Ransom (Courting Chaos Book 2)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “Uh… Bellamy!” Indie called out, but she didn’t take her eyes off me and clearly felt uneasy by what she saw there.

  When Bellamy slid out of one of the bunks, my body relaxed before her feet hit the ground. Just being in her presence had a calming affect like no one I’d ever met. Shit, I was falling for this girl… had already fallen for this girl and hard.

  “What’s up?” she asked with a smile and I hated the swirling anger in my stomach and hated that she’d be witness to it.

  Instead of answering, I looked over to Indie and raised an eyebrow. Her head snapped back, as if I’d reached out and physically touched her.

  “Well, then,” she said. “I’ll… go find Cross, I guess.” Indie looked from me to Bellamy, then back again before sliding out the door.

  “She seemed worried,” I said.

  “Yeah.” Bellamy stepped toward me. “Well, you look pissed as hell and she’s probably worried you’re going to hulk out in here. The bus is only so big.” She searched my face, but when I didn’t react, she continued. “So what’s going on?”

  “Why did you tell me Hope’s pregnancy is fake?”

  Her eyes opened a little wider. “Because that’s what she said and I thought you had a right to know.”

  I watched her as she spoke. Looked for any sign that she was confused or straight-out lying. But everything about her said she believed every word she said.

  “Well, now I’m real fucking confused,” I said louder than necessary.

  “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “Hope called. Asked me to come to a fucking doctor’s appointment. Now what the fuck would she want that when there’s no baby, Bellamy?” I yelled.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “Yeah, Hope called and asked me to come to her first doctor’s appointment next week.”

  “That’s… not possible. It has to be a trick.”

  “Seriously? You think she’s going to what? Bribe a doctor into pretending she’s pregnant?”

  “I don’t know.” Bellamy looked lost. Lost in her own thoughts, lost in the pile of crap that my life was becoming.

  “Yeah, well, me, neither.”

  “Are you going to go?” she asked.

  “The fuck if I know, but none of this makes sense. I thought I was free and clear, Bellamy. Because you told me I was.”

  “Hey!” She stepped forward. “I told you what I heard. Nothing more. Nothing less. It’s not my fault if she’s lying to you or lying to her friend, but I know what I heard.”

  “I don’t even know what to believe anymore.” I rubbed a hand on the back of my head. Suddenly, my body was itchy.

  “Your choice. Your life. Leave me the fuck out of it.” She stormed off her own bus, slamming the door behind her.

  Just perfect.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bellamy

  I stomped away with from the bus I was staying on with a purpose. The purpose being I needed to work off all the extra pent-up energy from my argument with Ransom. It really shouldn’t have bothered me so much, but I knew what I’d heard in the restroom and that was all I’d passed on to him. If he didn’t want to believe me? Then fuck him, I supposed. It was his life and I was out of it for good. But why in the name of all that was holy would he want to argue with me not long before needing to do all of his daily band shit?

  With no idea of where I was heading, I walked. Eventually, I stopped punishing the pavement for Ransom’s behavior toward me, but I also had to be gone long enough that he wouldn’t be on my bus when I returned.

  I’d lost track of the number of cities we’d been two in the last two weeks. Sometimes we were barely in a city before we left for the next. I actually basically slept through one. I hadn’t been feeling well. Two weeks. That was how long I’d originally planned to stay on the tour with Indie in the first place and I probably should’ve just gone home and faced the music of the bad boyfriend choice I’d made months ago.

  That was what I didn’t even understand about Chris Harrison. I hadn’t been with him long. He should’ve been over me breaking up with him by now. But that would’ve only been the case if he were a rational man and I thought rationality and Chris had parted paths a long time ago.

  “Hey,” Indie called out, but I kept walking. I didn’t want to talk to her or anyone else right then. “Hey,” she said again, this time falling in step beside me. “What’re you doing?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked back without looking over at her.

  “I’ve seen you circle the venue three times already. Who knows how long you’ve been out here.”

  I stopped mid-step and looked around. Shit. I had. Here I thought I’d been on a nice, long, calming walk when in reality, I’d been walking in circles. What was wrong with my head?

  “Uh… ” I wasn’t sure what to say in response.

  “Want to go for a walk? Cross had to go get ready to go on,” she said. “Let’s go on an actual one. I’ll come with you.”

  “Whatever you want,” I said back and even to my ears, it sounded too snide. Indie hadn’t done anything to me, so I shouldn’t have taken my irritation out on her. “Yeah, let’s go for a walk.”

  She nodded and fell in step with me, but this time, I paid attention to where I was headed. Walking in circles hadn’t gotten me anywhere; maybe a straight line would help alleviate the anger.

  “Want to tell me why you’re stomping?” she asked.

  I wasn’t. Or I thought I wasn’t. “No reason,” I said.

  Indie didn’t respond at first. One of the most powerful tools she had in her toolbox was her silence. She didn’t expect anything during her silence typically; however, the longer it went on, the more it felt like I was disappointing her. That was my own thing, though. Indie had always been understanding and wouldn’t force me or anyone else to talk about something we weren’t ready for. She just wanted us to know that she was there waiting whenever we were ready.

