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

by Winter Travers

It was empty.

  My phone was always in my back pocket. If I wasn’t on stage, that’s where it was.

  A knock sounded on the window.

  I pushed back the curtain and saw Ruby and the rest of the band standing there. “What the fuck!” I shouted.

  Ruby held up my phone. “I’m sorry,” she yelled. “I promise we’ll let you out tomorrow.”

  What? Was I fucking caged animal or something? Let me out tomorrow? They were gonna let me out right now. “If you don’t let me off this bus right now, Ruby, I will never talk to you ever again. You’re gonna have to get drunk by yourself from now on!”

  Harrison pointed his finger at me. “Work your shit out.”

  “Yeah,” Niko agreed. “You’ve been bitchier than usual. Bump uglies with Jonas and get back to the happy bitch you used to be.”

  Malik laughed like a fucking hyena, and Darius just smiled.

  “We’ll be back in the morning.” Harrison grabbed Ruby’s hand and pulled her away from the bus.

  I watched out the window until they all got into their cars and drove away.

  “This is insane!” I shouted. I whirled back around and stabbed my finger into Jonas’s chest. “Open those damn doors right now, Jonas. There is nothing we need to work out. There is no us.”

  He grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “No.”

  His breath floated over my skin, and I snatched my hand away. I looked at him like he had grown three heads and spoke Russian. “I think you meant yes.”

  Jonas Rowe had lost his damn mind.

  “You can put up a fight, Maud. I didn’t really expect you wouldn’t, but the sooner you get over this bitch fit, the sooner we can talk about the important stuff.”

  “And just what is the important stuff,” I snapped.

  He stepped back and sighed. “You and me.”

  I folded my arms over my chest. “There is no you and me. You made damn sure of that a year ago.”

  He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, well, maybe that was a mistake.”

  “I’m not into a weekend fling, and then you fly off to Hong King for a year again.” That wasn’t happening. Jonas had made a fool of me before, and I would die before I let that happen again. “Just stop with this charade, Jonas, and let us both off of this bus. Your sister being with Harrison means you and I are going to be thrown in each other’s faces for the rest of our lives. Let’s not make it even more awkward by hooking up every time we see each other.”

  “I’m not looking to hook up, Maud.”

  “Then, unlock the bus and let me off.”

  He pulled a key out of his pocket and held it up. “I’m not gonna force you to stay here. Harrison has the main key to the doors, but this one opens the back window if you really want out of here.” He chuckled. “I’ll even help give you a boost out if you need it.”

  “So, I’m trapped, but not really trapped?”

  He nodded his head. “I wanna talk to you, Maud, but I don’t want to make you feel like you have to stay here. You can leave, but it might take a little effort to get out the window.”

  I held out my hand. “Give me the key.”

  His face fell, but he placed it in my hand. “We’ll toss your bag out first. That will give you something soft to land on.”

  I shoved the key in my pocket. “I’m not promising to stay till the morning, but I’m not leaving just yet.” Actually, sitting down and talking to Jonas was what we both needed. I just hadn’t like the idea of actually being trapped on the bus with no way out. With the key to the window in my pocket, I could actually leave whenever I wanted. “So, was Harrison actually smart and plugged in the bus, or are we without power too?”

  “Uh, we should be good for everything. Water, electricity, you got it.”

  I grabbed my bag and set it on my bunk. “Well, good, because the first thing I planned on doing when I got to my parents was to take a shower. I guess one more shower on the bus won’t hurt me.” I grabbed comfy pants and a tank top from my bag.

  “Need me to wash your back?”

  I slid the zipper shut and rolled my eyes. “I think I can manage. I’ve been fine by myself for the last year,” I retorted.

  Jonas held up his hands. “Fair enough.”

  I stomped to the bathroom and slid the door shut. I leaned my head against the cold wood of the door and sighed.

  I was trapped on a bus with Jonas Rowe.

  The answers I had wanted for the last year were about to be mine, and instead of firing off all of my questions, I was locked away in the bathroom.

  Yeah, maybe I wanted to ask the questions, but I was afraid I wasn’t ready for the answers.

  Jonas Rowe broke my heart before.

  I couldn’t handle him doing it again.

  *

  Chapter Nine

  Jonas

  That went better than I thought it would.

  I had imagined the worst of Maud throwing a major bitch fit and storming off the bus after I revealed the window key to her.

  I knew this wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was what I could come up with on such short notice. It was hard for me to admit that maybe I did call it quits on Maud and me too soon, but I still wasn’t completely convinced that I was wrong for thinking why we wouldn’t work.

  We were still very different and living in different countries.

  The different country problem would be easy to solve since I had originally only planned to work overseas for another year or so. Our own actual differences were going to be the thing that might drive us apart.

  Maud was literally rock n’ roll, and I was your average, run of the mill lawyer. I didn’t bounce from city to city, playing for thousands of adoring fans and being famous.

  Fame wasn’t what I wanted, but that was what Maud was made for, and if I wanted to be with her, I was going to have to learn to live with it.

  “You look like someone ran over Mookie.”

