus could barely contain the four of them. AJ drummed relentlessly on a smaller, plastic version of his real drum set. Rhys’s Ivy League background showed through as he focused on playing golf on the Wii. Although Brayden was usually the one who was most level-headed, he paced the floors like a caged animal, occasionally stopping to text back and forth with Lily.
With ear buds jammed in his ears, Jake was the least restless of the guys. I guess he needed the music to tune the others out. He sat across from me at the kitchen table coloring in some sketches that Brayden had made for the band’s next album cover.
As for me, I stayed the hell out their way and studied for my nursing exam. It was a little after two when we rolled into the parking lot of the Klipsch Music Center. I’d been reading and trying to tune out the guys’ antics. But then Jake appeared in front of me, bouncing on the balls of his feet and held out his hand. “Come on,” he instructed.
I cocked an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “Just where are we going?”
He grinned. “You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
“I’m not real big on surprises. The last one had me getting on the wrong bus and falling into the bed of the notorious Jake Slater.”
With a smirk, he replied, “That sounds like more of a dream come true than a surprise gone wrong.”
I laughed. “You would say that.”
“Come on. Trust me on this one.” His tone had become almost whiney.
Pursing my lips, I couldn’t help the tremor of excitement that went over me at his hopeful expression. “Okay. Wow me then,” I replied, putting my book down.
“Ha! I knew you’d cave. No one can resist my charms.”
“Such an egomaniac,” I muttered under my breath as I put my hand in his.
As we started down the aisle of the bus, Brayden grabbed Jake’s arm. “Where are you going? We got sound checks and rehearsal in an hour.”
Rock Star Romance Ultimate Volume 2 Page 13