“Why Matthew Elijah Renard, don’t tell me you’re cussing at me now? And with some of your infamous exploits with girls on and off tour how is that any different than with Jake? I mean, whatever would Mom and Dad say?” I chided into the phone.
“Don’t get sassy with me, Abigail Elizabeth!” he countered.
I exhaled noisily and leaned back against the wall. “Come on guys. A tour is a tour. This is all a learning experience, so in the end, I think this would be a good opportunity for me.”
Eli groaned. “An opportunity for what? To be degraded, ogled, and potentially seduced into one or more of their STD infested beds?”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “No, I think it would be good to see the inner-workings of another band. And I think you’re being very unfair and judgmental about the guys.” Okay, so maybe he was right on the mark about all of them but Brayden thinking that way, but I wouldn’t give in and let Eli know that—I would never hear the end of it.
“Abby, you’re a twenty-one-year-old virgin who has no experience with men outside the two relationships you’ve had with youth group leaders who probably never got past first base with you.”
“Ha, I’ll have you know it was second with Paul!” The moment the words left my lips, I cringed. The last thing I needed was my brothers knowing my sexual past…or lack thereof.
“I think my eyes need bleaching with the mental image I just got,” Gabe moaned.
“Whatever,” I grumbled.
Eli snorted into the phone. “Regardless of what you’ve done or not done, since we are guys and have dicks, I think we know a little more about what Runaway Train is thinking about you right now, and all of them, but maybe the married one, wants to screw you!” he snapped.
I gasped at the same time I heard a smack on the other line. “Don’t talk like that in front of her,” Micah admonished. I was glad to finally hear his voice. He was the shyest of boys, the deep thinker, and the one with a tender heart and soul as deep as the ocean. “What about you, Mike?” I asked.
He sighed deeply. “While I share some of the boys’ apprehension, I also try to look at this through a greater scheme of events. You’re a bright light, Abby, and who knows the good you might do with those guys in the short time you have with Runaway Train.”
“Exactly. I mean, Mom and Dad brought us up to give people from all walks of life and circumstances a chance, right?”
Before Micah could reply, Eli laughed manically. “If you think for one minute that Dad is going to be okay with you on a bus with four hard-core rockers, you have lost your freakin’ mind.”
The mention of our father doused my confidence. Oh jeez, what had I done? He was going to kill me. Twenty-one or not, overprotective fathers never seem to fully realize that their daughters were grown adults.
At my silence, Micah said, “Don’t worry, Abby. I’ll talk to him and try to smooth things over. At the end of the day, we all know your true character. We know that you’re capable of doing this and not succumbing to temptation. Right?”
“Well, duh, of course.”
“Then I look forward to seeing you in a week.”
“Me too, Mike.”
He exhaled noisily into the phone. “But don’t think for a minute I won’t be calling in to check on you every day—maybe twice.”
I laughed. “I wouldn’t expect any less of you.”
“Love ya, Baby Girl.”
“Love you, too.” When the other guys were silent, I added, “And I love you too, Gabe and Eli even though you’re being jerkfaces!”
A deep chuckle came from Eli. “You know we love you, Abster. You’ve been a sweet pain in the ass since the moment Mom brought you home from the hospital.”
“Thanks a lot,” I grumbled.
“If one of those douchebags dares to lay even a finger on you, I’m totally forgetting the turn the other cheek message, and I’ll pound his ass, got it?” Gabe growled.
I grinned as I shook my head. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Okay then. I guess this is goodbye for now.”
A deep chorus of “Byes” echoed around me before I hung up the phone. Cradling it to my chest, a tremble went through me when the enormity of what I had done finally crashed over me. I had made a bet with the notorious womanizing lead singer of Runaway Train to stay on their bus for an entire week. What the hell had I been thinking? I blew out a frustrated breath. Well, no time for worrying about it now. As my mom would say, I’d made my bed, and I had to lie in it.
I moaned at the thought of bed and sleeping arrangements. I mean, where was I going to sleep? I hoped to goodness it wasn’t going to have to be with one of the guys. I gazed around the roosts, counting them in my head. There were two extra ones if one of the guys slept in the bedroom. Phew, okay, at least I wouldn’t be sharing a bed with Mr. Octopus Arms Slater.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself off the wall and headed back down the hallway. The guys were lounging around the table when I came back up the aisle. “Is everything okay?” Brayden asked, his expression one of deep concern.
“Um, well, as good as it can be considering my brothers think I’ve lost my mind for consenting to a bet to stay on a bus with a group of absolute strangers, not to mention they’re pretty hard-core rockers.” I forced a smile to my lips. “But besides that, I’m peachy.”
Brayden nodded. “I can understand how they feel. I have two younger sisters as well as an eight-month-old daughter.”
“Aw, can I see a picture of her?”
Happily, he dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it over to me. His screen saver was of a beautiful dark haired, dark eyed grinning baby girl as well as sandy haired little boy with blue eyes. “That’s Melody Lane. And that’s Jude Paul—he’s four.”
“Let me guess. Any chance you’re an intense Beatles fan?” I questioned with a grin.
Jake groaned beside us. “More like Bray is Beatles obsessed. He likes to think he’s Paul McCartney.”
Brayden only shook his head good-naturedly at Jake’s dig. “I do a lot of song writing just like Paul, and I’m a helluva guitar player.”
I smiled at him. “Well, I adore the Beatles too. They’re my parents’ favorite, so I was raised on them.”
“Favorite song?” Brayden asked.
“Without a doubt, Let it Be.”
He clapped his hands together gleefully. “Mine too! And so written by the fabulous Paul McCartney.”
I laughed. “Exactly.” I stared down at the picture again. “Your children are absolutely adorable, Brayden. Jude’s got future heartbreaker written all over him.”
“Yeah, he takes after my wife, and Melody, well, she’s the spitting image of me.”
“She’s already gorgeous at eight months. You’re going to be in a lot of trouble in about twelve or thirteen years.”
He grimaced. “Tell me about it. I’ll be even more over-protective with her than my sisters.”
I nodded. “I can only imagine because my dad is even crazier than my brothers. Being the baby girl isn’t easy, especially with the age difference. The twins, Gabe and Eli, are twenty-six, and Micah’s twenty-eight.”
“You must be really spoiled,” Jake noted with a self-satisfied smirk.
I shook my head at him. “Yes, but not like you’re thinking.”
“We’ll see,” he murmured before winking at me.
I eased down across from the guys in one of the Captain’s chairs. “So what’s your deal, Angel?” AJ asked.
My brows creased in confusion. “My deal?”
“Why were you at Rock Nation? Were you just checking out the scene to hang out with your brothers or what?”
I opened my mouth to answer when Jake sarcastically replied, “She’s obviously in the biz. She came with a guitar, dumbass.”
“Well, yes and no on being in the business and hanging out with my brothers. I’m supposed to be headlining with them in the fall. Well, at least with Gabe and Eli. Micah’s planning on quitting after he gets married in August.”