Chapter 9 – Kincaid
Chapter Nine
Kincaid
“Wait, what?” Mal asks, his jaw dropping. “She was fine two seconds ago.”
“You’re a fucking idiot, and I’m about to punch you in the throat.
” I get close to his ear before lowering my voice.
“She just caught her boyfriend fucking a groupie, and you brought her over to sit in your lap while you were draped in women. You signed some chick’s tits six inches away from her face. ”
“Fuck you,” he growls, shoving me back. “I wanted to make her feel welcome. No one wants to stand around alone…”
The thing is, I know Mal.
He wasn’t trying to be cruel.
He was actually probably trying to help.
He’s as genuine as they come, but he’s just so goddamn detached from reality that he can’t remember what life was like before we signed our first major contract.
Not every woman is happy to have a sliver of our attention just because we’re rock stars, and Lumen has to be highly sensitive to being around groupies at the moment.
I’m not saying every woman that comes to the after-parties is a groupie. Some are hardcore fans who want to spend time with us one-on-one, but the chicks who were surrounding Mal were there for one thing.
The entire reason Riser didn’t make it back to her before Mal intervened is that he was filling me in about what went down. Had he been at her side, Mal probably wouldn’t have felt the need to pop up and check on her.
In some way, that makes this my fault.
“I’ll calm her down and take her to relax on the bus,” I say, pointing to the open door. “Go finish your interview. I’ve got this.”
“Don’t let her leave,” he says with a huff, spinning around and going back into the after-party.
Before I even turn to check on her, I know she’s in the same spot. Music spills from the meet and greet, but Lumen is hyperventilating loudly enough to be sure she didn’t run off.
My chest tightens.
She’s had a rough night.
Her head shakes as it falls back against the wall, and I approach her slowly. She gasps for air and bends in half, resting her hands on her knees.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I say, keeping my tone low and soothing. “You’re going to pass out if you keep that up.”
“I-I’m o-okay,” she says.
It’s a very unconvincing lie.
If her tone and body language didn’t give away her misery, the smell of her pheromones would. That sweet pears and roses scent of hers smells sour, betraying her emotions.
“You will be,” I assure her. “Can I touch you? I have some tricks for centering someone when they’re in the middle of a panic attack.”
“I-I’m sorry. Just go back to the party,” she says, her tone strained.
“Is that a no?”
“You can.” She looks up at me as her hair falls around her face. “I don’t think anything is going to help, though.”
“Let’s give it a shot.” I smile, but it feels foreign to my facial muscles, so who knows if it helps. Grabbing her hands, I pry them off her knees and get her upright. “I’m right here with you, sweetheart.”
I bring my hand to rest on her chest, staying just below her clavicles and as far away from her tits as I can. It’s not easy. My palm is huge in comparison to her, or that’s how it feels.
My other hand stays wrapped in hers, and I run my thumb over the side of her palm as I catch her gaze.
“Okay, now we’re going to breathe together, slow and steady.” I nod, smiling. “You can do that for me. Can’t you, Lumen?”
Her eyes dilate, and my head tilts.
Interesting.
“I’ll try,” she says shakily.
“Slow, deep breath in,” I instruct, mimicking what I want her to do.
“Good job. Now hold it for just a second and breathe out for me. Just like that, keep exhaling.” I smile, trying to be encouraging.
“And we’re going to do this one more time.
” Her cheeks are red as she follows my instructions, but she stops shaking somewhere around the fourth or fifth round of breaths.
“You’re doing great. Do you feel better? ”
“Kinda,” she says, bobbing her head.
“Good. That’s a great start.” My head whips around, and I frown as commotion fills the air behind us.
The fans from Tangled Desires’ meet and greet spill from the room farther down the hall.
“Oh no,” Lumen whispers.
Seeing her ex is only going to make her spiral all over again.
I pull my palm off her chest and tug her away from the wall with my other hand that’s still wrapped in hers.
“Come on,” I say, peeking back over my shoulder as I cover her with my massive frame. “We’re getting out of here.”
Theo won’t react well if he sees me with her, but that’s his problem. Things got heated when I intervened in the hallway, and it took everything in me not to lay his ass out. He never should have grabbed her when he was so frantic.
Once Mal had her out of sight, Theo tried to start shit with me, but I shut that down real quick.
I’m sure they’ll talk at some point.
Now isn’t the time for that, though.
