Beat of the Heart (2 page)

Standing toe to toe with each other, we waved to the crowd before doing a united bow. Jake

passed each of us the microphone so we could say our individual goodbyes. Once Brayden returned it

to him, Jake grinned. “Good night, Oklahoma City! Keep it rockin’ til next time!” he bellowed, his

voice echoing throughout the auditorium. With a final wave, we started jogging off the stage. When I

got to the edge, I turned back. I kissed each of my sticks before chucking them out into the crowd. It

was a wonder, after all the times of doing it, I hadn’t managed to poke someone’s eye out or inflict

some other heinous injury with them. The potential liability and lawsuits were something that ‘legal-

eagle’, Rhys, loved to remind me of constantly.

Security quickly escorted us into one of the backstage rooms where we’d gotten ready earlier in the

evening. The members of Jacob’s Ladder—Jake’s fiancée, Abby Renard, and her twin brothers, Gabe

and Eli, lounged on the over-stuffed couches, awaiting our arrival. With sweat pouring off of me, I

gladly took an ice-cold water bottle, along with a towel, from one of the roadies. As I guzzled down

the water, another guy thrust a clean shirt in my face. It was t-minus five minutes till Meet and Greet

time with lucky fans.

“Ew, Jake!” Abby squealed. I glanced over my shoulder to see that Jake hadn’t bothered to towel

off or change shirts. Instead, he was rubbing his sweat-soaked body over Abby’s glittering stage

dress. When he nuzzled his face against her neck and whispered something in her ear, she grinned and

didn’t seem to mind that her appearance to meet fans was getting shot to hell.

“Get a room,” I teased, as I whipped my old shirt over my head.

“We may have to call the room on your bus tonight,” Abby said with a giggle.

I groaned as I pulled on the clean, skin-tight, black Runaway Train T-shirt. “I thought the whole

point of you two buying a separate bus was so you could keep it rockin’ without us having to know.”

Wrinkling her nose at my description of their activities, Abby replied, “Yes, but since Lily is with

us for the next three shows, we want to give up the bed to her and Bray.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Let’s rephrase that, babe.
You
want to give the bed up, not
me
.”

Abby smacked his arm playfully. “But the roosts can be awfully fun too, you know.”

A wicked grin curved on Jake’s face as if some elicit memory had just been rekindled in his mind.

“That’s true.”

Just as they started to engage in some serious lip-lock, a knock came at the door, signaling it was

time to start the Meet and Greet. Running a hand through my sweat-soaked hair, I tried to steady

myself. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the hell out of our fans—they made us what we were, but I

preferred pre-show Meet and Greets. With the pre-performance energy adrenaline pumping, you

really could give to your fans what they deserved.

But the suits and event planners never quite understood that. So, after days of touring and hours

spent playing your heart out has sent exhaustion prickling over your body like nicks from a razor

blade, it was hard finding the energy after a show to give your all to each and every person who came

by—especially the over-eager women who wanted more than you were willing to give. You’re too

tired, and you let your guard down, which results in having your ass and junk unwillingly grabbed.

A flurry of movement came from the doorway indicating the eager fans had arrived. Abby and Jake

quickly rose off the couch and then went their separate ways with their respective bands. The line

remained steady, and my face felt frozen in a smile as I posed with different fans. I signed so many

shirts, CD’s, and body parts that my hand cramped up so bad that I thought it would never recover to

play in tomorrow night’s show. Rhys and I were now the only guys who signed breasts. Brayden had

been out of that game practically since we started, and now that Jake was engaged to Abby, he was

refusing too. In his absence, I was happy to oblige.

We only had about ten fans left when Kylie, Lily’s younger sister and sometimes nanny, poked her

dark head in the door. Before she could open her mouth, Melody’s high decibel scream echoed

throughout the room. “DADDY! I WANT MY DADDY!”

With one hand signing a program, Brayden used the other to beckon Kylie. She hurried into the

room, trying to muffle Melody’s cries by cradling the fifteen month old to her rack. But Melody pulled

away and reached out for Bray. The moment he took her, Melody quieted, wrapping her arms around

Brayden’s neck.

He gave an apologetic smile to the fans. “Excuse me, but it seems my daughter needs her daddy. I

hope you all won’t mind if I duck out?”

Since it was only women left, they practically melted into a freaking puddle in the floor at

Brayden’s words and actions. A chorus of “Aw’s” coupled with “What a good father you are” rang

through the room. As Bray left with one of our jacked-up security guards, Kylie didn’t follow him.

Instead, she hung around, talking to Abby, while cutting her blue eyes over at me.

“Trouble, bro,” Rhys said, as he handed a hat back to the last fan left.

Glancing up at Kylie, I winked, causing her to grin. “Nothing we haven’t already done before.”

“Yeah, I know.” Rhys turned his back to everyone else and eased up beside me, so no one else

could hear us. “You’re all about the game and the freakin’ chase. Once you caught Kylie, she threw

you
for a loop by not being heart-broken when she went back home for spring semester.” Rhys

grimaced. “Dude, you got shit-faced for a week.”

I shrugged. “So I got a little attached. It doesn’t mean it will happen again.”

Rhys huffed out a frustrated breath. “Whatever man. Just don’t come to my roost drunk and crying

over her.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled. With the last fan exiting the door, Jake began tugging Abby out of the

room. I hoped for their sake, Bray had managed to get Melody to sleep so it wouldn’t interrupt the

rated R plans I imagined Jake had for himself and Abby.

I gave Kylie my best ‘you will be screaming my name in an hour’ smirk. “Hey stranger.”

