Strings of the Heart (24 page)

Jake snickered. “Guess you’re still a history nerd, huh?”

“Yeah, he is,” I quickly replied.

After Jake seemed appeased with our responses, he, Abby, and Eli began to run through the merits of my performance. But I tuned them out. All I could do was stare at Rhys. Even when he met my gaze and held it, I couldn’t look away. I didn’t care what he thought about me staring at him—I enjoyed even the smallest of connections with him. And while my chest clenched with the agony of how I should abandon my feelings for him, I once again wished that somehow or some way things could be different between us.

A
fter leaving Omaha in the night, we pulled into Cheyenne, Wyoming just as the sun had begun to rise outside my window. After grabbing a quick shower, I headed into the kitchen. Outfitted in only his boxer shorts, Jake stood in front of the counter mixing up baby cereal while Abby sat at the table holding the wailing twins. “Morning,” I said, over Jax and Jules’s cries.

“Morning,” Jake mumbled.

Nudging him out of the way with my hip, I said, “Here. I’ll finish this. You get their bottles.”

Jake nodded and then pivoted over to the fridge. I’d prepared their bottles for several feedings the night before. He popped them in the microwave, and when it dinged off, he sprinkled formula on his arm to test it. As I was sucking up the cereal into one of the feeders, Jake was taking Jules into his arms and handing Abby a bottle. Once the twins had their formula, they quieted instantly.

I brought the feeders over to the table. “Can you take her, Allie-Bean? I’ve got to get the musical arrangement for the new song from Brayden.”

“Sure.” Jake passed Jules over to me before I eased down at the table. He then hurried back to the bedroom to throw on some clothes. When he returned, he kissed Abby and then each of the twins. After he was gone, Abby and I made small talk as the twins finished their bottles.

As I started bringing the feeder of cereal to Jules’s open and waiting mouth, the faint sound of a strumming guitar drew my attention to the window. I glanced across the table at Abby. “Do you hear that?”

She nodded. “Eli must be practicing pretty loud for it to come through the bus like that.”

Once Jules was sucking heartily, the music continued growing louder and louder. I rose up and peered out the glass. Balancing Jules on one hip, I used my other hand to pull up the blinds and open the window. I gasped at the sight of Eli strolling down the alley between the buses, playing the melody to James Blunt’s
You’re Beautiful
. When he got in front of the window, he grinned up at me and began to sing. “I saw an angel, of that I’m sure.”

Warmth spread through my cheeks. Just the night before after Jacob’s Ladder’s show, he’d caught me in the dressing room singing along to the song on the radio while giving Jax and Jules their bedtime bottles. Shaking his head in mock disgust, he’d questioned, “Don’t tell me you actually like that shit?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I like all of his songs.
Same Mistake and Goodbye My Lover
are some of my favorites, too.”

Eli had rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the sofa next to me. After taking Jax into his arms to help me out, he said, “Blunt’s a mediocre songwriter at best, not to mention a dick who cheats on women.”

Cocking my head, I had countered, “You know an awfully lot about a guy whose music you hate.”

He had shrugged. “I know my music.”

“Whatever,” I had muttered.

“Regardless of the shitty song, I didn’t realize you could sing.”

“A little.”

Eli grinned. “Don’t be modest.”

“Modesty is something your egocentric self might find beneficial,” I teased.

With his free hand, he scratched his chin. “Hmm, I’ll give it some thought.”

Abby had then appeared, and we had started to the bus to get Jax and Jules down to sleep. Now I couldn’t believe Eli was standing before me singing. Pausing in the song, he threw up his arms and cried, “There she is! The beautiful angel who haunts my waking thoughts!” Wagging his eyebrows, he added, “Mmm and maybe some of my naughty dreams.”

I burst out laughing at his declaration. “The only angel I know is your sister and the dog, and I’m not sure why you’re out here singing to her…or having naughty dreams about her. Wait, is it furry Angel you’re hot for because I could get her for you?” At the mention of her name, Angel barked and wagged her tail.

