Chapter 2
Jett – a rockstar who doesn’t mind a broken bone or two but hates hospitals
Jett
“W here have you been?” I shout at Aurora when she enters my hospital room despite knowing she spent the night curled up in the chair sleeping next to me.
When she wasn’t on her phone or computer working that is. The woman works entirely too hard. The word fun doesn’t exist in her vocabulary.
She startles and nearly drops the coffee cups she’s carrying. Her light green eyes flash with pain before she blinks and it’s gone. I ignore the guilt gnawing at my stomach for causing her pain. It has to be this way. I have to push her away.
Aurora Sharpe has relationship, white picket fences, and babies written all over her. I don’t do relationships and I am never falling in love and having children. In fact, my bandmate Gibson and I have a pact to never fall in love.
I scowl. Gibson broke our pact when he fell for his country girl, Mercy. He can break our pact all he wants. I’m not falling in love. Ever.
Aurora stomps to the bed and slams a coffee down on the tray in front of me.
“Getting the supreme asshole of the universe his coffee,” she snarls.
“Thank you,” I say as I pick up the coffee.
“Did it kill you to say thank you? Should I phone the doctor to make sure you’re not having a heart attack?”
I hold her gaze as I raise my hand and flip her off.
“One day you’re going to give someone less tolerant than me the finger and they’re going to break your finger right off of your hand.”
“You?” I snort. “Tolerant? Did you forget what the word means?”
Anger flares in her eyes and her lips purse. Damn. How I want to pull her into my arms and feel all her fire up close. Taste those puffy pink lips of hers and discover for myself how they taste. While I thread my hands through her curly blonde hair as I devour her mouth. I bet her hair is as soft as silk.
I’d haul her body to mine. Touch all of those curves I’ve been imagining for years for myself. Aurora is a tiny thing. At a few inches over five feet, she’s nearly a foot shorter than me. I bet she’d fit perfect tucked into my shoulder.
I shove those thoughts into the hole they live in. Aurora Sharpe is a woman you invite home to meet your parents. Too bad for her I don’t have any family.
She opens her mouth to respond to me, but her phone beeps and she glances down at it instead.
“You’re a workaholic,” I mutter as I sip on my coffee.
I nearly groan as the taste of the caramel latte hits my tongue. This is not a hospital cafeteria coffee. I’d ask where she got it, but Aurora would never tell me anyway.
She hits send on her message before answering me. “Being a hard worker is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I work hard.” Play hard? Work hard? Same thing.
She raises her eyebrow but before I can respond, the doctor enters the room.
“Can I get out of here?” I ask.
He flips open my chart and studies it for a few moments. I tap my fingers on the tray while I wait. Aurora reaches over and grasps my wrist to stop me. My skin warms where she touches me. I wonder how her touch would feel on other parts of my body. I clear my throat before I end up visibly excited in a hospital gown.
“Patience is a virtue,” she sings.
“Good thing you’re not the singer of the band,” I grumble.
I’m lying. Aurora’s voice is angelic. She should dump the PA gig and join a band. But she won’t. Aurora’s made it perfectly clear what she thinks of musicians.
She rolls her eyes. “Be polite.”
“Ahem.” The doctor shuts the chart. “You can go home today.”
“Yes!” I pump my fist.
“But,” the doctor waits for me to calm down before continuing, “you’ll need to be monitored for the next few days. There’s always a risk of your concussion worsening.”
I grin. “I have someone in mind.”
“You’re not contacting one of your hussies,” Aurora hisses. “This is serious.”
“I’m not making Gibson fly to California from Winter Falls to be my babysitter. He’s ‘busy.” I nearly choke on the word busy. I still can’t believe Gibson is in love. Maybe Mercy’s a witch and put a spell on him.
Aurora flicks a hand at me. “I’ll handle everything. I always do.”
The doctor hands her some papers. “Here are his prescriptions. The nurse will be here shortly with the discharge papers.”
Aurora gives him her smile. The one she uses to get her whatever she wants. “Thank you, doctor.”
He nods before leaving.
Aurora throws a bag, I didn’t notice she was carrying, at me. “Get dressed.”
