Van (Pushing Daisies Book 2)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  Fucking unimaginable.

  I hadn’t spoken to her since we’d parted, other than a few words on our game and I wanted to know what Lawson had needed to talk to her about.

  “What are you thinking about?” Bonham asked, bringing all of my thoughts of Lexi to an end.

  “Nothing,” I told him.

  We were the only ones in the dressing room and I had no idea where Daltrey and Daisy were. Probably didn’t want to know where Daisy was.

  “Your face didn’t look like you were thinking about nothing.”

  “What’d it look like?”

  “Like you were about to come in your jeans.”

  Well, he wasn’t all that far off. No, I wasn’t going to jizz in my pants, but I’d been thinking some very naughty things about Lexi and that had probably produced the same look on my face.

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Is it Lawson’s sister?”

  “Still don’t know what you’re talking about.” I turned away from him and continued getting ready. If anyone would’ve been able to read me when I didn’t want them to, it’d be Bonham. It was a twin thing.

  “Right.” Bonham shuffled over to the corner where our clothes were. I’d already changed, but he still needed to. “I saw you sneak away with her last night after the show. Half-expected her to be on the bus when we got there.”

  “Yeah, well, she had other plans.”

  A loud laugh came from his area as Mack and Daltrey came through the door. Still no Daisy.

  “What’s so funny?” Daltrey asked. Dude looked a bit hungover.

  Since joining this tour, I’d begun to wonder if this was going to be a problem for him. He’d had a bit of a drinking problem a few years ago that Dad had to get him straight on. Now, with everything being offered us on the road, I secretly worried, he’d indulge. And indulge. And indulge.

  “Seems Van has his first crush,” Bonham answered before I could.

  Daltry chuckled. “Oh, really. On whom?”

  “Lexi Styles.”

  Mack finally spoke up. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  “Bonham doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about,” I told them.

  Of all my brothers, Mack was the only one still bothered about the age difference between Daisy and Lawson. He and I had discussed it a lot and neither was comfortable with it, though he’d never once told me why he felt that way.

  Bonham scoffed. “Please. I’ve literally known you since you were conceived.”

  “We’re friends,” I countered. “And you fuckers need to get a hobby.”

  The three of them laughed harder at my expense.

  “Well, since I’m wrong and all,” Bonham countered, “then you’ll come out with us tonight.”

  “Out?”

  “We’re going to this bar we heard about. All of us.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “All of us?”

  He mimicked me by rolling his eyes. Every once in a while, it hit me how odd it was to basically see myself doing the things I’d just done. That was how it worked with twins.

  “Well, not all of us.” He pulled his shirt off and quickly replaced it with another. “Daisy never goes out with us and I think we all prefer it that way.”

  He wasn’t wrong on that. The others murmured in agreement. We’d gone out with Daisy, of course. Hell, we’d played a lot of bars in the beginning. But for what I thought they had planned, nobody, including Daisy, would’ve wanted her to be around.

  “I’m good,” I told him.

  “See?” Bonham motioned toward me as if to accentuate his point. “I’m telling you. Something is up with him.”

  I ignored the chatter behind me until it ended abruptly the minute Daisy entered the room to get ready. Then things were back to normal. We talked, messed with each other, and hydrated until it was time to go. But not one of them mentioned Lexi to me again.

  We played a kickass show and Daisy owned the stage like she did every single night. So much energy and talent came from this small package. People loved her. Loved us. The feeling that filled me when I was on stage couldn’t be matched. It was the same for the others. This was what the beginning of something big felt like.

  Being on stage, I felt…powerful. Invincible. Like I owned the world.

  After a quick shower, I was back alone on the bus. The guys had headed out as soon as they’d been ready, though I thought Mack would join them later. He still had manager stuff to do before he could just hang out with his brothers.

  What did it say that I was hoping to play Words with Friends with Lexi all night rather than go get drinks with my brothers? A place where there would most definitely be more than enough women willing to hook up for the night?

  It said that I had it bad for her, just Bonham was insinuating. Just perfect.

  I was just finishing a beer and scrolling through my phone when there was a knock on the bus door.

  That was weird. People didn’t really knock. That either meant it was security or a fan who had snuck back to the buses. The idea of it being a fan burned my blood. We’d had that with Daisy. Some fucker had gotten close to her, too close, and that was supposed to have been handled.

  When I opened the door, Lexi was standing on the other side in a pair of jean shorts and a Courting Chaos T-shirt. I hadn’t seen her today and damn she was a sight for sore eyes.

  “Hey,” she said, looking up at me. The moment her eyes met mine, I imagined her doing that, but with my dick in her mouth. I hadn’t been laid in too long and was going to need to take matters into my own hands soon enough.

  “Hi.” I leaned against the doorjamb while holding the door open for her.

  Lexi quickly wet her lips as the gentle night breeze blew a bit of her hair from her shoulders. “I couldn’t hang out last night, but I can for a while tonight. If you’re available.”

  I reached out and hauled her inside, letting the door smack behind us. “I’m available,” I whispered against her mouth.

  Her lips curved into a grin right before I dove in to kiss her, as I’d been wishing I could do all day.

