Blush (5 page)

He looks at me. “You don't get motion sick do
you?“

“No. I've just never traveled in a bus quite
like this one.“

“Baby, you're in for a treat. This sucker
will ride like a Cadillac.“

I snort. “You're so full of shit. More like a
tank.“

He chuckles and kisses my lips.

“C'mon wife.“ He grabs my hand and helps me
onto the bus. Everyone's pretty much seated.

I spot Damian and smile. He smiles back.
“Where are the rest of the roadies?“ I ask.

“On the other bus. Jesse's been extremely
generous and is funding two lounge buses. I'm sure Cage would have
funded them if Jesse wouldn't have
told
him it's what he was
going to do.“

I snicker. “Ah yes, my overbearing
husband.“

Damian's eyes flash. “So I heard.
Congratulations.“

“Thank you.“

“Talk about shock factor,“ he says with a
laugh.

I laugh in return. “Right? The media had no
idea what to do with that one.“

“I can only imagine.“

“It was one hell of a night in Vegas,“ Xander
chimes in.

Ethan laughs. “The best was the Elvis
search.“

I groan. “Are we bringing that up again?“

“Hell yeah,“ Ethan says, nodding his
head.

“Oh, this is gonna be good. I can already
tell,“ Damian grins.

“We were walking down the strip when Lucy got
it in her head to search for the ‘real' Elvis because, as Lucy
said,
everyone knows Elvis is alive
.“

“Dude,“ Xander interjects, “it's true. He's
alive.“

Ethan rolls his eyes. “Anyway, when we got
into Caesars Palace, Lucy spotted fat Elvis and it was on like
Donkey Kong. She and Xander, who was on board the crazy train, ran
up to Elvis and were telling him of how he dies and how he should
avoid drugs, especially when he's in the bathroom.“

Everyone on the bus starts laughing. Xander
throws them a look and moves over to sit next to me.

“Fuck you guys,“ Xander tells them as he
throws his arm around my shoulders. “You too, Kingston,“ he scolds,
pointing at Jesse.

“Yeah, fuck you guys,“ I chime in and grin at
Xander.

“Well, Lucy came on just a bit too strong
because she freaked fat Elvis the fuck out to the point he started
backing away. She wouldn't let him get away. When he made it to the
front door, he made a run for it but, well, he was too slow. Lucy
caught him.“

“What?“ Damian laughs.

Jesse's laughing. “She tackled him in front
of the fountains.“

Damian throws his head back and laughs.

I throw them a glare. “What? He needed to
hear it to avoid the humiliation.“

Ethan shakes his head. “Anyway, after we help
fat Elvis up, he threatens Lucy with a restraining order and we
head on down the strip where we find skinny Elvis. He sits down
with Lucy as she and Xander tell him the story of how he'll die if
he doesn't stay away from drugs.“

“The guy was cool as hell,“ Kennedy adds. “He
just sat there with them and humored them. Then he asked if we all
wanted to go to breakfast.“

“Hmm,“ I say with narrowed eyes as I lean
into Xander.

“Fuckers. Every one of them,“ he tells me and
I nod. They only snicker louder, including my sister
and
my
husband. Traitors.

“We get to Denny's,“ Ethan continues, “and we
just get served our breakfast when skinny Elvis asks Lucy if he can
perform hers and Jesse's wedding ceremony. She, of course, says yes
because: 1. It's Lucy, 2. She's hammered, and 3. It's Jesse.“

“Enough said,“ Damian says with a raise of
his hands.

“So we go off in search of wedding bands.
Skinny Elvis had the hookup so it didn't take too long before we
were back at Denny's where these two said their ‘I do's' and were
pronounced man and wife—but not before Lucy licked skinny Elvis's
cheek because he had some syrup on it.“

“Huh,“ I tell Xander. “I think Damian might
piss his pants.“

Xander nods. “If I were closer I'd squeeze
his bladder and make sure he did.“

“What the fuck?“ Damian asks, laughing even
harder.

“There you have it. The story of Luciana and
Jesse Kingston's wedding,“ Ethan finishes with a bow.

“We're going back,“ Xander tells them.

I nod. “Hell yeah, we are. We're going to
find Elvis. He can run but he can't hide.“

Xander nods.

“Maybe you'll find Tupac, too,“ Jace
jokes.

I give him the finger.

“Aww, babe,“ Jesse croons, lifting me into
his lap. “It was a great adventure and now you're my wife.“

I soften immediately. “Yeah, I am!“

“Yeah, you are!“ Sera cheers. “Mrs. Jesse
Kingston.“

I get all gooey inside again and look at
Jesse. His expression is soft and full of love as he leans in to
kiss me softly on my lips.

“I love you, wife.“

“I love you, husband.“

Meggie bounces over and slides in next to me,
resting her head on Jesse's shoulder. “I love my husband, Jesse
Kingston, because he is so very dreamy.“

“Oh my God, Megs. You shit.“

“Why do you always say that?“ Jesse asks with
a chuckle.

Meggie grins and I sigh.

“Go ahead. Tell him,“ I tell her.

“Okay,“ she bounces again. “When we were in
high school, anytime anyone would mention your name, she'd get this
look in her eyes. You could just see her going all squishy. Anyway,
one day she was reading a book—a romance novel, of course.“

“Of course,“ Jesse agrees.

“She told me about one part in the book where
the heroine says the hero is ‘so very dreamy' and Lucy said that's
how she felt every time she saw you.“

Jesse grins. There are a lot of “aww's“ going
around the bus.

“That's cute and very sweet,“ Sera reassures
me.

“Thank you,“ I tell her, feeling
defensive.

