Relentless (Relentless Soul Book 1) (6 page)

Jeremy

I'm sitting on one of the black leather sofas on our bus as Brody walks up the stairs and softly says "Your turn Stone" before flopping down on his bed.

I can't help but feel a little bit anxious and quickly make my way to Ava's bus. Sticking my head through the door I can see her sitting on the booth seat staring intently at her laptop while she types. I tap on the glass door to get her attention and when she glances up at me I ask "Can I come in?"

She nods her head "Sure, come on up and take a seat."

Sliding onto the soft leather seat opposite Ava, I run my hand through my hair "So where do we start?"

Ava smiles almost shyly at me "I just need you to answer a few questions to give our readers a chance to get to know you on a slightly deeper level."

"Okay, fire away, Dundee."

Ava rolls her eyes at the nickname, which makes her even cuter, if that's possible. I love that she reacts so strongly to me, even if it isn't always positive. Any kind of reaction is good, right?

"Okay, we'll start with the basics, like name, age, height, hair color. Most of those I can answer just looking at you." Her gorgeous eyes meet mine across the table and I hold her gaze for a few seconds.

"I like it when you look at me." There's that blush again. "But, to answer your questions; Jeremy Stone, twenty six years old, six foot one, and I have light brown hair."

"And your eye color?" She stares into my eyes again and for a moment I forget all about what we're supposed to be doing. I could sit here and stare into her eyes all day. When she realizes I'm not going to answer, she whispers "Deep blue……almost like sapphires. With tiny green specks. They're very beautiful eyes." She suddenly shakes her head as the trance is broken and she looks down at her laptop.

A huge smile spreads across my face and I can't stop myself "You have the most breathtaking eyes I've ever seen Ava."

She glances up at me again and whispers "Thank you…I think. Now, what is your favorite song?"

"That's easy, Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page is one of the best guitarists ever and that song is hot."

"Ohh…okay. Um…Wh…What can you tell our readers that not many people know about you?"

I grin and lean back linking my fingers behind my head "What? Like a dirty little secret?"

"Dirty little secret? No…just something that your fans may not know about you."

As I take my time to think of a response I study her face. She has the most attractive mouth I've ever seen and my body obviously agrees as I think of the things she could do with those full plump lips and once again have to try to adjust my tightening jeans without her noticing. That seems to be happening quite a bit lately.

"Okay, one thing not a lot of people know is that a few years ago I set up a charity."

She looks almost shocked "A charity? I wasn't aware of that. What is it for?"

"It's to help people, mainly women and children, who have been abused."

"Oh! Excuse me if I'm getting too personal, is that something you have experienced in your life?"

"No, you can get as personal as you like. Actually, a friend of mine was a victim of abuse for years and at the time, I knew it was happening but I couldn't do anything about it. I felt helpless. It ended in tragedy and I made a promise to myself and my friend that in future I would do anything in my power to help anybody facing that kind of situation. So I asked my parents to help me start up this charity and it has actually become my mother's baby. She plans a lot of fundraiser events and my parents and I donate to the charity as much as we can."

Ava is leaning forward resting her chin on her hand and watching me closely.

"Wow, that's amazing. I never would have…I'm very impressed. Ah…okay…um…last question…" Ava shifts slightly in her seat and adds "Um…favorite food."

"Choc mint Ice Cream, my guilty pleasure." As I say the words I notice her eyes fall to my mouth, so I run my tongue along my bottom lip and flick at my lip ring "You seem nervous. Do I make you nervous, Ava?" Leaning forward I reach out my right hand and softly lift her chin as she tries to glance down again.

Her eyes slowly drift up to mine "You're very confident and forward. I'm just not used to that, especially since we barely know each other."

I gently tuck one of her loose waves behind her ear "Let's get to know each other better then. Go out with me tonight?"

She fidgets in her seat and closes her laptop signaling that the interview is over. "I can't. I told you that my coming along on tour with you was strictly for work only."

"Okay, if you won't go out with me tonight, come and watch our sound check tomorrow afternoon before the show."

She seems to be debating the offer in her mind but eventually agrees "Okay, I suppose I can come along."