  The thing about Lexi was that I thought about kissing her a lot. Sure, I also thought about fucking her. I’m a guy. But never before in my life had I thought about just kissing a woman as much as I did with her. Kissing her would never fill this need I had for her, but if it was all I could have, it’d be enough.

  “Lawson’s got the show,” she said once I released her. “But we’re supposed to be pulling out as soon as it’s over. Which means I have about an hour.”

  “I’d say an hour and fifteen minutes,” I told her back as I dragged her over to the couch. It’d be comfortable there at least.

  She giggled but said, “Better keep it to an hour so he doesn’t think I’ve been kidnapped.”

  “I’ll take the hour.” I kissed her quickly again.

  I held her hand while I got her situated between my legs. I had one leg lying along the back of the couch, the other resting on the floor as my back leaned against the slanted part that acted as the arm. Lexi leaned her back against the couch but her legs were draped over my outside leg.

  “You know Pushing Daisies has T-shirts too?” I asked her.

  She gave me a big grin. “I know. I own several, but this felt like a Courting Chaos sort of day.”

  I groaned. I wanted to see my band on her. In some way, it felt like she would’ve known that and decided to wear them on purpose. To mess with me but I wasn’t going to let her know that it worked.

  “Want to talk about what your brother wanted last night?” I asked, hoping she’d open up a bit.

  Now she groaned and dropped her head back, exposing the smooth skin on her neck to me. But I resisted kissing her there. At least until she answered me. After that, there were no guarantees.

  “That bad?” I continued to stare at her neck and had to force myself to focus back on her face. Damn. It was like I was in ninth grade all over again.

 
; “No,” she finally said. “It wasn’t bad necessarily, but it was…Lawson.” She glanced up at me then back to her hands. “Actually, he wanted to talk to me about you. Apparently, he saw us getting out of the car together yesterday and thinks you’re using me to fuck with him.”

  A brick sat heavily on my chest. That was why I’d first started talking to her. If we’d become friends and nothing more, Lawson wouldn’t have known we were only friends and it would’ve fucked with his head. But this…now this had nothing to do with Lawson.

  Her eyes were shadowed with doubt. Doubt I’d put there and if I could’ve had a do-over, I gladly would’ve taken it no matter the cost.

  “He thinks that?” I asked quietly, guilt eating away at my stomach.

  She shrugged. “I clearly don’t because I’m here, but yeah. I guess so. Apparently, you hate him with Daisy so much that you’ll go to any extreme to get back at him.”

  “Some of that is true,” I told her honestly. “But I wouldn’t fuck you over in the process.” Leaning in, I kissed her on the side of her head and whispered, “Promise.”

  “I told him we’re friends.” Her words weren’t coming out as confident as they normally did. “That there wasn’t anything between us so you couldn’t be using me to mess with him.”

  Swallowing hard, I waited. If this feeling was one-sided, I’d deal with it and move on, but that wasn’t the vibe I had been getting. One thing I knew was women and Lexi couldn’t hide her feelings from me. She was as into me as I was her. We weren’t talking about falling in love at this point, but we both wanted the other, that much was crystal freaking clear.

  “He’s my older brother and I love him,” she continued, “but he doesn’t need to know everything.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” I said. She still hadn’t even glanced up at me. If she had any doubts about my intentions, I’d just have to make things clear. Lexi had me wrapped around her little finger already. “Was Daisy there for this conversation?”

  Now Lexi snorted and brought her eyes up to mine. “Yes. She asked Lawson if there was something wrong with me that meant you couldn’t actually like me.” I chuckled. That was my sister. “Anyway, she helped bring him in off the ledge, but hey…do you want to spend our hour talking about our siblings, or do you want to spend the rest of our time doing something else like kissing some more?”

  Oh. She didn’t have to ask me twice.

  With a smoothness I’d never possessed before, I slid her off my leg, got her moved up the couch, and settled above her. Half of my body was on her and half on the couch, but I was nicely nestled between her legs.

  I used one hand to cup her cheek as I pressed our lips together again. Lexi’s fingers trailed over my sides and slid under my shirt, scraping her nails lightly up my back. Her touch shot right to my dick and there wasn’t a doubt that she could feel my excitement on her leg.

  I didn’t care. I wanted her to feel it. Wanted to be able to wipe away any doubt that might be lingering in her mind over whether I liked her or just wanted to get back at her brother for being with my sister.

  After I kissed her breathless, Lexi pushed at my shoulders until I sat back. Then she climbed into my lap.

  My hands slid around to her ass as if they were meant to be there and didn’t need me directing them. She cupped my face and brought our mouths together again. She ground her pussy into my dick like she was searching for the relief I wanted to give her.

  Her skin felt like silk as I moved my hands slowly up her sides until stopping just below her breasts. From the feel of it, she was wearing a plain cotton bra and I couldn’t think of anything sexier at that moment.

  “Can I take this off?” I tugged at the T-shirt with Courting Chaos’ faces on it. She nodded as she drew in a breath sharply. The air in the bus was rather chilly and her nipples pebbled against the fabric. All this did was make me want her more naked.

