Music of the Heart (Runaway Train #1)(16)
Author: Katie Ashley

“Damn,” AJ muttered.

“But how is that humanly possible?” Rhys questioned.

Abby laughed. “Mainly because I have a strong belief system, but I also have pretty high standards.”

I glanced down at her hand. “So where’s your purity ring then?”

Her cheeks flushed a little. “Well, I don’t wear one because they mean you’re waiting for marriage, and I don’t necessarily believe in that.”

“You don’t?” I pressed.

“I did when I was younger, but for now, it’s more about me waiting until I’m in love.”

I furrowed my brows. “So all it’ll take is for you to fall in love with some dude, and you’ll give it up? Just like that?” I snapped my fingers for effect.

“You say that like it’s something easy. To fall in love with someone deeply and then have them love you back is truly a miracle.”

“Then it sounds like you’ll be holding on to your V-card for a while, Angel.”

She shrugged. “We’ll see. I just know it’ll all be worth the wait.”

“Good for you, Abby,” Brayden said, through a mouthful of steak.

With a disgusted grunt, I replied, “That’s all peachy for you, but I gotta say more power to the guy. Me, I could never get it up for a virgin.”

Abby gasped and dropped her hamburger. “You liar!”

“Excuse me?”

“Y-You totally were…well, you know, this morning in bed with me,” she sputtered.

Swallowing a mouthful of my chili dog, I rolled my eyes. “That’s because at first I thought you were Bree who is always showing up to bang me when we’re on the road.”

Poking her finger in my chest, she countered, “Oh no, you kept coming on to me when you turned on the light and saw it wasn’t Bree.” She pursed her lips. “I may not know a lot, but I do know what that was.”

The guys snickered to which I shook my head. “Sorry, Angel, but it’s still a void point. At the time, I had no idea you were a virgin. Had I known then what I know now, my hard-on would’ve been withering fast.”

AJ snorted. “Oh come on, Jake. That’s a bunch of bullshit. Any guy that looks at Abby, virgin or not, would totally get a boner.”

“Um, thanks…I think,” Abby replied.

With a wink, AJ said, “Just know I would have no problem, mi amor. Any time or any place.”

“Or me either,” Rhys added. He licked his lips suggestively at Abby.

She let out a frustrated puff of breath. “I cannot believe we’re discussing this least of all that I’m about to say thank you, AJ and Rhys, for admitting you could…well, you know, even for a virgin.” She glanced at Brayden who widened his eyes.

Holding his hands up defensively, he quickly argued, “I can’t comment on this conversation.”

Abby’s cheeks reddened at his comment. “Oh no, I didn’t mean for you to!” She then buried her head in her hands. “This is so mortifying.”

Bray shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “I will say this though.” Abby tentatively raised her head to peek at him. “My wife, Lily, was a virgin.” He gave a sheepish grin. “We both were.”

“Really?” Abby questioned.

He nodded. “It never bothered me that she hadn’t been with anyone else.”

I grunted. “Yeah, because you were a horny sixteen-year-old dude who didn’t know any better.”

Bray narrowed his eyes at me. “Yeah, well, there was that year we broke up right when the band hit, and I banged everything that moved, trying to forget how much I loved and needed Lily.” A fierce expression spread over his face. “But none of those experiences hold a candle to making love to Lily, and she’s only ever been with me. Yeah we might’ve been two fumbling teenagers back in the day, but nothing was f**king sexier than us discovering it all together.”

I stared at Brayden in shock. I’d never heard him speak so passionately about sex with Lily. He usually was very guarded and threatened to kick our asses when we alluded to anything involving them getting it on. His favorite thing to do was to growl, “That’s my wife, f**ker!” or “That’s the mother of my children!” when we made dickhead comments about Lily being a MILF.

“Wow,” Abby murmured at Bray’s statement.

He grinned at her. “Sorry, I got a little carried away there.”

She shook her head. “No, I appreciated it, and I’m sure Lily would, too.”

I exhaled noisily. “Regardless of what you three dickwads say, I hold firm to my claim that I wouldn’t or couldn’t get it up for a virgin.” When Abby cocked her head at me, I said, “Fine then. I couldn’t knowingly, how’s that?”

She bit down on her lip and turned her head from me. The table fell into an awkward silence before Abby muttered, “Um, I’ll be right back.” She practically fell out of her chair and sprinted from the table.

After downing the rest of my beer, I glanced up to see the guys glaring at me. “What?”

Brayden leaned forward so far across the table that his elbows bumped into mine. “You’re an utter and complete ass**le for hurting her feelings about the virgin thing.”

“I’m a dick for telling the truth?”

AJ snorted contemptuously at me. “It’s called a f**king filter, man. Try using it from time to time.”

When I glanced at Rhys, he narrowed his eyes. “So not cool to make Abby feel bad about herself, especially when she’s as smoking hot as she is.”

I opened my mouth to argue when the screech of the karaoke microphone being tapped drew my attention to the stage. Gazing out at us, Abby gave me a sickeningly, sweet smile. Immediately my stomach churned, and I knew I was in trouble at being publically called out for being a douchebag.

“I hope you all don’t mind me singing again.”

The scattered group of truckers whistled and hooted appreciatively, which caused Abby to grin and breathlessly say, “Thank you.” Gripping the microphone tighter, she said, “It’s just that I really would like to win a bet tonight, and singing this song is the only way I see being able to do it.” Once again her blue eyes locked with mine. “Jake, this one is for you.”

She nodded at the DJ who pressed the play button on the music. It took all of two seconds for me to recognize the opening bass thumps. “Oh f**k,” I murmured as Like a Virgin began blaring throughout the bar. As soon as some of the inebriated truckers realized the song, they hollered and clapped their hands.