Believed (My Misery Muse) (11 page)

“Eli get her the fuck out,” I yelled.

X and Eli grabbed the woman and hauled her off the
bus while I pulled up Jules shirt to look at her side.  I sucked in a breath
when I found the bruises along her side.  “What the hell happened?” I asked
her.

“She fell down in the shower,” Seth answered
eyeing her bruises that ran down her ribs to beneath her pants.  “I didn’t
realize it was that bad though,” he grumbled.

I pushed the hair from her face and saw the tears
swimming in her eyes. I quickly swept her feet out from underneath her and
brought her to lay down on the sofa in the lounge.  I sat down beside her,
pulled the waistband of her sweats down and sucked in a breath noticing more
bruises covering her creamy skin.

“Jesus, Jules,” I whispered.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled.

Seth looked at more of the bruises and sighed.
“Damn independent women are going to be the death of me,” he grunted.

I looked up at him. “You didn’t know?”

“No, I knew about the forehead and the back of the
head.  I asked but she said she was fine.”

“Back of the head?”

Jules grunted and glared at both of us. “I am
fine, I just bruise easily.”

“She fell down in the shower and said she banged
the back of her head and her elbow,” Seth answered.

“So how did she bruise her forehead,” I asked
confused.

Jules sucked her lip ring into her mouth and
stared straight ahead, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink.

“She, uhm, said she rolled off the couch this
morning before she woke up,” Seth said trying not to smile.

I looked at her and grinned. “You need to be
covered in bubble wrap.”

“Shut up,” she growled.

“You’re a safety risk to yourself and anyone
near,” I added just to get her to make that cute growling sound.

“You suck,” she growled again and I smiled wider.

“Stay there,” I ordered. I stood up and went to
get her some water and ibuprofen.

“Here, take these,” I told her handing her the
loot, “and no arguing.”

Chapter 18

Jules

“Stupid cavemen antics,” I grumbled but took the
pills and water.

“She’s okay?” X asked peeking over Sam’s shoulder
at me and made a goofy face that made me giggle.

“Yeah,” Sam answered glaring over at Xavier. 
“What was that about anyway?”

“She didn’t want to get off, well from what I
heard, I think she did get off, but she didn’t want to leave the bus.  She
wanted to stay here forever and ever and have little Eli babies,” I told him.

“You suck,” Eli called over.

“Apparently not as well as she did,” I called
back. “Oh god baby, yes just like that, suck it hard, baby,” I mimicked.

Sam sat down beside me again and covered my mouth
with his hand while X and Seth started teasing Eli.

“Always starting trouble,” Sam murmured against my
ear and my breathing stuttered at the feel of his lips grazing my earlobe.

I shook my head no.

“Behave,” he whispered.

I shook my head no.

He laughed quietly. “I’ll tell my mom you’re being
mean.”

I stilled then pulled his hand from my mouth.
“I’ll behave.”

He chuckled. “That’s what I thought.”

“She’s evil with that wooden spoon,” I mumbled.

“Trust me, I know,” he said smiling.

“What do you want us to do with this water, it’s
boiling,” X called.

“I got it,” I said slowly watching Sam.  “I’m
fine, really,” I reassured him.

“You sure?” he asked pushing a piece of hair
behind my ear.

“Yeah, I’ve had worse,” I said quietly.  Then I
sat up and stood to check on dinner.  I pushed everyone out into the lounge so
I had more room.  I wanted to have dinner finished before we left, the idea of
trying to do anything with a boiling pot of water while the vehicle was moving
didn’t sound like a bright idea.

After stirring the phosphorescent cheese powder
into the pot of noodles with milk and butter, dinner was ready.  I covered the
two burners and put everything out on the counter.  I made my plate and another
for Stan then called the guys into eat.  I set my plate down and brought Stan
some food while he worked on getting everything ready for us to leave.

“Thanks, honey,” he said taking the plate.

I smiled and went back to collect my own, I sat
down on the booth sliding into the inside and tucked into my own dinner.  Sam
slid in next to me, then Seth and Eli took the other side.  X glared and
flipped us off before walking to one of the captain chairs to eat.

“So what exactly did you do to the shower, Sugar?”
X called.

