Luke faced away from Lenny and ran one hand through his
hair, closing his eyes. They'd gotten back to the bus and he had
retreated to their bedroom in the back. She followed him but hadn't
said anything yet. He rested both hands on his hips and took a deep
breath. He didn't want to be mad at her. He hated being mad at her.
It hurt like nothing else in the world.
“Are you mad at me?”
she asked from behind him, her tone a little more confrontational
than he would have preferred.
Luke finally faced her and he knew his agitation was
obvious by the look on her face. She set her jaw and crossed her arms
over her chest.
“Why did you have to
introduce Lucy to Shane?” he asked, trying to keep his voice even.
“They're both friends
of mine. I didn't realize that I was supposed to be keeping them in
separate boxes,” she responded dryly.
“But then you gave
him her number,” he pointed out.
“And you wouldn't
have? Shane's your friend too, remember?”
“No. I wouldn't
have.” Luke shook his head adamantly. “Lucy is...” He rubbed
his hand over his forehead in aggravation.
“Lucy is what, Luke?”
Lenny pressed.
“She's Blake's,”
Luke said plainly.
That had apparently been the wrong thing to say because
dark clouds rolled into Lenny's eyes and she narrowed her gaze at
him.
“Lucy is a person.
She doesn't belong
to anyone.”
“That's not what I
meant.” He held up his hands defensively, attempting to backtrack.
“As far as what
anyone will tell me around here, Blake and Lucy ended long ago.
They're just friends now.” She let her hands drop to her hips and
she raised her eyebrows at him. “Unless there's more information
you're keeping to yourself.”
Luke stayed silent. Did she know about Blake's drunken
tattoo? She must. She only looked at him like that when she had the
upper hand. Shit.
“I was going to tell
you about the tattoo—”
“Oh, come on!” she
interrupted loudly. “No you weren't! I've been told repeatedly that
I'm part of this family. That I'm the frickin' sixth member of the
band, but that's not even close to the truth. You're still protecting
your boys and shutting me out! Maybe if I had known the extent of
Blake's thing for Lucy, whether it be love or psychotic obsession,
I'd have been able to navigate the Shane thing better. You can't be
mad at me for operating on the information I've been given. Hell, I'm
pretty sure Kendra knows more than I do, and I'm your wife.”
Damn it. Luke looked down at the floor and frowned hard.
“You're right.” He raised his eyes back to hers in time to see
her soften her expression. “Honestly, it wouldn't have been that
big of a deal except that I saw Blake with her after the open mic
thing.”
Lenny swallowed and nodded in agreement. “I saw it
too.” She took a step towards him, a question on her face. “What
if this is how it has to happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if protecting
Blake is only holding him back? What if he needs to face the reality
of his choices?”
“Make him witness
losing Lucy forever?” Luke felt sick at the thought. He couldn't
imagine having to watch Lenny with someone else.
“Maybe. Maybe not.
Maybe you shouldn't try parenting him anymore. He's a grown man.”
Luke sniffed. “Old habit.”
Lenny reached out and touched his arm. “I know. That's
because you're a good guy. Your loyalty to your friends is one of the
first things I fell in love with.”
He reached out and pulled her to him, pressing her body
to his and burying his face in her hair, unable to stand the space
that had separated them a moment ago. “I don't know what I'd do
without you.”
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