Trapped with the Bad Boy (Wild Preachers Club Book 2)

by Winter Travers

  “All of us except for Maud. She’s on the rag or some shit. Pissy as fuck,” Niko chuckled.

  “I’ll take her shot,” one of the other guys yelled.

  Harrison jumped up and pulled Ruby up with him. “Come one, Jonas. It’s time to live the Rockstar life for the next week.”

  I followed Harrison and Ruby to the back of the bus. My steps slowed when I passed the bay of bunks, and I fought the urge to stop to talk to Maud.

  Her resistance to even want to get on the bus was loud and clear.

  I doubt she wanted to see or talk to me any more than she had to.

  *

  Chapter Three

  Maud

  “That encore sucked,” Niko shouted.

  I handed my guitar to one of the stagehands and lifted my shirt's hem to wipe my face. “Maybe you guys shouldn’t have gotten so shitfaced before the show,” I mumbled. I was all for having a good time and letting loose, but when we had a damn show, we didn’t need to stumble out on stage and fucking suck for all of our paying fans.

  “You bitching over there, Maud?” Darius called. “You mad you didn’t join the party?”

  I dropped my shirt and shook my head. “Didn’t miss a damn thing other than a bunch of assholes telling bullshit stories and drinking Jameson.”

  Malik clutched his hand to his chest. “I’ll have you know I would never let that water-downed hooch touch my lips.”

  “Bullshit,” Niko spat. “You drink whatever is handed to you, Malik. Even that rancid bullshit, Rebel Yell. That shit will flash ya back to your college days real quick.”

  “You talk like you actually had college years,” Harrison laughed.

  Niko pointed his finger at Harrison. “Hey, I may not have actually been attending college, but I can tell you I have been to my fair share of college parties, and that Rebel Yell shit is a college party. It’s cheap and it’ll get ya drunk. That’s about all the good things I can say about it.”

  “I kind of like it,” Malik shrugged.

  Ruby slipped behind the curtain of the stage with Jonas following behind her.

  “Like what?” Jonas asked.

  “Rebel Yell. Malik has the taste of an eighteen-year-old, and it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to change,” Darius laughed.

  Ugh. This was where I disappeared. Normally, the after-show high was what I lived for, but partying and hanging with the guys didn’t sound appealing with Jonas hanging around.

  “I’m gonna head to the bus.” I grabbed my sweatshirt I had dropped on the floor earlier and tugged it over my head. “Try not to wake me up when you stumble on later.”

  “You’re not coming out with us?” Ruby asked. “I like when we hang out.”

  I did too, but not when her brother was around, though. I thought I was over Jonas, but seeing him again made me realize the hole he had hacked into my heart wasn’t healed at all. “Not tonight. Maybe next show.” I pulled the sweatshirt down and looked over at Ruby, but my eyes connected with Jonas’s.

  He wasn’t happy. His normally moss green eyes were dark, and a scowl played on his lips. He knew I wasn’t hanging out with the band and Ruby because he was here.

  “I was actually going to head back to the bus, too.” Jonas hitched his thumb toward the stage. “Not used to shit being that loud. Got a bit of a headache coming on.”

  “What?” Ruby whined. “You’re both not coming out with us?”

  Oh, hell no. Jonas was not going to come back to the bus with me. It was one thing to be on the bus with him when the rest of the group was there, but just me and him on the bus?

  Nope.

  Not happening.

  “Then I’ll go out with everyone so you can have some peace and quiet on the bus,” I volunteered. “I can sleep when I’m dead, right?” Yeah, I flipped my attitude of wanting to go back to the bus real quick.

  “Woo!” Niko shouted. “There’s that bad bitch I love!”

  Ruby zipped open her purse and dug around in it. “I have some aspirin here, Jonas.” She pulled out a small bottle and shook it. “Take a couple and come out with us.”

