“I was wondering if you had time to talk now,” I told her. It was the perfect opportunity, given that no one was in our dressing room.
“Absolutely. Let’s get away from the testosterone fest that is backstage.”
We headed to my dressing room together and settled on the couch, turning to face each other.
She spoke first. “OK. So I saw everything that happened on the video. And go.”
I chuckled. This was such a girl moment right here. But it reminded me, again, that I hadn’t actually spoken to Bri in far too long. Normally, I would’ve called Bri right away or she would’ve called me. We’d messaged back and forth but her schedule was almost as crazy as mine. As for Barrett, there hadn’t been a time when other people weren’t around. It was hard to find alone time right now.
“Well, all that happened, then Lawson got me out of there. But I could still taste the guy from his disgusting kiss.” Barrett made a strangling sound in her throat. “His fucking tongue went into my mouth. It was nasty.”
“I hate that some people think they have the right to do that.”
“Yeah, well, I think he might be a special kind of crazy,” I told her. The guy already had warrants, after all. Which I knew she was aware of. “But anyway… Lawson said he could get rid of the taste. I said to go for it.”
“Aww. I bet that had more to do with him wanting to kiss you. To make sure you were OK.”
I shrugged. Maybe. “But that’s when my brothers joined us.”
“Oh damn.”
“Yeah.”
Barrett quickly wet her lips before speaking again. “Is that why they’re calling him Mr. Styles?”
I tried not to smile. I really did. It was hard, though. Clearly, my brothers messing with him bugged Lawson, but it was kind of funny. “He told me last night. I’ll get my brothers off his case tonight.”
“I don’t think he cares that much about them being on his case,” she told me. I knew she was right. Of course he didn’t. Still. I’d take care of it because he shouldn’t have to deal with them.
“He also mentioned us having to figure something out when the tour ends.”
She leaned in closer. “What does that mean?”
“Duh.” I nudged her leg with my foot. “He lives in Chicago. I live near Detroit.”
“Oh right.” She snapped up straight. “That makes sense. I think he loves you, so he wouldn’t want to live so far away.”
“Exactly.” I got quiet for a moment, contemplating how much I wanted to tell her, but Barrett and I had become incredibly close since we’d come on tour. I’d be honest with her. “He does love me. He told me.”
A huge smile crossed her face and her eyes softened. “He did?”
I nodded. “I assume he means it.”
“Of course he does,” she told me. “I’ve known him a year and haven’t seen him with someone steady. Lawson isn’t the kind of guy to say that and not mean it.”
“And he didn’t seem excited by the fact that next year we’d both probably be on separate tours.”
“Are you excited about that?”
“Of course not,” I answered honestly.
“Then see?”
There was so much more I wanted to say, but right then, Bonham came into the room to get me for soundcheck.
“Until next time.” Barrett laughed as the two of us left the room.
Soundcheck went as it should have. My brothers even gave me shit over nothing like they usually did. Though I couldn’t help but notice Lawson watching us from the sound booth.
Once it was finished, we headed back to the dressing room as a group. For whatever reason, our check had been later than normal, so we’d have to grab a quick bite to eat and then get ready.
My brothers were unusually tired as we ate the takeout Mack had grabbed for us. The only sound in the room was chewing until finally we were all finished and getting ready for the show. I was working on my hair and makeup when I noticed they kept glancing at me.
“What’s going on with you all?” I asked them. From my position, I could see all of them in the mirror.
Bonham answered first. “Nothing.”
I put the last touches on my makeup then turned to them. “Bullshit,” I said.
“We were thinking now is a good time to finish the conversation from before,” Van told me.
I stood up and put my hands on my hips. “What conversation?”
“About Lawson,” Mack said.
I rolled my eyes so hard, it almost hurt. “Yeah. Sure. What’s the issue?”
“We think you’re making a mistake with him,” Daltry said first.
“A mistake? How’s that?”
“He’s on tour,” he told me right away. “He’s gone all the time.”
“Plus,” Van jumped in, “guys on tour aren’t known for their fidelity.”
I snapped back as if he’d actually slapped me in the face. “That’s a terrible way of thinking, Van. Lawson isn’t going to cheat on me. Next.”
“He’s too old for you,” Mack offered up.
“He’s your age.”
“Which is how I know he’s too old for you.” Mack ran a hand over the back of his head. “You’re really young.”
“And should come back to our bus,” Daltry told me.
“Absolutely not. I’m staying where I am and nothing you say is going to change that. I get it. You guys don’t know him like I do, but as I’ve told you before, I love Lawson. And until the day he gives me a reason to leave, I’m with him.” I quickly wet my lips. “And I don’t think he’ll give me a reason to leave.”
“You’re making poor life choices,” Van added. “Do you really expect us to sit by and watch it happen?”
Fuck every single one of them. Acid rolled in my stomach as I listened to them talk about Lawson this way when he wasn’t even here to defend himself.
“Seriously?” I yelled. “You want to talk about poor life choices, Van? Really? You want me to call Mom right now? You know I know where all of your secrets are buried.”
