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12
PIPER
Iwent from the high of one of my best concerts—which had about eighty percent to do with Cannon—to feeling like I’d been violated in the worst way. And it hadn’t even been my panties in creepy David’s pocket. The extreme high followed by the nearly debilitating low was enough to knock the wind out of anyone.
Carefully, I helped Hymn inside while the few other members of our security team who weren’t inside the stadium hauled David away. As soon as Hymn entered the living room area, Nala whined and joined her.
“This is so fucked up,” my friend muttered with disgust in her voice. “I should have known the first time I got a creeper vibe from him that things weren’t going to go well this summer.”
“He’s gone now,” Cannon assured her, having followed us inside. He held his injured hand to his chest, but otherwise didn’t seem to notice the damage he’d done to himself. “Emmie will have someone here to replace him by tomorrow night.”
“I hope he’s a better fit than David,” she said with a sigh, stroking her fingers over the German shepherd’s head.
“As long as he stays out of my underwear drawer, I’ll be happy.” I tried to make light of it, more to set Hymn at ease than myself. She gave a tiny laugh as I walked into the kitchenette to grab some ice from the freezer. The ice tray was nearly empty, so I grabbed a bag of frozen fries instead.
Placing them on the counter, I took a few paper towels and dampened them with warm water before going back to Cannon. His knuckles were a bloody mess. It wouldn’t surprise me if he needed stitches, but that was nothing compared to David’s face.
I’d never seen such rage from anyone before. It had been scary—yet oddly exhilarating. The vengeance in each punch had felt like vindication. For Trinity. For Hymn. For me. As if it were my own retaliation against the man for touching such intimate things he had no business even looking at without permission, carried out by Cannon’s hands.
He flinched when I touched the paper towel to his bleeding flesh. “Sorry,” I murmured as I cleaned away the blood. “These look deep. Should you go to the emergency room for stitches?”
“Nah,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’ve done worse and didn’t need them. There’re some butterfly bandages on my bus. I’ll patch this up after I finish my set with Jagger.”
“I think we have some too.” I placed the frozen fries on his hand. “Hold this, and I’ll look.”
The first aid kit was in the bathroom. Grabbing it, I walked back into the living room where Cannon had sat down on the chair across from Hymn. I dropped to my knees in front of him and placed the kit on the floor before opening it. The first thing I found was the bottle of ibuprofen, and I shook out three to give to him. He swallowed them dry while I opened the alcohol swabs and cleaned his knuckles a little better.
His sharp inhale told me how badly it stung, but he didn’t pull away. “Sorry,” I whispered again. “I’m not much of a nurse.”
“You’re doing great, sugar,” he said with a wink. “I’d let you play sexy doctor with me any day of the week.”
Hymn snorted out a laugh behind me. Rolling my eyes, I pulled out the butterfly bandages and got to work patching him up. Once the cuts were closed, I took his hand to inspect my work. “I think you’ll live.”
“I never doubted your talent, Pipes.” Turning his hand over, he entwined our fingers. His blue eyes caressed my face before he blew out a heavy breath and stood. “I have to get back before Trinity comes gunning for me. She’s got enough shit to deal with right now, and I don’t want to add more to her load.”
“I’ll talk to her when she gets back tonight,” I promised. I’d seen how shaken up she’d been. David had spooked her big-time, and I understood why. I felt violated just thinking of the bastard touching our stuff, but she had proof he’d messed with her things. Her dirty underwear, no less. I didn’t want to know what he’d planned to do with them, but we could all guess.
“Would you feel better if I slept here tonight?” he asked softly. “I could take the couch.”
“I…” I hesitated. The smart thing to do was tell him no, but I kind of wanted to ask him to stay. It wasn’t just my decision, though. Hymn and Trinity both had a right to say yes or no, and after what had happened, I wasn’t sure what they would choose.
“I would honestly feel better if you did,” Hymn spoke up. “He was the one person we were all supposed to be able to trust. And he—” She broke off with a shudder. “He was who we needed protecting from the most.”
“Okay,” I told him. “If Trinity is good with it, we would like to take you up on the offer.”
He seemed relieved by my answer. “I’ll have one of the roadies grab some of my things and bring them over. We should be rolling out within an hour after this show, so I don’t want to waste time.” Leaning down, he touched his lips to the top of my head. “I won’t be long, sugar.”
Once he was gone, I tried to settle down, but neither Hymn nor I could get out of our heads over the whole thing.
