Chapter 9
9
By the time we got back to the bus last night, I was wiped. As nice as it is to have shows in the same city, it can sometimes be more stressful. The PR team loves to pack our schedules with in town events. At least on travel days we get to rest.
I half expected the girls to be causing chaos, as is Lainey’s nature, but they were already in their bedroom watching something on TV. We were all grateful we didn’t have to go track them down. Since I showered in the dressing room, I passed out almost immediately after laying down in my bed.
I woke up this morning to the sound of quiet chatter. Declan and Grayson are both earlier risers, but I was surprised to see Ellie sitting with them in the lounge.
“Y’all are up early,” I mumble as I walk into the room in search of coffee. Thankfully, the bus is too small to house anything more than a standard single serve coffee machine, much to Lainey’s chagrin .
“It’s ten o’clock,” Declan deadpans as if I slept the day away.
“Don’t you mean 0100 hours?”
“I really, really don’t.”
“Isn’t that one a.m.?” Ellie questions.
“Don’t try to reason with him, Ellie Bellie,” Grayson replies. “At this point we assume it is willful ignorance that he refuses to understand military time.”
He’s not wrong. I enjoy fucking with Declan about his rigidity. My jovial mood plummets as I watch Ellie smile at my brother. A smile he returns. He’s making her smile and calling her a cute nickname? Does he have a thing for her?
We all decided a long ago that any of Lainey’s friends were off limits. Being a teenage girl is hard enough without having to worry about your brothers ruining your friendships. It helps that we were older than them but teenage girls don’t tend to consider things like age, especially when we played younger on TV. The age gap certainly never stopped Lainey’s David Beckham crush.
Grayson isn’t going anywhere near Ellie if I can help it. The man is still pining over his first love. No chance am I letting him mess around with Ellie. He’d end up breaking her heart and could fuck up the dynamic between her and Lainey. Which is why we all need to keep Ellie in the sister zone.
Is that a thing? Similar to the friend zone but for people you think of as family? The friend zone is total BS, but the sibling zone has merit. Despite my thoughts of staying away, I can’t help the buzz that runs through me when I catch her staring at my chest. I wonder if she’s remembering seeing me in a towel. Just because we can’t act on it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the view. That’s a dangerous line to toe.
I’m shaking out my shoulders trying to relieve the sudden tensions from watching the exchange between Ellie and Gray when Lainey joins the mix. It’s perfect timing. If I clutched my mug any harder I think the handle would have snapped off .
“Sleeping Beauty has finally risen,” Grayson taunts.
“Hop off it, you ogre,” she retorts with a yawn. Walking past me, she grabs the coffee out of my hand and takes a sip.
“Bleck! What is this sludge?”
“Sorry princess, you’re going to have to get used to instant coffee for the next few weeks,” I reply.
“No thank you. I brought cold brew. Only uncultured swine can drink that shit.”
Stealing my cup back from her, I take a big gulp, making an exaggerated “ah” sound once I swallow. Lainey rolls her eyes before walking away, and I catch Ellie watching the exchange. I don’t miss her adorable blush when I wink her way.
“Alright, loser. How are you planning to keep me from dying of boredom today?” Lainey asks once she gets her caffeine fix.
“I didn’t realize we were responsible for entertaining you,” Declan says.
“An oversight on your part,” she quips. “You’ve been responsible for occupying my attention and keeping me out of trouble since day one, brother dearest.”
“If that’s the case, how did you manage while in college?”
“That would be me,” Ellie interjects. “And I would only give myself a C for that project.”
“Hey! I didn’t end up in jail or naked in a viral video. I’d call that a win,” Lainey asserts.
Ellie snorts. “What a high bar to meet. Shall we tell them about what we got up to in PCB spring break of sophomore year?”
“We shall not.” Lainey cringes.
“I’d love to know,” I state as both girls shake their heads. “Come on, you can tell me. I’m the fun brother!”
“I thought I was the fun brother!” Grayson shouts.
“Sorry, Gray. Jackie is right. He’s the fun brother, and Declan is the protective one. You’re the reliable one. ”
“Reliable? That’s fucking bull. You don’t think I’m reliable do you, Ellie?”
She purses her lip to ponder it. It’s so cute that all I want to do is pull her into my lap and kiss her plump lips. Instead I stay rooted in place as I listen to her response.
“Once when you were sixteen, you drove us to the video rental place at 11:45 p.m. to return a DVD before the midnight deadline,” she recalls.
“If I remember correctly, you were panicking about it, Little Miss. I was trying to get you to calm dow—oh my God. I am reliable!” Grayson’s crestfallen expression causes me to bust out laughing as I cross the space to the couch he vacated to process this revelation.
“You also picked us up from that party senior year when we were too shi—never mind. Got any games?” Lainey asks, taking in Declan’s chastising expression..
“I think Mark kept the new gaming system on the band bus, but we still have the Nintendo.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.
“No way, you guys always team up on me at Mario Kart or cheat.”
“We do not!” Grayson says, clutching his chest in mock offense, even though we do. Lainey may be the most competitive out of all of us. Seeing her lose is worth forming an alliance.
“I saw Uno in one of the kitchen drawers,” Bryce adds, as he ambles up from the back.
“Sold.”
“You can’t stack up draw +4s!” Lainey complains after Declan and I gang up on her.
“Of course you can,” he argues .
“Tell them, El!”
“Why are you appealing to her? She didn’t invent the game,” I say.
“No, but she always plays by the rules. She’ll know.” When we all turn to Ellie, I notice a hint of sadness in her eyes. Does she not want to be thought of as a rule follower? It’s sweet that she is, but I always remember her as the little girl who picked flowers in the field. Or the one who threw a stick in Timmy Carlson’s bike wheel after he pushed her little brother down. That girl had a little wild in her. I wonder if it’s still buried there and what we can do to bring it out during this tour.
