While We Waited

by Tammy Falkner

  Finny has slept with a lot of men, I think.

  “Sleeping with a man is so much more intimate than having sex with one.” She stares hard at me. “You know?” Then she walks away and takes my son with her.

  “Dude, can you give me about twenty minutes before you come to the bus?” Sam asks me.

  Seriously, he’s asking me to stay away so he can make love to his wife? I grin at him. “It takes you twenty minutes?”

  “No, today it’ll take me two, but I’ll give her twenty, if you can stay away.”

  “You got it.” I look down at my watch. “Starting now.”

  Sam walks over to Peck, whispers in her ear, takes her hand in his, and pulls her toward the bus. She laughs and pretends to struggle, but he won’t take no for an answer. Finally, he wraps his arm around her and guides her, with her laughing all the while.

  Finny looks so damn pretty standing there on the stage that I can’t stay away from her. I walk up slowly, and go to her. She’s with Emily and Logan. I don’t know Logan very well, but I know he’s pretty easy to talk to. He has a cochlear implant he just got, but he had pretty good speech even before that, from what I understand. I walk up to Finny and put my hand at the center of her back. She leans into me without even thinking about it, and it makes my heart go all trippy.

  “You have plans tonight?” I ask her. I press my lips to her temple and linger there. Her eyes flutter closed for a second.

  “Nope. You?” She gazes at me shyly.

  “You want to go to dinner with me?” My heart is racing for some reason.

  She reaches up, cups my face in her palm, and stares into my eyes. “Aren’t you tired?”

  “Not too tired to show you how much I want to spend time with you,” I admit. “Never too tired for that.” I lift her hand from my face and press my lips to her palm. The hair on her arms stands up.

  “How about if we go get pizza and take it back to the bus?” Her voice quivers.

  “Okay.” I lean down close to her ear. “We’re supposed to give Sam and Peck twenty minutes, anyway. I promised.”

  She snorts. “It won’t take Sam twenty minutes.”

  I pull my head back so I can look down at her. “How would you know that?”

  She shrugs. “Girls talk.” Her cheeks get rosy.

  “Did you talk with them about me?”

  “I told them exactly how big your dick is and that it hooks a little to the left.”

  My heart stops. “It does not.”

  She shoves my shoulder. “I’m kidding. The only one who knows about us is Lark. And that’s because she caught you coming out of my room. I didn’t tell her anything. Well, not about how your dick made me sore or anything.”

  I grin. “I made you sore?”

  “And you left your handprint on my ass.”

  “It was gone before I even left that night.”

  She stares into my eyes. “It’ll be there forever in my mind.”

  I lean down and kiss her quickly. “Mine too.”

  “So, pizza?”

  I nod, and she slips her hand into mine. “I think there’s a place about two blocks from here. We’ll walk.” She reaches over, takes the ball cap from my head, and puts it on hers. “Don’t want to be recognized,” she explains.

  She looks so damn cute in my ball cap that I don’t think I’ll ever take it back. She grins at me so I grab the brim and wiggle it on her head. Her grin turns into a smile with teeth.

  “I really like you,” I blurt out.

  Her smile tips up even bigger. “I like you too.”

  “Will you do me a favor?”

  “Depends on what it is,” she says, her gaze skeptical.

  “Don’t make me fall in love with you unless you’re capable of loving me back, okay?”

  She inhales quickly, and I panic for a moment. But then she steps onto her tiptoes and kisses me, and I know she feels it too. I can tell. The vice around my heart eases a little.

  “Pizza,” she murmurs against my lips.

  “Yes,” I mumble against her skin.

  Suddenly, someone kicks the back of my knee and I stumble. “What the…” I turn around and find Logan staring at me.

  “Emily and I are getting a room tonight,” he says. “Her mom and dad are in town and they have Kit.”

  I nod. “Okay. Thanks for the heads up.”

  He smiles. “Have fun.”

  I try not to grin too much. “We’re not quite there yet.”

  “That’s why I said have fun instead of have lots of sex.” He shoves my shoulder and walks by us.

