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

eaten lunch and talked. Every time we had any time together, we talked so much. More than I’d ever talked with a person at a single time. But since we weren’t together much neither of us wanted to feel like we were missing anything.

“What’s wrong?” I immediately sat up.

“Nothing’s wrong.” He shook his head but was tapping on his phone. “Van sent me a message asking if we wanted to go dinner. I’m telling him no.”

“Why?”

“Why?” He turned to me with a half-smile. “That ruins the never-leaving-until-we-have-to plan and my siblings and I are together every fucking day.”

“I don’t get to see them.”

Yes, it was true that his brothers and sister were with him probably more than they wanted to be. Lexi and Lawson were on the tour, so they probably were too. But I wasn’t. I was back in Michigan alone and if Bonham and I were going to continue being together, I probably should get to know his family even better.

“Are you saying you want to go?” He asked this like it was the most horrifying idea there had ever been.

“No. We don’t have to. I’m just saying if you’re going to keep me around, then I should spend time with your family too.”

He sighed then dropped his head back, standing there all naked like it didn’t even matter. I supposed it didn’t, given what we’d just done. “They’re all meeting at six,” he finally told me. “Which means we have to hurry.”

“I can hurry,” I promised as I threw the covers off me.

“I can’t. I need a nap.”

I couldn’t help but giggle as I rushed off to the shower. I wasn’t about to hang out with his family smelling like sex.

Twenty minutes later, we stepped out of the shower together. That had been a different experience. Bonham had tried his best to distract me from the fact that we had to hurry, but if I were being honest, I was a little sore and a tiny break wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Bonham had it easy. All he had to do was dry off and throw on some clothes. Apparently, we weren’t going anywhere fancy, so jeans were fine for him, along with a black, which showed off all of his tattoos. I’d never pictured myself with a guy who had so many of them, but then again, I’d pictured myself with an accountant or a lawyer or something equally safe. I’d never once pictured myself with a musician.

I kept the towel wrapped around my chest as I blow-dried my hair, scrunching it as I went so that it’d form the easy waves that I loved. Then I quickly put on the least amount of makeup before heading out to get something to wear.

My bag was already opened on the stand. That must’ve been Bonham trying to help and I knew I had something totally appropriate. A cute pink summer dress that fell halfway to my knees. It had a faux belt around the middle and a flowy skirt with a sleeveless bodice. It was summer in Michigan, after all.

“Ready.” I spun around after slipping my ballet flats on. A lot of women would go with wedges to make themselves taller at my height, but I liked the height difference between Bonham and me. He made me feel dainty, I guess was the word I’d been looking for.

He slipped his phone into his back pocket as I slung my crossbody on and then we left.

The restaurant was a bar and grill not far from the hotel. Well, it was far enough for us to drive. It was semi-dark with just enough light to see everyone and everyone was already there when we arrived.

“We ordered,” Daltrey said after the greetings. “You guys were taking too fucking long.”

“Had to shower,” Bonham told him, which made my eyes widen.

If they knew we had to shower in the early evening, then they probably knew why. Oh, god. I wasn’t going to survive this if people were thinking about the fact that Bonham and I had been having sex.

“Is that why it took you so fucking long to answer my text?” Van asked.

“Yep.”

I dug my nails into Bonham’s thigh in warning. Maybe he was used to this, but I wasn’t.

“What?” he asked, looking directly at me. “Trust me. They all already knew.”

“I didn’t,” Lexi said, piping up. I knew I liked that girl. “But I also didn’t really think about it.”

“Great,” I muttered.

The waitress came back, having noticed that we’d joined them. I asked for a diet pop while Bonham ordered a beer. We also placed our order for food. Both of us wanted burgers and we asked for a large basket of fries to share.

“Hey.” Lexi leaned over Daltrey, who was sitting to my right and put her hand on mine. “Don’t worry about it. In this situation, it seems like it’s hard not to know what everyone else is doing. Close quarters and all.”

“Especially when you share a bus.” Lawson’s jaw was tight as he spoke. This just made Van laugh loudly.

“It’s not my fault your sister’s a screamer,” Van said. “Oof—”

Lexi’s elbow met Van’s stomach almost immediately.

“Don’t say that stuff to him,” Lexi said loudly. “He could make me go home.”

“No, he can’t, baby. We’ll just move to my bus.”

Which would’ve been Bonham’s bus and a flare of jealousy shot through me. By being on tour with her boyfriend, I’d bet it never felt like Lexi was missing out or even really missing him. I’d bet she’d never once lain awake wondering what Van was doing on tour.

None of these thoughts brought out the best in me, given that Bonham, while making me feel the most confident I’d ever felt, also gave me a huge insecurity. Was I enough for him to resist everything on the road? Though I’d been the most inexperienced a person could’ve been when he and I had met, he seemed to enjoy everything we did together. Did he secretly wish I was