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

Bonham nudged my shoulder with his, bringing me back to the people in front of me. “Something wrong?”

“No.” I’d said it so immediately, it was a dead giveaway that there was something wrong. He watched me for a good thirty seconds before looking away.

The waitress and a helper arrived with everyone’s food, except us because we’d just ordered maybe five minutes ago. Though by the time she was done giving everyone what they’d ordered, she was only gone another couple of minutes before bringing ours back.

I sunk my teeth into the juicy meat and thank goodness I’d finally gotten something to eat. I was hungry, but I hadn’t realized just how famished I was. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and we’d burned off a lot of calories.

“Good?” he asked. I nodded but couldn’t do much else. I’d taken an incredibly big bite and was still chewing.

“Looks like she can take a lot of meat,” Daltrey said a little hushed as if he were trying to not be heard, but clearly, we’d hear him.

“Fuck off, Daltrey,” Bonham told him almost automatically. “But it’s a good thing I have a lot of meat to give.”

My eyes widened to the point of being painful. I couldn’t believe he’d just said that.

“Ignore them,” Daisy told me. I’d forgotten that she was only sitting a couple of people away and the table was round, so really, everyone had heard Daltrey. “Men are idiots.”

“Except me, of course,” Lawson slid an arm around her.

Daisy rolled her eyes. “All of them.”

Lawson snorted then laughed. Other people may not have noticed the way his thumb rubbed the top of her shoulder. It was an intimate gesture and sweet.

“So when are you coming on tour with us?” Daisy took a drink from her straw.

“Uh…” I readjusted in my seat. “I don’t know.”

“As soon as it works with her schedule, I hope.” Bonham popped a couple of fries into his mouth.

“Right. I have the internship for the entire summer,” I told her. “So I’m not really sure.”

“Well, I hope it’s soon,” she told me. “We need more women on tour.”

“Isn’t Bri coming for a while?” Daltrey asked.

“Yes.” Daisy bounced with excitement in her seat. “She can’t come to the show in time to watch us play tomorrow, but she’ll be there by nine.”

“Where is she riding?” Van asked with his mouth full of food.

“On our bus, dummy.”

He groaned. “It’s getting crowded.”

“Tell me about it,” Lawson added.

Mack cleared his throat and spoke for the first time since greeting me. He’d been talking to those around him. I just hadn’t been part of those conversations. “Wait. Bri’s coming on tour?”

Daisy sighed. “Yes. I know you don’t like her, but she’s my best friend and I haven’t seen her in a while. Since before we joined the tour.”

His jaw tightened. “I’ve never said I didn’t like her.”

Daisy cocked her head to the side. “You didn’t have to.”

It didn’t take an expert to figure out that Daisy hated that her brother didn’t like her friend and honestly, it was surprising. Their family seemed perfect. Granted, maybe I wasn’t around them enough, but this was the exact reason I’d wanted to come tonight. To get to know them better, but so far, none of them had uttered a bad word about anyone other than each other and that had been in jest.

The group of us kept eating and talking. Some of the guys kept drinking, though I’d noticed Bonham had switched to water after his second beer. Probably due to him driving, but I would’ve driven for him if he’d wanted me to.

I wasn’t drinking. Never had.

We laughed a lot. The whole group of us turned into one long conversation. When we’d finished eating, Bonham moved his chair over toward me so that he could lean back and put his arm on the back of my chair. It was familiar and I leaned into him too.

When it was time to call it a night, Lexi, Daisy, and I walked out of the restaurant arm in arm. I’d never felt this comfortable with new friends this quickly, but these two did everything to make me feel welcome. The fact that Lexi was with Van, my boyfriend’s twin brother, meant that she could understand my relationship with Bonham in a way no one else did. They were so much alike, it was kind of scary. Though of course I thought Bonham was the better-looking twin.

“Did you have fun?” he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Yes.” I let out a big yawn. We’d been there for three hours, which probably wasn’t that unusual, given that they had games on the TVs. But we’d taken up a whole table. Didn’t matter. I’d noticed the generous tips everyone had been leaving. They’d split the check up between the couples and then Mack and Daltrey had paid for themselves. “I really like your family.”

“I’m glad.” His hand gently squeezed my knee. “Sorry about Daltrey’s comment.”

“What comment?” I was searching my memory and had come up with nothing.

“About the meat.”

Still took a second. I was exhausted. “Oh. Right. That’s fine. He wasn’t wrong. I do seem to be able to take a lot of meat and you do have a lot of meat to give me.”

His loud laughter filled the car as I snuggled down into the seat. My eyes were growing heavy.

“I’m sorry. I’m so tired,” I said.

“You’re fine. If you fall asleep, I’ll carry you inside.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Well, let’s get back and get you snuggled into bed.”

I did nod off in the car a little before we got to the hotel. It wasn’t a full sleep, but just enough to not be fully aware of the things around me. But as soon as we were in the parking lot, I perked up enough to get me into the hotel.

Now all I could think about was cuddling into Bonham’s side and staying in his arms until morning.

26

Jurnie

When