Van’s mouth snapped shut and his jaw tightened as he turned his back to me. “I think we need to dial it back a little, guys. Daisy’s a grown woman. We should let her make her own decisions.”
“Let me?” I muttered.
“And Lawson seems like a decent guy,” he continued. “He wears a suit.”
“A suit without a jacket,” Daltry grumbled.
“But it’s still a suit. Let’s just leave it for now anyway.”
“Yes, please,” I told them. “Listen.” I yanked my shirt over my head to change for the show. Yes, I was standing in front of my brothers in just a bra, but it was the same way they’d seen me at the beach my entire life. This close living meant sometimes we saw each other in our underwear. “Like I’ve told you twice now, I love Lawson. He loves me. I’m not going anywhere, and neither is he. I bet if you asked him, he’d tell you the same.” I pulled the sparkly tank top over my head and straightened it. “I get that I’m your little sister. I get that you want to protect me, but I will let you know if I need protecting. I expect you to try to understand, but if you can’t, just don’t be dickholes about it.”
There was a tap at the door followed by a voice saying, “It’s time.”
“We have to go,” Mack told all of us.
As we made our way down the hallway, I said, “And can you stop calling him ‘Mr. Styles’?”
Van burst out into a loud laugh as a low rumble of chuckles came from the others. They’d all known it was bothering him, obviously. They just didn’t care. Who knew why they did shit like that?
No matter what was happening between us, when we got onstage, that all went by the wayside. But at least now I felt semi-reassured that they’d lay off my boyfriend and let me live my life. At least until the next issue they didn’t like popped up.
Being on stage that night felt freeing somehow. Or at least, I felt freer. I worked the crowd in a way I hadn’t in a while. That guy…
the stalker or whatever, had taken up more space in my mind than I’d thought. Even when I didn’t know it was affecting me, it had been.
The fact that Cal had informed us that the guy, whose name I didn’t want to know yet, was the one sending the messages and was the guy on the bus that night made me feel a bit better. There was only one weirdo out there and he had now been arrested. Though I’d beaten myself up for a couple of days over the fact that I didn’t recognize him outside the arena. I’d seen him on the bus though he’d had long hair and a full beard. Outside he’d been extremely clean cut. Finally, I convinced myself that there was no point to dwelling on it.
He’d been arrested and hopefully, it was now all behind us.
Yet when I caught a glimpse of Lawson standing to the right, out near the crowd, watching me, something he didn’t do all that often, with an intensity that I felt to my core, something else altogether sparked inside me.
I smiled at him so he knew I’d seen him and I put a little something extra into my performance.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lawson
Sometimes it was really hard not to watch Daisy every night on stage. Sometimes I watched when she didn’t realize it. I loved this woman more than I’d thought possible. And she’d gotten her brothers to lay off. More than once, I’d fought the urge to punch one of them in the face, but I didn’t do it. For Daisy’s stake. If they wanted to harass me, I’d let them, just to not put her in the middle.
Maybe they’d realized that was exactly what they’d been doing. I didn’t know. She didn’t tell me.
We were doing a makeup show in Chicago. One of the ones we’d had to cancel when the original opening band had had their accident, which meant we were zigzagging around a bit this week, but nobody complained.
Landing in Chicago was perfect timing, though. Daisy and I had yet to have an actual date. Unless grabbing food counted. I wanted her for the day away from the tour.
“So what are we doing?” she asked as we got out of the car.
“You’ll see,” I told her.
I’d gone big on this one and I hoped she was here for it.
We went inside the building, where a young guy, maybe nineteen or so, with orange hair greeted us and I gave him my name. There was a little bit of wait since we had to check in thirty minutes early. Daisy must’ve asked me what we were doing twenty times. I didn’t answer her.
“Follow me,” the guy at the desk told us. So we did.
“What in the…?” she said, more under her breath than to me.
That was the reaction I’d been going for. Daisy was wearing a pair of shorts and a blue T-shirt. Her red hair was pulled up into a bun. I’d told her today was totally casual, which meant I was also wearing a T-shirt, though mine was black, and jeans.
“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” I asked with big grin.
Her eyes were wide when she turned to me. “No.”
She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as we walked toward the helicopter. The pilot introduced himself and then we got settled into our seats and put our headsets on.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she said through the headset. I’d bought the required number of seats for us to have the helicopter to ourselves. Go big or go home.
A few minutes later, we were rising away from the landing pad. Daisy grasped my hand with hers. Maybe she wasn’t scared of heights, but this was a first for her.
We weren’t allowed communication through the headset and damn, the helicopter was too loud for me to talk to her. Once we were in the air, something clicked in our ears, which meant we could hear each other again.
“Have you done this before?” she asked, glancing at me quickly then looking back out the window. It was a beautiful sight seeing the city from this angle.
“With my dad once. When I turned fourteen.”
“This is amazing.”
As we moved around the city, the pilot talked about some of the landmarks. Daisy would ask questions here or there, but more of her time was taken up with the view.