  That was what made her an amazing friend. She’d ask questions but rarely pushed for more than I was willing to give. The way it worked, though, was that it made me want to give whatever I’d been holding back.

  “Ransom thinks I’m lying about something,” I said.

  “He doesn’t know you then.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “But now I’m going to have to murder him,” she said so matter-of-factly, as if threatening murder were totally normal. Though I knew she’d never hurt a fly. “Why would he think you’re lying? And about what? Ugh, I want to slap him in the throat.”

  Seeing my tiny friend threaten violence was a funny thing. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “You know how I told you his girlfriend’s pregnant?”

  “Ex-girlfriend,” she corrected.

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. His ex-girlfriend is pregnant.”

  “Hey, I just want to be accurate. If you convince yourself he has a girlfriend when he doesn’t… ”

  “Well, I overheard his ex-girlfriend in the restroom at the concert the other night. She was talking to a friend and from what I gathered, she’s not even pregnant.”

  “What?” Indie stopped and turned to me. “She’s faking it?” she asked. I nodded. “Did you tell Ransom?”

  “Duh. That’s what I said. But now he doesn’t believe me. Which I don’t care about, but that girl gives the rest of us a bad name.”

  “Bellamy.” She grabbed ahold of my arms. “That’s bullshit. He doesn’t believe you? Why would you lie?”

  I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m done with guys for a while. They’re all idiots.”

  Indie laughed, looped her arm around mine, then slowly guided us back in the direction we’d come as if I wouldn’t notice. “Well, they’re not all idiots. Or at least not all the time.”

  “That’s not my experience,” I said quietly.

  We made the rest of the walk back to the venue in silence and I realized as the large brick building came into view that this wa
s one of only a handful of times that I’d let myself out in public alone in months. It felt good. Freeing. To be confident enough to do it; however, it wasn’t confidence that had taken me out there. It had been anger. But whatever. I’d fake it until I made it.

  “What about the show?” Indie asked when we got around to the side the buses were parked on.

  “I don’t think I want to tonight, but you should.”

  “I’ll hang with you,” she said almost automatically.

  “Indie.” I put my arm around her shoulders. “If you notice, my time here is up. Two weeks is what I originally planned, yet I’m still here.”

  “You’re going to leave?” she asked quietly.

  “Eventually but no, I’m saying we have time to hang out. You go do your thing and I’ll do mine. It’s fine.”

  “You’re sure? I don’t mind. I see these guys all the time.”

  “I’m sure. I don’t mind and you see me all the time. We’re going to live together in the fall right?”

  A huge smile broke out across her face at the mention of us living together. I’d been resistant, but any apartment her dad was going to rent for us would for sure be better than the best place to live on campus. Plus, being free didn’t hurt. I’d swallow a little self-respect if it meant finishing school.

  “Fine,” she said, then sighed. “I’m going to go find Dad before their show starts. Sure you don’t wanna come? I wasn’t planning on watching Courting Chaos tonight.” She glanced at her phone. “They’re already on stage anyway.”

  Wow. We’d been walking a lot longer than I’d expected.

  “Nah. I’ll go back to the bus. I have some things to catch up on.”

  In reality, there were no things to catch up on, but some time alone sounded like a slice of heaven. I was almost to our bus when I discovered I wasn’t going to get any alone time.

  “Bellamy Harper, you’re a hard one to track down.”

  That voice. The same voice that had already driven me to tears over the phone now wasn’t over the phone. Was live behind me. Fear turned my stomach. The taste of acid burned my throat and the hair on my arms stood on end. My sixth sense buzzed with urgency and I always trusted my sixth sense.

  Fight or flight wasn’t even a question. My limbs felt too heavy as I turned toward the voice and something sharp stabbed at my chest. No amount of praying would change the person I’d find once I finished the agonizingly slow rotation. Nothing would make him go away.

  “Chris,” I said breathlessly once we were facing, Courting Chaos’ music making a muted soundtrack to this awful moment. “What’re you doing here?”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ransom

  I was on stage not long after arguing with Bellamy. Arguing with that girl, having her angry at me, didn’t sit well. It turned my stomach, actually. It made singing about love in any of those shitty, swoony songs Cross had written all that much harder. I punished my guitar, playing her too roughly. I sang the words, but I couldn’t fake the emotion that should’ve been there while so pissed off.

  The crowd still responded. Whatever emotion was behind my performance, the fans didn’t seem to care. But I didn’t scan the crowd. Didn’t look for the girl I knew wouldn’t be there. And I shouldn’t have cared if she was or not.

  Logically, my gut told me, Bellamy had no reason to lie about Hope. Nothing to get out of it. Fuck, she didn’t even want to be with me. But I couldn’t figure out why Hope would want me at a doctor’s appointment where I’d for sure know she wasn’t pregnant if she really wasn’t.

  I had to push all of that out of my head and concentrate on the show. Sure, I could play these songs blind, but I’d eventually fuck something up if I completely zoned out.

  After the last notes of our trademark final song, we did our final waves and shuffled off stage.

  “What was going on with you out there?” Cross asked, not bothering to wait until we were in the dressing room. Or until we were alone. Booker and Dixon followed closely behind.