  “So, it’s just me and you, and Sam and Peck in the bus tonight?” Finny says. There’s a second bus for the others.

  “Looks like it.”

  “Why don’t you all get hotel room?” I ask her.

  She shrugs. “We like the bus. It becomes like home after you’ve been traveling for a while.” She waits a beat.

  “So we won’t be alone tonight,” she says.

  “Nope.” I stare into her eyes long enough to make her cheeks flush.

  She smiles shyly at me but she doesn’t say anything more.

  We go and get pizzas and she fights with me so I’ll let her pay for them. “Everyone is going to eat them!” she tells me. “Not just us. I’m not letting you buy for all of us. The band has a budget for this stuff.”

  “Then let me at least buy mine.”

  “You’re part of the band, doofus.”

  Laughter bubbles from my throat. “Did you just call me a doofus?”

  “Maybe.” Then she starts to laugh too. I give her time to calm down while I take her card and pay for the pizzas. Then we start back to the bus. “I’m really glad you’re here,” she says. She puts her hand in my back pocket.

  “You keep that up and I’m going to give up on being a gentleman,” I warn playfully.

  She squeezes my ass and I jump, almost upending the pizzas.

  “You’re going to get me in so much trouble,” I tell her. But I welcome it. I’ve never felt quite so alive. Not until I started spending time with her.

  We go back to the bus and she opens the door. We climb quickly up the steps because, honestly, I want to put the pizzas down so I can grab her and pull her against me.

  But when we get in the bus, she screams and turns to face me really quickly. “Oh, my God, Sam!” she cries. “Are you serious? Put that thing away. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” she chants to herself, her hands over her eyes as she buries her face in my chest.

  “Sorry,” Sam says. “We didn’t think you’d be back for a few more minutes.”

  Sam and Peck rush to put their clothes back on. I see way too much of Sam’s ass as he turns to cover Peck up with his own width. “You said you needed twenty. We gave you thirty,” I tell him. I look out the front window of the bus. Everywhere but at them, because I just saw way too much of Sam. Peck we could only see from the backside—and a really pretty backside it was—but Sam…Sam was balls deep.

  “Well, when you didn’t come back after twenty, we decided to do it again. Sue me for being excited about having my wife all to myself.” Sam pulls his shirt over his head and pulls his pants up from where they were resting around his ankles.

  “Sorry,” Peck says. “You didn’t really see anything, did you?” She looks from me to Finny and back.

  “I didn’t see a thing,” I say.

  She doesn’t look like she believes me.

  “Can I talk to you for a second?” Finny asks her. “Outside?”

  “Are you okay?” I ask Finny.

  “I think I’ll be scarred for life,” she whispers back to me. But she’s grinning.

  She and Peck go out the door of the bus. Sam reaches for the pizza box. “Dude, go wash your hands,” I tell him, snatching the box away.

  “Seriously?”

  I glare at him. “Seriously.”

  He mutters all the way to the sink. “If I want to eat with my wife’s pussy on my hands, I should be abl
e to do that.”

  “You can when it’s your own pizza,” I toss back.

  He chuckles. “Hey, don’t tell Peck you saw anything, will you? She’ll flip the fuck out.”

  “Mums the word,” I tell him. But I do know he’s one lucky dude.

  Finny

  “Oh my God,” I’m still chanting when the bus door closes behind us.

  Peck scowls at me. “Finny, it’s not like you’ve never seen a penis before.”

  “I’ve never seen a great big penis in a position where it might be partially buried in your vagina,” I toss back.

  She laughs. “Don’t tell Sam you saw his dick, okay? He’ll get a complex.”

  “That man has nothing to be ashamed of, Peck. How the fuck do you fit all that up in there?”

  She laughs so hard she snorts. “Well, it’s hard, but we make it work.”

  I burst out laughing. I laugh so hard that it takes me a minute to calm down.

  “Well, I can never un-see that, just so you know.”

  She shrugs. “His dick is a magical thing. I’m not ashamed.” She narrows her eyes at me. “So, what did you want?”

