Bonham (Pushing Daisies Book 3) by Heather Young-Nichols (the little red hen read aloud txt) 📗

ears listening.” Ah. She meant without parents around. Damn, hers sounded like pieces of work. “We didn’t even do the whole one night was my turn, the next was hers. We cooked together unless one of us had something to do and couldn’t be there.”

“I feel like if we would’ve done that in my house, the food would’ve been inedible and the messes would’ve been epic. Four teenage boys in the kitchen would’ve been a nightmare.”

“I’ve tried imagining you all as teenagers, but I don’t think I know your brothers well enough to form a picture.” She took a drink of the diet pop I’d gotten her.

I shrugged. “You went to high school. Imagine any four teenage boys in the kitchen. Hungry and horny all at the same time.”

She snorted into her glass. “I went to an all-girls school,” she reminded me as she dabbed around her mouth from the pop splatter.

“Oh, right.” I thought about the best way to explain when the perfect scenario came to mind. “You were at my parents’ the other night and heard us. All loud and talking at the same time.”

“Yeah. That was honestly fun.”

I shook my head. “You need to get out more, but that’s what it would’ve been like, only we wouldn’t have known how not to do damage to my mother’s kitchen. There probably would’ve been a fire.”

“How was it for Daisy growing up with four older brothers? I can’t imagine that was fun for any of her boyfriends.”

I gave her a big, wide, proud grin. “It wasn’t.” Then more seriously, I explained. “We were overly protective over her. Never wanted her to get hurt in any way and when she started dating we knew exactly how the guy was thinking. With his dick. So we made sure to intimidate them as much as possible. It got to the point where my parents wouldn’t let any of us be there when a guy came to pick her up.”

“How fun for her. But what about Lawson? She’s an adult now, so was it easier?”

“No,” I told her truthfully. “Harder. He’s too old for her.”

“How old is he?”

“Twenty-seven.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion. “That’s only six years.”

“Yeah. Six years.” I took another bite. “Let’s not talk about my sister right now. I mean, I’ll answer anything you want, but maybe not right now.”

Thinking about Daisy with Lawson was sure to dampen my drive to do what I wanted to later. What we wanted to. I’d rather wait.

“That’s fine.” She stabbed two green beans and put them in her mouth, chewing slowly, almost deliberately. “I can say anything to you, right? Ask you anything?”

“I told you you could.” But a hard brick dropped into my stomach. When women asked that, it meant the guy wasn’t likely to love the question. But I’d answer it. I’d told her I would.

“You said that I have a boyfriend earlier. On the radio.” She’d stopped eating and her fingers were messing with her napkin, much like they did the hem of her shirt or skirt when she was a little nervous.

“I did. That bother you?”

“Bother me? No.” Then she snorted, which turned into a quiet laugh. “No, Bonham, it didn’t bother me. I didn’t answer him because we hadn’t talked about it yet and I wasn’t sure how much you wanted public.”

“Do we need to talk about it?”

She sucked that bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head. “I don’t.”

“Good and when it comes to you, I want everyone to know we’re together. You’re beautiful and funny and smart and I’m sure every guy in a twenty-mile radius wants his shot with you. I’d rather people know that you’re taken.” I thought about how that sounded and said, “Spoken for?” No, that wasn’t right. “I’m not really sure how to say that without sounding like I just made a deal for your dowry.”

She giggled. That was a good sign. “Taken is fine with me.” She did the lip thing again before going any further. “But we hadn’t talked about the parameters of our relationship is all I was trying to say.”

“Parameters? Are you talking about seeing other people? Because fuck that. I don’t want that.”

“No.” She let out a long sigh. “I’m trying to ask if you think I’m a slut or easy or whatever.”

It took everything in me not to laugh because with the seriousness on her face, it would’ve been the wrong choice. “Why would you ask that?”

Jurnie let out a long sigh, her shoulders rounded. “I realized in the studio today that we hadn’t talked about us, the whole relationship thing, and I was fine with that. I didn’t need that. But later, I was thinking… It’s not a secret what’s going to happen tonight and I want it to happen. Like I’ve never truly wanted it to happen with anyone else.”

This feeling settled in my chest with her statement. She’d never wanted to be with someone the way we were going to be together tonight. Yet she wanted it with me. Talk about an ego boost, one I didn’t need.

“So,” she continued. “I was coming here to have sex with someone I didn’t even know was my boyfriend. Which got my mind going and I started to wonder if you thought I was easy.” She glanced down, then back at me. “Or whatever.”

I reached out and gave her chair a yank to bring her closer to me. Settling my hands on her knees, I leaned in closer.

“Of course I don’t think that,” I told her quietly, making sure she kept her eyes on me. “In general, I don’t think that about women anyway.”

“You don’t?”

I shook my head. “If guys can go out and fuck whoever they want and it not be a big deal, then so can women. Doesn’t matter. But you, Jurnie… not a chance. We didn’t talk about it because I didn’t think we needed to.” Now I slipped a hand up to cup her cheek, letting my fingers pushing into