  Jonas wrinkled his nose. “Nah, sis. I’m just gonna call it a night. Tomorrow night we’ll go out. I’ve got some jetlag from flying in, too.” Jonas ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged. “I guess I’m not made for the rock star life.” His eyes connected with mine and his scowl deepened.

  Why the hell was he looking at me so disapprovingly? He was the one who said he had a headache and wanted to go back to the bus. I just made it so he could be alone and not have any noise.

  Maybe he wanted to talk, and he figured coming back to the bus with me when everyone was out was the way to talk.

  Yeah, nope.

  I raised my fist in the air. “Let’s go!” I shouted.

  Jonas could go back to the bus by himself.

  That rock star life Jonas had just mentioned? The life he wasn’t made for?

  It was my fucking life and I rocked the hell out of it.

  Tonight I was going to prove just how much that life was made for me.

  One shot at a time.

  *

  Chapter Four

  Jonas

  “Coffee?”

  Ruby shook her head and covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Have a little too much fun last night, sis?” I filled my cup to the brim and sat at the small kitchen table on the bus. There was everything you would need on the bus, but it was all sort of small and crammed together. It was pretty neat how everything was laid out and how everyone just vibed together pretty seamlessly, but I knew I could only live this life for a few days. As much as I loved my sister, I still craved time to myself with more than a curtain between seven other people and me.

  “I was trying to keep up with Maud,” Ruby groaned. “Worst mistake of my life.”

  “Guess I’m not the only one who can’t keep up with the rock star life.”

  Ruby cradled her head in her hands. “You may be right. Though Maud seemed to be in rare form last night. Like she was trying to forget something.”

  I hummed under my breath. “Strange.”

  Ruby tipped her head back and looked at me. “You don’t find it weird at all that the first night you’re on the bus that Maud goes crazy on the vodka?”

  I sipped my coffee and shrugged. “Don’t know, Ruby.”

  Ruby sat back and closed her eyes. “Ugh, it feels like I’m moving.”

  I pulled the curtain back on the window next to me. “Well, we are moving, Ruby.” The road flew by as we headed to the next stop of the tour. We had a six-hour drive before we would be pulling into Billings later this afternoon.

  “Don’t remind me,” she moaned. She flitted her hand at me. “Back to Maud and you.”

  “There is no Maud and me,” I pointed out.

  Ruby’s eyes popped open. “There is, even if you think there isn’t. I’ve been on this tour bus with her for two tours, and she had never acted like she did last night. The only thing that changed from then to now is you.” She closed her eyes again and groaned. “There is a you and Maud.”

  “That’s in the past, Ruby.” A past I wouldn’t be revisiting because I knew it would end the same as it did back then.

  “Why?”

  “For reasons, you don’t need to know.”

  “Why did it end?” she asked.

  Christ sake. “Because it needed to.” There wasn’t a happy ending for Maud and me. Not one that I could see.

  “Why?” Ruby asked again.

  “Maybe you should go lay down. You seem to be repeating the same question and not be getting the hint that I don’t want to talk about this.”

  Ruby wagged her finger. “Nope, you don’t seem to realize that I’m just going to keep bugging you about this until you tell me all the details.”

  Ruby wasn’t going to let this go. She was like a dog with a bone. She wasn’t going to give it up until I spilled all the details on Maud and me.

  “
Maud and I are two very different people.” I motioned around the bus. “For the past year, I’ve lived in a high-rise apartment in Hong Kong. Maud lives on a tour bus eighty-five percent of the time. I work in a courtroom. Maud works on a stage with thousands of people cheering for her. Sure, we worked for a little bit, but looking at the big picture, it would never work.”

  Ruby tipped her head to the side. “So what you’re basically saying is people need to stick to the same type of person they are, and that’s it.”

  For the most part. “Yeah.”

  She tapped her finger to her nose. “Then why am I on this tour bus with Harrison when I’m a graphic designer, and he’s a rock star?”

  I shrugged. “Because you seem to be making it work.”

  “Because I want it to work, and so does Harrison.”

