Sinners On Tour 04 Wicked Beat (18 page)

“Do you think I like all of this responsibility?” Sed paused and grinned sheepishly, both dimples showing. “Okay, I do. But you’d hate it. Your heart’s too big, Eric. People would take advantage of you. You’d have to deal with a whole lot of logistical bullshit, and it would stifle your creative energy.”

Eric snarled. “Why are you always fucking right about everything? Do you know how annoying that is?”

“Nope.” Sed wrapped an arm around Eric’s shoulders and walked him toward the tour bus. “Do you feel better now that you got that big secret off your chest?”

“Sorta.” Eric sighed remorsefully. “So what do we do about Jon?”

“I’m going to leave that up to you.”

Oh sure, the one time Eric actually wanted Sed to be in command, he hands over the controls. When they passed one of the open dressing rooms backstage, Eric caught sight of Jon sniffing something off the side of his hand. Jon’s eyelids fluttered as he held one nostril shut and then he covertly handed something to one of their temporary roadies. Very temporary. Sed shook his head in disgust and followed the guy back to the stage area where he was supposed to help with teardown. Eric was glad he didn’t have to fire him. He hated to admit it, but Sed did make a better bandleader than he ever would.

Jon spotted Eric standing in the doorway. He beamed a bright smile and hurried over to Eric. “I have this great idea on how to prank Sed,” Jon said. “We can tie a stuffed rat to a string and hide it inside the refrigerator. When Sed opens it to get a beer, the rat will fly out and scare the piss out of him. What do you think? It will work. I know it will. We just have to make sure he’s the one who opens the refrigerator.”

Eric had really wanted to wait to collect his thoughts before he confronted Jon. But if he did that, Eric knew he’d start to feel sorry for Jon and make excuses for him again. Enable him. “I know about the lockbox.”

“I didn’t take anything,” Jon said nervously. “I don’t even know the new combination.”

Eric shook his head. “But you tried, didn’t you?”

“Prove it.”

Dealing with this guy made Eric tired. He knew his life would be a whole lot easier without Jon in it. “I wasn’t talking about the
current
lockbox. I was talking about the old one. The one I supposedly emptied out, and you claimed to take the fall for me. The incident you’ve been holding over my head for years. Ringing any bells?”

“I did take the fall for you.”

“Sed told me that there was eight thousand dollars in there, not five hundred. You took the rest of that money for what? For drugs?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jon said. “I didn’t take any money out of the lockbox.”

Eric hesitated. “You didn’t?”

“No. You should get your facts straight before you start accusing people of things.”

Jon shook his head and stormed away, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans.

Eric watched Jon stalk off down the corridor. Maybe Jon hadn’t taken the money. Maybe Sed was wrong.

Or maybe Jon was lying.

“Fuck my life,” Eric muttered under his breath.

Over two weeks later, somewhere between Buffalo and Detroit, Rebekah squirmed onto the dining table to sit next to Trey as they waited for dinner to finish cooking. Both booths were full, so she didn’t have many seating options to choose from. Jace sat next to Brian on one side of the table, and Sed next to Eric on the other. She might have squeezed onto Eric’s lap, but he was trapped against the wall, and Sed took up more than his fair share of the booth with his broad shoulders.

Eric had been pensive since their Austin show. She knew why. He’d told her about his situation with Jon. She’d advised him to cut all ties with the guy, but Eric was big on second chances and third chances and twenty-seventh chances. So Jon still played the shows, following the tour buses in his Jeep, and Eric avoided him as much as possible. Rebekah patiently waited for Eric to get his head out of his ass, and Sed held his tongue.

“This tour schedule is killing me,” Trey complained, rubbing his face with both hands. “The venues are scattered all over the fucking place.”

“Rescheduling canceled shows is a bitch,” Sed said. “They never align properly. Just be glad we’re putting off the canceled shows in Canada until the spring.”

“My blood’s not hot enough to survive a Canadian winter,” Trey said.

“Your blood’s hot enough to melt the polar ice caps,” Brian teased and gave Trey a playful shove. Trey ricocheted into Rebekah, who burst out laughing.

Rebekah’s laughter died when Brian’s cell phone beeped in his pocket.

“Myrna?” Sed asked. They all knew Brian was waiting to hear the results of her latest pregnancy test. He’d managed to fly in to visit her for one night during her fertile time, and she’d yet to call crying that she’d started her period again.

Brain read the screen and nodded. He looked a bit ill. “Text message.”

“Well, what did she say?” Eric asked.