“You’re breaking my heart,” he said.

Abby joined me at the window. “Eli, what in the world are you doing? It’s barely eight a.m.”

Rolling his eyes, Eli replied, “Duh, I’m serenading a beautiful woman.”

I shook my head. “You’ve made your point and made fun of my choice of music. Again. So go on.”

With his shoulders drooping in defeat, Eli started to walk away. Just as I was about to turn away from the window, he started strumming again. “Yes, she caught my eye as we walked on by. She could see from my face that I was flying high." On the flying high bit, he made a loopy looking face.

Jules kicked her legs and giggled. “Your Uncle Eli is pretty funny, huh?”

Her tiny palm patted against my shoulder almost in time with the music, and even though it was probably way too early, I could already tell she had inherited her parents’ musical genes.

At that moment, the bus door opened, and Jake and Rhys came bounding up the stairs. Jake shot me and Abby a disgusted look. “Would someone mind telling me why my brother-in-law is singing some douche song outside my bus?”

I giggled. “It’s just a joke between us.”

“Us?” Jake repeated, cocking his brows at me.

“What?” I questioned innocently.

Crossing his tattooed arms over his chest, he asked, “Is there an ‘us’ you’d like to tell me about?”

“Get real, Jake,” I muttered, as I swung a now fussy Jules back and forth in my arms.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jake demanded.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “It means even if there was something between Eli and me, it’s none of your business.”

“Oh really?”

When I nodded, I caught Rhys’s intense gaze over Jake’s shoulder. He seemed just as interested as Jake was in what was going on between me and Eli. It infuriated me that he acted like he even cared considering the way he had been treating me lately. One minute he completely ignored me, and then the very next he hovered around as if I was his. It was so damn confusing.

As Eli continued with the second verse, Jake groaned. “Enough is enough.”

Choosing to ignore his tirade, I went back to the window and grinned down at Eli. Just as he was about to finish, he started up again. “Eli,” I giggled.

Before I realized what was happening, I saw a flicker of Jake’s black T-shirt out of the corner of my eyes. Then in a flash, he was beside me with a bucket of water. He then proceeded to dump it out the window, sending water crashing all over Eli. “W-What the f-fuck?” Eli sputtered.

“That’ll teach you to sing douche songs to my sister outside my bus window!” Jake replied, through this laughter. Leaning against the kitchen counter, Rhys snickered as well, and it took everything within me not to go over and slap his arrogant face.

Sweeping my free hand to my hip, I demanded, “You two think this is funny?”

Rhys shrugged. “He obviously needed cooling off to stop torturing us with singing.”

Jake nodded. “My man speaks the truth. The two of you should be glad he wasn’t plugged up to an amp.”

I glared at both of them. “You…assholes!” Kissing Jules on the cheek, I then thrust her into Jake’s arms. Without another word to them, I grabbed a towel out of the closet. Then I hustled down the aisle and pounded down the bus steps. After throwing open the door, I jumped off the steps onto the pavement.

Eli had propped his guitar against the side of the bus and was wringing out the bottom of his soaking T-shirt. “I’m sorry about Jake. That was a real asshole thing to do.”

“It’s okay,” Eli replied, with a good-natured grin.

“That wasn’t your favorite guitar, was it?” I asked, already cringing at the thought.

“No, thankfully it wasn’t.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that.” When I offered him the towel, he shook his head. Then in a flash, he had his sopping wet T-shirt over his head, leaving me to stare at his broad, tattooed, and very naked chest. He dropped the shirt, and then he reached for the towel. Since I was still staring at his chest, he had to whistle at me to get me to hand over the towel.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

As he wiped off his chest, Eli grinned. “It’s all good. I like the fact you were ogling me.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed, “I wasn’t ogling you. I was admiring your ink.”

“Riiiight,” he replied with a smirk.

I shook my head at him. “Well, for what it’s worth, thanks for the songs.”