  I play with a loose string on my sleeve, trying to compose my thoughts. “I don’t think I want to sleep with him.”

  She shrugs. “So don’t.”

  “Do you think he’d mind?” I nibble on my lower lip.

  “Who cares if he minds, Finny?” she asks me softly. “Are you worried that all he wants is sex?”

  I take a deep breath. “No, I’m worried that’s not all he wants. I’d know what to do with him if he just wanted sex.”

  “Oh,” she breathes. “So that’s it. You really like him.”

  “Yeah,” I whisper.

  “What do you like most about him?”

  “He knows about my crazy mother and he doesn’t seem to care. He also knows about all my one-nighters. And he still likes me. At least I think he likes me. Do you think he likes me?”

  “I think he likes you a lot,” she says softly. “Oh, Finny…” She starts to blink frantically.

  “Are you crying? Seriously?” I offer her my sleeve and she wipes her eyes on it.

  “I can’t help it. You’re falling in love.”

  I contradict her quickly. “No, I’m not.”

  She gives me an incredulous look.

  “I’m really not,” I rush to tell her.

  “Finny, you’re acting like a total girl,” she says softly.

  “Is this what girls do?” I bite my fingernail while I wait for her answer.

  “This is what people do, dummy. They question relationships when they’re real. You’re having a real relationship for the first time ever.” She sniffles. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “So, do you think Sam could keep his dick in his pants from here on out?” I ask her, trying to ease some of the tension that’s hanging around us.

  She lifts her shoulders. “Maybe. I’ll file the request for you.”

  “So just how big is your vagina?”

  “Big enough,” she says on an exaggerated huff.

  “Well, that was apparent.”

  She laughs. “Fuck you, Finny.”

  “I’d return the sentiment, but Sam already did. I had ringside seats.”

  She giggles and turns to go back into the bus. She grabs a piece of pizza and slides into the booth seat next to Sam. I scoot in next to Tag and do the same. I lay my hand on his thigh and give it a squeeze. His free hand immediately covers mine and holds it tight. I look up at him to find him smiling down at me.

  “So, Sam,” Tag says, clearing his throat.

  Sam looks up. “What?”

  “How much did that piercing hurt?” He says it with a straight face.

  But I can’t control my laughter. I laugh so hard I choke on a piece of sausage and Tag has to pound me on the back.

  “Dude, I could hook you up with a piercing,” Sam says. “I’m a certified hole puncher at the tattoo shop.”

  “I am not letting you put any holes in my dick.”

  I cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “Would you let me do it?” I ask him. I don’t even know where that came from. Oh, shit.

  He stares into my eyes. “I’d let you do just about anything you wanted to do, Finny,” he says. He brushes a lock of hair back from my eyes. “I’m pretty sure you’d never hurt me on purpose.”

  “I wouldn’t,” I say.

  Sam makes a gagging noise from his side of the table and Peck elbows him in the side. “What?”

  “Stop giving them a hard time,” she scolds. “I think it’s sweet.”

  Peck makes Sam get up, and says, “I’m going to feed Sammy one last time before we go to sleep.”

  Sam wipes his mouth. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Should I go and feed Benji?” Tag asks.

  Sam points to Peck’s boobs. “Dude, she’s got the bottles.”

  “Oh,” Tag says, his face turning red. “Forgot about that.”

  “Marta will take care of Benji,” Peck assures him. “I’ll look in on him while I’m there if you want.”

  Tag nods. “That would be great. Thanks.”

  They leave, and Tag wraps his palm around the back of my neck and pulls me to him so he can kiss me. “So, how long do you think they’ll be gone?”

  “Not that long. Sammy eats quick.” I open my mouth when he teases my lips with his tongue and I sigh into his mouth. He has me breathless in seconds. “I had better get to bed,” I say, but my heart is racing.

  He looks toward the tiny bunk beds in the back of the bus. They’re no bigger than coffins.

  “Do you want the top or the bottom?” I ask.

  “Why, Finny, did you just proposition me?” He lays a hand on his chest and pretends to be shocked.

  I shake my head and grin. “No, I just wanted to know which bed I should crawl into.”

