“I’m a big girl.” I pushed up from the table and dropped my plate into the trash. “I can go myself.”
“Absolutely not,” Mack told me.
“Well… ” I threw my hands in the air. “None of you can take me. We have the interview with Courting Chaos for Thunder Gods. We can’t all miss it.” Mack glanced at Barrett and I knew what he was thinking. “No way. She wrangles these guys. She can’t go with me.”
“Lawson can,” Barrett said with a huge grin.
“Barrett,” Lawson warned.
I swallowed hard. Why would she suggest that? Especially given how she’d already been teasing me about him.
“He doesn’t have to do that,” I told him. “I swear. I’ve successfully crossed the road at least twice on my own.”
Dixon snorted from beside Barrett. At least someone appreciated my humor.
“It’s fine,” Lawson finally said, as if that were the last word. “Barrett’s right. I’m the only one who can take you.”
“Again.” I narrowed my eyes on him. “I’m a big girl. I can go by myself.”
“Actually,” Ransom said in his best mansplaining voice. “You keep saying you’re a big girl, but you’re actually pretty small.”
“You know that’s not what she meant,” Barrett countered so I didn’t have to.
“Let’s go,” Lawson said, wanting no further argument as he began walking away.
I scrambled around the table and called out a goodbye then had to jog to catch up to him. Once I did, I told him again, “You don’t have to take me.” I told him after a quick stop to the dressing room so I could grab my purse.
He shrugged but didn’t look up from his phone. “I don’t mind. Barrett’s right. I’m the only one who doesn’t have anything pressing to do.” He pulled the door open and we headed toward the front of the arena. As if he’d meant to time it perfectly, a ride share car pulled up in front of us.
“So this is your friend?” I asked as our driver moved us in and out of traffic.
“Yeah. We went to high school together but he moved out here for school and decided to stay.” He’d said that before.
“And dentistry was his passion?”
Lawson cracked a smile and looked over at me for the first time. “I guess.”
I faked a gasp. “Are you saying you didn’t notice any unusual mouth fetish?” What I’d just said sunk in. “I mean, beyond the normal teenage boy.”
He fought the smile that was desperate to break loose. “I did not. And he better not have a fucking mouth fetish now.”
This right here was the downside of being me. There were a ton of upsides but being everyone’s little sister just outright sucked in some situations. Lawson was treating me like a little sister which wasn’t how I wanted to be seen. I groaned on the inside.
The dental office we stopped in front of was the fanciest I’d ever seen. Back home, my dentist was located in a regular building with a glass front door. It had a non-descript waiting room with muzak playing overhead.
This place… was the exact opposite.
The outside didn’t just have a glass door. Floor-to-ceiling windows and marble floors filled the lobby. But this wasn’t even the office. Lawson led me to the elevators and up to the twentieth floor. Still… marble as far as the eye could see.
Pushing Daisies made decent money and so did my parents. I had dental insurance through my parents still. Yet I still thought none of that would cover what this visit would cost.
“Hi,” Lawson said to the receptionist. A maybe twenty-five-year-old blonde who looked more than happy to help Lawson with anything he may need. She pushed her lips out as he spoke as if she were beginning a kiss.
Maybe that stuff worked and maybe that was why I was terrible at flirting.
“I’m Lawson. This is Daisy.” He pointed at me. “I called Gabe a little bit ago. He’s expecting us.”
“I’ll let him know you’re here,” she said in this sweeter-than-necessary voice. “Is there anything I can get for you while you wait? Anything at all?”
The meaning wasn’t lost on anyone who could hear her. “No thanks,” he answered for the both of us.
Lawson took a few steps away from the desk and I followed.
“Does that usually work?” I asked him, not feeling the need to elaborate.
The idea fascinated me. How some women could get away with overtly propositioning a guy. I’d seen it with my brother for years. Yet the one time I’d hooked up with a fan, it was all over the internet within minutes.
How embarrassing.
Lawson chuckled and ran a hand over his chin. He was clean shaven today, but sometimes he wasn’t. Probably had to do with how much time he had in the morning. But every day since we’d joined the tour, he’d worn dress pants and a button-down shirt. Every day. I supposed I didn’t know about our off day. I hadn’t seen him.
“For some guys,” he said, “it does.”
“Fascinating,” was all I could get out before a man, also in dress pants and button-down shirt and a tie, came out to greet us. He had lighter brown hair that was styled to look like he’d just woken up like that but his smile was friendly and perfect.
“You lost a filling?” Gabe asked after we’d been introduced.
“Yes. And it’s the only one I’ve ever had, so I’m not looking forward to getting another and I think I might miss this one.”
He chuckled and said, “Don’t sweat it. This will be painless. Let’s get you taken care of. You have a show tonight, I’m told.”
“I’ll wait out here,” Lawson said as the two of us began walking away.
“Nonsense,” Gabe told him then waved his hand in the air. “Come back. We can catch up.” Then he turned to me and added, “Unless of course Daisy objects.”
I groaned inwardly. Lawson seeing me in a dentist chair hadn’t been a top priority of mine. But instead, I said, “No objection.” Not like it would’ve mattered either way.
Gabe led us back to his office, where I hopped up into the chair. The dental assistant took her place on one side of my head and Gabe on the other. This weird Band-Aid smell filled the air. I thought it was the smell of latex gloves, but whatever it was, all dentists had the smell. She put a bib on me, then he numbed me up.
I’d bet this was super attractive.
As he worked, Gabe chatted with Lawson and I did everything I could not to look over. I was in a chair, my mouth wide open, a bib on, with drool running down my chin. The last thing I wanted was to make eye contact with Lawson.
If I’d ever, for a second, entertained the remote possibility that Lawson saw me in any way other than the little sister, that hope was completely snuffed out in those moments. There’d be no way he’d find me sexy, or attractive even, after seeing all this.
Probably for the best anyway.
“All right,” Gabe said as he adjusted my chair back up. “You are all set. This one should last you.”
One side of my face was melting off. It was numb. I couldn’t feel anything. “I’ll be able to sing tonight, right?” The movement of my mouth felt unnatural.