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 seconds, she raised her head and scanned our faces. “Yeah, one sec.” She handed the phone to Brayden. “He wants to know your tour schedule, so I’ll be able to get off the bus and onto a plane as soon as possible.”
He nodded as he took the phone and stepped away from us. “Hey Gabe, this is Brayden Vandenburg, and don’t worry, man, I’m gonna take good care of Abby until we can get her back to you guys—” He jerked back like he had been stunned. “That was so not what I meant. Besides, I’m a married man. Now here’s where we are…” His voice trailed off as he walked down the aisle.
Rhys patted Abby’s back reassuringly. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”
With her head buried in her hands, she mumbled. “Thanks. I hope so.”
Edging Rhys out of the way, I knelt down beside Abby. Taking her chin in my hands, I pulled her head up to meet my gaze. “Don’t sweat it, Angel. Your brother and Bray will figure it out. I promise we’ll have you back to your civilized little world as soon as possible and before you can get too traumatized by being in our presence.”
She smacked my hand away. “What do you mean civilized?”
I shrugged. “I just meant that it’s obvious you’re used to a certain way of life.”
Her blonde brows shot up so far I thought they might reach her white headband. “Are you insinuating that I’m some spoiled little brat who is used to having everyone bow to her every whim?”
“Maybe.”
Abby narrowed her eyes at me. “My parents were missionaries. Do you even understand what that means?”
A smirk curved at my lips. “I know all about the missionary position, Angel. In fact, I believe I was trying to acquaint you with it earlier when you cock blocked me.”
“You’re seriously disgusting!” she cried popping up out of her chair. She almost toppled me over before I could stand up. She poked her finger into my chest. “I’ll have you know that I’m not some prima donna who can’t survive without someone taking care of me. The lives of missionaries and their families are very simplistic, so trust me when I say, I’ve seen a lot of hard shit. Yeah, we lived in major cities like Rio in Brazil and Guadalajara in Mexico, but I’ve also tromped through the jungles and gone days without showers, least of all cell phones and WiFi. So I can assure you that there’s nothing you and your band of merry miscreants can do that would shock or scare me!”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh please. You fucking passed out at the sight of the guys, not to mention that you flipped and got your lacy panties all in a twist when I made out with you.”
“Are you trying to say that I couldn’t make it on this bus?” she countered.
I cocked my head at her. “Come on, Angel. You would die a thousand deaths if you even had to stay one night on here with us and our raging sex drives, atrocious language, and bad table manners.”
“You seem to forget I have three older brothers. I’m well acquainted with unruly guys.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I smirked down at her. “So you’re saying if you had the chance to get off the bus in the next few hours, you wouldn’t?”
She inched forward, standing toe to toe with me. “Are you saying I don’t have the courage to stay?”
“Yeah, I am.”
AJ held up his hands. “Whoa, what the fuck do you two think you’re doing?”
“What are the terms for me to prove myself to you?” Abby asked.
Without even thinking, I blurted, “One week on the bus.”
Her tough-as-nails resolve wavered a little. “One week?” she squeaked, her voice cracking.
Rhys tried pushing us apart. “Okay, that’s really funny, but you two can stop now,” he argued. When neither of us backed down, he said, “Let me remind you that Abby has a tour she needs to be on, and we have one as well. No one has to prove anything to anyone, okay?”
I tore my gaze from Abby’s to glare at him. “This isn’t anything to you, man. This is between me and Angel.”
“It’s Abby,” she growled.
I arched my brows at her. “So what’s it gonna be, Angel?”
Fury flashed in her blue eyes before she whirled around. She stomped over to Brayden and snatched the phone away from him. “Gabe, there’s been a change of plans.”
***
“Are you insane?” Gabe sputtered into my ear. His voice had risen an octave since I had taken the phone from Brayden and informed him about the bet. I edged away from the guys to where I was practically back in the bedroom I had fled from not twenty minutes before.
Once I felt I was sufficiently out of earshot, I replied, “No, I’m perfectly sane, thank you very much.”
I was on speaker phone with all the boys again because Eli came at me next. “Look, Abster, we all know when your temper gets the better of you and when you’re doing the spoiled baby girl ‘I’m used to getting my way’ act. But this isn’t one of us you’re fighting with—this is a mega rockstar douchebag! Trust me, you don’t owe Jake Slater a damn thing. You won’t ever see him again after today, so I would advise you to get over this dumbass bet notion and get the hell off the bus! Now!”