Page 32 of Chronicles of a Rockin' Mess

I smile at him. “Thanks,” I reply as I unmute the phone and chat with Hank, letting him know I’d love to sing with him, and I can’t wait to see them all. He lets me know that Mimi will be joining us, and my smile widens.

I hang up and find Lincoln still intently watching me. “Mimi’s coming too,” I say to him.

“It’ll be good to see them. They are good people,” he says.

I look around the room. “I should probably head back to my room and get cleaned up.” My phone pings. I look down to see a message from Maria that the plumber just wrapped up, and we can come back home.

“Plumber’s done,” I say to him.

I see a fleeting look of disappointment on his face. “Guess we can check out early.”

I look at my phone and see that it’s almost eight now. “Wanna just stay the night, and we can head home in the morning?” I ask him.

He grins. “Movie party?” he asks. I roll my eyes. When I first started working for Lincoln, we had weekly movie parties where we’d get ice cream and watch two movies. We each got to pick one.

I nod.

“I’ll get us ice cream,” he says as he picks up a hotel phone. “Go check out what movies they have,” he adds, motioning to the TV.

Although I’m not sure about eating ice cream, I nod and settle myself on a sofa as I flip through movie options. I find a horror movie just as Lincoln plops down next to me. He picks an action flick.

“Do you mind if I just go shower quickly?” I ask him, suddenly not wanting to smell while sitting next to him.

“Tell you what,” he says. “Why don’t you check out of your room and you can just sleep here tonight? You’ll probably fall asleep on the sofa anyhow, so what’s the point of having the second room?” he points out.

I laugh and try to explain that we can’t check out of the second room because we are in a suite. I also really can’t argue with him because I’m notorious for falling asleep during our movie marathons. “Give me fifteen minutes,” I say to him as I head out to my room. I pack up my stuff, so I don’t have to do it in the morning, grab a shower, and change into comfy yoga pants and a soft cotton shirt.

I head back out to the sofa and settle myself on it.

“Feeling more human?” he asks.

I laugh. “Much,” I reply.

“Good,” he says as he leans back and rests his legs on an ottoman. The ice cream apparently arrived in my absence because two bowls of it are sitting on a tray on the coffee table in front of us.

I reach for mine and take a bite. I groan, and I can feel Lincoln’s eyes watch me.

“Food tastes so good,” I admit as I take another spoonful of mint chocolate chip.

“Easy, killer. We don’t want you to relapse,” he says as he grabs his own bowl and has a few bites. I glare at him.

“I’d never throw up ice cream,” I say in mock horror.

He laughs. “Right.”

I manage half a bowl before curling up on the sofa. I prop a pillow against Lincoln and settle down for the movie. I don’t even make it to the end of the horror movie before I fall fast asleep.

Chapter 16

Lincoln

I’m not sure how long I sit there with Lark’s head on my lap. I allow myself to touch her, to run my hands through her thick hair, to rub the exposed skin on her arm. I know if she was awake, I’d be too chickenshit to do this for fear that I wouldn’t be able to stop, and she would reject me.

Or maybe, deep down, I worry I’m not good enough for her, and I’d ruin her. Except for the music, everything I touch seems to turn to shit. And that’s why I keep only the band. Women never stay in my life…except Lark.

I start to get up after a long while, but she stirs and grips my thigh. I shake my head and pull a blanket over her and me, arranging us so she’s in between my legs and nestled on my chest. She feels too right there, like she was meant to be there. I brush some hair away from her face and slowly lay a gentle kiss on the top of her head. She murmurs in her sleep before snuggling tighter against me. I wrap my arms around her, as her soft breathes lull me to sleep.

I wake to find a blanket draped over me, but no Lark.

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