Jeremy

The next afternoon I am standing on the high stage of the large concert hall that seats twenty thousand people. The nerves and adrenaline all start to kick in when I look out over the empty seats and realize that in three hours those seats will be filled by people that are here to see us. Twenty thousand! So far this will be the biggest concert for us and the thought that it's only going to get bigger as the tour goes on is an awesome feeling.

We play through a few songs from our playlist and as Luke starts the intro to 'Escape' I remember that Ava had said this was her favorite song of ours. The fact that Brody wrote it makes me feel a pang of jealousy, especially considering it's such a personal song for him. I mean, all songs are personal to the writer but this is one that was so personal he actually had reservations about recording and releasing it because it was about his life and his struggle. Even to this day I get emotional when I perform it, knowing that this is the way Brody feels every day of his life.

As I move up close to the microphone and sing the first line I glance to the left and see Ava standing about fifteen meters from the stage beside one of the doors. As I belt out the notes of the song I am conscious of her eyes on me and I can only look away for a few seconds before my eyes are drawn back to her.

She is motionless through the rest of the song and as I reach the final note I notice her lift one of her small hands and quickly swipe a finger along the top of her cheek. Is she crying? Fuck, this woman is amazing. The song ends and I turn and tell the boys to take a five minute break as I quickly head toward the stairs and make my way to where Ava is still standing. As I reach her side I ask gently "Are you okay?"

She wipes a tear from her cheek again "Yeah I'm fine. That song is just so beautiful. I get teary every time I hear it."

I glance over to the stage and see Brody still standing in position watching us with a slight frown on his face. He sees me staring and quickly puts down his guitar and walks off stage. Weird!

Ava hangs around for the rest of the sound check as we play a couple more songs and the roadies and sound guys work around us to make sure everything is sounding just right. The fact that she is standing there watching us makes me feel slightly nervous, but also a bit of a rush. This woman has been on my mind for the last two weeks and I find myself just wanting to be around her all the time. I can't remember the last time I felt that way about a girl. I don't think I ever have. This one is different.

Brody

As I'm playing the final chords of 'Escape' I glance over at Ava to see her wiping tears from her eyes. Wow, is she crying because of my song? Surely not; she did say it was her favorite though. Glancing over at Jeremy I see him put down his guitar and turn to look at me.

"Sounds good boys, let's take a five minute break." He practically runs off the stage over to where Ava's standing and I see her wipe her cheek again. I hope she's okay. Jeremy looks up at me and I realize that I am still staring at Ava, probably looking like a creep. Putting my guitar down I walk off the stage feeling those pangs of jealousy again. I should be the one standing beside her, comforting her. It's better this way though. If we ever went further than being friends it would only end in more tears for her. My life is too fucked up for Ava to handle, she doesn't deserve that. Still, it's so hard watching them together knowing it should be me.

***

Three hours later I'm sitting in the dressing room and I can hear the sounds of thousands of people arriving for the show. The rest of the band left the dressing room a few minutes ago to go backstage, dressed and ready to rock. I have been sitting here since, half dressed, trying to psyche myself up for the performance and make my way to the stage but all I can seem to think about is Ava and how much it hurt seeing her and Jeremy together today. I should be happy for them, my best friend, who has always been there for me when I needed someone. And this amazing girl who, like me, has lost people in her life and deserves to find happiness. I just wish there was some way for her to find that happiness with me. Oh well, if it can't be with me, who better than my best friend? Right?

There's suddenly a light rapping on the dressing room door. Rising from my chair I grab my shirt from the couch and throw open the door.

"Ava! What are you doing here?"

She is standing there looking so hot in black tights, knee high boots and a long, flowing black sleeveless shirt. She is also raking her eyes across my bare chest with a very dazed look. She's got to stop looking at me like that. There's no way I'll be able to control myself if she continues to stare at me with what looks like desire in her eyes, so I quickly pull my shirt on and ask her again what she is doing here.

"Oh…Um… The boys were wondering why you were taking so long and Hunter told me to come back here and see if you needed some help. Do you? Need help I mean."

