Music of the Heart

Abby grabbed my shoulders to steady me. I blinked my eyes trying to focus on her blurry, but beautiful image. “Most of all, it’s that I want someone like you to want me—just for me, not for Jake Slater the singer of Runaway Train.” I smacked my hand hard against my chest. “For what’s really inside me.”

Abby gasped. “Oh Jake, I—”

She never got the chance to say what I hoped to hear because my churning stomach chose that precise moment to lurch, causing me to puke all over Abby’s pristine sundress.

***

Chapter Nine

Reeling from Jake’s drunken declaration of his feelings, I never anticipated being drenched in puke. I stood there frozen in horror as Jake retched again. I snatched my hands from his shoulders and fought my gag reflex.

Jake raised his glassy eyes to mine. Pain coupled with embarrassment swam in them before they rolled back in his head, and he started to pass out.

“Motherfucker!” AJ groaned as he grabbed Jake’s sinking form.

“He’s out cold,” Rhys reported.

“Ugh, I vote we throw his smelly ass in the bedroom and let him sleep it off,” AJ suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” Rhys helped AJ drag Jake back to the bedroom. When they finished, they slammed the door.

“I’m so sorry, Abby,” Brayden apologized. He started to take a step towards me, but then crinkled his nose and backed up.

“Yeah, I get it. I reek.” As I started for the shower, the guys swept past me towards the bus exit. “Whoa, wait a minute.” They paused and turned around. I glanced back to the bedroom and then to them. “You mean you’re going to leave me alone with Jake?”

“No, you can always come with us. We’ll have an extra place at our VIP table with Jake not going,” AJ offered. He gave me a sly wink before adding, “And I’ll buy you all the Coke Zero you can drink if you’ll promise to dance once or twice with me.”

I laughed. “That’s very tempting, but I think I better stay here. You know, get a little studying in or clean up this pigsty.” I glanced down at my puke-stained clothes. “Besides, you guys need to get going and don’t have time to wait on me to cleanup.”

Brayden smiled. “We’ll make time for you to change, Abby.”

“Aw, that’s so very sweet. Come here and give me a hug!” I offered with a teasing grin.

Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Brayden replied, “Lemme take a rain check on that one.”

“I figured as much. No, you guys need to get going to keep your reservation.”

“Are you sure?” Rhys asked before ducking into the bathroom to check his appearance one last time.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I threw another uneasy glance back at the bedroom. “And you’re sure Jake will be okay?”

“You mean are you sure you’ll be okay with Jake?” AJ questioned with a grin.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Rhys chuckled as he stepped out of the bathroom. “It’ll be fine, Abby. He’ll be out for hours. And I wager when he wakes up, he’ll be too hung-over to try anything. Your virtue is safe.”

I huffed when he winked at me. “Fine. Go have fun. I’ll just be here baby-sitting the drunken, horny douchebag!”

The guys roared with laughter as they clambered off the bus and headed into the waiting SUV. “Men,” I mumbled as I headed for my suitcase and a clean change of clothes. When I got into the bathroom, I was quick to lock the door. I didn’t want to take any chances of Jake barreling in on me.

Under the scorching stream of water, my mind floated back to what Jake had said before he passed out. I couldn’t help the embarrassing flush creeping over my body at what he’d mentioned about us having sex. At the same time, an ache burned its way through me at the thought of what he had suggested, and for the first time, I felt true desire and longing for a guy. It was like nothing I had experienced with anyone else I had liked or dated. And even though I wasn’t in love with Jake, I wanted him. Bad.

“WHAT?! Have you lost your mind!” I shouted to the shower walls as I raked my fingernails through my hair. I then wildly shook my head back and forth. What was happening to me? No, no, no. I couldn’t think about Jake that way. He was a manwhore who only used women. He could never, ever love me or give me what I wanted in life…could he?

But my mind then whirled to Frank’s earlier conversation as well as what Jake had admitted after all the naughty stuff. He wanted a girl like me to really like him. It wasn’t the first time he had made that statement. He’d made that claim to me after I’d comforted him. Deep down, could Jake want a relationship and more with a girl…with me?

“Ugh!” I grunted as I finished rinsing my hair. I had claimed I wanted to gain some kind of experience of the whole bet situation, and unfortunately, I was getting more than I had bargained for. I’d been on the bus almost thirty-six hours, and my life had already been turned completely upside down.

As I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, I shivered at the thought of what the rest of the week might hold. Trying to tune out the wild and crazy thoughts flitting through my mind, I worked on drying my hair. I doused myself in lotion to make sure there wasn’t the possibility of any remaining puke smell.

Since I had yet to make it the store and my yoga pants and one t-shirt were puke stained, I slipped on a cami and a pair of jersey shorts. After I unlocked the door, I pressed my ear to the frame, listening for any sounds of Jake stirring. I rolled my eyes when I realized how stupid I probably looked. I don’t know what I was so paranoid about. It wasn’t like Jake would ever try anything. I guess I was more afraid of not wanting to stop him, rather than not being able to.

With a deep breath, I exited the bathroom. Jake was nowhere in sight, and I could only imagine he was still dead to the world in the bedroom. Bringing my hands to my hips, I pondered what to do with my evening. Studying and not getting behind while out on tour was high on my list of priorities, so I dug my books out of my bag. But before I sat down, I surveyed the inside of the bus and wrinkled my nose. These boys were just as bad as my brothers when it came to being slobs. Pulling my hair back in a ponytail, I surmised that there was no way I could concentrate on studying surrounded by all the filth.

Bending down, I grabbed a pair of rubber gloves, cleaner, and sponges out from under the sink. As I started wiping down the counters, I realized it was entirely too quiet. I ambled over to the stereo system and started going through AJ’s CD collection. When I got to Michael Jackson’s Greatest Hits, I stopped. “Oh yeah, a little old school MJ will do just fine.”