Chapter 13

13

C laire woke up to a commotion in the bunk area. The gentle lull of the bus moving on the road had ended, which meant they were at their destination. Whoever was in the bunk room was attempting to be respectful and let her sleep, but she also knew that it meant they would attempt to wake Jake.

Jake slept with his arms still wrapped around her. It had been a long time since she had felt safe in a man's arms. Not since she was last with Jake before she ever met Charles.

She reached a hand up and brushed his cheek. A five o'clock shadow made his face feel rough against her fingers. His eyes fluttered briefly before opening. Claire pressed a finger to her lips and motioned toward the curtain behind them.

They watched each other as they listened to the person moving around. Based on where the sound was coming from, it was Ben or Theo getting into their own bunks.

Please, Dear God, let it be Theo.

"Jake," Theo's voice whispered, and they both released a breath. "Time to get up."

Jake squeezed Claire's hip lightly before sliding out of the bunk. The curtain was left slightly open, giving Claire a view of Theo looking between the two of them.

"Oh," Theo said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile. "How was your nap?"

Jake chuckled and squatted down to pull his own bunk curtains open.

"Refreshing."

Theo's eyebrow raised as he looked at Claire. She would have been embarrassed, but she couldn't help the giggle that escaped.

"Very refreshing," she said.

Theo nodded. "That's all that matters. Claire, I don't know what your schedule looks like, but the rest of us need to get inside for a sound check."

Jake stood back up with a fresh shirt in his hand. He reached over his shoulder and gripped his shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it inside his bunk.

Sweet mother of…

Claire only got a brief glimpse of his chiseled chest before he had a fresh shirt on. Damn, it had been far too long since she had lusted over a bare chest. Leave it to Jake to be the one to bring it all back for her.

Theo smirked at her before turning and leaving the bunk area. He had definitely caught her. She didn't even have a chance to be embarrassed before Jake was brushing a hand along her cheek.

"I'll see you in a bit," he said.

She nodded and watched him leave. Claire dropped her head back onto the pillow and pulled in a deep breath. Her bunk smelled of him, and she didn't want it to change.

Celine's face appeared a moment later. "Did I just see Jake crawl out of your bunk?"

Claire's eyes widened. "Shh."

Celine giggled. "We're alone. The guys already left, and Lonnie is waiting outside for us."

Claire moved out of the bunk and stretched her arms over her head. "I'll tell you what, that was the best nap I've ever gotten."

A soft smile touched Celine's lips. "Because you felt safe."

Claire nodded.

"Maybe we should arrange for you two to nap together more often. I'm guessing that was the best nap Jake has had in a while, too."

Claire's heart fluttered. In all honesty, she'd sleep better with Jake in bed with her. While sharing a room with Ben meant she'd also be safe, there was something different about actually having a man hold her that made her feel even safer.

"Not sure how that can happen with Ben around."

"Have you thought about just telling him? I mean, the man can't be that oblivious. I haven't known you very long, and I could see it almost immediately."

Claire worried her bottom lip. "If I tell Ben that he'll put two and two together."

Celine furrowed her eyebrows. "About what?"

"Jake and I kinda had a thing going on four years ago when I was on tour with them. He's the reason I left the tour."

Understanding dawned on Celine's face. "Ah. He's the reason you left. And because you left, you met Charles."

Claire nodded, tears springing to her eyes. She sniffled.

Damn hormones.

Celine pulled Claire into a hug. "I think Ben would understand. I can't imagine he'd even consider blaming Jake for anything. You're adults and can make your own decisions, and Jake didn't make you date Charles."

Claire knew Celine was right, but Ben had been given so much bad news lately that she worried he would take it even harder. And the guys didn't need anything coming between them while they were on tour.

"So what's going on between you and Theo?" Claire asked as the two of them made their way off the bus.

Celine blushed. "Absolutely nothing."

"Okay. What do you wish was going on between you and Theo?"

"So much," she whispered.

Claire giggled. "So why not make it happen?"

"We can't. It would be unprofessional and violate the code of ethics between doctor and patient."

"Oh. That's no fun."

"Yeah." Celine shook her head. "So for now, I will just look from afar."

Lonnie stepped up beside them as they went inside the arena. Fans hadn't begun lining up outside yet, so they easily made it inside without incident. Celine split off from Claire and Lonnie when a crew member asked her to check out his sore throat.

Lonnie walked with Claire down the hallway toward the wardrobe room. Most arenas had a similar setup, which made it easier to find where they were supposed to go. But when an arena had a different layout, they all looked over maps of the arena before they exited the bus. Claire primarily relied on Lonnie to get her where she needed to go, since he would be well versed in the layout in case there were ever any potential threats that needed to be addressed.

Miranda was already inside the room, rolling the large carts around to the proper spots. Lonnie jumped in and helped her get everything where it needed to go before he said he was going to go find bottled water for them.

"Lock the door behind me," Lonnie said as he stepped out of the room.

Claire walked over to the door and smiled before shutting the door and locking it.

"Don't open it unless you know the person on the other side," he said through the door before walking away.

"Put me to work," Claire said, turning toward Miranda.

Miranda pulled out a shirt from one of the large wardrobes and walked it over to a table where her sewing machine was set up.