  My head snapped up. My eyes took in Maud’s bare legs, and arms and heat rose in my chest. The shorts she wore barely covered the tops of her thighs, and I knew as soon as she bent over, I would see half of her ass cheeks. I was already worried about talking to her, and now I was also going to be distracted by all of her smooth, lush bare skin on display.

  She waved her hand and snapped her fingers. “Earth to, Jonas.”

  I gently shook my head and stood up. “Uh, sorry. I was just thinking.”

  She eyed me warily. “I did a lot of that, too.”

  That didn’t sound very good. “Uh, are you hungry or anything?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure there is nothing in the fridge. Rico is religious about cleaning it out when we’re stopped for longer than two days.”

  I smiled. “I was told that. That’s why I managed to catch him before he threw everything away.” I reached for the fridge and pulled it open. “It’s not a lot, but it will get us through till the morning.”

  She walked over and put her hands on her hips. “There’s actual food in there and not just processed shit and sugar.”

  “I might have run to the grocery store last night when everyone was asleep.”

  “Eggs, bacon, bread, some steaks, random veggies, lunch meat, beer, and a cake.” Maud laughed. “Yeah, that’s a hell of a lot better than what is normally in there. Though the beer is a staple.”

  I reached in and pulled out two beers and handed her one.

  “You might be becoming to this rockstar life, Jonas,” Maud laughed. “Drinking beer before noon.” She twisted off the top and took a drink.

  I shrugged and popped the top on mine. “I figure it’ll help us both relax.” I would do anything to help make whatever was about to happen a little easier.

  Maud flopped down on the long couch in the bus's lounge area and kicked her feet up. “I don’t even know where to start, Jonas, so I’m tossing the ball into your court.”

  I sat down opposite her and rested my elbows on my knees. “
That’s funny because I don’t know where to start either. I just know we gotta talk and figure out what the hell is going to happen with us, M.”

  “I loved it when you called me that,” she whispered. “All my life, I was just Maud. A name meant for a ninety-year-old, and then you come along and call me M like it’s been my name all along.”

  I shrugged. “Maud suits you, but… I just wanted something that was mine to call you.” Calling her M just came too easily. I didn’t even think about it when I said it the first time. It was personal and something only I got to call her.

  She frowned and took a pull from her beer.

  “I shouldn’t have left the way I did. I just…” I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I knew why I left things so shitty between us, but I didn’t want to actually say the words out loud to her. I was a fucking tool for just saying we weren’t right for each other and nothing else.

  “You did, though.”

  I set my beer to the side. I needed my head clear for this conversation we were going to have. “I did because I wanted what you wanted for yourself.”

  She tipped her head to the side. “I don’t know what I want half of the time, so I don’t know how you could know what I want.”

  “The band, Maud. Your job. Hell, your job is your life. You don’t get to leave being a rockstar at the office at the end of the day. That’s you twenty-four-seven.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you and Ruby toss that word around so much. Not one of us in the band is a rockstar.”

  I shook my head. “That’s because you can’t see it from the outside.” I motioned around me. “The fancy bus, recording studios, screaming fans chanting your name? That is a rockstar, Maud. You’re on the inside and still stuck in your head that you’re a struggling artist trying to make your break.”

  “That’s insane, Jonas.”

  She wasn’t going to see it. “Do you think every person who sings or is in a band has this kind of life you are living?”

  “Living on a smelly bus with four guys is a great life?” she scoffed.

  “Jesus, Maud. I bet half of the world would do anything to have this life.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re acting like this life just dropped into my life.”

  I was already hitting a brick all with her. I was trying to make the point that she was living her dream, and she wouldn’t have been able to do that with me waiting in the wings. I hadn’t even added myself into the equation, yet and she was resisting me. “It wasn’t just dropped in your lap, Maud. That is not what I am trying to say. I saw you guys work your asses off. You guys would play any place that would give you a stage and an amp.”

  “Started from the bottom, and now we’re here,” she cracked. She took another drink of her beer. “So you called it quits between us because I’m a famous rockstar and you’re a lawyer. Yeah, I overheard you and Ruby talking the other night. You told her the same thing, and I still think it’s as much bullshit as it was then. I can only date rockstars, and you can only be with lawyers? Is that what it is in your world?” she demanded.

  “No, Maud. That’s not what I’m saying. I broke it off with you because you are made for something greater than sticking around home and playing a gig you can get.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “You and I would have gone two ways.”

  “And you chose the way that was better for me. Blah, blah, blah,” she moaned. “You think you did something noble by being a dick and kicking me out of your bed. Got it. I’ll get the key and drop my ass out of the window if that’s what you had to tell me.”

  Maud moved to stand up, but I dropped to the floor in front of her and held her on the bench. “That’s not what I did, Maud. You’re not actually seeing the options I had.” I splayed my hands on her bare thighs and focused on her face and not the softness of her skin.

  “Then tell me what options you thought you had since I can’t understand them.”

  I dropped my head and closed my eyes. “You have to promise me you won’t talk until I say everything. I need to just say this, and then you can tell me I’m dumb, a dick or both. Deal?” I opened my eyes and tipped my head back to look at her.

