Page 37 of Chronicles of a Rockin' Mess

By the time I find Coop, I’m already regretting a night out. This time Coop and Mason have grabbed five other roadies who had finished their breakdown tasks early. It always amazes me how fast they can take everything down and have it ready to go for the next show.

“Let’s roll,” Coop says to me. I glance over to see that the band is finishing up their meet and greet with fans.

“Just give me one minute,” I say to him as I head over to the guys. I wait patiently as a fan takes photos with Lincoln. I even offer to take a few with her cell phone. Then I lean in and whisper, “Do you mind if I head out with the crew? We’re grabbing drinks.”

Lincoln gives me a hard look as he glances over at Coop, and I know what he’s thinking. Last time I went partying with Coop and Mason, things didn’t end so well.

“I’m coming with you,” he announces.

I freeze. And I mean I freeze like my father just said he’s coming to a male stripper show with me and my girlfriends.

“Really?” I squeak.

“Give me two minutes,” he says sternly. I roll my eyes as I walk back toward Coop.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Nothing, unless the band coming with us is a problem,” I groan.

“Oh, seriously, the guys are coming out, too?” he asks, almost excitedly, and it makes me want to beat him over the head.

“I guess,” I mutter as I head toward the back where the crew is putting things in trucks.

I see Gwen getting in a limo, and I groan again. She sees me and waves me over to her. I comply, slowly walking toward her. It’s not that I hate Gwen, I mean shit, her job isn’t an easy one, but she’s also all about the money. Sometimes I wonder if she even cares about the creativity part of the music business. Yeah, nope, she totally doesn’t.

“Hey, I hear the guys are going out. Please make sure they behave,” she instructs me.

“I’ll do my best, Gwen, but they are adults,” I point out.

She glares at me. “I’m serious, Lark. We need Lincoln on the up-and-up, right now. The record label doesn’t want any bad press on this tour. Do you understand?” she asks in a serious tone.

“Gwen? Why do I get the feeling that everyone is not telling me something?” I ask her.

She sighs. “Just watch them, OK?” she says.

“Fine,” I mumble. She nods and gets in the car.

I watch as the car drives away, wondering what she isn’t saying, what everyone isn’t saying. What happened when I was gone?

Chapter 19

The band is, well, subdued. We drink and talk. The crew lets loose a bit, but everyone behaves. I sense tension, a lot of tension. But after a few drinks, I let go of my overactive imagination and enjoy time with my friends.

Coop decides to teach me how to do car bombs, which ends with half the drink poured down the front of my shirt. I’d be pissed, except I’m wearing a black t-shirt, so you can’t really tell. Mason eggs us on and decides we should have a drinking game. After much discussion, the group decides we have to play “never have I ever.”

“OK, I’ll go first. Never have I ever slept with a band groupie,” Coop says as he raises his drink to his lips.

“Hey, I thought you were supposed to say something you actually hadn’t done,” Mason says as he elbows him.

Coop laughs and shrugs. Everyone around me drinks, except me and one other younger guy who can’t be much older than me and just joined us for this tour.

“Never have I ever had a threesome,” Mason says. Coop, Lincoln, Harry, and a few others drink.

I raise my eyebrows at Lincoln.

“I was young, and it seemed cool at the time,” he says to me.

Harry laughs. “It was cool. I was there!”

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