  “Good for you, Ruby. I know I tried to warn you off of Harrison, but maybe I was wrong about you two.” I took a sip of my coffee. “You must be an exception to the rule.”

  Ruby scoffed. “We must be, but I’m pretty sure the dumb way you think that people need to be the same so they can be together is totally whack.”

  “Whack?” I chuckled.

  “Totally whack, Jonas. I wouldn’t want to be with someone who is exactly the same as me.” She rolled her eyes. “That would be boring as heck. Where I’m shy and reserved, Harrison is outgoing and friendly. Where I lack, he picks up the pieces, and vice versa. We complement each other.”

  “Again, Ruby. You’re not wrong about any of those things when it comes to you and Harrison. I’m just saying in most instances that isn’t how it goes.”

  Ruby huffed. “How long were you and Maud together?” she demanded.

  “Four months.” I was already spilling all of the details. What did it matter if I told her how long we were together?

  “Yeah, I was right. You’re dumb.” She stood up quickly and grabbed the table to steady herself.

  “Why am I dumb?” I demanded.

  “I’m gonna let you figure that one out on your own.” She stumbled back to the bunk she shared with Harrison.

  I stared at Maud’s bunk and sighed.

  I wasn’t dumb.

  I was realistic.

  Maud and I?

  In bed, we made sense. Perfect fucking sense.

  Everywhere else?

  I was steady and firmly planted. Maud was a tumbleweed who was headed to stardom.

  Back when we were dating, there were two options for us. I had chosen the one that hurt, but it was what was best for her in the end.

  Sometimes you had to hurt yourself to give the person you love the thing they needed.

  Maud was a star, and all I would do is hold her back.

  She was better off without me.

  *

  Maud

  There weren’t any secrets and quiet talks on a tour bus.

  Ruby and Jonas obviously didn’t know that.

  I wiped the tears from my cheeks and sighed.

  Jonas Rowe was a jerk who broke my heart, and I never knew why. He told his sister more about us than I ever knew.

  I wasn’t what he wanted. While I always thought that was the reason, it hurt like fucking hell to hear it come out of his mouth.

  God damn Jonas Rowe.

  He broke my heart again, and he didn’t even know it.

  *

  Chapter Five

  Jonas

  “Where is it?” I shouted.

  “It’s in my bunk. I can go grab it,” Ruby yelled back.

  I shook my head. “I got it. Don’t worry about it.”

  I snaked my way through the crowd and out the side door of the club.

  Fucking hell, it was god damn loud in there. How Ruby managed to stay in the club for so long was beyond me.

  I was feeling every year of my thirty-three years. Old.

  The opening act was on stage at the next tour stop, and the crowd was feeling it. Really fucking loudly.

  Ruby had shouted she was going to run back to the bus to get her phone, but I had eagerly volunteered to get it for her.

  The bus was parked on the side of the club, and I was surprised to see a small crowd at the doors.

  The Wild Preacher’s Club was becoming a big name. This was only the second show I had been to since they had started their cross country tour, but I was surprised as hell at the following they had.

  Harrison and I had been friends for a while, and I was there when the band just played local bars and any gig that would let them play.

  Now they were touring and had fans that weren’t just family or friends.

  I made my way through the crowd and knocked on the bus door.

  Rico opened the door. “You’re back soon.”

  I climbed the steps, and he closed the door behind me.

  “Ruby left her phone, and I volunteered to come get it.”

  Rico laughed. “You don’t have to shout at me.”

  I wiggled a finger in my ear and cringed. “Sorry, man. I’m not used to the volume in there.”

  Rico nodded his head knowingly. “I know what you mean. I like my music on the radio, not shouted at me from a stage with thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder.” He hitched his thumb to the back of the bus. “Maud is in the back, too. She always hangs out on the bus till the last possible second.”

  I nodded and headed down toward the back.

  It was surprising Maud was on the bus. The rest of the band was backstage warming up and waiting to take the stage.

