Music of the Heart (2 page)

side felt like it was weighed down with lead.

Rock Nation was one of the biggest music festivals in the country. A hundred bands performed

over three days, and the shows lasted around the clock. Music fanatics camped out in the middle of

the desert and somewhat recreated Woodstock. Well, that’s just what I’d been told. It wasn’t like I’d

spent the last two days with thousands of stinky, mud-caked strangers. I’d just come off a 737 from

Austin, Texas, and hopped the closest cab to the arena.

My only real interest in being at Rock Nation was seeing Jacob’s Ladder—the chart topping,

Christian rock cross-over band. The three members, Gabe, Eli, and Micah, just happened to be my

older brothers, and the reason I was wandering around a parking lot in the middle of the desert.

Sweating profusely, lost, and frustrated was not quite what I had envisioned when my brothers

asked me to join them on their summer tour. It wasn’t the first time I had gone around the country with

them since they had burst into the limelight two years ago. But it was the first time I had to decide if

the rootless existence of a musician was really for me. After singing my ass off, as my brother Eli

claimed, for the label executives, I had been offered the role as lead singer. The role was available

because my oldest brother, Micah, was exiting the band to get married and join the seminary.

After rolling my suitcase to a halt, I sat my guitar case down. Shielding my hand over my eyes from

the glaring sun, I peered at the buses. Trust me, when you’ve seen one tour bus, you’ve seen them all.

Very few boasted the band’s name who called them their home away from home. Right now, I was

faced with row after row of them compressed together so tight you could barely move between them.

Peering at the windshields, I looked for the usual multicolored paper with the bus number. For the

life of me, I couldn’t remember what number I was supposed to be looking for. I dug my phone out of

my purse and gazed at Micah’s text.
Can’t come to meet you like we planned. Crashing after the

4am show. Pass will be at the box office. Come on to the bus. It’s 419. We take off at 9am with or

without you.

With a frustrated grunt, I shoved my phone back into my purse. Most of the time, the boys were a

lot more considerate of me. I guess they thought since this wasn’t my first time at the rodeo, so to

speak, I should be able to take care of myself. Usually, they tried to treat me like I was still ten,

instead of twenty-one.

“Where the heck is bus 419?” I growled.

“Yeah, just how much do you wanna see Blaine Bennett?” a voice asked over my shoulder.

I whirled around to see a roadie grinning wickedly at a very scantily clad girl. At the mention of

getting closer to her idol, she pressed herself against him. “Really bad,” she purred.

Oh, ew. It was way too early for this kinda crap. “Um, excuse me?” I questioned.

While the girl acknowledged me, the roadie tuned me out. “Hello, I’m talking to you! I mean, I may

not be rubbed up against you, but I am speaking.”

The roadie gave a grunt of frustration before turning around. His irritation faded a little as he did a

pervy head to toe appraisal of me. “And just what can I do for you, sugar?”

The girl must’ve thought she was losing her chance to see Blaine whoever he was because she

stepped around the roadie and tried blocking his view of me.

Craning my neck, I said, “Listen, I
really
need to find bus 419. I’ve got to find Jacob’s Ladder.”

The roadie’s eyes rolled back in his head, and I didn’t even want to guess what Miss Thing was

doing to him. I glanced away and let the waves of disgust roll over me. I was so going to give the

boys a piece of my mind when I finally found them. Realizing I was getting nowhere with the roadie, I

stomped my boot on the pavement like the irritated child I felt like. “Look, I have a pass, and if I don’t

get to Jacob’s Ladder’s bus ASAP, they’re going to be epically pissed, and I’m going to give them a

full-on description of you so they can totally get your useless ass fired!”

The roadie momentarily jolted back into reality and pushed the girl back a little. “Hang on just a

second, babe. She’s going to irritate the hell out of me until I get her to the bus.”

The girl’s lips curved down in a pout. “You promise you’ll come back and take me to see Blaine?”

He bobbed his head enthusiastically. “As long as you keep doing what you were doing.”

She grinned as he turned and trudged over to me. “If I don’t get Jake’s prize piece of ass to him, he

really will fire me,” the roadie mumbled.

“Huh?” I questioned, as he jerked me by the elbow.

We wove in-between several more buses. When we arrived at one, he banged on the door. The

driver appeared in the doorway with a biscuit in one hand and a headset in the other. “Yeah?”

“She’s supposed to be on the bus,” the roadie replied.

The driver eyed my luggage and guitar case. “You sure?”

I huffed exasperatedly as I waved the pass around my neck at him. “Um, yeah, the guys are going to

be really ticked if you leave without me,” I snapped.

The roadie snorted. “Guess she’s their entertainment for the road.”

“I’m their sister, thank you very much.”

“Whatever ya say, babe. No judgment from me,” the driver replied. He put down his biscuit and

headset and leaned forward to take my guitar case. “The guys are—”

“Still asleep. Yeah, I know, and trust me, I also know better than to disturb them!” I replied as I

climbed up the stairs. I turned around as the roadie shoved my suitcase at me. “Thanks. You’ve been

so
much help.”

He grumbled something under his breath before stalking away. The driver closed and locked the

door before easing back down in his seat.

Motioning towards the living area, I said, “I’ll just go make myself comfortable until the guys

wake up.”

“Fine,” he muttered before putting on his headset. I guess he was more than ready to tune me out.