“Nothing,” I muttered and kept my eyes on my
plate.

“Really? Because when I went in there earlier the
shower had standing water and the floor was soaked.”

“Not my fault your shower tried to kill me.”

“Uh huh.”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me but I ignored
them.  I wasn’t going to give them a detailed account of my shower experience.

“What were you working on earlier?” Seth asked.

I smiled. “The thing you haven’t asked me to make
yet but will.”

“Oh and what’s that?”

“A new piece for Devi.”

“Why would I ask you make me something for Devi?”

“Because she’s going to want something with the
twins names on it to wear.”

“Crap, I forgot,” he moaned.

“I know,” I said smirking at him.

“What are you making for her?”

“You asked me to make her a locket with the twins
names etched in it,” I said winking at him.

“Damn, I’m a good husband.”

“I’m also going to make her a mother’s ring.”

“I thought she didn’t want one until she was
finished having babies?” Eli asked.

“She didn’t,” I said quietly.

“We’re done after the twins,” Seth said looking
down at his food.

“She’ll be fine,” I said nudging him under the
table with my foot.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked eyeing both of Seth and
I.

“Nothing, it’s just that this is a harder
pregnancy than she’s had before,” I answered.  I knew neither Seth nor Devi
wanted to really discuss what she’d found out at her last doctor’s
appointment.  In all honesty, I can understand why they wouldn’t want to,
placenta previa this early could mean nothing.  Getting everyone worried about
it at this point made no sense.  There was enough going on, Drake was still in
a cast and wheelchair, Sam’s dad.  I bit back a sigh. It seemed I was the
holder of everyone else secrets lately.

“Well she is carrying twins of course it’s
harder,” Eli said.

“Exactly,” I answered cheerfully, “add in that
she’s already showing hasn’t helped.”

“How was the show?” I asked trying to get everyone
to a new topic.

“It was good,” Eli answered, “the crowd was
energetic which always helps.”

“You coming to the next one?” X asked.

“That’s the one at Red Rocks, right?”

“Yep,” Eli answered.

“Wouldn’t miss it, I’ve heard the natural
acoustics are freaking amazing.”

“They are,” Sam said smiling.

Dinner was quickly finished and the guys cleaned
up the galley while I was ordered to relax and pick a movie to watch.  They had
an impressive collection of movies, only I couldn’t find one I wanted to
watch.  I ran into the bunk room to grab my laptop where I found Ian.

“You missed dinner,” I said trying to be nice.

“Already ate.”

“Oh well we’re going to watch a movie if you want
to join us.” I sighed when he shrugged, I tried.

I ran back into the lounge, opened my laptop, and
quickly ordered the movie I wanted to watch from Amazon Instant Video, one of
the best inventions ever.  I hooked my laptop up to the flat screen and queued
the movie up.

“What are we watching?” X asked sitting down
beside me with a bowl of popcorn.

“Wait,” I said motioning at everyone else.

He nodded and shoved a handful of popcorn into his
mouth. I sat there and watched as he chewed with his mouth open, trying to
figure out why hordes of women wanted him.

“They don’t know him,” Seth said quietly while
eyeing Xavier thinking the same thing I was.

“That has to be it.”

Once everyone was settled in, I hit play on one of
my favorite movies,
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
.  All they
guys turned and looked at me then shook their heads and turned to watch as the
movie started.

Sam

I sat on the couch with a sleeping Jules’ head in
my lap sifting my fingers through her hair.  This was the second night in a row
that this had happened. Last night I had told myself not to get too close.  I
ran my fingers down her cheek, her skin was so soft, and she looked so young
when she was asleep.

“You’re screwed,” X said quietly with a smug smile
on his face.

“There is nothing going on.”

“No, but there will be.”

“Can’t, I don’t want a relationship, don’t have
time for a relationship.”

“You know what I think is cute?” Seth asked.

I looked up at him and found him smirking at me.
“No, please do enlighten us, Yoda.”

“That you actually think you have a choice in the
matter.”

I flipped them both off and laid my head back
against the back of the couch.  “You’re wrong,” I muttered running my fingers
through Jules’ hair; I loved how silky it felt.

The guys said their goodnights before heading off
to their bunks. I stayed there with Jules, reading emails until I eventually
fell asleep.