“I can already tell there isn't going to be a
single boring minute on this tour,“ Damian muses.

“For sure not,“ Cage agrees. “I mean, it is
the BFD tour, after all.“ Sarcasm. It is his friend.

“Fuckin' A,“ Xander shouts. “Speaking of
that, the logo on the side of the bus is epic. Well done, Cage my
man.“

Cage just nods.

The logo consists of BFD in black slanted
letters, the letters for Blush are hot pink and slightly smaller
but more spread out going down the side of the bus horizontally,
the Falling letters are black, and the Down letters are red,
fitting all of our color schemes. Pretty cool. Then there's the
pinstripes matching the smaller lettering going all the way down
the sides of the bus. It's really pretty awesome looking.

“I love it,“ I tell Cage. “This tour is going
to be amazing.“

“You going to puke when you get up there on
stage?“ Kennedy asks.

I give him an exasperated look. “Did you have
to go there? Really?“

He chuckles. “Reality check, Luce. The fans
will be there but remember they're there because they're your
fans.“

“Uh, not so much,“ I tell him. “They're
your
fans. Falling Down fans.“

“Nah. Your songs are doing great on the
charts and your album is moving up fast. You got this,“ Ben tells
me with a wink.

“Thanks Benny.“

He sighs. “Luce.“

“Yes?“ I sing-song, batting my eyelashes. Ben
just shakes his head and laughs.

“Yeah, Benny,“ Sera mimics with a grin.

Ben sends her a look but it's not one of
exasperation. It's one filled with heat and promise.

Well, well, well
. A budding romance,
perhaps? I raise a brow to Jesse and he shrugs.

Xander pulls out his iPod and Kennedy
swears.

I look at him in confusion; Ethan, Ben, and
Jesse all groan.

“What?“ I ask Jesse.

Just as Jesse opens his mouth, Xander starts
singing and I pause with my mouth hanging open. I stare in
disbelief, not because he doesn't have a great voice, because he
does, but because he not only sings the song, he also starts
grooving and dancing as he plays Candy Crush on his phone, totally
oblivious to the fact that everyone else on the bus is staring at
him. Xander isn't singing metal. Xander isn't singing rock. Oh no.
Xander starts singing,
Hips Don't Lie
by Shakira.

I look at Jesse who just shakes his head.
Meggie and Sera have their mouths hanging open like me, while Trace
just shakes his head and Jace starts singing along.

“Dear God,“ Cage says. “We're only an hour in
and he's already started.“ He shakes his head.

Kennedy nods grimly. “And so it begins.“

“Remember, sex is like a
Chinese dinner.
It ain’t over ‘til you both get your cookie.“

—ALEC BALDWIN

WE ALL SETTLE in. There are multiple conversations
going on at once but I don't engage. I can only think of the look I
saw Xander giving Lucy. I know that look. I give her that look.
It's not just a look of admiration. It's a look of longing and
affection. I don't think he's in love with her, but I think he's
pretty fucking close. Who can blame him really? Lucy's fucking
fantastic. Kind, caring, sweet, sexy as hell with a body that won't
quit. But she's my
wife
. I know he'd never try anything with
her, but I can't help the possessiveness that goes through me when
I remember the look.

Lucy's talking and laughing with Sera, Cage,
and Damian. Damian. That fucker. He acts all fucking innocent when
he's talking to Lucy, but the minute she turns her back, he throws
me a look that says, “I'm going to fuck with your world.“ He wants
my wife. Hell, he wanted her the day Trace and Meggie hooked up
with Blush at Nichols Records. I knew it then and I know it now.
Him
I don't trust. I've known him for a couple years now and
he's always rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know what it is about
him, but I just get a bad vibe from him.

Xander's sitting to my right humming some
Black Eyed Peas song, when he suddenly jumps up and starts dancing
in the middle of the bus singing
SexyBack
by Justin
Timberlake. He scared the fuck out of everyone with his outburst
and now they're just staring. He reaches a hand out to Meggie who
takes it and starts dancing with him. Lucy and Sera join in and
Xander hooks his iPod up to the sound system.

“Aww, fuck me,“ Kennedy whines. “Now he's got
chicks who'll encourage this shit too. There's no stopping him
now.“

Xander belts out a line from the song and
wiggles his ass in Kennedy's face. Kennedy lifts a foot to Xander's
ass and pushes him across the sitting area. The dude doesn't stop
singing. He just laughs and keeps right on going. I can only shake
my head.

Cage rubs his face with his hands then looks
at me. “Four fucking months of this shit.“

I nod. It's going to be an interesting four
months. It's going to be a
long
four months with Xander's
music.

We're all pretty used to Xander's habit of
singing and dancing on the tour bus. He's been doing it since we
started touring. His choice in music and him dry humping our legs,
arms, or the table. We usually let him go nuts for a couple songs
then tell him to rein it in. Yeah, I can see that won't be
happening this tour.

Lucy looks at me as she rolls her hips and I
start getting hard. That's all it takes. Just a look. Just one sexy
little move and I'm hard and ready for her. No one's ever affected
me like she does. When she walks by and her scent drifts over me, I
close my eyes and I feel calm, at peace. When she kisses my lips,
my heart skips a beat. I don't think that's ever going to change.
She owns my heart. She
is
my heart. And now she's my wife.
Life doesn't get any better than this.

Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to
drop—because it will. It always does. Nothing can be this perfect
for long. Someone always comes along and fucks it up. Why? Because
they can't stand to see someone happy when they're miserable. All I
know is, if and when someone fucks with mine and Lucy's current
state of “happy“, I'm going to fuck with them right back.