"Can you get into each guy's case and pull out the shirts for the first set? They've all been complaining about a spot on them, so I'm going to fix it before the show."

Claire worked on going through the cases and getting the items to Miranda before going back and prepping the other outfits for the show.

"How are you doing?" Miranda asked.

Claire moved over and sat in a chair next to where Miranda was sewing.

"Tired. My whole body is exhausted all the time."

"If you want to get some rest, I'll be fine getting everything together for the show tonight."

As tempting as it was, Claire didn't want to be alone. Being alone terrified her. She worried Charles would find her, and the more people she was around, the less likely anything would happen… or at least that's what made the most sense to her.

"Nah. It's good for me to keep busy."

"I can understand that," Miranda said softly.

Claire tilted her head and watched Miranda for a moment as she continued sewing.

"Are you okay, Miranda?"

Miranda sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Yes. No. I don't know."

"What's going on?"

"Rick is dumb."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Who's Rick?"

"My boyfriend…" Miranda gave her a look as if Claire should know that.

"This is the first I'm hearing of a boyfriend. Have you been holding out on me?"

Miranda laughed. "I haven't mentioned him?"

"No! But, to be fair, I kinda blew in here like a hurricane and threw things off for everyone."

"I wouldn't go that far."

The women stared at each other for a moment before laughing loudly.

"Okay, so spill," Claire said. "Please. I need to hear about something other than all the problems in my life."

"So we've been dating for a year. He knew when we met I travel with the band for these shows, and I guess he's not handling it well? He keeps bringing up the guys and asking if any of them are hitting on me."

"He sounds jealous."

"Yes, he does. And I don't like it. I don't need some jealous man calling me constantly and giving me the third degree while asking about what I've been doing all night."

Claire nodded. "What do you say when he asks?"

Miranda sighed and picked up the shirt she was working on and examined it. "I tell him the truth. I work during the day fixing wardrobe items and prepping them for the show and any media events. Then I throw outfits at the guys during wardrobe changes. Then I collect dirty laundry and get that taken care of before I pass out and start all over again the next day. And I try to scarf down meals between all that."

Miranda dropped the shirt again and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm just tired of it, you know?"

"Tired of doing the tour?"

"No. God, no. I love this. It breathes life into me. I'm tired of being grilled about everything I do when it rarely changes. It's making me resent him."

Claire nodded. "Is there anything I can do?"

Miranda stared at a spot on the wall for so long that Claire nearly waved a hand in front of her face to make sure she was still awake. Finally, she blinked and looked over at Claire.

"You actually already did."

"I did?"

"You helped me decide."

Claire's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Decide what, exactly?"

Miranda pulled out her phone, scrolled briefly, and took a deep breath before pressing a button and holding it up to her ear.

"I'm dumping him."

Claire's eyes widened. "You what? Don't you want to think about it?"

"I already did."

Miranda held up a finger to Claire that he had answered just as a knock on the door sounded. Claire rushed to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Ben."

Claire pulled the door open, and Ben stepped inside.

"I just wanted to ask Miranda about—" He stopped abruptly when Miranda's voice drifted over to them, and Claire's eyes widened.

"—I think it's best that we just end it now. Clearly, this will always be a problem. Yes, I'm sure. Uh huh. Okay. Bye," Miranda said as she ended the call.

"Shit," Claire muttered.

Ben swallowed loudly next to her. "Um, maybe I should come back?"

Miranda's eyes moved between Claire and Ben. "Oh. I'm sorry, Ben. I wasn't expecting you. Did you need something?"

He cleared his throat and shifted his weight between his feet. "Um, I just wanted to talk to you about my blue shirt from the second set. It had a hole in it. I forgot to tell you yesterday."

Miranda spoke as if they hadn't overheard everything that had just unfolded, while Claire and Ben squirmed where they stood. Claire admired Miranda's ability to keep it together after a breakup and wished she had that same sort of mentality: It didn't work out. No big deal.

"I'll get it taken care of. Thanks for letting me know," Miranda said.

Ben nodded, but didn't immediately flee, as Claire had expected. Instead, he took a step closer to Miranda.

"Are you okay?"

Miranda nodded, and her voice came out cheerily as she said, "Great!"

Ben gave her one last long look before turning around. His expression was one of concern as he left the room, but not before reminding Claire to lock the door behind him.

Once he left and the door was locked, Claire moved over to Ben's wardrobe and found the shirt he mentioned and brought it to Miranda before sitting down in a chair beside her.

"Are you actually okay?" Claire asked cautiously. "I didn't know I said anything that would make you dump him."

Miranda closed her eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. When she looked back at Claire, there were tears in her eyes.

"I'm okay. It was for the best and you helped me see that. I've always known it deep down, but having someone to chat with about it made it even more clear. It's best he and I don't waste our time."

Claire stood and moved over to Miranda and opened her arms. Miranda stood and the two women hugged.

"Thank you for listening. I needed that," Miranda said.

"It's what friends are for. I'm only sorry it took this long for me to ask."

Miranda pulled back and took Claire's hands in hers. "Don't be sorry. There's been a lot going on since you joined us."

The two women went back to working on the wardrobe, but Claire couldn't get the thought out of her head—how she hadn't taken the time to ask anyone how they were doing. She had been so wrapped up in the chaos surrounding her own life that she had neglected those around her. And that was going to change.