I was jerked awake by something vibrating under my
ass. I scrubbed a hand over my face and looked down.  I groaned quietly when I
saw Jules’ cheek tucked up against my very hard dick.  Life sucked, she shifted
slightly rubbing against my morning wood and it took everything in me not to
moan.  My phone started vibrating again causing Jules to move again this time
nuzzling into my crotch.  If she wasn’t lightly snoring I’d swear she was doing
it on purpose to just to drive me bat shit crazy.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I whispered, I needed to move
now.  I gently picked up her head and slid out from beneath her, cursing
spending a night sleeping on the couch.  Once I was on the floor, I eased her
head down on a pillow and grabbed my phone.  I watched her sleep for a few
minutes like a stalker and tried to remember the reasons I’d come up with for
not wanting anything with her.  Maybe I should rethink things, especially since
now I knew that Max wasn’t in love with her like I had thought.

Just then my phone vibrated again and it snapped
me back to what mattered.  Work, I had work to do.  I answered the call telling
Jim, our tour manager, I’d find him in thirty minutes.  Then I got up to get
ready for the day, I tried to ignore my hard-on, only it was persistent.

When I was in the shower, I tried blocking Jules’
face from my mind, but only visions of her on her knees licking my cock flashed
through my head.  I grabbed my dick and squeezed, muffling my moan on the arm
that was holding me up against the shower wall, turned around, and leaned back.
Then gave up any pretense and let the thoughts of Jules take over.   I reached
down, fondling my balls while I stroked my cock. The thought of it being Jules
mouth around my dick made me stroke faster.  I pulled my nuts down trying to
make it last longer. I wasn’t ready to give up Jules yet, even if it wasn’t
real.   I bit my lip when I pictured slowly pushing into her tight pussy
watching her stretch around me. Another tug and twist, and I was coming all
over my hand.  I leaned my head back against the wall and tried to steady my
breathing.

I hadn’t come that hard in a long time. I sighed;
I was so screwed.  I wanted to know the color of her nipples, if she had pubic
hair. I wanted to find the places on her body that made her shiver.  I wanted
her that much had become abundantly clear to me.  Now what the hell did I do
about that?

Chapter 19

Jules

I woke with a sense of deja vu; I knew he wasn’t
there even before I fully came awake.  Only this time I had enough sense not to
roll off the couch head first.  I wasn’t going to think about this being the
second time in a row that I’d fallen asleep with my head in Sam’s lap while he
played with my hair.  I really wasn’t going to dwell on the fact it was also
the second time in a row that I had woken up after falling asleep like that,
that Sam was long gone.  He was busy, he was working, he was hiding from me.

I stretched across the couch, my back popping,
realigning after sleeping on the couch yet again.  I sat up slowly and looked
around.  Seth was sitting in the booth with his laptop open; Xavier and Eli
were watching something on the TV and no sign of Sam.  I stood up and stretched
once more before going in search of coffee.

“You going to the show tonight, Sugar?” X asked.

I grunted and poured coffee into my cup then fixed
it to my liking.  If they expected me to speak before having caffeine, they
were either stupid or insane.

I sat down across from Seth and sipped my coffee. 
I didn’t want to think any more, thinking got me into trouble.  Thinking led to
me believing I could help Beau, when obviously that wasn’t the case.  I should
be smart and just stay away from men period, only I wasn’t that smart when it
came to Sam.  I seemed to lose common sense and reason when it came to him,
which was stupid.  I knew better, he may not be shooting shit into his veins
but he did have an addiction all his own.  I’d learned already that when it
comes to addicts, be it alcohol, drugs, or work that you never came even
remotely near the top of their priority list.  I also had a suspicion that with
workaholics it was further down that list than with a druggie.

“Whatcha thinking about, Sugar?” X asked while
sliding in beside me effectively blocking me in.

“Nothing,” I groaned and looked out the window
that ran beside the booth.  “Oh holy shit,” I gasped.

“What?” Seth asked looking around.