I waggle my eyebrows. “You don’t think I look hot in this?” I start to stand. “Maybe I should walk around and let you decide.”
I was wearing the board shorts I had on for the surfing competition when I arrived at the hospital yesterday. But since they were covered in blood from my wound – head wounds bleed like a bitch – I ended up in a hospital gown.
“No,” Aurora croaks as her cheeks darken. “Put on some normal clothes.” She whirls around. “I’ll wait in the hallway.”
“You’re hurting my ego, sweetheart!” I shout after her retreating figure.
She slams the door on me but not before giving me the finger. I chuckle as I dump the clothes on the bed. Jeans and a t-shirt. No underwear. Aurora knows I don’t wear any, but I’m surprised she didn’t bring a pair anyway. She doesn’t ‘approve’ of my commando ways.
Once I’m dressed, I walk to the door and open it. “Can we leave now?”
Aurora holds up a hand to quiet me. “Okay. Thank you. Got it.”
She hangs up the phone before scanning me. She frowns when she notices my bare feet. “Don’t you have a pair of shoes?”
She doesn’t wait for my answer before barging into the room. She opens the cupboard next to the bed and rummages through it. “It’s like herding cats,” she mutters as she pulls out a pair of flip flops and throws them at me. “Put those on.”
I want to argue – arguing with Aurora is one of my favorite things to do, after all – but I don’t want to walk barefoot around the hospital floor any more than she wants me to. Broken bones and concussions are fine. Infections are not.
A man enters the room with a wheelchair.
I pump my arm. “Time to blow this popsicle station.”
I saunter toward the door but Aurora clears her throat. “Ahem.” I ignore her. “Get in the wheelchair, Jett.”
“Jett?” The nurse’s mouth gapes open. “The hospital rumor mill said you were here but I didn’t believe it.”
“Here we go again,” Aurora mutters before marching to the nurse. She gives him the smile and he’s dazed for a moment. “Steve, is it?”
His mouth gapes open as she continues to dazzle him with her smile.
“You understand why we can’t let anyone find out the drummer for Cash & the Sinners is in the hospital.”
“I do?” His response is more question than answer but Aurora plows forth.
“I appreciate your understanding. It’s very helpful.” She whips a publicity picture of the band out of her bag and hands it to me with a marker. “Jett’s going to sign this picture for you, and I’ll send a band t-shirt over for you.”
“Gee, thanks,” he says as I hand him the signed picture.
I grin. “Always happy to meet a fan.”
Aurora pats Steve’s arm. “Thank you for your help.” She taps the handlebars of the wheelchair. “Get in, Jett.”
When I go to protest, she narrows her eyes at me. “Fine,” I grump as I settle in the wheelchair.
She begins pushing me into the hallway where three of our security team are waiting. I shouldn’t be surprised. Of course, they’re here. Our security team is pretty much glued to our asses. Except when we’re in Winter Falls.
The inhabitants of the small town in Colorado where my teammates have settled down don’t care about our fame. In fact, they drive anyone out of town who dares to bother us. It’s pretty awesome to walk around a town without worrying about being recognized. Too bad it’s also boring.
The security team escorts us to the service elevator and through the back hallways to the rear entrance where a car is waiting for us.
I settle in the backseat and Aurora sits next to me. I sigh and lean my head back. I can finally breathe now that I’m out of the hospital. The antiseptic smell in hospitals makes me queasy. Which is saying something since I’m the one tasked with cleaning the toilet on the tour bus.
“Great, just great,” Aurora grumbles.
“What now?” I murmur but don’t bother to open my eyes. “Are we there yet?”
“Nope. And it’s going to be a while.”
“Why? What’s going …”
The question dies on my lips when I open my eyes. There are fans gathered at the gated entry to my house.
“How did they know I’m in town?”
Aurora purses her lips. “Someone from the hospital must have notified the press.” She leans forward and taps the driver on the shoulder. “Initiate Plan B.”
“Which hotel is Plan B?” I ask.
She scowls. “Not a hotel.”
“Whatever.” I shrug. Wherever it is will be fine. I might give Aurora a hard time, but the woman knows how to do her job.