  “Nothing.”

  We got ourselves past a small group of fans. I had no idea where they’d come from, but there were always a small amount of fans backstage. Thankfully, we made it to the dressing room without having to stop for anyone.

  “So spill,” Cross said as he yanked his very sweaty shirt off. “I think you left everything of yourself out there tonight. Plus, you ran off after soundcheck like your pants were on fire.”

  “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? Give everything I have?”

  “Yeah, but this was different,” Dixon said.

  I sighed and looked to Cross. I’d have to tell everyone eventually. Now worked as well as any other time since we were all together now.

  “Hope says she’s pregnant and that the kid is mine.”

  “Fuuuuck,” Dixon said in the form of a groan. “That sucks.”

  “What’s worse is that Bellamy told me she overheard Hope saying to a friend that she’s faking it.” I didn’t want to let the look of angry relief remain on their faces too long. “But then Hope called and wants me at a doctor’s appointment next week.”

  “Why would she want that if she’s faking it?” Cross asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “Don’t tell me you told Bellamy that you believe Hope,” Dixon said while rubbing his forehead.

  I shifted my weight from one foot to the other because that was kind of exactly what I’d done.

  “Not exactly,” I said instead.

  “You are a stupid motherfucker.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know. But I thought the same thing Cross said. If she were faking it, she wouldn’t want me at the appointment.”

  “Unless… ” Booker said, speaking up for the first time. “Unless she’s counting on the fact you won’t be able to go to the appointment because of the tour.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Shit, that’s brilliant,” Dixon muttered.

  “What I mean is,” Booker continued, “that she can insist she wants you there, but a quick glance at our schedule and she’d know there’s no way you can get to New York next week. We’re headed south, then west. You wouldn’t have time to fly back from California just for an appointment.”

  The room became eerily quiet. Pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing. First, I really could be a stupid motherfucker. Second, Booker was pure fucking genius. Dixon was right. A plan like that was brilliant. I hadn’t even considered for a moment that Hope could be banking on the fact that I wouldn’t be able to leave the tour.

  Fuck. I needed to talk to Bellamy.

  “Fuck!” I yelled and out of anger, flipped the coffee table. Glass bottles shattered when they hit the wall. Paper flew everywhere and Cross jumped back so the table didn’t hit him. I needed to talk to Bellamy.

  “Going to talk to Bellamy?” Cross asked as I passed through, him still grabbing clean clothes but I wasn’t going to bother.

  “I don’t see that I have a choice. I made it sound like I don’t believe her.”

  “Yeah. Of the two, I’d believe Bellamy, so you better do your best work groveling.”

  I chuckled quietly. “I don’t know about groveling.”

  “Oh, you’re going to grovel.”

  I flipped my middle finger at him and left the room. The small grouping of backstage fans were to the left, so luckily, I needed to go to the right. I could avoid that situation altogether. But I waved at Indie when I saw her coming out of KC’s room. Stepping outside, I’d hoped to go unnoticed, and I almost had. There were only a few people hanging out back by the buses. They yelled my name and said it was a great show. I smiled and waved but didn’t go over to them. I was on a mission. Maybe I’d come back once I talked to Bellamy.

  Then I stopped dead when I turned the corner and saw a big guy with dark blond hair standing in front of Bellamy’s bus, facing her. What the fuck?

  “I don’t care about any of that. What’re you doing here?” Bellamy asked, the guy who s
tood with his back to me. When her eyes slid off him onto me, they widened in surprise. A moment of relief crossed her face at the same time she clenched her jaw. “And what are you doing here?”

  The big guy glanced over his shoulder at me. He looked bigger from farther away. I was probably an inch taller than him, but he was bulky and compared to Bellamy, he was a mountain.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he spat at me, then turned around more, which placed him between her and me. I didn’t like that at all.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I countered. I looked at her, not him, and her face had started turning red. I’d gotten pretty good at reading her and that was the color of anger. Not embarrassment.

  “This is a private conversation,” the guy said instead of just telling me who the fuck he was.

  I continued watching Bellamy as my stomach tightened, not giving him another glance. What a clusterfuck this had turned out to be. I’d come here to apologize but she was with a guy I’d never seen before. Maybe someone who had come to the show. I had no idea. While I had no right to be upset, I still took a deep breath and ground my teeth together. Crystal fucking clear that she didn’t want to be with me. I shook my head headed back off the bus.

  I don’t know what she saw on my face but she said, “Ransom… wait… ” as I turned my ass around and headed back toward the venue.

  Bellamy had every right to do whatever the fuck she wanted but I didn’t have to stand there and watch.

  There was no logical reason as to why I was so upset. Bellamy and I weren’t together. She’d told me over and over that she wasn’t interested in me. I just needed to believe her. Hopefully she’d go home sooner rather than later.

  I’d gotten back inside and was about to turn the knob on the dressing room door.

  Then fuck…

  When Bellamy had said my name, she’d been trying to push past that guy and he’d stepped in front of her, blocking her path. He’d blocked her only exit. Given the relationship she’d just gotten out of, that alone would scare the shit out of her.