Pulling Lumen to stand in front of me, I plant my hand on her stomach and guide her out the double doors. We’re nowhere near the buses, but we’re inside the fence, so it’ll be fine. It’s just going to be a bit of a walk.
Lumen doesn’t fight me as I continue to block her from view, guiding her from behind. That part of me that needs control loves that she follows my lead, but now isn’t the time for any of those thoughts.
Damn.
I’m just as screwed up as Malcolm.
The bus is a mess. It’s no place for a lady, but I’m also not going to toss her out in an unfamiliar city at one in the morning.
It takes ten minutes of digging to find the bed in the room at the back of the bus. It’s been the catch-all for our shit for the past five weeks, but I finally manage to locate the mattress and put on fresh sheets.
There are four large garbage bags full of clothes and other stuff that the guys will have to go through.
If they don’t claim it, I’m sending it to the wardrobe bus. They’ve got until morning, or they can seek it out there if they want it.
I stack the bags in the kitchen area, since there’s nowhere else to shove them, and wipe my hands off on my jeans.
Lumen sits on the couch with her hands on her thighs. It seems like she’s uncomfortable. It makes sense, but it grates on my instincts.
“Are you hungry?” I ask, crossing into the living room. We opted out of having a dinette to have more space in the bunks and living room, but the couch and chairs have tray tables that fold out of the arms. “Catering delivers sandwiches and snacks after our shows. The fridge should be stocked.”
“I don’t think I could eat right now if I tried.” She shakes her head. “Thank you, though.”
“Right.” My head bobs like a chicken.
That was a dumb question.
Well, this is painful.
She probably wishes we would stop hovering and leave her alone, but my instincts won’t let me go that route.
“Would you like to take a shower?” I offer.
“The staff keeps us topped up with water.” I toss a thumb toward the small bathroom.
“You can get a solid four or five minutes of a hot shower before it runs out.” I chuckle.
“I always shut it off while I’m scrubbing down so I don’t run out midway through rinsing my hair. ”
We normally shower at the venue before the meet and greet, and not just because we’re sweaty and smell disgusting.
Fighting over the tiny shower on the bus is miserable.
We skipped that tonight, for obvious reasons, but as soon as they make it back, it’ll be a bloodbath as they fight it out to see who gets the hot shower.
“If you want a shower, I’d do it now,” I tell her, trying to keep my tone gentle. “Once the guys make it in, you might not get a chance for a while.”
She frowns. “I don’t want to take it if someone else needs it.”
I shake my head.
She’s far too polite.
After the day she had, she should take every opportunity she has to look out for herself.
“They’ll live through a cold shower. You deserve to rinse off the day.” I hold out a hand. “Come on. I’ll help you find a clean towel and bring your bags into the bedroom while you’re showering.”
“Okay.” Her small, cold hand lands in mine, and she lets me pull her up. “Thanks, Kincaid. Is it okay if I call you that?”
“Yeah, sweetheart,” I say, chuckling. “It’s my name.”
The guys still aren’t back by the time Lumen comes out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel.
She holds it tight to her chest with one hand and waves awkwardly with the arm holding her clothes.
“I didn’t have anything to change into, and I didn’t want to put my old clothes back on.” She closes the door and reverses down the hallway with her wet hair falling around her lithe shoulders. “Only, I didn’t realize it until I was inside the shower.”
Damn.
I should have thought of that.
“Makes sense,” I say, my voice coming out low and gravelly. “If you change your mind about being hungry, let me know. Otherwise, we won’t bother you.”
I’m going to have a talk with the guys as soon as they get back.
Mal and Riser know better than to bring anyone onto the bus tonight, and I’m sure they’ll stop Ten and Parish from doing anything stupid. Hopefully my bandmates understand it’s going to be an early night for us. They’re not going to stay up all night partying when Lumen needs a good night’s sleep.
“Thanks,” she says before disappearing into the bedroom at the back of the bus.
I go back to messing around on my phone, and less than five minutes later, she comes stomping down the hallway, holding her phone out.
My head tilts, and I drop my phone into my lap. She’s in tiny maroon pajama shorts and a light pink top that has kittens in various designs. They’re the color of her shorts, and it’s a cute set.
The look on her face clicks in my mind, and I focus on that.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, immediately on edge.
“I left my phone on the bus to charge while I went to the meet and greet,” she says, her wet hair falling around her face. “I have thirty-seven missed calls and over a hundred texts.”
“From your ex?”