A look of confusion spread across Brian’s handsome features. “Uh? It says the rabbit died. The
rabbit
died?”

“Did she hit a rabbit with her car or what?” Trey asked around the cherry sucker in his mouth.

Rebekah chuckled. “They used to inject rabbits with women’s urine to determine pregnancy.”

“Ugh,” Trey said, “that’s fucking disgusting. Are you serious?”

Rebekah tousled his hair and nodded. “Completely.”

“So what does it mean when the rabbit dies?” The look of concern on Brian’s face made Rebekah’s heart twang.

“Nothing bad, sweetie. It means she’s pregnant.”

Brian’s jaw dropped. “I’m going to be a daddy?”

Rebekah smiled and nodded. “I’d say that’s what she’s trying to tell you.”

“I’m going to be a daddy!” Brian grabbed the nearest person, who just happened to be Jace, and gave him a bone-crunching hug. “I’m going to be a daddy,” he told him.

“Congratulations,” Jace gasped.

Sed reached across the table and gathered half the band in a huge hug with Brian in the middle. His large biceps pressed Rebekah’s head firmly against Trey’s shoulder. “That is
fucking
awesome, dude,” Sed’s deep baritone rumbled through his chest. Rebekah could hear the emotion in his words. She didn’t know Sed could get emotional.

“I’ve got to see Myrna,” Brian said, fighting his way out of the group hug. “I should be there with her.”

“We have a show tomorrow,” Sed reminded him.

“This is more important.”

Brian climbed to his feet. Standing in the aisle, he dialed his wife and fidgeted with a chain hanging from his belt loop as he waited for her to answer. His features softened the second he heard her voice.

“Does this mean…” he said. His bright smile could only mean she’d affirmed their suspicions. “When?” He bit his lip. “July? I can’t wait that long.” He shook his head and chuckled. “God, I want to hold you right now.” He swallowed hard and noticed that the entire band and Rebekah were staring. He pressed on one eyelid with his fingertips, turned on his heel, and disappeared into the back bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Rebekah turned to look at Eric.

He smiled slightly and mouthed, “Are you okay?”

She nodded. Sure, she’d never know the joy of telling the man she loved that he was going to be a father, but she was happy for Brian. She knew how much he wanted a baby.

“This sucks balls,” Trey grumbled. He slid off the table and shut himself in the bathroom.

Rebekah figured Trey would be happier for Brian than anyone. He was his best friend.

Sed shook his head. “Spoiled brat.”

Rebekah stared at the floor, wondering how this new development was going to affect the band. They wouldn’t break up over something like this, would they? Or tour less? She loved this job.

Without warning, Eric reached out, grabbed Rebekah around the waist, and dragged her across the table. He growled and gobbled against her neck until she was laughing and squealing at the top of her lungs. She kicked her feet, trying to escape his assault, but Eric held tight. On the opposite side of the table, Jace grabbed her ankle to avoid getting kicked in the face. When Eric decided she’d laughed enough, he tucked her head under his chin and held her gently. She wasn’t in the most comfortable position, stretched across the dining table on her side, wedged against Eric’s shoulder as he sat in the booth, but she let him hold her. She knew he needed to provide comfort as much as she needed to receive it. He couldn’t stand it when she was melancholy.

A moment later, the bedroom door opened, and Brian wandered out.

“How’s she doing?” Sed asked.

“She’s fine. Cussed me out when I told her I wanted to cancel tomorrow night’s show to see her.”

“That sounds like her,” Sed said and chuckled. “Is she going to fly in to see you then?”

Brian shook his head. “She said we’ll see each other at Thanksgiving.”

“That’s only two weeks,” Rebekah said, hoping he’d stop looking so fucking miserable. The man was intense in every imaginable way. He played his guitar intensely. Loved his wife intensely. Experienced emotions intensely. Rebekah bet he was one hell of an intense lover. She flushed at her thoughts and cuddled closer to Eric, who wasn’t exactly intense, but definitely enthusiastic.

“It’s sure to be the longest two weeks of my life,” Brian murmured. He glanced around. “Where’s Trey?”

“Sulking in the bathroom,” Sed told him. “We have got to find that guy someone to love.”

“He has a different someone to love every night,” Eric said with a chuckle.

“And that’s his problem.”

No, his problem was that he already had someone to love, and that someone didn’t return the sentiment. Rebekah didn’t say it, but she was pretty sure everyone except Brian was thinking it.

Brian sighed. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Hey, Brian,” Rebekah said and eased out of Eric’s embrace to sit up on the table again.

