Page 34 of Chronicles of a Rockin' Mess

I grin. “Well, fuck it, if I forget something, we can buy it on the way,” I say as I climb in the car and start the engine.

Lark gets in beside me and gives me a pointed look.

“What?” I ask.

She shakes her head and pulls out my wallet from her pocket.

“OK, so I forget things. That’s where you come in,” I say to her.

She rolls her eyes and throws my wallet at me. I grin as I pull out of the driveway. Lark is quiet as we ride through the streets and get on the freeway. She’s been quiet a lot since we’ve been back at the house. The last few days have flown by as the band had rehearsals, last-minute press events, and a million other pre-tour obligations. We’ll be solo with an opening act for five of the concerts, and then stopping in at a festival for one.

I glance over at her. I’ve been making attempts to get to know her. I was serious when I told her I wanted to be friends; I just didn’t tell her I also want more. Shit, I don’t know if I ever will tell her. Getting up the courage to apologize was tough. I’m just thankful she accepted my apology. Now I just need the courage to tell her I want more.

She’s beautiful in the early morning light. It silhouettes her face and makes her look like an angel. She has on no makeup, and her hair is pulled back in a messy bun on top of her head. She is sporting an oversized sweater and leggings. She has her knees pulled up against her chest and is resting her chin on one of them. A car honks, and I focus back on the road. That’s exactly what I need to be doing, focusing.

Lark

I sleep for most of the flight, knowing that, once we land, I’ll be on Lincoln duty. We are essentially dropping in, playing a set, and then getting right back on board the plane for the next city. They’ve changed around things so much since Kade first called me that this is now just six concerts in two weeks. It’s a short tour that Gwen is hoping will rev fans up for their bigger tour next spring. I don’t get her logic, but that’s not my job.

We head to the concert venue first for a soundcheck. And as expected, Coop finds me. “So, do you have time for some shenanigans before you leave?”

I shake my head. “Not at this stop. We’re heading straight out tonight,” I say to him as we watch the band up on the stage. Mason is moving various controls on the soundboard to program it for tonight. I watch him. It’s always fascinating to me no matter how many times I see it.

“So then, the next stop?” Coop asks.

I pause, trying to remember where that is and when. Ah, yes. We fly from Newark to Baltimore tonight. We have forty-eight hours in Baltimore before we head to Miami.

“Are you going to be down in Baltimore tomorrow?” I ask him. He nods.

“We’re driving through the night,” he informs me. I’m sure I already knew this, but my brain is mush at the moment, and it doesn’t help that Lincoln is up on stage singing. He looks like rock star perfection with his dark t-shirt that grips his biceps perfectly.

“OK, I guess call me when you get settled,” I say to him, not taking my eyes off of Lincoln.

“Cool,” he replies before a crew member comes up to him to ask about something.

I head toward the front-row seats and sit down. I watch Lincoln, Kade, and Harry as they play parts of two different songs. Finally, when everyone seems content with the sound, they jump down off the stage.

“We sound good?” Kade asks me.

I shrug.

“We sounded so lit, didn’t we?” Harry says.

I laugh. “Yes, Harry, you sounded so lit,” I say to him. He grins. I can’t help loving that big knucklehead. I stand, and he wraps a sweaty arm around me as we walk toward Gary. Gary is busy barking orders at the crew, while Gwen is on the phone.

Harry and Kade both make quick calls to their girls, while Lincoln and I stand awkwardly to the side. Ellie walks over to stand with us. She hands them all waters.

“You guys sounded great from up there,” she says, pointing to the nosebleed seats. I’ll give it to Ellie, she’s on top of things. But shit, you’d have to be to work for both Harry and Kade. Harry had his own PA, Ruth, for a while, but Ruth couldn’t handle Harry, and Ellie and I were always stepping in. When Ruth quit, Ellie took over temporarily, and temporarily became permanent. She does have a part-time assistant, June, who helps her with scheduling stuff.

I’m half paying attention to Ellie, and half watching Lincoln talk to Kade. It’s getting harder to be around him since he’s started being so nice to me. It’s almost overkill. He’s asked me a bazillion questions in the past few days. It’s totally unlike him. I want to believe that we can be friends, but how does one become friends with their biggest crush?

“Lark?” Lincoln’s voice brings me out of my thoughts, and I look up to find him watching me.

“Yes?”

“There’s not enough time to go to the hotel prior to the show. Can you arrange lunch here?” he asks.

I nod and pull up my caterer contact in the city. Yes, I have one in all the major cities. I arrange lunch, and because I happen to be friendly with this caterer, I get it delivered in under two hours.

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