She glances down at the floor and I lean up against the doorframe

"No, it's all good, just mentally preparing myself for this performance. The nerves are starting to make an appearance."

Ava shifts closer to me "Oh, I can imagine how nervous you must be. Wait until you get out there and see how many people are here to see you."

I can't help but grin. "Thanks, Ava. That really helped to settle my nerves." She giggles and moves to lean her back against the opposite doorframe folding her arms across her chest which drags my attention to the small amount of exposed cleavage. She seems to notice my eyes have strayed south so I quickly snap them back up to her gorgeous face to see her watching me.

"Brody, do you want to hang out tomorrow? You know maybe show me some sights. You did say that if I ever needed a tour guide… I didn't get around to sight-seeing today due to work."

Fuck, I feel like the biggest asshole "Ah… I can't tomorrow. I'm sorry. I'm sure if you asked Jeremy he would be more than happy to show you around." She frowns slightly as I realize I sound like a fucking jerk. Before I can take the words back and agree to spend the whole day with her, I usher her from the room and say "Come on, show time!" while reminding myself yet again that she is better off with Jeremy.

Ava

Brody and I silently walk through the halls to the stage. I'm sure he is continuing to mentally prepare himself. While I'm walking along feeling like a dick head, how could I have been so stupid? I'm supposed to stay professional but it's so hard, I'm around the band twenty four seven of course I'm going to want to establish some friendships. As long as I do my job the rest doesn't matter. Clearly I had Brody's signals crossed. He keeps shutting my attempts down so I guess he just wants to be friends. That's okay, I mean I just met the guy, I thought we had a connection but I was wrong. I must not be thinking clearly with the move and everything else. Oh well it's not like I'm in love with the guy.

Rounding the corner I see the rest of the band standing at the side of the stage waiting to go on. Jeremy must have heard our footsteps, as he is looking right at us with a frown. Brody and I have been walking along in complete silence, the tension just hanging in the air. I'm so glad we have reached the other band members. I can't wait to see them perform. Sound check was amazing, they sounded so good. Jeremy walks over to Brody and places his hand on his back.

"All good, Coops?"

"Yeah, fine. Just settling the nerves, the crowd sounds huge."

Just then the crowd roars, I can feel the energy even back here. The electricity is just buzzing though the arena. Peeking around the guys I look out to see the large crowd. Shit! "I'm glad you are going out and not me, I think I'd wet my pants." Jeremy gets the biggest smile on his face.

"I bet I can make your pants wet."

Dragging my eyes away from Jeremy I look at Luke. I am totally speechless, what was that? Jeremy is just standing there staring at Luke, the smile wiped from his face.

"Don't speak to her like that." Jeremy's voice is deathly.

"Sorry, bro. It was a joke."

Tuning them out I turn away, feeling really uncomfortable. Picking up my tablet from Emma, I walk off to go and find a chair. A hand grabs my arm and halts my steps.

"Ava, are you okay." Brody whispers to me.

Not able to look at him I shrug my shoulders "Yeah just going to start on some writing." Looking back over towards Jeremy and Luke I see them both watching me. Holding my head high I turn and walk away.

I find a chair just as I hear the crowd scream and cheer. Turning around to bring the chair closer I see Hunter walking behind the others to the stage. I guess it's time. Placing my chair where I can see the band and part of the crowd I open up a new document as they begin the opening song of the night. I think I need a picture for this article. Stepping up closer to the band I take a picture of them all doing their thing. Jeremy is up the front, his smooth, sexy voice projecting out over the arena, he really takes command of the stage. Brody is on the far side, Luke is on my side and Hunter is at the back on the drums. Unfortunately I can't see their faces. I take a couple pictures of the crowd, once again amazed at the number of people, and then I head to the dressing room. Singing softly I can hear them back here. I snap a couple of photos of the dressing room from different angles but not wanting to miss a thing I race back to the side of the stage and get there just in time for Hunter to start the intro for the next song.

It's so hard to concentrate on my writing, the show is amazing, and Jeremy’s voice is so distracting; smooth and hypnotic. Looking up I can't help but admire Brody. His dark blue jeans are firm fitting on his legs and show off his cute butt. Pulling my eyes away from him I shake my head. Jeremy's voice pulls me from my thoughts. I wish I could see him from the spot I'm in. His voice sounds so passionate when he sings; I wonder if that passion is evident on his gorgeous face?

