“Thank you, Lawson,” she said sounding more relieved than she had when she called. “Why can’t she just come now?”
“I have to make some hotel changes and stuff,” I told her which wasn’t a lie but also wasn’t the whole truth. “I doubt Lexi wants to share a room with me.”
“Oh true,” she agreed, not knowing that what I really wanted settled was Daisy’s fan issue. No way did I want my sister in the middle of that. Someone called out in the background, but I couldn’t make out what they said. “I have to go. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” Then I ended the call.
My sister was only a year older than Daisy. She was half the reason I thought Daisy was too young for me. If nothing else, this call from my mom kept my mind off Daisy for at least a little while.
Chapter Seven
Daisy
It’d been three days since Lawson had kissed me in the dressing room. Three days of me going over every single moment in my head again and again, remembering the way his skin felt against mine. The way his teeth had scraped against my bottom lip before he’d sucked it gently into his mouth. Just thinking of him had my body on fire and if I didn’t think of something else, I’d have to take care of myself.
Wouldn’t be the worst way to spend ten minutes.
We were in Raleigh, North Carolina and would soon be heading out west. I was seeing places I’d never been and loving almost every minute of it. Though still not actually seeing much of any of them.
My brothers were still asleep. The faint sound of their deep breathing, not quite snores, were the only sounds on the bus and we must’ve already been at the venue because we weren’t moving. So it was surprising when my phone chimed with a text message.
All the guys are still sleeping, Barrett sent.
Here too, I told her.
Why aren’t you sleeping?
I go to bed earlier than the heathens.
Lol. Let’s hang out. You can come to our bus. Nothing will wake Booker or Dixon.
On my way! I told her.
I slid on some sneakers and quietly left the bus. Barrett and I didn’t get a ton of time to hang out because she was busy working and I had my stuff to do. Though I was pretty sure I had more free time than she did.
The warm May morning was quiet and perfect, even though we were in a parking lot. I’d thrown on a pair of jean shorts and a plain blue tank top this morning and pulled my hair back into a bun.
When I got to their bus, I wasn’t sure if I should knock or not, but the decision was made when Barrett thrust the door open as I arrived.
“Come in,” she said, waving me up the stairs. “Want a drink?”
“I’d love a diet pop if you have one.” I slid into the bench seat by the table.
“I do.” Barrett went to the fridge and grabbed us each a can of pop.
“Thanks,” I told her.
“You’re welcome.” She took a long drink. “So why do you go to bed earlier than your brothers?”
I chuckled. The answer was typically obvious. “You know guys on the road.”
“I do.”
I raised an eyebrow and waited for it to sink in.
Then it did. “Oh, gross.” Her face scrunched up in playful disgust. “So they’re out there hooking up while you’re holed up in the bedroom?”
Now I laughed louder. “Sometimes. Sometimes they’re just drinking and playing video games, but I’ve heard things. Dark things. Things sisters should never hear from their brothers, so after I go to bed, I tend to stay there, even if I’m just reading or watching a show or whatever.”
“Good plan.” She took another drink then pushed the can back and forth between her fingers. “Can I ask you something? It’s just something I’m curious about and you don’t have to answer.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you ever hook up on the road? I mean, guys aren’t the only ones with needs.”
She wasn’t wrong there. “You’ve got that right, but no. I don’t. Could you even imagine?”
She nodded. “You’re hot as hell. It wouldn’t be that hard to find someone.”
I shook my head. “No. It wouldn’t be,” I agreed as I adjusted my weight in my seat. “And I did hook up after one of our shows once.”
Her eyes grew wide and her jaw went slack. “You did?”
I nodded. “Just once and it was two years ago. We already had a few dedicated fans that weren’t our parents. But there was a guy at one of our gigs and he was crazy hot.”
“How crazy hot?”
“More than fucking hot, but not quite stupid hot.”
“Got it. So what happened?”
“We had sex. It was pretty good, but the next morning it was everywhere. Or it felt like it was everywhere online. He’d Instagrammed it and tweeted it. And I didn’t like the idea of my personal information being out there.”
“He Insta’d a sex video.”
I choked on the pop I’d been swallowing and it took everything not to spray it all over her. “No.” I coughed. “No, no, no. Not a video and no sex pics, but he did include a pic of him and me from before we’d had sex and then wrote that he’d give details to anyone who asked.” I looked up at her. “My brothers saw that shit.”
“Oh. Yeah. That would suck, but you probably have seen women saying shit about them.”
I nodded. “I have, but I don’t know.” The memory of how that felt flooded me, causing me to shiver. “It felt different when it was me. They didn’t give me shit about it or anything, but I didn’t like it being out there at all.”
“OK. That I get,” Barrett said. “Can I ask you something else?”
“Shoot.” This was what I’d missed about having a close female friend I could physically hang out with. Guys didn’t normally want to talk like this and my brothers surely didn’t.
“You and Lawson.”
I swallowed hard and dropped my hands into my lap. “That’s not a question.”
