Page 4 of Chronicles of a Rockin' Mess

Coop: Fire drill

Me: Five alarm?

Coop: Oh yeah

Me: Give me one minute

Coop: Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight…

Me: (eye rolling emoji)

Coop: (kissy face emoji)

I look up at Gwen and Lincoln, who is half-paying attention to her.

“Hey, guys, I need to go check the fire escape routes and confirm that the paps aren’t going to be an issue, and then I’ll check the venue and grab food with Coop to go over some details. See you later,” I say quickly, grabbing my purse and exiting the room before either can say anything to me.

I pass Kade and Harry in the hall.

“Where are you going?” Harry asks.

“Checking out the venue,” I say as I hurry past them.

Kade chuckles.

“Just make sure you guys don’t need bailed out of jail,” he calls out after me. I grin as the elevator doors close behind me. It’s well known that if I’m going to get into trouble, Coop is usually the instigator of said trouble plans. But fuck it, I gotta have some fun.

As I walk out of the hotel, I only notice one or two paps hanging around, I put on my sunglasses and walk around the side of the building. Coop is leaning against the fire exit door, smoking a cigarette.

“Coop, seriously? I thought you quit the cancer sticks,” I chide.

He shrugs. “And mostly I have, toots,” he says as he throws the remaining cigarette on the ground and puts it out with his foot.

I roll my eyes. “So, what shenanigans are we going to get into today?”

He takes my arm in his and escorts me down the alley and another alley until we pop out on a different street. “Today, my dear, we are going on a pub crawl,” he announces.

Six hours and countless beers later, we roll up to the hotel in one of the black London taxis. We get out awkwardly and stumble inside.

“You better come hold my hair back later,” I mumble as I get in the elevator with him.

“Same,” he says. The doors open at his floor and he kisses my cheek before heading out. “Mañana.”

“Night,” I respond as the doors close. I somehow stumble into my room and fall down on the bed.

“It’s gonna be a long three weeks,” I say to my empty room. And just like that, I’m completely passed the fuck out.

Lincoln

I watch Lark leave as Gwen is discussing things with me. I know she’s going out with Cooper. It’s what they do on tour. It’s not that I don’t like Coop, it’s just Coop is trouble. Coop tends to immerse himself in having a good time, while conveniently forgetting to watch out for those with him. He’s a horrible wingman, but he’s a fucking awesome sound guy. I don’t like it when he and Lark go out alone. It means no one is looking out for her.

I half-focus on Gwen and my job for the next few hours, but my mind keeps wandering back to Lark. That’s my fucking problem, my mind always wanders back to Lark. From the moment she walked into the room for her interview three years ago, an innocent, naïve, little eighteen-year-old, I was mesmerized. She’s captivating and she doesn’t even know it. And living with her for the past three years only has made it worse. She’s intoxicating. Every damned thing about her is intoxicating. I could watch her all day. I make up lame excuses for her to be with me. I know it, but fuck if I’d ever admit it. She deserves better than a manwhore, rocker, asshole like me. She deserves the world.

And so, like the ass that I am, I decide to go out to a local club, find the first hot piece of ass that can take my thoughts away from Lark for a few minutes, and fuck her until Lark’s face is erased from my mind. I’m about to go out when Coop sends me a text. It’s a photo of him and Lark doing a shot at some bar. I clench my jaw.

Fuck it, I think as I head out the door to find a distraction.

Chapter 4

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