Eli draped the towel over his neck. “You’re welcome. The performance was actually a lead-in for a question I wanted to ask you.”

My heartbeat kicked up a notch. “You wanted to ask me something?”

He bobbed his head. “Tomorrow night, Jake’s taking Abby to visit some of his mother’s family outside Boise, and they’re taking the twins with them.”

“Yes, Abby had mentioned something about it.”

“Since you had the night off, I thought you might like to come out with me and Gabe.”

“Out?” I questioned lamely.

“I’m sure Boise doesn’t have a whole lot of happening sites, but we’re going to try to find a club or two to hang out in.” Leaning closer to me, he asked, “You game?”

I blinked my eyes in disbelief. Was Eli asking me out, like out-out? Or was he just being nice and giving me something to do besides staying in my hotel room on my off night. And if he was asking me out, did I want him to? Was I ready to try dating someone new? My head spun so hard with all the crazy questions swimming in it that I brought my hand to my forehead to calm it.

“So, what do you think?” Eli asked.

“I think it sounds like fun,” I answered honestly.

He grinned. “Good, I’m glad to hear you think so.”

“Just drinks and some dancing, huh?”

“Yep. Unless the mood strikes for more,” he replied, wagging his eyebrows.

I couldn’t help laughing. “I’ll be sure to keep my mood under control then.”

“What a pity. We could have some real fun together.”

Cocking my head at him, I countered, “Oh yeah, I’m sure I know exactly what kind of fun you’re talking about, and I’ll have you know I’m not that kind of girl to hop from one guy to another for—“ I paused to make air quotes with my fingers, “
Fun
.”

He winked at me. “That’s good to know, Allison. You can keep me an honest man.”

“Sounds like a challenging job,” I replied, with a smile.

“It is. It might even be a full-time one.”

“We’ll just have to see about that.”

“Look, since it’s freezing out here, I gotta go get out of these wet clothes. But we’re on for tomorrow night, right?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Good.” He grabbed his wet shirt off the pavement and then picked up his guitar. “Bye, Allison.”

“Bye, Eli,” I said, waving my fingers at him.

Once he was out of sight, I walked back to the bus. When I came back up the stairs, I found Jake and Rhys had left, and it was just Abby and the twins. “It seems that Eli has a crush.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that. We just like to joke around with each other.”

Abby gave me a pointed stare. “I know my brother, Allison. Deep down, he isn’t kidding.”

“Oh,” I murmured softly.

“He asked you out tomorrow night, huh?”

My brows shot up in surprise. “How did you know?”

Motioning to the window, Abby replied, “As much as I wanted to give you privacy, I was kind of held hostage with the twins.”

“I see.”

“So do you think you could like Eli?”

“I already like him.”

“You know what I mean.”

With a sigh, I flopped down on the couch. “Of course I could like him. He’s good-looking, talented and funny.”

“But he’s not Rhys,” she said, with a knowing expression.

I vaulted off the couch. “There’s nothing going on with me and Rhys,” I protested.

Abby shook her head at me. “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

Panic sliced its way through me. If Abby knew, then that meant she could tell Jake. Everything Rhys and I feared would come to fruition. “Please don’t tell Jake,” I whispered.

“Of course I won’t tell Jake. What you two feel for each other is not my place to tell.”

“How long have you known?”

“Since the twins’ baptism. You needed a chainsaw to cut through the unresolved sexual tension between you two.”

My cheeks warmed at her words. “We’d already resolved the tension by then. That was part of the problem.”

Abby gasped. “You slept with Rhys?”

“Shh!” I cried. Since we were alone on the bus, I wasn’t sure why I was trying to quiet her. It wasn’t like the twins were going to spill anything.

“When did it happen?”

I realized it was time to unburden myself of everything that happened in Savannah. So I took a seat across from Abby and filled her in. When I finished, she sighed. “I had no idea that had happened. No wonder you two practically combust when you’re in the same room together.”