“Technically, Uno did come out and say you’re supposed to lose your turn after a draw and that you couldn’t combine them.”
Declan scoffs. “They’re wrong and we make our own rules. And Ryder rules say we can rack up the draws.”
“Living in a world where Ryders make the rules is dangerous,” Lainey warns.
“Nah, you’ve been living in it for twenty-three years and you’ve been fine.” When he boops her nose, chaos erupts as she bats his hand away. He catches both of hers in one and she launches at him. I fall off my chair laughing and Ellie lets out a sigh that says this isn’t the first time she been put out by our family’s antics.
Once Declan has Lainey secured in a headlock, she calls for mercy and returns to her seat. She may have lost the battle, but her eyes tell me she is already calculating her revenge.
“Am I at least the pretty one?” Grayson asks, mind still clearly on our earlier conversation and not even phased by our siblings.
“Sure, buddy,” Lainey answers, blowing hair out of her face before slamming a card down on the pile. “But you’re also the one who has to draw twelve.”
As much as I thrive being around people, bus life gets overwhelming for even me. It’s part of the reason the three of us get separate dressing rooms when possible. It gives us a chance to center ourselves and go through our pre-show rituals.
My new favorite pre-show ritual is the visit from Ellie. It’s probably too soon to officially call it part of my routine, but twice is the start of a pattern. At least that’s what I tell myself when I hear a soft knock on my door. None of my family members would knock and Eliza’s always bangs as if the world is on fire. No, that sweet sound can only be Ellie. I don’t know if she’s here to pilfer more chips or drop something off, but I am eager to find out.
“Come in!”
Walking in with her hand over her eyes, Ellie enters the room. “Are you decent?”
“Depends. Do you consider a banana hammock decent?”
“A what?”
“A nut hut, marble sack, Daytona dong sarong, grape smuggler, manberry pud—”
“Are you in a speedo?!” she asks, sounding scandalized.
“What a pedestrian way to put it.”
I revel in the way her cheeks are flushed. She’s frozen in place as if she doesn’t know what to do next.
“I, uh, can come back?”
“I’m kidding, Ellie. I am fully clothed. No free show today.”
She huffs at the reminder of the last time she was in my dressing room and peeks through her fingers before fully uncovering her face.
“It’s not nice to tease,” she states.
“On the contrary, teasing can be very nice when done right. ”
I shouldn’t be pushing her, but the boost I get from her reactions almost rivals the one from performing. Knowing I can knock her off kilter gets me.
Her eyes widen when she takes in my meaning. She glances away quickly, but not before I catch the heat in her eyes. Interesting. Is this turning her on? Because it sure as fuck is doing something for me.
“Did you bring me another present?” I ask to get the conversation into safer waters. Waters that will keep my dick from getting any harder in my joggers. I may have been joking about wearing a boner suit but these pants won’t be anymore decent if little Jack decides to make an appearance.
“New hat,” she replies. Her eyes search my room and I clock the moment they land on what she’s after. “I’ll trade you a bag of chips for it.”
“You’ll trade me my own merch that you were asked to bring me for a bag of my chips?”
“Yes.”
“You drive a hard bargain. Let’s see what they want me in tonight.”
Reaching behind her, she pulls a white ball cap out of her pocket. It’s emblazoned with the name of our current album. Instead of taking it from her, I bend my head down.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Put it on me.”
“Put it on you.”
“If I’m going to part with my precious chips, I think I deserve some personalized service, don’t you?”
She appears skeptical but steps forward anyway. Ellie isn’t a short girl so with my head bent we are practically eye to eye. This close, I’m able to see light freckles that decorate the bridge of her nose and the way her pupils are blown.
She gingerly places the hat on my head and toys with the bill, positioning it the way she wants. When she’s happy with it, her baby blues lock into mine and she sucks in a quick breath. The electricity between us seems to swell as we stand there for a long moment.
Taking a risk, I reach up and tuck a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Staring into her glittering gaze this way, it’s hard to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t kiss her. She must be thinking the same thing when her tongue darts out to lick her lips. I’m about to say ‘fuck it’ and lean into to take her sensual mouth when I hear a noise outside the door.
At the sound of a knock, Ellie jolts backward and away from my grasp.
“Jack!” Eliza calls. “We need you for a phone interview in ten.”
Initially, I don’t respond as my brain scrambles to process the moment I shared with Ellie. All the reasons we shouldn’t kiss slam back into me as I finally break our eye contact.
“Jack!”
“Got it! I’ll meet you in Gray’s room in a few.”
Eliza says something about not being late, but it is muffled by all the blood rushing between my ears. Ellie stares up at me with lust and confusion on her pretty face. As much as I enjoy her annoyed expressions, I think this one might be my favorite.
Putting my back to her, I grab the voodoo chips we both love. Handing her the bag, I crack a joke to ease the sexual tension that surrounds us.
“I guess you’ll have to wait until next time to see my pickle pincher.”
That breaks her out of her trance and she scrunches her nose. “You don’t actually wear those do you?”
“You asking me about my undies, Ellie? I’m not sure that is workplace appropriate.”
“I’m n-you-are you messing with me?”
“Always, Wildflower,” I say, plastering a fake smile on my face. Because that’s all it can ever be. Jokes, pretend, messing around. Ellie is off limits and I need to stop letting my attraction to her make me forget that.
“I better go. I don’t want to incur Eliza’s wrath by making you late for an interview.”
“She’s more bark than bite.”
Ellie shrugs before taking her leave. Tilting my head back, I blow out a raspberry. The buzzing in my pocket tells me it’s time to go. With one more centering breath, I make my way down the hall to join Grayson and Declan.