About a half an hour later, we landed again. She held my hand so tightly with both of hers until we were safely on the ground.
“That was amazing.” Daisy threw herself into my arms. I lifted her off the ground and swung her around before setting her feet back down.
“I’m so glad you liked it.”
“Liked? Loved.”
I tipped the pilot then it was time to go.
Another ride share and we were at Oz Park.
“You’re telling me there’s more?” she asked.
“This might not be as cool as the helicopter,” I told her.
“We’ll see.”
I led her down the path to the spot my sister had specified. I wouldn’t have been able to pull this part off without my older sister, Erica. When we rounded our last corner, I saw exactly where she meant.
“Is this for us?” Daisy looked up at me with those big hazel eyes.
“It is.”
She gave me this great smile and I wanted to do very naughty things to her right there in the park. Instead, I gave a nod so she’d sit down.
We settled in on the blanket and began to unpack the lunch I’d asked my sister to bring. Nothing fancy. Just some cold cut sub sandwiches from my favorite deli, water because I knew Daisy tried to hydrate during the day for the show at night and I hadn’t seen her drink any alcohol since being on the tour, so even wine was out but she had a show tonight anyway. It wasn’t an impressive lunch, but the view was amazing.
“This view is amazing.” She’d said the words I’d just thought. “It’s so peaceful.”
“I asked my sister to find somewhere secluded.”
“Your sister?” she asked as she took a bite of her sandwich. Then she added, “This is really good.”
I swallowed the bite I’d taken before answering her. “It’s from my favorite place. And yes, my sister Erica. If I would’ve brought all of this with us, it would’ve ruined the surprise. And we don’t have time to stop for everything.”
Daisy glanced around quickly. “Is she here?”
“She was. But she would’ve left when she saw us coming.”
“Why? I want to meet her.”
“You’ll meet her at the show tonight.” I adjusted my weight. “Now might be a good time to tell you that my mom, stepdad, and both sisters are coming tonight.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded.
“Awesome.”
“My sister Lexi is your age and a pretty big fan. She likes Courting Chaos, but she’s known them since she was a teenager. She apparently already knew about you guys when you joined the tour. Actually she was pretty excited when I told her you were joining us. She really loves you.”
The corner of her mouth ticked up. “I’m quite loveable. Loving me must run in the family.”
I leaned over to give her a soft kiss, but the moment my lips touched her, I didn’t want to pull away. “It must.”
After we finished up, I lay back and brought Daisy with me. We spent as long as we could lying in the park, not really talking, but just being together. Made the thought of going back quite unappealing.
But alas, we had to.
Even worse, once we got there, I had to leave Daisy so she could get ready and I could see my family. Asking Barrett to have Daisy’s brothers do soundcheck without her gave us that little bit of extra time together but it was never enough.
“Your family is in the meet and greet room,” Barrett said as she slid in beside me. She’d met all of them a while ago. My mom loved her.
“Thanks. Did you—”
“The dinner you ordered is in there waiting for you too.”
Daisy and I had eaten like three hours before, so I wouldn’t have much of mine. But Mom liked to have dinner together. This was what I could do.
“Thanks, Barrett.”
“Did Daisy like your surprises?” she asked as we stopped at the door.
I tried
not to smile but failed. “Yeah. She did.”
Barrett grinned bigger than I had, as if she had her own vested interest in my relationship. But she was friends with Daisy, so she probably did.
I shook my head and went through the door.
Mom hopped to her feet and gave me a big hug. She was almost as tall as me and we had the similar coloring except for the eyes. Charlie shook my hand and my sisters also gave me hugs. Once our greetings were over, we settled in around the table.
Charlie wasn’t a big guy. Smaller than me with buzz cut hair. Mom looked like she could’ve been my sister—she looked so young. She had the same dark hair as my sisters but her eyes blue as were Lexi’s but Erica’s were brown like mine.
“No Daisy?” Erica asked. She might’ve been a year older than me, but she was half a foot shorter and looked pretty young. Her dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail.
“She has to get ready for the show,” I told them all.
Lexi turned to me quickly. “But we—”
I cut her off. “Yeah. You’ll meet her and her brothers in a bit.”
“How you got that woman to fall for you is beyond me.”
“I would hope so,” I told her. “I’m your brother.”
“Speaking of brothers… ” Lexi fought a grin. “Hers are all smoke shows. I even saw the manager one and what the hell do their parents look like?”
I clenched my jaw at her talking about Mack. Lexi was having a hard time and Mom wanted me to bring her on tour for a bit so she could get away from whatever was going on, but her comments gave me a little taste of what Mack had probably been feeling when he’d found out Daisy and I were together.
“Yeah,” I said. “We need to have a chat about what’s going on with you.”
She looked away from me. “Not tonight, we don’t.”
I wouldn’t ruin this for her because I knew how excited she was to meet Pushing Daisies, but that conversation would happen.
Mom caught me up on stuff at home. Erica filled me in on Dad, though I talked to him regularly. Overall, it seemed my family was in mostly good places.
Daisy (Pushing Daisies Book 1) Page 19