With a smile, she tossed some of her chestnut brown hair over her shoulder. “Hey yourself.”

“Good to see you back.”

“Thanks.”

“How long are you along for the ride?”

She cocked her head, as if surmising whether there was some loaded innuendo in my question.

“Just for the week. I’m off for Spring Break.”

“Ah, I see.” I rubbed the stubble along my chin, trying to decide the best way to approach getting

her naked in my bed as soon as possible.

“I’m not seeing anyone now,” Kylie said softly.

“Good to know.”

She brushed up against me. “I missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

“With your hoard of female admirers, I highly doubt that.”

I gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s the truth.” Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the room was

starting to thin out. “What would you say about coming back to my bus tonight, instead of Jake and

Bray’s?”

“I think I would like that.”

Pinning my hands against the wall on either side of her head, I leaned in, my lips inches from hers.

“From what I remember you used to like it a lot, especially when I gave you multiple orgasms. All.

Night. Long.”

A flush tinged her cheeks as I ground my pelvis into hers, eliciting a slight gasp that stroked my

ego. “AJ,” she murmured, closing her eyes in anticipation. After a quick kiss, that was harder to

control than I had originally thought, Kylie groaned in disappointment. I almost did the same thing.

Instead, I pushed back off the wall and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Come on, let’s take this to

the bus.”

She bobbed her head and let me lead her out of the room. We started weaving our way through the

hustle and bustle of roadies breaking down the show’s equipment and loading the trucks. Ahead of us,

Frank, our head roadie and father figure, joined up with Jake and Abby. We were only a few feet

from Jake’s bus when Frank stumbled on the pavement. Jake and Abby stopped, but when he didn’t

continue walking, Jake reached out for him. But before he could catch him, Frank slumped to the

ground.

“Oh shit!” I cried, as I sprinted away from Kylie.

Ashen faced, Frank clutched his chest. “My heart.”

“Somebody get the paramedics!” Jake shouted.

Roadies scrambled around, grabbing for their phones. An ambulance was always on stand-by

during a show, and I hoped to God it hadn’t left yet.

Instead of kneeling down beside Frank, Abby raced to the bus. The driver saw her coming and

hurried to have the door open. She disappeared inside for a minute before running back with the first

aid kit. Brayden was right on her heels, obviously sensing something had happened.

When she got back to us, Abby fumbled in the bag before digging a bottle of aspirin out. She then

knelt down beside Frank and popped a pill. “Here. Swallow this,” she commanded.

As Frank took the pill, the wail of an ambulance’s siren pierced the silence. It was only seconds

later that it came screeching around the corner. Slamming on its brakes only a few feet away, it stop

with the paramedics rushing out of the doors. I backed away so they could get to Frank. That’s when I

glanced over at Jake. He stood frozen, unblinking and unmoving—pure horror etched on his face.

“Jake?” I questioned. But he didn’t respond.

After getting an oxygen mask over Frank’s face, the paramedics worked on putting in an IV and

loading him onto the stretcher. “He’s stable, so someone can ride with us,” one of them said.

Abby glanced over her shoulder. “Jake, do you want to ride to the hospital with Frank?”

He ignored her question. Instead, he murmured absentmindedly, “You were crumpled on the

ground.”

Rising to her feet, Abby’s blonde brow lined in confusion. “What?”

“Your white dress was stained with blood…Then, she was on the ground at the stables when she

had the last seizure.” Jake shuddered. “She never got out of bed again after that.”

Tears sparkled in Abby’s bright blue eyes as she crossed the distance between them to put her

hands on Jake’s face. “Baby, I’m here. Don’t go back there,” she crooned softly.

One of the paramedics poked his head out the door. “Okay, we’re ready to go.”

Abby threw a panicked glance over at me. I knew she wanted to go, but she couldn’t bear leaving

Jake in the state he was in. “Don’t worry. I’ll go.”

“Thank you,” she replied, before wrapping Jake in her arms.

I hopped in the back of the ambulance and slid across the bench. Reaching out, I grabbed Frank’s

hand, which was already wrapped in IV tubing, in mine. He squeezed it back. The doors closed

behind us just as the wailing siren started up. I glanced out of the window to watch Jake and Abby’s

retreating forms. Kylie threw up her hand, and I felt a pang of remorse that I hadn’t even said good-

bye. As I waved back to her, it was almost like my dick felt an intense pang of frustration that there

would be no getting busy tonight. Glancing down at Frank’s ashen face, I felt like a gigantic ass for

even thinking about a missed hook-up. The dude was like a father to me and the guys for fuck’s sake.

As we started down the road, Frank tugged me closer to him. “This means a bypass,” he croaked.

“You don’t know that. Could be they just need to put another one of those stent thingies in those

old, crusty arteries of yours.”

He shook his head. “Doc said so last time.”

With a shrug, I replied, “So you’ll have a bypass or two. It’s not the end of the world. People have

them all the time. My abuelo in San Antonio had one a month ago. Good as new.”

Frank seemed to be weighing my words. The heart problems he’d dealt with in the last two years

weren’t a secret to anyone on the crew or in the band. He’d had two separate angioplasties while

during our down time not on tour. We hadn’t given it much thought since he had bounced back so

easily both times.

“I just want to get it done back in Atlanta, okay? I want it to be with my doctor and where my boys

can be with me.”

“You got it, man. We’ll get you back there ASAP, even if we have to call the label’s jet.”

“Thanks, son.”

With a wink, I squeezed his hand. “No problem.”