Music of the Heart (3 page)

Scorching pain ripped through my crotch, and I groaned in agony. One minute I’d been making out

with an angel straight out of Heaven and the next a hellish wildfire raged through my junk.

In my haze, I heard the angel screaming her fucking head off and then I heard a loud thump. Once I

could see straight again, I gritted my teeth and staggered out of bed. I cupped my aching balls through

my boxers and stumbled to the bedroom doorway.

The angel, turned raging bitch, lay in a heap in the hallway. AJ sat beside her, cradling her head in

his lap, while my other bandmates, Brayden and Rhys, knelt down, staring at her in silent wonder.

When Brayden caught sight of me in the doorway, he narrowed his dark eyes. He rose up and took

a step towards me, his jaw clenched tight. His 6’1, muscled form might have been threatening if I

didn’t know him for the total tenderhearted pansy he was. “Dude, what the fuck is going on?”

I threw up my hands. “How the hell should I know? I woke up to find her in my bed and then she

nailed me in the balls!”

AJ shook his dark head of hair and snickered. “You gotta work on your game, man.”

I flipped him off before grinding the sleep out of my eyes with my fists. “I thought it was Bree—I

mean, she’s always sneaking in my bed along tour stops. But then the chick was saying something

about a dude named Gabe and her brothers putting me up to it.”

“That makes total sense. I mean, what sweet, straight-laced girl like this is going to be getting in

your bed,” Rhys remarked, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement as he twirled the diamond stud in

his ear.

We all gazed down at the girl. Nope, she was definitely not groupie material like Bree. She

reminded me of Brayden’s wife, Lily. They’d been high school sweethearts, and somehow their

relationship had survived the last eight years of craziness as our band moved from the garage to the

biggest arenas in the country.

Scratching the dark stubble on his chin, AJ grinned wickedly. “Hmm, with the sundress and

headband, she’s kinda got a Sookie Stackhouse/
True Blood
look going on. Pure but sexy as hell.”

Rhys wrinkled his nose and shook his dirty blonde head. “Oh hell no. She’s a hundred times hotter

in the face than Sookie!” He motioned to the angel’s cleavage. “And damn, look at that rack.”

Brayden grunted in frustration. “Guys, could you stop thinking with your dicks for one minute, and

focus on the fact we’ve got a poor, helpless girl passed out on the floor!”

“You’ve been married too long, Bray,” I mused, continuing to take in the blonde’s features. She

had felt like heaven pressed up against me. Well, until she’d cock-blocked me rather painfully.

At her moan, we all jumped back like we’d been caught doing something we shouldn’t have. She

blinked her eyes a few times, bringing her hand to her forehead. Her brows furrowed as she rubbed

her fingertips into her hairline. Then her eyes flew open, and she stared up at us. Her face crumpled

with mortification. “Oh God, it wasn’t a nightmare.”

AJ laughed. “Ya know, chicks are usually a lot more stoked about meeting us than you are.”

Her dark blue eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sorry if I sounded rude. I didn’t mean that how it came out.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Kneeing me in the junk was rude, babe.”

She cocked her head to the side and gave me a death glare before pulling herself into a sitting

position. “You wouldn’t stop molesting me. What else was I supposed to do?” she snapped.

Brayden bristled as he closed the gap between us. “Somehow you managed to leave that tidbit out

of your story.”

AJ extended his hand. “Come on, Sookie, let’s get you up off that dirty floor.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “But my name’s not Sookie. It’s Abigail—well, Abby.”

Once AJ pulled her up, she fell against his chest, trying to steady herself. I rolled my eyes when he

seemed to get a little too much enjoyment out of her pressed against him as her hands fisted his shirt

for balance.

Brayden must’ve realized it too because he took Abby by the arm. “Come on over here and have a

seat.” He motioned toward one of the captain’s chairs.

“Did you have fun feelin’ her up, dickhead?” I hissed to AJ.

He grinned. “It was a little piece of Heaven right here.” He closed his eyes and swept his hand to

his heart. “
Diablo linda, esas tetas se sienten increible. Me gustaria metertelo hasta que estes

gritando
.”

Abby froze in front of us. She jerked away from Brayden and whirled around. “¡Ni te lo pienses

sucio!”

AJ’s eyes popped open, and his brows shot up in shock. “How the hell do you know Spanish?”

“My parents were missionaries. I spent most of my early years abroad—Mexico, Central America,

and Brazil. My Portuguese isn’t as good as my Spanish though.” She cocked her head at AJ.

“¡Pendejo!”

“Ha! I am an asshole for saying that!” He roared with laughed. “My apologies, Sookie—I mean,

Abby.” He then thrust out one of his hands. “I’m Alejandro Joaquin Resendiz, otherwise known as AJ

—drummer extraordinaire of Runaway Train and your potential Latin lova.”

Abby grinned as she reached out to shake his hand. “Abby Renard.”

AJ’s dark eyes widened. “No shit—Renard, like Renard Parish in
True Blood
? See you could

totally
be Sookie!”

“Quite a charmer, aren’t you AJ?” Abby questioned with a giggle.

“Anything for you, mi amor. I mean, do you know what a fucking turn-on it is to hear fluent Spanish

coming off a pair of lips like yours?” His eyes rolled back in his head with delight.

