I certainly enjoyed having some more feminine energy on the bus while we traveled, and I loved having my sister close to me again; it was nice to have someone to talk to about all the craziness going on. The only thing I didn’t love was the loss of my marriage bed. Griffin and Anna evicted Kellan and me from our bedroom the minute she climbed on board. And I couldn’t even really complain about it because she was pregnant—very pregnant. Making her sleep in an uncomfortable cubby would be cruel.
So I grudgingly squished myself between Kellan and the bus wall every night and tried to ignore the lack of privacy, space, and comfort. It’s okay, I love my sister and she needs the room more than I do became my new bedtime mantra as I attempted to fall asleep amidst the snoring, shuffling, and chatting of my many rock-star bunk mates.
Waking up with a kink in my neck after another restless night, I debated if Kellan and I could rent a motor home for the remainder of the tour. The hole-in-the-wall bunks even made me miss our thin mattress on Justin’s bus. It was dark in our cubby, and the bus was unusually quiet. I figured it was still early, or late. I didn’t know. Time was meaningless when alternating between packing up late at night and heading out early in the morning. And crisscrossing over time zones only added to the confusion. My internal clock was all sorts of messed up. I only knew that I was awake while others appeared to be asleep.
The sleeping portion of the bus had no windows, and the thin gray curtain that gave us the illusion of privacy was fully extended. It was peaceful, if cramped. My eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light, and blocky shapes sharpened into distinct objects. A smiling set of lips were the first thing I noticed.
“Mornin’,” Kellan whispered.
I stretched my tight joints and carefully turned my neck; it ached badly. I was going to have to invest in a therapeutic pillow soon. “Good morning . . . is it morning?” I yawned.
His hand on my stomach shifted to my side, pulling me into him. “No idea.”
Kellan was tall, a bit too tall for the cubbies, and his knees were pressing into my thighs. As we scooted closer together, I wrapped my legs around his. Coincidentally, our bodies lined up right “there.” Kellan’s grin widened as he leaned in to give me a soft kiss. “Sleep well?” he asked.
My neck complaining, I shook my head. “Not really. I miss our bed.”
Kellan frowned as he shifted around; his head bumped the top of the cubby while his feet kicked the side and his elbow brushed the curtain. “Me too, I feel like a sardine in here.”
Sighing, I laced my arms around his neck. “I suppose we don’t always have to sleep together. We might sleep better apart.”
Kellan hugged me to his bare chest, his long arms wrapping over and under my ribcage. “I’d rather go without sleep than without you.”
As we lightly kissed, Kellan’s hands slid under my tank top. Loving the feeling of his skin dancing over mine, I melded my body into his. Maybe being cramped wasn’t such a bad thing after all, although it did lend itself to intimacy problems. We hadn’t been together much since my sister had joined the tour a couple of weeks ago. I was sort of dying to make love to him.
I could tell that Kellan was dying too, as one of his hands followed the curve of my spine and darted beneath my underwear to rest on my backside. I stifled a groan and pressed my hips into his. Cramped or not, we could make this work. Our kiss picked up as his hand massaged my skin. My fingers tangled in his hair, drawing him into me.
With some shuffling, cursing, and light banging on the sides of the cubby, we resituated so that Kellan was on his back and I was on top of him. There was not a lot of room, and my back almost touched the top of the cubby. It gave me a weird feeling to know that Evan was sleeping just a few feet above me. Kellan’s knees were raised as I straddled him, and he pressed against the back of the cubby to lift his hips. I shoved aside the thought that Matt’s head was essentially right next to Kellan’s feet.
Now that our sensitive parts were crushing together unimpeded, the rush of desire blossoming in my core spread throughout every nerve in my body like a wildfire. Not wanting to cry out, I clamped my teeth around Kellan’s shoulder. He sucked in a breath and started pulling down my lounge pants. Damn clothes. They were difficult to get off in such a tight space, especially with covers wrapped around us, and both of us were panting with exertion and excitement as we tried to shove them down my hips. God, why didn’t I sleep naked? With more curse words and scuffling, we finally managed to get them around my legs. Kellan reached down and looped them off of my foot. I kicked with my other foot, not caring where my clothes ended up at this point. I thought I saw them disappear out the cubby curtain.