  I spotted Ruby’s phone on one of the windows' ledge and tucked it in my back pocket. I should have just turned around and jumped off the bus, but I didn’t.

  Something nagged at me to keep walking to the back.

  Maud.

  Maud was back there, and I needed to make sure she was okay.

  I silently tread down the hall, past the bunks, and to the kitchen area.

  Maud sat on the long bench, her head in her hands. “Is it time?”

  “Uh, time?”

  Her head snapped up, and her eyes connected with mine. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.

  “Uh, Ruby left her phone, and I came and grabbed it.” Her face was pale, and she looked like she was about to puke. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m gonna go for a walk, Maud. You good?” Rico called.

  “Um, yeah. I’m about to walk, Rico. See you after the show,” she called.

  The door to the bus opened and then closed.

  I stared at Maud. Finally getting a good look at her since I had stepped foot on the bus.

  “What are you staring at?” she snapped.

  “Are you nervous?”

  She rolled her eyes and put her head back in her hands. “Grab Ruby’s phone and leave,” she whispered.

  How was the strong, badass Maud, nervous and ready to puke before a gig? “Is this normal for you?” Maybe this was a one-off? Ruby had mentioned the crowd was pretty big tonight. Hell, it had to be nerve-wracking to have to perform in front of a large crowd. Granted, The Wild Preacher’s Club did it almost every night, so you had to assume they were used to it by now.

  “I don’t do normal, Jonas.”

  I sat down on the bench next to her. “For about four months, you did.”

  “You don’t talk to me the past two days, and then you crack a joke about you and me?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Well, that just came out, so, yeah, I guess.” Had I wanted to make a crack about Maud and I hooking up? No, but that’s all that came to mind.

  She shook her head. “Why didn’t you just stay away, Jonas? It would have been much easier.”

  It would have been. I could have told Ruby I would see her when the tour was over, but she mentioned me coming for the last couple of dates, and the thought of seeing Maud again was tempting. Too tempting.

  I kept telling myself that Maud was too different, and it was better off we weren’t together.

  I wasn’t what she needed.

 
; If only I could believe it.

  “Seemed like a good time to come home.”

  She scoffed. “Seemed like a good time for who?”

  “Yo! Five minutes, Maud!”

  “Yeah, I’m coming, Niko.” Maud stood and wiped her palms on her ripped jeans.

  “I didn’t come here to make this hard or complicated, Maud.”

  She shook her head. “I know, Jonas. You’re just here for a little bit, and then you’ll be gone. I know how it goes.”

  I reached for her hand, but she snatched it away. “Maud,” I whispered. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think. The feeling I got when I first met her was still there. A pull to her that I couldn’t resist. Moving to Hong Kong was the only way I could stay away from her.

  “You don’t get that, Jonas. You don’t get to come here, use me, and then leave.” She stepped around me. “You had me, and then you tossed me away. I’m not stupid or a fool.”

  “I never once thought you were stupid or a fool, Maud.” I really had fucked things up with her. I didn’t toss her away. I gave her up because, in the end, it wouldn’t work. “There were two endings, and there was only one I could live with.”

  “And you were the one who got to decide, huh?” she whispered.

  “Maud!” Niko shouted again. “Get your nervous ass off the bus, and let’s go rock this shit.”

  Her eyes held mine for a second.

  I saw Maud.

  The woman who had managed to snag my heart without even knowing it.

  I saw the woman I had to give up so she could live her dreams.

  “You better go, Maud. They’re waiting for you.”

  Sadness swept over her. Her face fell, but she recovered almost instantly. “You didn’t want me then, and you still don’t.” She stalked down the aisle and off the bus. The door slammed behind her, and I was alone.

  Alone like I was supposed to be.

  Maud wasn’t meant for me.

  She was made to be a star.

  Not mine.

  *

  Chapter Six

  Maud

  “He likes you.”

  I tossed back the shot of vodka and cringed. Fuck, that was some bottom shelf shit.