  “Mine,” he says quickly.

  My heart thuds. “I don’t think so.”

  “Fine. You go pick one, and I’ll crawl in with you.” He starts to clean up the pizza while I go wash off my makeup, brush my teeth, and brush out my hair.

  I climb into the bottom bunk and pull the privacy curtain behind me. “Good night, Tag,” I call out.

  The curtain shifts and I see his head appear. “Can I come in?” he asks. He waits in the opening for me to decide.

  “I’ve never…”

  “I know,” he says softly. “I get it.” He looks at me a beat too long and I have to look away. There’s so much want in his eyes that I don’t know what to do with it all. “Can I come in?”

  I nod and he pulls back. I hear his jeans rustle as he slips them off, and then he goes and brushes his teeth. He comes back to the bed and climbs in beside me. There’s barely enough room for one, much less two. He bangs his head on the roof. “Ouch,” he cries.

  I roll onto my side, trying to make more room for him, but he’s a big guy. “I don’t think you’ll fit,” I tell him on a silly, frantic giggle.

  “I’ll fit. I promise.” He wiggles until he’s flat on his back and then he lifts an arm and draws me in to his side. He points to the spot where his shoulder meets his arm. “Your head, it goes here.”

  I remember when we had sex and I told him where his dick went. “Okay,” I say, and I settle into the spot, rooting around until I find the perfect place to rest my face. “I’m scared,” I whisper. “I’ve never done this before.” My heart is pounding and my skin is clammy.

  He kisses my forehead, his lips lingering for a beat too long. “I won’t hurt you, Finny,” he whispers.

  He grabs my leg and pulls it across his lap, and I can feel the ridge of his dick. He’s hard. “Did you want to–” I start to ask.

  But he shushes me. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do.”

  He holds me close until my shivers stop and my heart slows its frantic pace. I melt against him and close my eyes.

  “I’ve never done this before. I might be bad at it,
” I whisper in the darkness.

  “You’re definitely not bad at it.”

  After a few minutes, I start to yawn. “Hey, Tag,” I whisper.

  “Hey, Finny,” he whispers back.

  “You’re really good at this,” I tell him.

  “It’s all you, Finny,” he says. “All you.”

  Tag

  I wake up in the early morning to the feel of the bus rocking. It’s just a gentle bump, but I still blink my eyes open and look out the tiny window. The sun is just barely up over the horizon. Finny giggles in my arms and I look down at her.

  “They’re like rabbits,” she whispers, scooting up so she can speak quietly by my ear.

  “What’s like rabbits?” I scrub a hand down my face and try to wake up.

  “Sam and Peck.”

  “Oh. That’s them?”

  “Screwing. Again.” She rolls her eyes and presses her lips against my chin. “Good morning.” She nuzzles her head against my neck.

  My dick is hard and I have people four feet from me going at it like they haven’t seen one another in a year. Peck starts to make quiet little noises that make me want to stick my fingers in my ears and sing out lalalalalalalalala.

  Finny lifts herself up and straddles my hips, her chest flush against mine. “Do you want me to take your mind off of it?”

  I hold her face in my hands and look into her eyes. “What did you have in mind?” She kisses me softly. She tastes like morning and awesome all rolled into one tiny body. “That’ll work,” I mumble when she finally lifts her head. My brain feels like mush and I realize I’m kiss-drunk.

  Peck’s noises grow and then crest, and I close my eyes tightly, trying to drown out the sounds. But Finny shouts like she’s at a ballgame and sits up a little in the tiny space so she can clap. “Hell yeah!” she says. “Nice work, Sam!”

  Finny opens the curtain on our side a little and Sam opens the curtain on his, and they high-five in the middle. Peck’s head sticks out sheepishly. “Sorry,” she says, her cheeks rosy. “We didn’t know you were awake.”

  “Well, it’s kind of hard to sleep through all that noise,” Finny says. “And the rocking.”

  “The bus was rocking?” Peck asks Sam.

  “Hell yeah, the bus was rocking,” he says on a chuckle. Then he pulls the curtain shut again.