Brian turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised in question.

She smiled brightly and met his intense gaze. “You’re going to be a daddy.”

He beamed, all his troubles flowing away in an instant. “I’m going to be a daddy!” He tossed the bathroom door open. “Hey, Trey! I’m going to be a daddy!”

“Fuck off.”

“That is not the appropriate response.”

Brian yanked Trey into the corridor by one arm and forced him into a headlock. Trey poked Brian in the ribs, hooked his leg around Brian’s ankle, and took him to the floor. Rebekah giggled as they wrestled, not sure why watching them go at it made her hungry for sex. Eventually, they stopped wrestling and lay in a tangled heap on the floor laughing.

“What’s the appropriate response, Trey?” Brain asked.

His head pinned to Brian’s chest, Trey wrapped an arm around Brian’s abdomen and gave him a squeeze. “Congratulations,” Trey said breathlessly. “Daddy.”

Brian placed a hand on Trey’s head and pressed him closer to his chest. “I hope my son’s smart like his mother and not a knucklehead like the two of us.”

Trey squeezed his eyes shut and clung to Brian as if he planned to never let him go.

Rebekah had never been more exhausted in her life. Tonight was their last show before a six-week break centered around Thanksgiving and Christmas. She was pretty sure she would need every day of those six weeks just to recover from their grueling tour schedule. Carefully winding a power cord so the soundboard could be put on the truck, she paused when she felt someone’s presence behind her.

“Uh, Rebekah?”

Rebekah spun around to look at Marcus, her eyes wide in question.

“I sort of owe you an apology,” he murmured, his eyes downcast. “I found this a few weeks ago and forgot to return it.”

He pulled a spiral-bound notebook from under his sweatshirt and held it out to her. It was Dave’s collection of notes that she’d misplaced her first night on the job.

“That would have come in handy when I had no idea what I was doing,” she said, “but I don’t need it now.”

“Dave’s a genius,” Marcus said, still not meeting her eyes. “I thought I would be the best choice to take his place, but…”

She waited for him to continue. He looked up, and his pug-like eyes met hers steadily. “But…” he said, “you’re good at what you do. The band sounds awesome. I’m not sure if Dave could have done any better.”

Rebekah couldn’t hide her smile. “You really think so?” she said eagerly.

Marcus chuckled and got a sappy look on his face. “Yeah. You’ve proven yourself over and over. I’m sorry I misjudged you. It’s just really hard to take someone as fucking adorable as you are seriously.”

Rebekah’s smile faltered.

“Uh, uh, uhnnnn,” Eric said as he moved to stand between them. “You will not be teaching Marcus any lessons for mistaking you as adorable.”

Marcus flushed and did an about-face. “Later.”

Eric wrapped an arm around Rebekah’s waist. “Are you about finished?”

“Not even close. We have to get this stuff put away properly tonight so everything is easy to find when we go back on the road in January. Did you talk to Jon yet?”

“Sorta.”

“Eric, you promised!”

“I told him we wouldn’t need him when we went back on tour in January.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

“How did he respond?”

“Made me feel as if I betrayed him. Told me to go fuck myself. Took off in his Jeep.”

“Do you think he’s gone for good?”

Eric shook his head. “I have no doubt he’ll try to manipulate me again. I’m not going to cave next time though.”

“I’ll make sure of it. This has been eating you alive for weeks. You need to stop being his martyr.”

He rubbed the spot between his eyebrows with one finger. “I know… I just… He was the first real friend I ever had. Turned out he wasn’t my friend after all.” He grinned unexpectedly. “I got you something.”

There he went again, changing the subject without warning. “Eric, we discussed this. No more expensive gifts.”

“It wasn’t expensive.” He pulled a little white teddy bear out of his vest. It was wearing a tiny blue T-shirt that read I ♥ Sinners. “It reminded me of you because…” He leaned closer to her ear. “It’s adorable.”

“Eric Sticks, I’m not adorable!” She tossed the teddy bear at him, and he caught it in one hand.

“Prove it,” he teased and jogged backward. He cuddled the bear against his chest. “Oh, look at adorable little Rebekah,” he said, squeezing the stuffed toy until its head threatened to pop off. “Cutest girl in the world.”

She knew he just wanted to play, and she was tempted to chase him around the stadium, corner him, and tickle him into submission, but sometimes work had to come first. “I’ll deal with you later.”

His eyebrows lifted, and his smile of anticipation almost convinced her to forgo work. “Promise?”