****

Typing the last sentence in my article about how the band had the entire arena chanting for more I hear Jeremy thank the audience. Shutting off the tablet I hear Hunter and Brody talking.

"That was amazing. I have no idea how you could have been nervous about that."

"Me either. I'm buzzing. Hey Ava what did you think, did we rock?"

"You guys were really good, I have some great pictures. The article is going to give your fans a great insight to your shows." Just then Jeremy runs down the stage and looks at me, the smile on his face is just screaming how happy he is.

"That was unreal! What do you think Dundee, glad you came?"

"You were simply amazing. Of course I'm glad I came, it's the opportunity of a life time."

Jeremy puts his arms around the band "Let's go out and celebrate."

Luke looks at Jeremy "Yeah I'm in. So is Hunter"

"Don't I get a say?

"Yeah Hunter but I just know you. You love the ladies."

Jeremy laughs, "What about you Coops?"

Brody looks at me with a frown, He looks back at Jeremy. His frown deepens then disappears.

"Yeah Stone I wouldn't miss it. There are bound to be some chicks that want to party with some rock stars."

"When do we ever have a problem picking up?"

"Yeah, so true. Let's go."

As I realize that the whole band must be players and plan on picking up tonight, I try to sneak away.

"Ava, are you coming with us?"

Turning around I see that Jeremy has followed me "No, watching you lot pick up is not my thing Jeremy."

"I didn't say I was going to pick up. Come out and celebrate with us, you and the girls."

"I'm not really dressed to go out."

Jeremy smirks and his eyes are hooded as he whispers "Dundee you are sexy, no other girl compares to you."

Glancing past Jeremy I see the rest of the guys standing there waiting for my answer, I hope they didn't hear what Jeremy just said. Looking in his eyes I feel like I should say no, but I feel so drawn to him and can't help but give in. Feeling my face heat, I smile.

"Uh, Ok. I'll go and get the girls and meet you at the bus in five minutes"

***

Opening up the door to the bus I call out. "Get ready girls we're going out."

Emma looks up from the couch.

"Where are we going and with who?"

"The band, I have no idea where we are going but they invited us to come along. Hunter's going, Tori"

"I'm not even dressed to go out Ava how do you expect me to hook up with him if I don't look good."

"Go now and hurry they are going to meet us here in a few minutes."

As we all change quickly and take turns in the bathroom to freshen our make-up I decide to talk to them about what happened with Jeremy.

"So, you'll never guess what just happened."

"Jeremy flirted with you again?"

"Yes, how did you guess Tori?"

"Your voice is all squeaky. So I assumed something good happened to you."

Emma looked me dead in the eyes "Spill."

I proceed to tell them all about the conversation with Jeremy as I change into my favorite black skinny jeans and a purple low cut halter top. "I told him I was coming back to the bus, because, after all I don't want to hang around with them when they are picking up chicks. He said that they never said they were and for me to come. I told him I wasn't dressed to go out. He proceeded to tell me how sexy I was and that no one else compared. I almost kissed him." Emma gasped "I didn't but I just felt this pull."

"Ava sweetie, that's how he gets chicks and you, my friend, just fell for it hard."

Shaking my head I look at Tori. "I know, are you almost ready?

"Yes."

Tori walks out of the bathroom and looks amazing. Her jeans and shirt have been replaced by a short black dress and red heels.

"Thanks Tori now I'm under dressed."

Tori laughs and gives me and Emma a once over. Emma is also in skinny jeans and a nice top, so I feel a little better about my outfit.

"You two look great." Reaching back in my wardrobe I find my ankle boots with a five inch heel. I put them on and join the girls on the couch. Suddenly a knock startles us and we all look at the door. Looking from the door to the girls I stand up and walk over to open it.

"Are you ready girls?"

Opening the door up I see the band waiting outside for us. Stepping down the stairs I raise my head trying to forget about the embarrassment of falling for Jeremy's pick up line.

"Yep let's go."