I sat there with my lips parted staring out the
window beside the booth. “Oh my fucking hell,” I breathed.  It was beautiful,
it made me feel small, I shoved X out of the booth and climbed over him while
he sat on the floor looking at me like I was a crazy person.  Who knows, maybe
I had lost my mind.  I ran out of the bus door, and stopped to stare.  I’d
never seen the mountains before, hell I’d barely left Texas before.  I couldn’t
take my eyes off the brilliant red rock formations, I felt tiny in the world
just gazing at them.

“Jules what the hell is the…oh,” X breathed he
looked at me then looked around.  “First time, huh?”

I just nodded my head.

“I wish we had time to really let you explore,” he
said sadly. “This place is amazing.”

“I’m just happy I got to see it,” I whispered.

“Well if you go put some clothes on, I’ll show you
more,” X said eyeing me. That’s when I realized I was standing out in a parking
lot full of guys in my just rolled out of the bed glory, bedhead and all.  I
also realized I didn’t give a shit—this was gorgeous.

“Who needs to show you around is Eli and Sam, this
is their thing,” Seth said from behind me.

“Huh?” I asked barely listening.

“Last time we were here, we had a three day break
just so Sam and Eli could go off rock climbing,” Xavier grouched.  “Who the hell
lets their drummer and guitarist go off rock climbing in the middle of a tour?”

I giggled. “That doesn’t sound like Sam.”

“That’s the real Sam,” Seth said looking around.
“Get him out in the middle of nowhere and he’s back to the Sam before work took
over.”

“So whatcha you’re saying is I need to get us lost
out here for him to pay attention to something other than his cell phone?”

“What are you trying to get him to pay attention
to, Sugar?” X drawled looking at me with a glimmer in his eye.

“Me,” I told him.

“He likes you, Sugar, he’s just fighting himself
on it.”

“Well, can you let me know who wins?” I asked him.
“I’m tired of falling asleep with him just to wake up alone.”

X and Seth both raised their eyebrows at that
comment and I blushed at how it sounded. “That’s not how… what… fuck,” I
groaned.

They both laughed at me so I flipped them off and
went back in the bus to get dressed, I wanted to explore as much as I could
while I was here.

Sam

“What?” I barked into the phone, I had it held
between my shoulder and ear as I signed off on some paperwork with the venue.

“We have a problem,” Jim, our tour manager, said
unaffected by my tone.

I sighed. “Of course we do, what now?”

He chuckled. “It seems that your opening band is
missing some things.”

“And?”

“They forgot their guitars.”

I waved off the person standing there for my
attention and cleared my throat. “How exactly does a musician forget their
instrument when on FUCKING TOUR?” I yelled.

“My guess by being more interested in pussy than
their jobs.”

I thrust the signed paperwork at the guy that
worked for the venue and scrubbed my hand over my face. “Let them borrow out of
my collection, just not—”

“Yeah I know, just not the Les Paul or the Custom
Fender Strat.”

“Give them the Yamaha and uhm the…” I mentally
went through the guitars I had with me. “…the green Fender.  Also tell them
they had better get their guitars by tomorrow or figure something out.”

“On it, boss,” Jim said then hung up.

“The lighting guy is throwing a fit.” One of the
crew stood there staring at me.

I groaned. “Tell Jim.”

The guy nodded and ran off talking to someone in
his headset.  I looked around a moment to see if there was anyone else waiting
to talk to me.

“Yes, Ian?” I asked.

“The label would—” he started but I put my hand up
to stop him from talking.

“Not now,” I growled.

“But…” he started again.

“Ian, I do not have time right now, take care of
it.  After we get set up, I will listen to whatever they have to say, but right
now unless you are here to tell me the stage is on fire, again, find something
useful to do.”

At this point, I was debating the positives and
negatives of throwing myself off a cliff.  We’d played at Red Rocks before and
never had this much trouble.  It didn’t make sense, the stage set up was
simple, lights were simple, and everything was fucking easy for this show as
long as the weather participated with our plans.  The only thing not screwing
with us was the weather for once.

My phone rang again and I nearly threw it off a
cliff when I saw Jim’s name flash on my screen.  I needed a break, I needed a
drink, and I needed Tylenol.

“Jim, I’m heading to the bus, what do you need?”

“I found something that says they belong to you,”
he replied.

“Huh?”