I walked down the aisle and flopped into one of the captain’s chair. Ugh, what an absolutely shitty

morning. Rubbing my temples, I tried soothing the headache that was already forming. Not only was it

brought on by the stressful morning, but I hadn’t eaten anything yet, which was a huge no-no for me

with my hypoglycemia. I’d overslept and been in such a rush to get to the airport that I had forgotten to

grab the snack bag my mom, who still couldn’t grasp I was twenty-one not twelve, had packed for me.

I didn’t dare take a peek in the cabinets to see what sustenance the boys might have. I was pretty sure

they lived from one fast food joint to the next.

Instead, I leaned back and closed my eyes, hoping a quick nap might get rid of my headache. It

wasn’t long before the gentle sway of the bus rolling along the highway lulled me to sleep.

When I woke up, my neck and head ached from banging against the large picture window. Raising

my hands over my head, I stretched and yawned. The view outside boasted wheat fields spanning as

long and far as I could see. Jeez, how long had I been out? A glance at my phone showed almost an

hour. I whirled around in the captain’s chair to find the living area of the bus still empty and quiet as a

tomb.

The boys must’ve been on one of their coma binges after an adrenaline-sucking weekend.

Sometimes they could go for forty-eight straight hours without sleep, but then they would crash and

burn for a whole day.

I picked up my phone and texted Gabe.
Wake up, sleepyhead! Feelin’ lonely. My bros suck at

welcoming their baby sister!

It was only a second before my phone buzzed.
Hey Little Girl. Come on back to the bedroom. I’m

just chillin’

I smiled and texted,
B right there

Pulling myself out of the chair, I made my way past the bunks where Eli and Micah snored. I eased

the bedroom door open, finding the room bathed in darkness. “Gabe?”

I was surprised not to find the television on or him playing Xbox. “I just texted you, so don’t think

you’re going to pretend you’re asleep or something.”

A mound of clothes caused me to stumble forward, and I pitched onto the side of the bed. “Gabriel

Andrew Renard, if this is your idea of a joke, it isn’t funny!”

A long moan erupted from underneath the covers as a body shifted toward me. When I was little,

the boys, Gabe especially, used to love to scare me. I had a feeling where this was heading, and after

the morning I’d had, I wasn’t in the mood. “Okay, fine. If you’re going to be a jerk, then I’m going

back outside.” I grunted with frustration and started to hoist myself off the bed.

An arm snaked around my waist, jerking me down further onto the mattress. “What—” I started

before the warm flesh of a man’s body pushed me onto my back and covered me with his weight. It

took all of one second to realize this was
so
not Gabe.

Scorching hot lips met my own, and I shuddered. They pressed eagerly and with intense longing

while fingers wrapped and tangled their way through my hair. When I opened my mouth to protest, a

tongue darted inside, dancing tantalizing against my own.

For a moment, my traitorous body enjoyed the sensations pulsing through me. Then I realized I was

allowing a stranger some heavy first base action while his hand started to round second. With all the

strength I had, I pushed against him.

“Get off me!” I screeched.

He ignored me as his fingers fisted the hem of my dress. A lazy chuckle erupted from him. “Bree,

babe, what the hell are you doing wearing clothes to bed?”

Bree? This jerk was mauling me because he thought I was someone else. I gritted my teeth and

smacked his bare, and very sculpted, chest. “I’m not Bree!”

The hands left my body, and I heard fumbling above me. The light on the bedside table flicked on. I

sucked in a breath at the drop-dead gorgeous face hovering over mine. His dark hair was buzzed

short, and he had several piercings in his ears. Blue eyes, hazy with a mixture of sleep deprivation

and desire, stared down at me. He drank in my appearance, stopping to linger on my heaving chest

and how my dress had bunched up my thighs. A seductive grin stretched across his face. “No, you’re

definitely not Bree. You put her to shame, Angel.”

When he started to lean over to kiss me again, I brought my hand in front of his face. “Look, if

Gabe put you up to this, the joke is up. You got me. Ha, ha.”

His brows furrowed, and I noticed the silver hoop in one of them. “Who the hell is Gabe?”

My heart shuddered a little, and I tried to still the fear prickling over my body. “My brothers didn’t

put you up to this?”

“No, babe, I don’t think so.”

“Oh God,” I moaned, bringing my hand over my eyes.

“So you’re telling me you didn’t sneak into my bed on purpose?”

I snatched my hand away and glared up at him. “Of course I didn’t! I don’t even know you.”

“Well, give me a chance to get to
know
you better.” He pressed into me again, and for a brief

instant, I fought the longing crisscrossing over my body. After all, I’d never kissed a strange guy or

been in a stranger’s bed. I’d never even been in a boyfriend’s bed. My experience with guys was

pretty much non-existent.

“No, I have to go,” I murmured against his urgent lips.

“You don’t have to fight it. I promise I won’t think bad of you later on. And I’ll make you feel so

fucking good, you won’t be thinking bad of yourself either, Angel.”

When it was very clear he wasn’t going to let me up, my desire got doused with anger. Who the

heck did he think he was pinning me down and trying to get to
know
me better? Drawing all the

strength I could muster, I brought my knee up against his groin.

“FUCK!” he groaned, rolling off of me.

Seizing the opportunity, I scrambled out of the bed. I threw open the bedroom door and stomped

out into the hallway. “Okay, boys, you’ve had your fun, so cut the crap! You better get your sorry

asses up right now!” I screamed.

Three pairs of legs dangled out of the bunks. Almost in unison, they hopped out onto the floor.

Three bleary eyed, heavily tattooed rockers in various states of undress, stared at me with bewildered

expressions.

“Oh shit,” I murmured before I pitched forward and everything went black.

***