Sinners On Tour 02 Rock Hard (4 page)

Sed entered the tour bus first, his bruised and bloodied band mates behind him. Myrna sat at the small square dining table working at her laptop computer. She glanced up and her pretty hazel eyes widened in surprise.

Sed massaged his scalp.
Fuck, what a night.
Topped off with telling Myrna he’d broken his promise and failed to keep Brian safe.

“What are you guys doing back so early?” Myrna asked. “I thought you’d be out until dawn.”

Sed blew out his cheeks as he tried to think of the right words. “I have to apologize to you, Myrna.”

Her brow furrowed and she glanced behind Sed to Eric. Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, Eric. What happened?”

She jumped from the bench seat and pushed Sed aside. Easing Eric onto the cream-colored leather couch, she inspected the bleeding gash over his left eye. She turned, hurriedly wet a dish towel in the small stainless steel sink, and moved to dab at the blood running down the side of Eric’s strong jaw. Eric winced, but smiled with pleasure as she fussed over him.

“Were you in an accident? Wait…” She looked at Sed. “Why are you apologizing to me, Sed? You didn’t wreck my car, did you?”

He opened his mouth to explain, but she lifted a hand to stop him.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s just a car. At least you’re all right. Where’s Brian?” She glanced at Trey, who was searching the freezer for ice. And then Jace, who was trying to realign his jaw by shifting it back and forth with his horribly swollen and bloodied hand. “Where’s Brian?” she repeated, a panicked edge to her voice.

“Brian’s safe. We weren’t in an accident, Myrna.” Sed cleared his throat. It hurt to talk. How in the hell was he going to sing tomorrow?

“Then what happened?” She headed for the bus exit, anxiety marring her lovely face. “Brian?”

Brian stepped around the corner wearing Sed’s mirrored sunglasses. “Hey, sweetheart. How was your evening? Did you get a lot of work done?”

Sed chuckled and shook his head. He’d wondered why Brian had wanted to borrow his shades. Like Myrna wouldn’t notice his two black eyes at the altar tomorrow.

Myrna flew into Brian’s arms. He winced in pain, but she had her face pressed against his neck, so didn’t see his expression. “You scared me,” she said. “I thought you were hurt.”

Brian wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m okay.”

Sed glanced at Trey, who was now holding a towel full of ice to the back of his head. “You need to call your brother.” They were opening for his brother’s band the next evening. Or they were supposed to. They weren’t fit to perform now.

“I’ve had enough ass whippings for one day, thank you very much,” Trey said. “You call him.”

Myrna removed Brian’s sunglasses and looked up at him. He avoided her gaze. “You’ve been fighting?”

“Wait, wait. I can explain.”

She shoved him hard in the shoulder. “Am I marrying a seventh grader? I can’t believe this.”

She spun on her heel and stalked toward the bedroom at the back of the bus.

“Myrna.” Brian started after her.

“Do
not
talk to me.” She pushed Sed aside. “You were supposed to make sure he got home safely,” she spat at Sed.

“Myrna,” Sed said, but she brushed past him and entered the bedroom. The slam of the door echoed through the entire bus.

Brian rushed down the hallway and knocked. “Myrna? Sweetheart…”

“You should let her cool down,” Sed advised.

“Go away!” she yelled from inside the bedroom.

There was a
thunk
as something hit the other side of the door.

Brian opened it, sidestepped an airborne high-heeled shoe, and closed himself in the room with the angry tigress. There was a whole lot of high-pitched yelling for several minutes, and Brian’s lower pitched voice, calm and consoling. The rest of the band sat quietly nursing their injuries.

“What are we going to do about the concert tomorrow?” Eric asked. “Can you sing, Sed?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. My throat is bothering me. I can call Dare if you want, Trey.”

“They won’t have time to find a replacement to open for them. We might as well wait until morning and see how we feel,” Trey said. “God, my head hurts. Do we have any aspirin?”

One of the bouncers had whacked Trey in the back of the head with an aluminum bat. By the time Sed had entered the fray, it had been over. He hadn’t even gotten to throw a punch.

“Do you need to see a doctor? You blacked out for a couple of minutes.”

“My head’s harder than a bat. I don’t think it’s even bleeding.” Trey fingered the goose egg on the back of his head and examined his fingertips for signs of blood. “I do need an aspirin though.”

Sed retrieved a bottle from the tiny bathroom near the bedroom. The sound of Myrna calling Brian’s name in ecstasy had already replaced the angry yelling.

Sed grinned and nodded toward the thin bedroom door as he handed a bottle of aspirin to Trey. “I guess they made up.”

Trey chuckled. “Who can stay mad at Brian?” He swallowed several pills and passed the bottle to Eric.