“Will you check my stuff?” my friend asked twenty minutes after Cannon had left. “I just need to know that nothing of mine is missing.”
I needed the same reassurance, so I promised her I would. I checked both our drawers in our sleeping area and then each of our hampers in the bathroom. It was only day two of the tour, so there weren’t a lot of dirty clothes in either one. Hymn told me how many pairs of panties to expect in her basket, and thankfully, they were all accounted for—as well as my own.
Once I’d confirmed that our things were still all where they should be, we both relaxed a little more. But that didn’t stop us thinking about what David had done. I wanted to kick him a few times like Shaw had for upsetting Trinity. He was gone, though, and I didn’t expect him to ever show his face again.
Hymn went to shower and get ready for bed, but I stayed in the living room area and texted my family. My parents and brother needed to hear what was going on from me before they caught wind of the chaos taking place on my tour from someone else. I put us all in a group text, which I knew Asher hated, but it was just easier to explain it all at once.
Mom: Are you okay?
Dad: You okay, angel face?
BigBro: Is Hymn okay?
I sighed at my brother’s text and stopped short of rolling my eyes. My best friend had a crush on my brother, but she didn’t seem to understand that he had a thing for her too. Everyone but the two of them could see how they felt for each other. But while Hymn had a medical excuse for being legally blind, Asher was just plain stupid when it came to understanding that his feelings were reciprocated.
Me: Everyone is fine. At least I think Trinity is. She seemed upset as she stormed back to the stadium. I’ll talk to her as soon as she gets back to make sure she’s okay.
Mom: But what about you? And, of course, Hymn and Trinity as well.
Me: Just creeped out more than anything.
I debated telling them that Cannon had offered to sleep on our couch, but I knew that would open a can of worms I didn’t want to get into. Or explore my reasoning for allowing it to happen. The irony of feeling safe with my childhood tormentor wasn’t lost on me in the slightest.
I sat there texting with my parents without realizing how much time had passed. At one point, there was a knock on the door, and one of the roadies dropped off a duffel bag full of Cannon’s things. I had him place it on the floor, and then he was gone before I could even thank him. Everyone was busy, packing up all the equipment and everything else so we could get on the road as quickly as possible.
The schedule wasn’t as tight as other tours I’d been on, but it left very little room for traveling between certain cities. Most stops had two or even three shows planned for each location. A few places didn’t allow for us to stay on the buses because there were no spots to hook up to, so we would be staying in hotels. But I actually preferred staying on the buses as much as possible. The bus felt more like home, even if it was cramped at times.
I took a quick shower and changed into a pair of sleep shorts and a baggy T-shirt. When I came out, Trinity was sitting at the small table in the kitchenette with a pint of ice cream in one hand and a soup spoon in the other.
It wasn’t my favorite dessert, but I was never one to let anyone drown their sorrows in ice cream alone. I grabbed a pint for myself, nuked it for a few seconds in the microwave to soften it a little, and then joined her.
“I think I’m cursed,” she muttered, stuffing a heaping spoonful of Phish Food into her mouth.
“Why do you think that?” I asked, taking a considerably smaller bite of my own ice cream.
“I pissed off the wrong person, and she cursed me.”
I lifted my brows at the seriousness of her tone. “What the hell did you do to piss someone off to that extreme? You’re one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.”
To my surprise, shame filled her eyes before a tear spilled over her lashes. “I didn’t mean to,” she whispered. “I didn’t know he was married.”
“Ah fuck,” I muttered. Pushing my ice cream away, I wrapped my arms around her. “Maybe you should start at the beginning.”
Blinking back the flood of fresh tears, she stabbed her spoon into her ice cream and released a heavy sigh. “Right after Christmas, I handled the eight-week European tour for Kin, Tainted Knights, and the Blonde Bombshells. It was my first solo tour of that caliber.”
“I remember how excited you were for it. And it was with Kin and the Blondes, so we all knew you would be in good hands. Your mom was so proud of you. The trip went off without any issues,” I praised.
“Not quite,” she muttered. “But it went better than I could have hoped. Barrick had issues with getting enough security to make sure Roanna was safe. The first few shows, there were freaks trying to jump onstage left and right. It was bedlam. Sin was going crazy because of it, and we had to call in reinforcements to make sure the Blondes were safe.”
“Scary.”
“It was, but Barrick knew someone. A guy who just finished a private security job was nearby, and he owed Barrick a favor. He brought in ten more men, and things calmed down after that.” She swallowed hard and scooped up another huge bite of ice cream. “The shows went smoothly, and my job got a hell of a lot easier.”
