Music of the Heart (7 page)

“I’ll be just fine thank you.”

AJ peeked his head in. “Hey, I need to get my stuff.”

“Go right ahead.” I threw the sheet back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get my things and go to the

bathroom so I can get dressed for dinner.”

Jake opened his arms wide before collapsing onto his back on the bed. “Be my guest.”

When he didn’t move, I grunted in frustration. Just as I started to climb over Jake, AJ flung the

closet door open to get out his clothes. Since we were in such close quarters with the bus’s bedroom,

I couldn’t move. To my utter horror, I’d gotten stuck straddling Jake.

When I caught his eye, he grinned and winked at me. My face flushed. “AJ, would you hurry up

with the freakin’ door!” I snapped.

He peeked around the side and snorted back his laughter. “Whoops, my bad.”

I sighed with exasperation. “Any day now, AJ!” The moment I said it, I knew he’d take his own

sweet ass time—anything to keep me in the precarious situation of riding Jake.

“You don’t have to go, Angel. I’m sure this could be a win-win situation for both of us,” Jake

teased.

I stared at him for a moment before flopping back on the other side of the bed. I shook my head at

him. “Why do you have to do that?”

“Do what?”

“Act like a constant manwhore who only sees women as sex objects.”

Jake arched an eyebrow at me. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I just
objectify
you?”

“Yes,” I hissed before narrowing my eyes at him. “Is it too much to ask that we carry on a civil

conversation without you always having to make everything between us about getting off?”

Jake’s brows creased. “And there’s something wrong with that?”

“For me there is.” I gave him a pointed stare. “And for our bet.”

He turned over on his side to where we were face to face. “I’m not losing this bet, Angel.”

“Then start playing by the rules.” With the sweetest smile I could muster, I then batted my

eyelashes at him. “Or I’m going to start walking around here in my underwear.”

His mouth gaped open. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me, big boy. Sporting my bra and panties is basically a bikini, so why not?”

Staring at me dumbfounded, Jake drew in a ragged breath. “I’m never going to intimidate you, am

I?”

I shrugged. “Nope.”

“Damn. I don’t know how the hell to take you, Angel.”

“Why do you have to ‘take me’ period? Can’t you just talk to me like you would any girl?”

With a sneer, he replied, “If I do that, it won’t help us.”

I propped my head on my elbow. “When was the last time you actually had a conversation with a

female, besides your mother, that didn’t involve dirty talk?”

“Hell if I know,” he replied.

“I thought as much.”

“Wait a sec…” He snapped his fingers. “Actually, it was Tuesday. I talked to my baby sister on

the phone.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You have a sister?”

“Well, she’s my half-sister. My dad and step-mom each had a kid when they got married. Then

they had Allison. She’s fifteen and spoiled rotten.”

I smiled at the sincerity in his voice when he talked about his sister. “I bet she idolizes her big

brother.”

Flipping on his back, Jake slid his hands under his head and grinned. “Yeah, she does. I mean,

she’s always thought I was pretty cool, but even more since I hit it big.” His expression slowly

darkened. “Some shitheads give her grief about it—like trying to be her friend just to see what they

can get from her. I hate that.”

“Poor thing. It must be hard sometimes having a famous brother.”

Jake frowned at me. “I try making it up to her all the time by giving her shit.”

I laughed. “Thus why she’s the spoiled baby sister?”

“I guess. Hell, the guys and I are even playing her Sweet Sixteen in a few weeks.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you.” I nudged him playfully. “Who knew there was a good guy buried

deep, deep down inside.”

AJ closed the closet door. “Okay, done.”

“Finally,” Jake muttered as he got off the bed.

Gesturing to his jeans and polo shirt, AJ said, “Hey, give me some credit. It’s not easy changing

behind a closet door to protect Miss Innocent Eyes over there.”

I laughed as I rose up to a sitting position. “One minute you’re trying to get me to see you naked

and the next you’re protecting me.”

AJ winked at me. “Just know I would do anything, and I do mean
anything
for you, mi amor.”

I grabbed my dress and cowboy boots off the dresser. “Thanks so much.”

***

As soon as Abby disappeared into the bathroom, AJ arched his dark brows questioningly at me.

“You better be damn glad it was me and not Brayden who came back here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked as I slid on a clean pair of jeans.

“You said you were coming in here to get your shit and wake Abby up, and instead you’re back in

bed with her. Hell, she was riding you.”

“That was your fault, not mine, opening the closet door like you did.”

“Mmm, hmm,” he replied, raising his brows suggestively.

I shrugged. “Trust me, she wasn’t happy about me being in bed with her.”

“But were you?”

