I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure they did. I’m kinda the family black sheep at the moment.”

“You’re kinda my black sheep too. I mean, I’m going to be denied precious rehearsal time with you for our duet.”

I gasped. “Oh no! I totally forgot about that. I’m so sorry. Listen if you don’t think I’ll be ready, I don’t have to do it.”

Garrett chuckled. “Abby, I’m only teasing you. I know you’ll be fine if we get only one run through.”

“Oh,” I replied before exhaling in relief.

“I’m just bummed I miss out on all that time with you.”

As my cheeks warmed, Jake muttered, “Douchebag,” under his breath.

“Excuse me?” Garrett said.

“Oh nothing. Must’ve been the TV on in the bedroom.” Trying to change the subject, I asked, “So are we still on for Sunday night?”

“Hell yeah. I can’t wait to have you on stage with me. I mean, Don’t You Wanna Stay is a hot song, don’t you think?”

I nodded my head.

“Maybe as the tour goes on we can add a few more duets in there.”

“Sure. That would be great.”

“Five minutes, G,” a voice came from over Garrett’s shoulder.

“I gotta go Abby. I just wanted to call and check-in on you.”

“Thanks. But I’m fine. I promise.”

His expression darkened a little. “And trust me, if any of those assholes lay one finger on you, they won’t just have your brothers to answer to.”

At Jake’s growl beside me, I quickly added, “Aw, that’s sweet. But they’ve been perfect gentlemen.”

“They better. See you Sunday.” He gave a short wave to which I waved back. Then he ended the call.

“Ugh, what a tool!” Jake exclaimed.

“He’s really being nice letting me sing with him. It’s a good introduction to the crowd.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Of course he wants to let you sing, Angel. He wants in your pants.”

“According to you guys and my brothers, doesn’t every guy?”

He scowled at me. “Trust me when I tell you to watch yourself around him.”

I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what his intentions are with me. I’m certainly not interested in him.”

“You aren’t?”

“No.”

The corners of his lips turned up. “Is that because of his epic douchery or because you might be interested in someone else?”

I stared at him in disbelief for a moment. Sweeping my hands to my hips, I asked, “Do you always talk in circles when you’re not man enough to make your intentions known?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You really have the nerve to stand there and ask me that?” When he didn’t respond, I practically growled as I took a step towards him. “You blow so hot and cold with me that I’m not sure which way is up. It’s a wonder I don’t need a chiropractor from your emotional whiplash. One minute you’re telling me you want a girl like me to be interested in you and the next you’re coyly asking how I feel about Garrett.” Finally toe to toe, I glared up at him. “You’re really good at charming the panties off girls at ten paces, but you can’t even tell a girl how you really feel when she’s up close and personal!”

Jake’s eyes bulged while his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “Abby…I…wow,” he finally murmured.

“Excuse me?”

A sheepish grin curved on his lips. “I don’t think a girl has ever talked to me like you just did.” A shudder rippled through him. “Damn, that was hot.”

I shoved him against the kitchen counter. “You’re impossible!”

“And you’re everything I could ever want.”

My mouth, which had opened to lay into him with more insults, instantly snapped shut. Crossing his arms over his chest, Jake chuckled. “Don’t tell me I’ve rendered you speechless, Angel?”

“You keep me in a state of confusion, so I don’t know why you would be so surprised,” I countered.

“Fine. You ready for this?” He pushed himself off the counter to stand in front of me again. “I like you, Angel. I like you a lot. It’s been a whole thirty-six hours, but I like what I see, and I want more. But I’m clueless how to do this, so you’re just going to have to be a little patient with me, okay?”

My heart fluttered both at his words and in the way he delivered them. “So we just keep getting to know each other?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “So I guess normal people go on dates to get to know each other, right?”

“Yeah. Like dinner and a movie.”

He bobbed his head. “Well, we sorta had dinner. So how about a movie?”

I grinned. “That sounds great.”

“Can I count on you being down for inane comedy rather than a chick flick?”

“If you guys actually have a chick flick movie on this bus, I think we have to watch it.”

Jake grimaced. “Yeah, well, Lily might’ve left a few DVDs behind.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, but there’s Disney shit for Jude too.”

“Hmm, let me see what we’re dealing with here,” I replied before I went over to the entertainment center. It was stuffed full of DVDs along with video games.

As I perused the contents, Jake made a pained noise in his throat. “After the dick way I treated you, you’re going to punish me with the video choice, aren’t you?”

Glancing over my shoulder, I threw him an innocent glance. “Me? How could you possibly think such a thing?”

“Whatever,” he grumbled, collapsing on the couch.

I turned around. “Okay, how does Dodgeball sound?” I asked.

His eyes lit up. “Fanfuckingtastic!”

Shooting him a wicked grin, I replied, “Good. We’ll watch that after Tangled.”

“Seriously?”

I bobbed my head. “Must I remind you that you puked on me earlier this evening?”

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Nope. But besides that, you have a lot of work to do to prove to me you’re worthy of my time.”

“So I have to watch fucking Disney to prove it?”

“It’s a small start.”

I eased the DVD into the player and grabbed the remote. Without even hesitating, I plopped down beside Jake on the couch. “I still can’t believe I’m letting you make me watch a fucking Disney movie,” he grumbled.

“You don’t have to watch it. You can always do your own thing. But if you really want more from me, than you’re going to have to work for it.”

He mumbled something under his breath. Although he may have hated the idea, he gave the movie his full attention when it came on. I think something about it having music in it peaked his interest as much as he hated to admit it. When I snuggled closer to him, he glanced down at me in surprise. “I’m cold,” I admitted.

“Here,” he said, digging in a drawer beside the couch. He pulled out a blanket and wrapped us in it. “How’s that?”

“It feels wonderful. Thank you.”

“No problem.” He then slung an arm around my shoulder, drawing me closer to him.

Halfway through the movie, my eyes grew heavy, and it wasn’t long before I nodded off. I don’t know how long I was asleep before loud voices and laughter, not from the movie, startled me awake. Rubbing my eyes, I looked up to see Jake begin to come back to life as well.

Back from their evening out, the boys were clambering up the bus steps. At the sight of me and Jake wrapped up in a blanket together, they froze. “What the…” AJ began.

He and Brayden then barreled forward like they were about to protect me from Jake’s unwanted advances. I snaked my hand out from under the blanket and held it up at them. “Guys, calm down. Everything is fine.”

Brayden glanced between Jake and me before cocking his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

I laughed. “Yes, it is. Jake’s apologized for his previous bad behavior, and we’re fine now.”

With a wicked gleam in his eyes directed toward the guys, Jake added, “Oh we’re more than just fine. We’re sorta dating.”

A collective gasp of shock rang through all the guys. “That’s not entirely true,” I replied.

Brayden threw his hands up in disbelief. “Excuse me if my mind isn’t able to process such a thought. I mean, just how the hell do you make the quantum leap from banging Bree earlier in the day to dating our Angel?”