If he wanted to act like a naughty boy, she was going to treat him like a naughty boy. “I do not tolerate that kind of misbehavior in my class, Mr. Sticks.”

The excited little huff he produced was almost more than she could bear.

“As your first punishment, you will write an essay that describes all the ways you plan to repent for your disobedience,” she added.

He scowled. “Essay? I’m not writing a fucking essay.”

Rebekah yanked a blank piece of paper out of the notebook Marcus had returned. She took a pen from a cup sitting next to her soundboard and handed it to Eric.

“Rebekah…”

“Write: I am sorry I upset Ms. Blake.”

He stared at her for a minute, trying to figure out her game. When he put the paper on the edge of the soundboard and started to write, she smiled.

Looking over his shoulder to check his progress, she said, “Now write: To make it up to her, I will suck on her clit until she comes.”

His head snapped up, and he pinned her with a look that made her toes curl in her sneakers. She knew how Eric’s mind worked. Half of his excitement, maybe more, came from thinking about sex, and this would definitely make him think about it.

“I expect you to write down a lot of ways you plan to make this up to me, Eric. A lot. You’ve been a very naughty boy.” She turned her body to block the view of her cupping the crotch of his jeans. She knew he’d be hard, and he didn’t disappoint her. Stroking the length of his cock, she looked up at him with a teasing smile. “The second part of your essay will describe all the things you think Ms. Blake does to naughty boys. When you’re finished, turn in your paper to me, and then go wait on the bus until I come to punish you. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said breathlessly.

“It will be a couple hours before I can get to you, so you might as well take your time on that essay.” She released his cock, took the teddy bear out of his hand, and set her new mascot on her soundboard.

“Ms. Blake?” he said.

“Get to work,” she said harshly.

“I think I’m going to need more paper.”

She grinned and ripped out several additional sheets. The kiss he planted behind her ear as he snatched the papers was all the motivation she needed to finish her work as quickly as possible.

***

Eric handed his seven-page essay to Ms. Blake as respectfully as a guy with a raging hard-on could manage. He wasn’t sure what excited him more, writing it, or knowing she would read it. Maybe it was knowing she might do the things he’d written on the page. And let him do things to her.

Ms. Blake glanced at the top sheet. The sternness in her expression did strange things to him. He wanted her approval. Her praise. “This looks acceptable,” she said.

Acceptable?
He’d poured himself into that essay. Admitted fantasies he’d never admitted to anyone. He tried to snatch the papers back, but she held them out of reach behind her back.

“I’m almost finished here,” she said. Her gaze locked with his, and he knew he’d do anything she asked. “Go wait in my office, and don’t touch anything. Especially not your cock. I see how hard it is. That is very naughty, Mr. Sticks.”

“Where’s your office?”

She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Where do you think it is?”

“The bedroom on the tour bus.”

She shrugged. “That will do. Go now.” She continued with her work, organizing color-coded cords in a large case.

He backed away slowly, wondering if he could wait without dying. He could see the headline now.
Rock
Drummer
Killed
By
Lack
of
Blood
Flow
to
Brain
. And it would all be Rebekah’s fault for making him so damned hard. Then how would she feel about tormenting him ceaselessly? She’d feel really guilty for sending him to an early grave by keeping all his blood sequestered in his cock, instead of serving his vital organs. Not that he actually minded the torment. He loved every minute of it.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Are you still here?”

He turned and tried to walk casually to the back of the stadium where the bus was parked. It wasn’t easy in his condition. Especially when some fangirl spotted him and hurdled a barrier fence to hug him excitedly.

“Oh Eric, I’ve been waiting forever to see you,” she crooned. “I didn’t think you’d ever come outside.”

“Um, okay, sorry,” he said, trying to untangle her arms from around his neck. He remembered a time when the occasional lust-crazed fan made his entire week. Now he just wanted to get the fuck away from her before she discovered his arousal. She rubbed up against him and chuckled. Too late. Now he’d never convince her to leave him alone.

“Is that for me?” she asked, her hand sliding down his belly to his crotch.

“No, actually, it’s not. Could you—” He grabbed her wrist to move her hand.

“Let me suck you off,” she said huskily. “I want a picture of me with your cock down my throat.” She handed him her camera phone and reached for the top button of his jeans.

“Whoa, no!” he gasped and jerked away. “Here.” He shoved her phone into her hand and pounded on the side of the bus so they’d open the door and let him in. Besides, it was fucking cold outside, and he didn’t have his jacket.

“Don’t be shy,” the girl said, plastering herself to his back and rubbing his cock through his pants. “You’re super hard, baby. I know you want me.”