“I’m glad they made up,” Eric said, holding the dish towel to the gash above his eyebrow. “I’d have felt terrible if she called off the wedding.”

“You should feel terrible,” Jace said, his voice quiet, his brown-eyed gaze focused downward. “You started the whole thing.”

“Well, I didn’t ask for your help, little man, now did I?” Eric said.

Jace pursed his lips and nodded slightly. He left the bus without a word. Outside his Harley roared to life and the motorcycle’s rumble faded into the distance.

“Why do you always torment him, Eric?” Sed asked.

Eric shrugged.

“He didn’t hesitate to jump into your fight when you were outnumbered.”

Eric rubbed a hand over his pursed lips and then squeezed his cleft chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Yeah, I know. It’s just… He’s not Jon, you know?”

Thank God for small favors. Sed knew that Eric and their previous bassist, Jon, had been close friends, but the guy had been bad news. They were much better off with Jace in the band.

Trey licked at the blood at the corner of his mouth. “Did you see the way Jace fought? I’ve never seen him fight before. I was like, holy shit. He pounded the crap out of three bouncers all by himself. I’m pretty sure
little man
could kick your ass if he wanted to, Eric.”

“Shut up, Trey.” Eric scowled.

Trey shrugged and glanced up at Sed, who stood leaning against the back of the booth. “So what are you going to do about Jessica?”

Sed’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name. “Nothing. Obviously.”

“Obviously?” Trey turned over his towel of ice, pressed it to the back of his head, and winced. “You pulled her offstage at a strip club. There’s no obviously about that.”

“I was just… surprised. I don’t give a shit what she does with her life.”

“Uh-huh.” Trey sounded almost as convinced as Sed felt.

Jessica’s heart sank. “Fired? You can’t fire me over this. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Roy, the club owner, cleared his throat, refusing to look at her. He reminded Jessica of a bloated Elvis, minus The King’s good looks. Men should not wear white spandex or sequins—separately or in combination. Especially not hairy, overweight men. “Have you seen the condition of my bouncers? Your friends—”

“They aren’t my friends.”

“Then why are you protecting them?”

Jessica shook her head, her eyes wide with feigned innocence. “I’m not.”

“By the time the cops got here last night, they were long gone. If you’re not protecting them, tell me their names and where to find them, so I can press charges.”

“I don’t know them.”

“I don’t believe you.” He considered her for a long moment. “Clear out your dressing table, Feather. I don’t want to see you in my club again.”

“But I need this job.” She’d only been working for three weeks. She didn’t have enough saved up for school yet. Not by a long shot. “It’s just for the summer.”

“Sorry, babe. I don’t need your kind of trouble. You’re beautiful and sexy, but I’ve got a long line of applicants who want your job and they don’t bring their thugs into my club.”

“They’re not thugs.”

“I thought you didn’t know them.”

“I don’t.”

He slid an envelope across his desk toward her. “Your pay.”

She snatched the envelope off the desk and stormed from Roy’s office.

Sed never ceased to fuck up her life.

Jessica burst into the dressing room and tossed all of her crap into a bag. She almost ran into Aggie on her way out. The black-haired beauty grabbed her by both arms to steady her.

“Hey, kitten, what’s the rush?”

“Roy just
fired
me.” She needed to get out of the place. Her throat ached with unshed tears and she didn’t want anyone to know how upset she was. It was just a stupid job. Just another
failure
.

“What? How could he fire you? You’re already a local favorite.”

“This is all Sed’s fault,” she said. “When I see him, I’m going to rip him a new asshole.”

“I think he’s already got a corner on the asshole market, sugar.”

Jessica tried not to smile. Failed at that, too.

“You said he was in the band Sinners, right?” Aggie asked.

“Yeah, so?”

“So they’re opening for Exodus End tonight at Mandalay Bay.”

“How do you know that?”

Aggie shrugged. “I saw a flyer tacked up somewhere.”

“Perfect,” Jessica said, starting to feel marginally better. “Now I can tell him where he can stuff his money. Better yet, I can
show
him where he can stuff his money.”

“If you happen to run into that blond guy who was with them last night… the fine-looking one with the tight little ass… and the hard bod… and that face… and those…” Aggie’s hands clenched and she shuddered in undisguised delight.

Blond?
Jessica’s brow furrowed. “Do you mean Jace Seymour?”

“Jace.” Aggie smiled, her ruby red lips parting to reveal a perfect set of teeth. “Tell him I still owe him a dance. He paid, but ran off to fight bouncers before I could treat him to my special brand of pain.”

Jessica chuckled. “Soft spot for him, Aggie? It’s not like you to worry about pocketing some easy cash.”

Aggie winked. “Maybe.”