She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes on me. “It kind of is. I walked in on you two the other day.”
“We were just talking.”
“Uh, no. I know what I saw.” She waited with an expectant look on her face.
“OK.” I readjusted myself again, my fingers pulling on the frayed hem of my shorts. “I like him. He’s stupid hot, and we had an amazing kiss.”
“Stupid hot, huh?” she asked with a small grin.
I shrugged. “But right after you came into the dressing room he said he shouldn’t have done it.”
“Well, damn.” Her face fell, as if this all had to do with her. “Why would he say that?”
“I don’t know,” I told her. “I asked but then wouldn’t let him answer because I told him that it was an amazing kiss and I wasn’t going to let him tell me the reasons it was awful.”
She snapped up straight. “Damn. That was probably a punch to the gut.”
“I hope so.”
Before we could talk anymore, the bedroom door opened and a half-dressed Dixon ping-ponged his way down the short hallway. He was a pretty big guy and the area was rather small. His shoulders brushed the sides a few times. He was wearing just a pair of boxer briefs, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Morning.” His voice had the gravelly sound that came from guys first thing in the morning and his hair looked like it’d been through the wringer. It was all kinds of sexy every time I’d heard the morning voice except from my brothers because that was disgusting. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge then dropped in next to Barrett.
“Morning,” Barrett said to him before kissing his cheek loudly.
“Why are you up so early, baby?”
“Early?” She laughed. “It’s not early. Daisy and I were just hanging out.”
Right as she ended her sentence, Booker dropped out of one of the bunks also in only boxer briefs with disheveled brown hair. Holy shit, the number of women in the world who’d love to switch places with me right then
was astounding.
“Fuck, it’s bright,” Booker said as he did the same thing Dixon had. He grabbed a bottle of water and dropped into a seat at the table next to me.
“That’s called daylight.” Barrett waved her hands over the window like she was performing magic. Booker lifted a middle finger her way.
Dixon cleared his throat. “Please don’t make me break that finger so early in the morning. Then I’d have to convince Daisy here to pull double duty and be our bass player.”
Booker chuckled as he scratched his arm over a shitload of tattoos.
“Listen,” I told them. “I should go. My brothers are probably awake and freaking out over where I am because they’re all being psycho lately.”
Barrett shook her head, but I didn’t know at whom, then I nudged Booker to let me out.
“I’ll see you guys later,” I told them before exiting their bus.
Pushing Daisies had several radio interviews to do that afternoon and soundcheck. I saw Lawson in passing and once our eyes locked. I didn’t really want to seek him out to give him the opportunity to soil a fantastic memory of mine.
Instead, I focused on our show tonight.
We rocked. Of course we rocked. Every night, the energy from the crowd grew and every night I was more invigorated to perform.
Mack had been keeping us updated on the other aspects. Digital sales of our albums—we had two—were steadily climbing and the merch table was also doing well. All in all, Courting Chaos was our springboard to something more. I’d never be able to thank them for this opportunity.
After the show, I raced to the dressing room so I wouldn’t have to wait for my brothers to shower before getting my chance. They could all go at once, but if they got there first, I was stuck in sweaty clothes waiting on them to quit fucking around. But I made it there first tonight.
“How in the fuck do you get here so quickly?” Van yelled into the shower room.
“I’m small, so I’m quick,” I called back out. But I also showered faster than the four of them.
Because they were out there, I dried off and got dressed while in the shower room. There was a cart near the entrance that I’d set my clean clothes on. Shorts and a T-shirt that I’d only wear for a little while before putting on pajamas. I let my wet hair hang loose to dry.
Then it was their turn. While they showered, I went out to watch Courting Chaos from the side of the stage where no one would see me. Though I hadn’t planned on Lawson being there too. Still, I slid in beside him.
Two songs into it, I said loudly to him, “This is one of my favorite song of theirs.” It was “So Do I,” which wasn’t their most popular song but I loved it.
“Seriously?” Lawson asked me.
I nodded, having known that was coming. “Yeah. It’s the slight beat change after the second verse. I don’t know. It just works for me.”
He shook his head. “No one hears that beat change.”
Finally, I looked up at him for the first time. “I hear it.”
Now because of where we were, we had to speak loudly and lean into each other just to be heard. He leaned down, closer than he had been before, and I thought he was going to say something about this song. I was wrong.
“I think we should talk,” he said.
My stomach dropped. That didn’t sound like a conversation I wanted to have. “I told you. I’m not going to let you ruin an excellent memory for me.”
A corner of his mouth turned up and he leaned in even closer. “I wasn’t going to do that.”
Still… I didn’t want to take the chance of him rejecting me outright. “Maybe later,” I told him, focusing back on the show.
When it got closer to the end of the show I turned to Lawson and said, “See ya later.” Then I hauled ass out of there. My brothers’ laughter filled the area near the dressing room as I kept moving. They’d be in there a while, probably.
A little time on the bus alone might do me some good.