“Stop touching me like that,” he demanded, grateful when the bus door finally opened. He climbed onboard and found the entire band was already inside. When the girl tried to follow, Sed came to stand at the head of the stairs. The girl took one look at him, went white as a sheet, and ran off. Eric didn’t bother to ask why. He was glad to be rid of her.

“Where’ve you been, Sticks?” Sed asked. “We’ve been waiting for you so we can leave.”

“Rebekah’s not ready yet. She’s still packing up equipment.”

“She can ride on the pigsty bus with the other roadies,” Sed said. “We need to get home. I know
you
get laid every two hours, but I’m about to explode.”

Brian nodded in agreement. Jace was blushing and texting on his cell phone feverishly, which meant he and Aggie were sexting each other again.

“I’m good,” Trey said around his lollipop. Undoubtedly, he’d gotten a little action after the show.

“I’ll go tell her to hurry,” Eric said and sprinted off the bus. No way in hell was he riding on a bus for fourteen hours without her. He didn’t know how the other guys handled being away from their respective ladies for days and weeks at a time.

He almost bumped into Rebekah as she hurried out of the building carrying a case. He scooped it out of her hands. “Let me get that.”

“You are supposed to be wait—”

“Eric, come on or we’re leaving without you!” Sed yelled from the tour bus.

“Are you almost finished?” he asked her. “If you don’t hurry, we’ll be forced to ride on the pigsty bus.”

“The guys are going to load all the stuff. I was on my way to deliver your punishment and thought I could drop off that case on my way.”

He slid the case into the back of the moving van, lifted her onto his shoulder, and headed for the bus.

“Eric, this is no way to treat your teacher. You are in big trouble.” He heard the laughter in her voice and couldn’t wait to see how much trouble he could get into before they made it to the bus.

He paddled her rump playfully. “I’m guessing the naughtier I behave, the more I’m going to enjoy this.”

“I don’t know about that. Maybe I’ll make you wait for it.”

“You wouldn’t! You make me write all that kinky stuff, get me all worked up, and then you’re going to let me suffer?”

“I haven’t gotten the chance to read it all yet.”

He set her down on the bottom step. “Can I have a kiss before you start abusing me?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s cold out here,” she said, staring into his eyes. For once he wasn’t looking down at her; they were eye to eye. And despite the chill in the air, he felt himself melting under her heated gaze. “I love you.”

He wondered if she’d like a new wristwatch or perfume or a yacht or a private island in the Caribbean or something. She kissed him before he could say he loved her back, but she knew how he felt. How could she not? Their tender kiss quickly turned heated.

He was tugging on her clothes.

She was tugging on his hair.

He pressed her against him so he could feel her soft breasts against his chest. His hands slid down to her luscious little ass. He found his paper in her back pocket. Maybe he should take it back before she got the chance to read it. Somewhere in that essay, he’d admitted some pretty embarrassing desires he had for a certain bandmate’s college professor wife. Rebekah had pushed that button by bringing up the naughty schoolboy scenario. Myrna Sinclair always made Eric feel like a naughty schoolboy. He just hadn’t recognized how much he’d wanted her to exert her authority over him until he’d started writing his essay to Rebekah. He no longer had an interest in Myrna fulfilling that fantasy. Not when he had Rebekah. She didn’t fulfill one of his fantasies. She fulfilled them all.

Someone cleared his throat somewhere above them. Eric forced his lips from Rebekah’s and glanced at Sed, who looked ready to strangle him. “Are you saying good-bye or what?” Sed asked gruffly.

“Nope, we were making out,” Rebekah said. “His sexiness overwhelms me sometimes, and I have to kiss him.” Eric would have thought she was joking, but she maintained a completely straight face. Rebekah turned and trotted up the steps. Eric followed, knowing he was a slave to his desire for this woman, but not much caring at the moment.

He followed her to the bedroom. When they reached the door, she turned to look at him. “Wait here,” she said sternly. “I’ll come get you after I read your essay.”

She let herself in the bedroom and closed the door in his face. She was totally going to leave him hanging. He just knew it. He sighed resolutely and went to sit at the dining table across from Jace, preparing for a horrible case of blue balls.

“You texting Aggie?” Eric asked and shifted uncomfortably on the bench.

Jace jumped as if he’d shot him. And the guy knew what that felt like from experience. Jace flushed and then tucked his cell phone under the table. “She misses me.” He grinned.

Eric reached across the table and slugged him in the shoulder. “We should hang out over the break.”