  “My lips are sealed.” She slid a finger over her lips like a zipper, twisted her fingers in the corner of her mouth, and tossed an imaginary key over my shoulder.

  “There are people who you meet in life you knew are meant for the ordinary, and then there are people you meet who you instantly know life has something extraordinary in store for them. Something only a few in life will ever attain.”

  She huffed and rolled her eyes.

  “No talking, M.”

  She pursed her lips and glared at me.

  “A blind man could see you have more talent in your big toe than ninety-nine percent of the world. I met you and knew you were bigger than any dream I ever had in my life. We fell into bed right away and damned if my heart didn’t fall right away too. I wouldn’t say I instantly loved you, but I knew if I wasn’t careful, I wouldn’t be able to let you go.” I closed my eyes. “So that’s why I knew I needed to let you go before it went too far. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, or whatever that bullshit is, right?”

  I sighed and opened my eyes. “So, in my lawyer's brain, I argued with myself, saw the way things could go with us. You and I hook up, fall in love, and live happily ever after in my ordinary life. You give up your dream to be a rockstar to be with me. Or, I let you go and watch you crush every dream you ever had. I wouldn’t get to be a part of those dreams, but I would be happy knowing I wasn’t the person who took them away from you.”

  Maud frowned and reached up to brush her fingertips over my cheek.

  “I know what you’re thinking. You wouldn’t have given up your life for me. Why do I think I’m so special that you would give up what you wanted for me?”

  She nodded her head.

  “I didn’t know for a fact that would happen, but I didn’t want to chance it. Sure, we could have been fine for a while, but what if something came up, and you decided not to do it because it would take us apart or something? I didn’t want to wonder the whole time we were together if I was keeping you from something better. You’re made for something better and bigger than I can give you, Maud. We don’t fit. We weren’t going to work.” This wasn’t going to work. I knew when I had said those words to her a year ago that I had hurt her. That same hurt was back in her eyes. I had put it back there.

  “You done?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Give it to me. Tell me to go to hell, and I’ll just jump out the window.”

  She leaned toward me and pressed her lips to mine. “You’re a fucking idiot, Jonas Rowe,” she whispered against my lips.

  “What?” She was throwing me two signals. A kiss and calling me a fucking idiot. Those two did not go together in my book.

  She sat back and ran her fingers through her hair. “You wanted me, but thought I wanted to be a rockstar more.”

  “Well, not exactly. You deserved being a rockstar more that you needed to be my girlfriend.”

  She laughed flatly. “And you made that decision for me, huh?”

  I cringed.

  “Can I talk now without you speaking?”

  “That would only be fair.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Thank you, counsel. I’d like to take the floor now.” She slid her fingers over my lips, twisted her fingers in the corner of my lips, and threw away the imaginary key again.

  “You were nothing I ever thought I would want, yet the second I met you, I knew my life would never be the same.” She sighed and leaned back onto the bench. “You were wearing a gray suit, white button-down shirt, two top buttons undone, and the tie loosened. The dark shading of the tattoo over your chest was peeking out. All I wanted to do was rip off your tie and unbutton the rest of your shirt to see what tattoo you were hiding under that stuffy suit.”

  “My suits are not stuffy,” I argued.


  Maud glared at me. “Am I going to have to get the duct tape?”

  I held up my hand. “Sorry. Proceed.” I sometimes had the same problem in court. When a point needed to be argued, I didn’t want to have to wait. “But, my suits are not stuffy.”

  She grabbed my hand and threaded her fingers through mine. “You could argue with a brick wall, Jonas,” she laughed. “Now, back to me, trying to prove my point.” She cleared her throat. “It only took two days until I saw everything you were hiding.” Her eyebrows wiggled. “The sexy lawyer was a bad boy under the stuffy suits.”

  I smirked. I wasn’t going to argue with that. I had a wild side, but I kept it under wraps for the most part. Only the ones I really knew and cared about ever got to see it.

  Maud was one of the rare few who saw what was beneath the suit.

  “You said you knew when you met me that I was meant for extraordinary things?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, I felt the same way about you. I knew you were something special that only came around once, and you only got it if you were lucky.” She lined her fingers up with mine and sighed. “The rockstar fell for the bad boy lawyer. The bad boy lawyer broke the rockstar's heart.” She smiled. “Then the bad boy lawyer comes back, and now the rockstar is trapped with the bad boy lawyer.”

  “Hypothetically trapped,” I laughed. “I knew if I actually locked you in here, you would go crazy like a wild banshee.” I wasn’t a complete idiot.

  “Was this your plan all along?” she whispered.

  “Trapping you in the bus and making you talk to me?” I laughed. “Not at all. The only plan I had when I stepped foot on the bus was to stay out of your way. I was stepping into your world and didn’t want to mess anything up.”

  “So, what changed? How did you get this crazy idea?”

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my lap. I sat back on my ass and wrapped my arms around her. “The idea of you and I being together has always been there. I just couldn’t figure out how to make it work between us. I was reserved to living my life from the wings watching your star skyrocket.”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck. “You really are a fool, Jonas. When you said it wouldn’t work between us, I thought you figured out you were better than me, and I would never fit into your lawyer world.”