  I palmed her tits and kissed the swells, scraping my teeth against her skin as I ran my thumbs over the hard nubs. She tasted so sweet; this time I really did almost come in my jeans the way Bonham had accused me of earlier.

  The sounds she made against my neck were unreal. The quiet moans of a woman who needed something and I was going to be the one to give it to her. While nibbling on her neck, that magical spot right behind her ear, I brought my fingers around to the button on her shorts. That made her pull back in surprise.

  “Pretty sure we don’t have time,” she said quietly. The pink brushing in her cheeks told me she wanted to get naked as much as I did. This was a woman turned on. Her hair was disheveled from my fingers. I’d made her look that way.

  “We have time for some of it,” I said back then coaxed her into another kiss.

  I popped that button and readjusted her so that I had room to maneuver. Then I slipped my hand into her panties and touched her softest area for the first time. It was heaven if I ever knew it. She was soft, not completely bare, I found as I learned the topography of her valley. Her thighs tightened when I circled her clit then loosened when I discovered just how wet she was as I sunk a finger into her. I worked that finger in and out while using my thumb to give attention to that miraculous bundle of nerves nature gave women.

  Fuck. She wasn’t even naked yet.

  When I added a second finger to her tightness, she moaned louder. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that any one of my brothers or even Daisy could’ve walked in right then, but that was a chance I was willing to take. I didn’t think they would, but if it came to that, I’d cover and protect her.

  Lexi’s hips moved back and forth as she rode my fingers. I watched her intently because seeing her come undone wasn’t something I wanted to miss. Damn, she was beautiful. Needy. Yet somehow without a care in the world. She was seeking her release and I wanted to be there when it happened.

  She tightened around my fingers as the little sounds falling from her mouth came quicker. She wasn’t loud. It was almost as if she were holding back to not be loud, but I preferred it this way with her. Her sounds were just for me.

  I didn’t stop what I was doing until her hips slowed down and were barely moving. That was when I knew I’d gotten every bit of pleasure from her. That was when she looked up at me through her eyelashes as if she were now all of a sudden shy. My fingers were still inside of her but she could barely make eye contact.

  Sweet as hell, I tell you.

  Lexi wet her lips and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t just yet. Wasn’t sure what to say.

  I pulled my hand from her panties and slipped my fingers into my mouth. Her eyes grew wide and her lips dropped open.

  “I can’t believe you just did that,” she said, her voice slightly higher.

  I snorted. “It was the only way I was going to get to taste you tonight.” She slapped her hands over her face, which just made me laugh as I pulled them away. “It was worth it.” I kissed her lips softly. “You taste so sweet.” That wasn’t a lie, either.

  Women were a magical wonderland that I hadn’t gotten enough of since I was fifteen. Though I was fairly certain there was no such thing as getting enough of Lexi.

  “I…don’t even know what to say to that.”

  Giving her a big grin, I said, “You don’t have to say anything. As long as you enjoy what I’m doing. If not, then speak up.”

  “Oh, no,” she said quickly. “I enjoyed all of it.” Her phone made an annoying sound that reminded me of an alarm before I could respond. She grabbed it off the counter where she’d sat and tapped once.

  “You set an alarm?” I asked, not believing that she had.

  “I don’t want Lawson to come looking for me.” She wet her lips again then climbed off me. As she righted her shorts and pulled her shirt back on, she continued. “If I’m not there when it’s time to leave, he’ll come looking. And that would’ve been bad.”

  “I guess so.” I sighed. Her putting more clothes on was the last thing I wanted.


  “I have to go,” she said quietly, suddenly standing there looking more innocent than she had when she’d come onto the bus. And that wasn’t how this whole thing worked.

  What I’d just done to her was anything but innocent and she wasn’t a virgin before that. Yet she acted like she’d just walked in on one of my brothers naked. Not quite embarrassed but not one hundred percent comfortable either.

  “I know. You have to go.” No matter how much I didn’t want her to.

  Before I let her move away from me, I cupped her chin and forced her to look at me. If anything we’d done made her uncomfortable, I would’ve been able to see it on her face once I could get a good look.

  Thank fuck. Her skin was flushed and her sort of wild. She was still as turned on as fuck which meant she’d enjoyed every minute.

  I walked her to the door and kissed her breathless again for a good five minutes before she insisted she really had to go. I would’ve walked her back to the bus, but anyone within a five-mile radius would’ve known what we’d been up to and she didn’t seem to want her brother to know. At least not yet.

  Stewing in my own horny as hell misery, I grabbed my phone then climbed into my bunk. If the show was over, then my brothers would be stumbling through the door any moment and them thinking I was asleep worked best for me.

  After shucking off all of my clothes except my boxers, I slid under my blanket and opened up Words with Friends. The only game I was playing at this point was the one with Lexi. We’d end one then start another right up and it was a way to stay connected even though we were apart.

  From where we’d left off, I used her B and added LUE for BLUE. Then I waited.

  It wasn’t long before she played her word. I then used another B and added ALLS for BALLS. Even I had to laugh at myself for that one.

  She played TRUCK and I used an S for SEXY.

  We kept going like that until I’d used every sex word I could make, including SIN. That was the word that got my phone to ring.