“Where does the curse come into play?” I asked cautiously.
“I kind of hooked up with Jarrett—Barrick’s security friend.” She chomped into a piece of chocolate with aggression. “But I swear I didn’t know he was married, Piper. I mean, he didn’t have a ring, and no one said anything about him having a family at home. I asked him…before…if he was involved with anyone. He said he wasn’t.”
“Then it’s not your fault,” I tried to assure her.
“I should have done an internet search, though. A few clicks on my phone and I would have gotten more of the truth than he ever dared to provide.” Trinity scrubbed her fingertips over her damp eyes. “He’s not only married, but he has kids.”
“Damn.” I got up and opened the fridge. Grabbing the can of whipped cream, I sprayed some into her ice cream. “This calls for heavier stuff,” I told her with a grim smile, making her lips twitch and giving me a tiny flash of her pretty dimples. Flopping down on my chair beside her once more, I urged her on. “How did you find out he was lying?”
“She showed up the last week of the tour,” she confided, taking a smaller bite of her dessert. “After a show one night, I went back to my hotel room—the one I was sharing with Jarrett—to find her and the kids waiting for him. She saw my things, and it escalated from there.”
“And you think she cursed you? Because of creepy David and his underwear fetish?”
“Not just that.” Glancing around as if she expected someone to be listening, she leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I… No one else knows, Piper, but I had a miscarriage.”
I could see the pain in her eyes and didn’t hesitate to hug her. “I’m so sorry, Trin.”
“It just wasn’t meant to be. I mean, my parents would have flipped out. Dad and Harris would have probably killed Jarrett if they knew.” She took a shuddery breath and pulled back, dashing her tears away. “And other things have happened to make me think I’ve been cursed. But I guess I kind of deserve it. If I’d just looked into him, done a search, I would have found out that he wasn’t being honest with me.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I told her firmly. “He was a douchebag who cheated on his wife. You had no idea. It’s all on him. Nothing that has happened to you since that bastard’s lies were unveiled was deserved. Not whatever David was doing with your undies, and especially not the loss of your precious baby.”
“Please don’t tell anyone else about the miscarriage.”
I shook my head. “You know me better than that, Trinity. I would never tell anyone something you shared in confidence.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t want to deal with my parents if they were to find out. I hate keeping anything from them, but at the time, I just wanted to forget.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I offered. “I don’t have any experience with that kind of thing, but I’m a good listener.”
She swallowed with difficulty. “Maybe one day I’ll take you up on the offer, but right now, it’s too raw.”
There was a loud knock on the bus door. “Pipes, let me in!” Cannon called.
Trinity sat up straighter, confusion wrinkling her brow. “What’s he doing here?”
“He offered to sleep on the couch, and Hymn took him up on it. I told him fine as long as you’re cool with it.” I left out the part where I’d wanted him to stay as well. How I’d been able to relax a little when he’d said he would stay if I wanted him to.
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip for a long moment as she thought it over. “Yeah, I think I would feel better if he were here.” Her gaze locked on to mine. “But are you sure you’ll be okay with it?”
“Don’t tell him, but I think I’d feel safer with him here too,” I confided, playing it off lightly. “Weird, huh?”
“Everything about you two and the last few days has been weird,” she said with a brief flash of her dimples. Shaw and Cannon had dimples too, but Trinity’s were deeper, just like her dad’s and brother’s. The barest sign of a smile and they appeared. “But he seems different. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not yet, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
It still confused the hell out of me, but I’d been doing the same. Getting to my feet, I walked to the door and opened it. His hair was wet, and he’d changed clothes, telling me he must have showered on his own bus before coming over. His eyes lit up when he saw my pajamas. “Please tell me I can stay,” he rasped as hunger filled those blue depths.
Fighting my own lust, I stepped back. “Come on in.”
When I turned around, Trinity was cleaning up her trash. “We should be headed out soon. I’m going to crash.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and turned to look at Cannon. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, Trin.” He walked over to hug her. “Get some sleep. I’m here if you need me.”
She gave a weak smile in gratitude before waving to me. As she went down the hall to our sleep area, I picked up my ice cream and crossed to the couch. “I would ask you to help me finish this, but I know you hate ice cream.”
“I’d rather eat you, but if ice cream is all that is on offer, I’m not going to say no to that, sugar.”