I pulled the door open and shut it behind me as I climbed the stairs and out of habit called out, “Honey, I’m home,” as I headed toward my bedroom. The guys were still in the dressing room, but I could never be too careful. Especially since I hadn’t seen them, which meant maybe one slinked away to the bus. I never knew.
“I thought you were never going to get here,” said a voice I absolutely didn’t recognize from the front of the bus near where the driver sat. There was a divider that we closed at night, but it was open now.
I froze. Every muscle in my body turned to stone as I slowly turned toward the unknown voice. My arms and legs began to shake and I wasn’t entirely sure my legs would carry me out of here.
“What are you doing here?” I asked the man, trying to sound much stronger than I currently felt. Looking him over, there was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t place any of it. He was tall, blond. I couldn’t see his eyes, but he definitely had a beard.
“You invited me.”
I swallowed hard. “When did I invite you?” If I kept him talking, maybe he’d stay on that side of the bus and I prayed one of my brothers would decide to come in here.
“Well… ” He took three steps in my direction. “I told you I’d see you soon. Then tonight when you sang the line come home with me, you were looking right at me.”
No. I wasn’t. I couldn’t see shit past maybe the first couple of rows, but I almost never made eye contact. It was really hard. The way he kept coming toward me had all the hair on my body standing on end. I pressed my back against the wall nearest me.
I needed to keep him talking long enough for someone else to come out here. I patted my back pockets for my phone and it wasn’t there. The last place I’d had it was… shit. I’d never grabbed it from the dressing room after my shower. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
His face changed from that of regular creepy guy into irate creepy guy in an instant. “You know my fucking name, Daisy.”
“Right.” I snapped my fingers. “Sorry. You just surprised me.” I had no idea what this guy’s name was, but that would’ve been the wrong answer. Whatever I had to do to keep him calm and talking, I’d do. “Uh, would you like a drink?”
“Sure. A beer would be great.”
For the first time in my life, I thanked the universe that my brothers kept the fridge well stocked with beer. I only drank it occasionally. After I handed it to him and he twisted off the top, I started going over any idea that came to mind that would get me on the other side of this guy. Closer to the door.
“How about I turn on some music?” I asked.
“Sure. Would that keep your brothers from coming on here while we’re together?”
Acid burned my throat at the idea of being with this guy, which he’d have to force against my will because there was no chance in hell I’d consent to anything. This wasn’t happening.
“It should.” I walked up to him like I wasn’t scared while pulling my elbows into my body to make myself as small as possible. My intent was to get by him without having to touch him. “I need to plug my phone into the sound system.” I pointed over his shoulder toward the front of the bus.
Creepy guy moved to the side so I could slide by. I let out a breath. It had actually worked.
“You guys sleep in these bunks?” he asked.
“My brothers do. My bedroom is at the end of the bus.” Fuck. Why’d I tell him that…? Other than to get him as far away from the door as possible.
Creepy kept going. I was going to take the opening and chance getting the hell out of there.
As quickly and quietly as I could, I ran for the door, opened it and burst through it all at the same time.
And I couldn’t stop the tears of relief from rolling down my face as I took off running.
Chapter Eight
Lawson
I hated that Daisy Thompson didn’t want to talk to me about what had happened because she thought I’d ruin the memory of our first kis
s when it was absolutely the opposite. When she’d said that she didn’t want to hear all the ways I thought it’d been awful, I wanted to punch myself in the nuts. It gutted me, hearing those words out of her beautiful mouth. Maybe I’d try again on the off day we had coming up.
For now, I was going to drink my sorrows alone on my bus. Where my thoughts would undoubtedly be of Daisy.
Halfway there, something came running at me. In the darkness, I couldn’t tell what until Daisy slammed right into my chest. On instinct, I reached out and grabbed her upper arms to keep her on her feet.
“Daisy?” I asked, holding her close. “What happened?!”
“I went… The bus… He… ” She was trembling and breathing so rapidly that I thought she might hyperventilate and pass out. Tears were streaming down her face, but she wasn’t actively crying. Burning roiled in my stomach.
I’d end whoever had made her feel this way.
“Daisy. Take a breath,” I told her. She took one deep one in and then blew it “What’s wrong?”
“I… The bus… ” She stumbled over her words again. She wasn’t calm enough yet to make any sense.
“Take another breath, but, baby, you’ve got to tell me what happened because I’m imagining the worst right now and that means someone has to die,” I told her.
Seeing Daisy like this… shaking with fear, her hazel eyes wide and darting around us. I never wanted to see this again and I’d put my body between hers and whatever was scaring her to make it happen. She took a breath in and released it slowly, like she was blowing out a birthday candle.
“When I got to the bus… ” She took another breath. “There was a guy. And he said that I’d invited him there, but I didn’t invite anyone anywhere. When I had the chance to run, I did. Then I slammed into you.”
“Someone’s on your bus?” Anxiety gripped me. Was it the guy from the messages? How in the fuck did he get back here? This was supposed to be a safe place for her to be.
“Yes. I don’t know who he is, though.”
Daisy (Pushing Daisies Book 1) Page 7