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to elaborate for me, right?”

I couldn’t help snickering. The more Abby/Hell’s Angel spoke the more I started to dig her. She

wasn’t star-struck by us, and she gave as good as she got—my sore balls were testimony of that.

Rhys stepped forward and offered Abby his hand. “I’m Rhys McGowan—bassist and if you’re

looking for a real man, a much better choice than that douchebag.” He jerked his thumb at AJ.

AJ brought Abby’s hand to his lips. “Just remember. Latin men are the best.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” she murmured. As she took her hand from AJ, she brought it to her

head. “Ugh, why am I still so dizzy?”

AJ dove into the fridge for a bottle of water and gave it to Abby while Brayden knelt down beside

her. “Maybe put your head between your knees?” he suggested, in a calm, soothing voice. At the same

time, Rhys snatched up a paper towel and ran it under the tap before handing it to Abby. I glanced

around at my bandmates with a mixture of disbelief. They were falling all over themselves to impress

Abby with their thoughtfulness. That never,
ever
happened with a woman on the bus. The chicks were

there to wow and impress us with their sexual talents. As soon as they were done, they were sent

unceremoniously off the bus.

Well, I guess, Brayden’s motives were different. He was the father figure and caretaker of the band

as well as being the father to four-year-old, Jude, and eight-month-old, Melody. And regardless of the

tits and ass thrown in his face twenty-four seven, he remained true to his wife. Although I gave him

shit about it, I really did admire him for being loyal.

Abby gave a ragged sigh. “I’m okay. Really, you don’t have to fuss over me.” She smoothed her

hair back and wiped a few dust bunnies off her dress. “I’m hypoglycemic so sometimes I pass out

when I don’t eat…that coupled with the adrenaline rush of being in a stranger’s bed and seeing you

all instead of my brothers made me faint.”

After taking a hesitant sip of water, Abby patted her cheeks down with the paper towel. When she

glanced up, she found all of us staring at her. “So, um, I guess you’re wondering how I ended up here,

huh?”

Brayden motioned to the authorized pass nestled in her ample cleavage. “I’m going to take a wild

guess and say you got on the wrong bus.”

Abby nodded. She then launched into a story about why she was even at Rock Nation. When she

explained about the roadie and Jacob’s ladder, I sucked in a breath. “He thought you were looking for

me.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“I’m Jake Slater. He probably wasn’t paying much attention, right?”

She nodded.

“I mean, Jake Slater and Jacob’s Ladder running together kinda sound similar—if the asshat even

heard anything past J. He just assumed you were coming to see me.”

Abby’s eyebrows shot up. “And you often have random chicks coming to your bus with luggage

and a guitar case?” she countered.

The grin I gave her caused pink splotches on Abby’s cheeks. “Never mind,” she muttered, looking

away from me.

The sound of her phone vibrating on the table interrupted us. She grabbed it and frantically brought

it to her ear. “Gabe, oh my God, it’s so good to hear from you!”

The voice on the other line spoke frantically. She shook her head. “No, no, I didn’t get cold feet

about the tour. It’s just…I, um, I got on the wrong bus.”

At his response, her face clouded over with fury. “Oh really? Well, maybe one of you assholes

should have come to meet me!” With his next words, she sputtered with indignation. “Don’t you

chastise me about cussing! I’m a grown woman, and I’ll say whatever I want to! I can’t believe you

have me on speakerphone. Eli, if you don’t stop laughing, I’m going to beat the shit out of you the

moment I see you! And if you think I can’t, just remember Costa Rica!”

I couldn’t help laughing at her fiery personality. The other guys were equally amused at the spitfire

in front of us.

“How did this happen? There were over a hundred buses out there, Gabe. When I asked about

Jacob’s Ladder, they thought I meant Jake Slater.”

Gabe’s voiced screeched on the other end so loud we all could hear it. “You’re on Runaway

Train’s bus?!!!”

“Yes,” she replied. At his next statement, she snorted. “Well, I’ve only managed to do the drummer

and the bassist so far, but I’m thinking I could get a threesome going and knock out the others. Maybe

I’ll gang-bang with the roadies when we stop for dinner!”

Rhys made a strangled noise in his throat while AJ muttered, “Fuck me,” under his breath. Even I

couldn’t stop the below-the-belt stirring at her imaginative suggestion.

She rolled her eyes. “Gabe, would you give me a little credit? I’ve held on to my virginity this

long. I think it’ll hold for a while.”

We all exchanged wild glances. Rhys tugged so hard on his stud it came out of his ear and fell to

the ground. AJ fumbled for the beer next to him and drained it in a long guzzle—his chest heaving

hard as he stared at Abby. Even Brayden appeared shell-shocked by her declaration. All of us had to

be thinking the same thing. How was it possible for a smokin’ hot girl like the one before us to be a…

virgin?

Abby whirled around and saw our expressions. A flush entered her cheeks, and she ducked her

head. She sank back down into her chair and buried her head between her knees. “I can’t believe I

just admitted that in a room full of men,” she whispered. When Gabe said something else, her voice

broke with emotion. “Look, I just need to know how we’re going to fix this.” After sniffling for a few