Van (Pushing Daisies Book 2)
Page 16
“Hey. Get in here.” Lexi waved me up.
Once I got to her, I cupped her face, my fingers almost meeting at the back of her head, and gave her a quick kiss. Her lips tasted like cherry.
“What do you want to do before we head out tonight?” I asked her.
“How about we just hang out and watch a movie?”
Never sounded better. “Sounds good to me.”
“I have my laptop.” She wet her plump lips then swallowed hard. “How about you go grab an overnight bag, we’ll snuggle down in my bunk and watch something? Then you’ll stay here tonight.”
“Seriously?” I wasn’t so sure her brother would agree to this plan, but Lexi rolled her beautiful blue eyes.
“We have to jump in with both feet eventually, right? Lawson will be fine. I already told Daisy you were staying. She’ll make sure he’s in an extra good mood tonight.”
I groaned. “Gross.”
She just snickered. “Seriously. Go. Grab some clothes because while Lawson will either get used to it or send me home, either way, you can’t walk around here naked. That’s a promise I made to your sister.”
I chuckled this time. Daisy had seen all of us in various states of dress, but we never got naked in front of her. That wasn’t something any of us were comfortable with.
“I’ll be right back,” I told her because denying my girl anything she wanted didn’t come naturally to me.
After packing my overnight bag and letting Daltrey know I was riding with Lexi tonight, I was back on her bus with the two of us snuggled down in her bunk and a romantic comedy playing.
Some people complained about how cramped the bunks were, but right now, with Lexi tucked against my side and her leg thrown over mine as she absentmindedly drew circles on my stomach so low that she was flirting with the hem of my jeans, there was nowhere I’d rather be.
“Oh, I wanted to tell you but you’ve been kissing me every time together—”
“That a complaint?”
“Obviously not but Lawson got everything cleaned up from my bully stuff. The account has been deleted and everything from Facebook and Instagram is all gone. People blocked. He said I might still get messages for a while but I can delete those without reading them.”
“Good.” I kissed the top of her head.
The fact that her brother was taking care of all that shit grated my nerves. I wanted to be that for her, do that for her. In the end, I had to just be grateful that it was over.
“What are you doing next week?” I asked her quietly while the movie still played.
She looked up at me with wide eyes. “I assume I’ll be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for the last several weeks.”
“Haven’t you looked at the schedule?” I asked. She shook her head. “Oh, we have a little break. Five days. I’m hoping you’ll come home with me. Meet my parents. That kind of thing.”
“A break? Really? You get those?” Recognition crossed her face. “Is that why Daisy said something about seeing your mom next week?”
“Probably. I don’t know what everyone’s doing, but it makes sense.”
“Wait. Do you all live with your parents? Because if Daisy’s going, you know Lawson probably is too at least for part of the time.”
“No. We don’t. Mack and Daltrey share an apartment. So do Bonham and I. Daisy lives at home technically, but it’s in this addition that my parents call the mother-in-law suite because they added it for my grandma. It has its own entrance and looks like a little apartment.”
“Got it. Yeah. I’ll go home with you. That’ll be fun.”
“We have a show in Detroit that weekend, then we fly back out the next morning to get back on tour. That sound good to you?”
She snuggled back down into me and said, “Sounds great.”
While we were finishing the movie, there was some noise out in the main part of the bus, which would’ve been Lawson and Daisy coming back from the show. We ignored them until the movie ended. Then Lexi wanted a snack.
The two of us slid out of the bunk and headed toward the fridge. I grabbed us each a bottle of water while she snagged a couple of pretzel rods out of a package in the cupboard. The bus was moving already and we were on our way to the next city.
After taking a bite of the rod, she hopped up onto the counter and offered me a bite. I took it because sometimes the salty goodness just hit right. I moved in between her knees and settled my hands on her hips.
As I contemplated kissing her, someone groaned to my left.
Lawson stood there in his pajama pants and T-shirt, a way most of us never saw him, with his hair somewhat disheveled, while I tried not to think about why it was messed up. If it was because he’d just done something with my sister, well…they hadn’t been back very long, so I wouldn’t be impressed. And I didn’t want to think about it.
Lexi heard him too and held her hand up. “Don’t be a dick,” she warned. “It’s not fair that you basically live with your girlfriend and I can’t have my boyfriend over one night. You’re going to have to deal with it.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at my pint-sized girlfriend telling her brother, twice her size, not to be a dick.
“Are you serious with this guy?” Lawson asked, ignoring me, but staring down at my girlfriend.
Lexi just shrugged as Daisy slipped in under his arm. It was a tight squeeze at this part of the bus. “What can I say?” Lexi asked. “Look at him. He’s really cute.”
Daisy burst out into a loud laugh then slapped Lawson’s abs when he muttered, “Bonham would’ve been better.”
The fuck he would’ve.
Turning to face him, I said, “At least we’ll be spending holidays together.”
Every muscle in Lawson’s body tightened. “The fuck we will.”
“Oh, it’s happening,” I told him. “Our families are becoming intertwined. Every Thanksgiving. Every Christmas. Every family event. Either I’ll be at yours or you’ll be at mine.”
Lawson dropped his head back and groaned.
“It’s true,” Daisy told him while trying to hold back laughter. “It makes sense and we can start with the break next week.” Then she looked at Lexi. “You’re coming to Detroit next week, right?”
“I am,” Lexi assured her.
“Excellent. We can go on a double date and help the boys become BFFs.”
Lexi snorted. “Absolutely.” Lawson tightened his arm around my sister and led her back to the bedroom. Lexi turned to me. “You’re mean.”
I acted as if her words wounded me and clasped my chest. “Am not. Really. I wasn’t even being mean, but that’s the reality, right?”
She nodded slowly. “That is the reality, but don’t be a dick to my brother.”
“I wasn’t. I’ll try not to be.” She almost argued, but I said, “It’s the best I’ve got.”
Then this sweet smile spread over her face. “I’ll take it. I love you.” She kissed my lips softly. It was a nothing of a peck, but it meant everything to me.
“I love you. But let’s go to bed before he comes back out here.”
I slid Lexi to the edge then lifted her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and let me carry her back to the bunk.
The bunk might’ve been small, but it was the perfect size for us.
Thank you for taking the time to read Van (Pushing Daisies 2)! Please consider leaving a review!
Don’t forget to preorder Bonham to read what happens next to Pushing Daisies.
Also by Heather Young-Nichols
New Adult Romance
Daisy
The Fallout Series
Last Good Thing
A Little More Touch Me
Hard to Say Yes
Courting Chaos
Cross
Ransom
Booker
Dixon
Something Irish
Love by the Mile
Love by the Rules
Gambling on Love
High
est Bidder
Highest Stakes
Highest Reward
Finding Love
Making Her Mine
Making Him Hers
The Goblin War
Standalones
Moonstruck
Written with J.A. Hardt
Dirt on the Diamond
After Office Hours: Seducing the Professor
Bound by Magic
About the Author
Heather Young-Nichols is a multi-published YA and contemporary romance author and a native of the great and often very cold state of Michigan. She is better known at home and to her friends as the Snarker-in-Chief, a job she excels at beyond anything she could have imagined. She loves many things, but especially cold coffee, hot books, and baseball. But not necessarily in that order.
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