I froze half-way in pulling a fresher smelling shirt over my head. Peeking through the neck of the

shirt, I shot AJ a look. “Get real, dude. I’m so not interested in Abby.”

He grinned. “Keep telling yourself that.” He started for the door, but then turned back to me. “So if

you’re not interested, you mind me making a play for her?”

For reasons I couldn’t possibly understand, my jaw clenched at the thought of Abby and AJ. At the

same time, my fists tightened at my sides. “She’s not stupid. She knows exactly what dogs the three of

us are when it comes to women.”

“I could try to change her mind.”

“Yeah, good luck with that one,” I grumbled as I brushed past him.

Using my fist that was still clenched from AJ’s comment, I pounded on the bathroom door. “You

through in there, Angel? Some of the rest of us would like some mirror time.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she mumbled as she undid the lock. When she threw open the door, my

breath caught at the sight of her. Somehow in the few short minutes Abby had been in the bathroom

she’d managed not only to get dressed, but also freshened up as well. Her long, blonde hair fell in

waves down her back while she’d also reapplied some makeup. Her full lips glistening with gloss

just begged me to reach over and lay one on her.

“What?” she questioned as she swept her hands to her hips.

Trying to cover up for my lustful thoughts, I smirked at her. “Nothing. You just clean up fast.”

A giggle escaped those succulent lips of hers. “Yeah, it comes from growing up with one

bathroom, six people, and most of the time not a lot of hot water. You should see some of the

conditions I’ve had to get ready in before.”

She squeezed past me and then started over to AJ who was messing with the entertainment system.

While my gaze instantly honed in on the soft sashay of her hips as she walked down the bus aisle,

Rhys sidestepped me into the bathroom. “Oh hell no, dude! I was here first!”

He shot me a wicked grin. “You were too busy ogling Abby’s ass to care about the bathroom.”

“I was not ogling her ass,” I hissed under my breath as I pushed him out of the way.

We began elbowing each other for mirror time when music suddenly blared throughout the bus’s

speaker system. He and I exchanged a glance before both groaning in unison. “AJ, not that Mexican

shit again!” I shouted.

From time to time, AJ insisted on torturing us with the Banda and Cumbia type music he grew up

on until we gave him enough hell to turn it off. I poked my head out of the bathroom door. “Dude,

seriously, I can’t take—”

Before I could give him anymore grief about the music, the sight of AJ dancing with Abby stunned

me silent. Well, it wasn’t your traditional dancing or the dry humping kind I was used to at clubs or

concerts. It was the kind I used to see when I went to AJ’s family parties.

AJ could have seriously put the dudes on Dancing with the Stars to shame. He’d been born with a

natural rhythm that enhanced his drum playing. Not to mention that when he danced, he had that whole

effortless Latin hip swishing and swaying thing that made women’s panties melt. But at the moment, I

wasn’t so concerned with AJ’s moves as I was with Abby’s. Leaning against the doorway, I watched

as Abby danced as effortlessly as AJ. Even with the trickier steps, she kept up, matching his fluid

movements. I was treated to quite a floor show considering the hem of her dress twirled

provocatively back and forth.

Scratching the stubble along on my jaw, I couldn’t help wondering if she could do all that with her

hips when she was standing up, what she could do flat on her back.

AJ caught my eye and winked. “She’s a natural, isn’t she?”

“Oh yeah, she can move.”

Forgetting about potentially shaving, least of all fixing my hair, I stepped closer to them. “Where

did you learn to do that, Angel?”

Without missing a step, Abby replied, “Over the years, we lived in several places in Mexico—

Guadalajara, Mexico City. I was just a kid then, but I went to lots of parties. Everyone wanted to

teach the little blonde Gringa how to dance.” She giggled. “And since my brothers were older than me

and wanted to impress the chicks, they recruited me as a partner. So in the end, you pick up on

things.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m seriously impressed. You’re a true triple threat—you sing,

you play guitar, and you dance.”

AJ shimmied Abby across the grungy bus floor. “She’s a quadruple threat because she’s fine as

hell too!”

Abby rolled her eyes, but she still let AJ spin her around and then dip her low as the song came to

a close.

As she lay reclined in his arms, I asked, “Tell me, is there anything you can’t do, Angel?”

“Hmm, maybe pass my nursing exams or find a decent guy?”

AJ groaned. “You got one right here, mi amor! Say the word, and we can reenact this entire scene

later…in the bedroom.”

Abby swatted his chest playfully. “You promised to stop with the sex stuff. A gentleman,

remember?!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered glumly as he pulled her up.

She laughed as she smoothed down her hair and fixed the straps of her sundress. “Honestly, AJ,