“I’ll try to remember to give him your message when I go kick Sed’s ass.” Her hands clenched into fists. Sedric Lionheart would regret getting her fired. Oh yes, he would.

Sed took a long draw from his beer and gazed down at the picture in the palm of his hand. Jessica had given it to him a couple of years ago. He remembered that smile. Doubted she’d ever share it with him again. She fuckin’ hated his guts. So why was he sitting in the dark, staring at her picture, and drinking by himself again? Tradition, he supposed.

He set her picture beside his beer can and opened the journal he used to write songs. He couldn’t concentrate well enough to write actual lyrics, but words kept popping into his head. He pictured them, but mostly he felt them. He scrawled words on separate lines with blank spaces between so he could add phrases later.

Eyes of jade. A heart betrayed.

Anguish. Languish.

Pain. Insane.

Heart of stone. Alone.

Alone.

He took a ragged breath.

Alone.

The song would come later. He didn’t want to forget the feelings, though. He closed the journal, stuck it back in its hiding place under the bench seat cushion and picked up Jessica’s picture, fingering its worn edges.

The bedroom door at the back of the tour bus opened, and then the bathroom door slid shut. Sed tossed the picture on the table and took another sip of his beer. A few minutes later, a gentle hand touched his shoulder.

“Are you out here by yourself again?” Myrna asked.

Sed glanced up at her. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Can I sit?”

When he shrugged, she slid into the bench across the table from him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t take better care of Brian last night,” he said.

“He told me what happened and I don’t blame you. He’s the idiot who got involved.” Myrna picked up Jessica’s picture and examined it. “She’s stunning, Sed. Is this Jessica?”

She glanced up at him and he nodded.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

She handed the picture to him and he slid it into his pocket with the crummy engagement ring Jessica had flung at him one devastating afternoon two years before.

“Me?” He shrugged. “By the time I got out there, everyone was fleeing the scene. I didn’t even get to throw a punch. I just grabbed Trey off the sidewalk, stuffed him in the car with Brian, and we took off.”

“I meant how are you doing after seeing Jessica?”

His heart stuttered every time her name was mentioned. This time was no exception. He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. She still hates me. I still hate her.”

Myrna ducked her head, but not before he saw her knowing grin. “I see. So you aren’t going to go back to see her?”

“Why would I?”

Myrna shrugged. “Because you’re a glutton for punishment. And… you still love her.”

“No, I—”

“Has she always been an exotic dancer?”

“What?”

“Well, I assumed since you went ballistic when you saw her stripping—”

“I didn’t go ballistic. I lost my cool.” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together. “A little.”

“Uh huh. But you reacted. So was it because you didn’t expect to see her, or because you didn’t expect to see her dancing nude for strangers?”

Sed chuckled. Dr. Myrna Evans, human sexuality professor, always tried to get in everyone’s psychology. “That’s the last place on Earth I’d ever expect to see Jessica. She’s the independent feminist type. The way you are, I guess you’d say. So yeah, I was stunned. That’s why I pulled her off the stage. Not because I actually cared that she was shaking her tits at dozens of sleazy jackasses.”

His beer can crinkled in his fist.

“There’s nothing wrong with having these feelings, Sed.”

“You sound like a shrink.”

She cringed. “I thought it might help to talk about it.”

“No, it doesn’t help. I was finally over her and then… this.”

“You’re over her?” She laughed at him. “I don’t think so, Sed. Who do you think you’re talking to here?”

A busybody who is too smart for her own good.
But he couldn’t say that aloud so he changed the subject. “You’re still marrying Brian tomorrow, aren’t you?”

Her brow furrowed. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“You were
pissed
when you found out he’d been fighting.”

“Just because you’re mad at someone doesn’t mean you stop loving them.”

Sed nodded. “I guess.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Myr, I’m glad Brian found you. You’re exactly what he needs, but if he ever mistreats you, he’ll be answering to me.”

“And me!” Eric called from his bunk.

“No fucking privacy around here,” Sed grumbled.

“If you want to have one last legal affair before you’re permanently saddled with Master Sinclair, there’s room in my bunk,” Eric called.

“Do you want me to hit him for you, Myr?” Sed stood up from the table.

“I got it,” Trey said. He leaned off the top bunk and there was a loud
thunk
in the bunk beneath.

“Ow!” Eric yelled.

Myrna climbed from the bench and gave Sed a warm hug. “Good night, Sed.”

He hugged her back. It felt wonderful to hold a woman without any sexual expectations.

She released him and returned to the bedroom.

Myrna was a good woman. Sed envied Brian.

It used to be the other way around.

Back before Jessica hated him.

Maybe he
should
go see her.

Nah. She’d probably kick him in the nuts.