“Young, brunette,” he paused a minute. “Huh,
purple eyes.”

“Jules,” I said.

“What’s your name?” Jim asked.

I heard her voice answer him. “What’s the
problem?”

“She’s running around without a pass,” he told me.

“Where’s hers?”

I ducked behind a stack of speakers while he
asked.

“She said she never got one.”

“Fuck,” I groaned, “that’s my fault.” I’d never
given her the all access pass that I’d had made for her when she arrived in
Vegas.

“Tell her I’ll meet her at the bus,” I told Jim
and hung up.

I walked quickly with my head down in that
direction hoping I could get there without being stopped.  My phone rang again,
I looked down and saw my mom was calling; I quickly ignored the call like the
others I’d received since tour started and nearly ran back to the bus.

I made it to the bus with only a few stops and
questions along the way.  I quickly took the steps, hitting the lever to close
the door behind me.  I took stock of who appeared to be still on the bus.

“Where’s Jules?” I asked Eli.

He shrugged and continued to eat his bowl of
cereal while watching TV.  I sat down on the couch beside him, leaned my head
back against the wall, and tried to stop the headache forming behind my eyes.

“You okay?” Eli mumbled around a mouthful of
cereal.

“Nothing a few shots won’t cure,” I muttered
rubbing my forehead.

“You know if you let Jim and his crew do their
jobs instead of trying to do everyone’s job for them you’d have fewer
headaches, right?”  asked Seth as he came out of the bunks.

“Have you seen Jules?” I asked ignoring his
previous question.

“She went out to explore,” Seth answered sitting
down in one of the captain chairs.

“I heard,” I said dryly.

Seth gave me a look and I shrugged. “Got a call,
she was running around without her badge.”

A few minutes later, a member of security walked
on the bus with a hand wrapped around Jules’ arm.  She was glaring daggers up
at him while the guy was glaring back.  She tried to pull her arm out of his
grasp but he held on, I was on my feet with Seth just behind me when I saw her
flinch.

“Let her go,” I said between clenched teeth.

“She keeps trying to get away,” the guy said
glowering down at Jules.  Though the crazy ass woman just glared back at him. 
The guard let go of her arm and she spun around and headed back out the door.

“Hey!” I yelled but she was already gone.

“What the hell?” Eli asked looking out the window
watching her sprint across the backstage area.

The security guard looked like he was about to
chase after her but stopped when he saw my face. “She needs a pass.”

I dangled her all access laminated pass from my
fist. “She has one. I never gave it to her.”

“Why did she just run off?” Seth asked eyeing the
guard.

He shrugged. “She fought me the whole time and
dropped some stuff.”

Seth closed his eyes while rubbing the bridge of
his nose. “You mean she dropped her sketchpad,” he grumbled.

“Dunno,” the guard said looking out the open bus
door. “Looked like an autograph book or something to me.”

“No, that would be her sketchpad that has all the
ideas for her work in it as well as the tattoo designs she’s been working on,”
Seth groaned.  “No wonder she’s pissed off.”

A minute later, Jules stomped up on to the bus
with her sketchpad in her hand.  And Seth was right, she was well and truly
pissed off.

“Is it okay?” I asked quietly.

She stared at me a moment then shrugged.  I sighed
internally, then reached out and handed her the pass I should have given her
the first night.  She took it from me, nodded once, then walked back off the
bus.  I looked back toward Seth to ask him a question but found him frowning
and staring at the floor.  I followed his gaze and found several pages that had
been torn out of her sketchpad lying on the floor.  That explained why she was
giving all of us the silent treatment.

I looked at the guard. “You can go, and if you see
her again I’d leave her alone, unless she’s in trouble.”  The guard nodded and
headed off the bus.

I looked back at Seth and Eli. “I’m going to go
find her,” I mumbled then reached down and grabbed the papers off the floor.  I
nearly dropped them again when I saw a charcoal sketch on top.  One of me
sleeping on the couch in the bus it looked like.  I flipped to the next and
found another of me sitting with a guitar in hand, then the next one of me
sitting with Jaks while helping him with his guitar.  I couldn’t help but
stare; they were amazing.  And they were all of me.  I wasn’t sure what to
think or do with this information, but I did know I needed to find Jules.