In Your Honor (16 page)

He cleared his throat and looked around the
room. “Everything. The freedom, the unpredictability.”

“
Do you miss competing?”
she asked softly, drawing his eyes back to hers.

“
Not really. Why do you
ask?” He cocked his head to the side.

“
That picture of you in
your office with the medal...” She studied his face, as if looking
for something specific. “You looked so happy.”

“
I
was
happy.” He smiled at her. “But
I'm happy now, too.”

He looked back at her lips and then to her
eyes again. He really needed to stop looking at her mouth. He had
to do something to break this spell he was under.

He impulsively reached out and grabbed her
in a hug, folding her against his chest and rubbing his knuckles on
her head. She squealed and tried to escape, but he was a lot
stronger than she was. He laughed and pulled her down against him
as he reclined back the other direction on the sofa.

“
Newton, you're making me
crazy,” he declared, knowing he was confessing more than just his
words at this point.

***

“
Watch out, she shoots
people.” Chad stood in the open doorway, his frame blocking any
view of the hallway. Shane straightened them both up, but kept his
arm around her.

“
You shoot people?” he
asked, incredulous.

Lucy grimaced when Shane looked to her for
the truth.

“
One time.” She glared at
Chad. “It's not something I tell people I've just met.”

“
I thought you said you
didn't have secrets,” Shane countered with interest.

“
How can I, with my own
personal herald following me around?” Lucy waved at Chad, who was
giving her a weird look. She frowned at him, wondering what was
going on, but then Sway and Blake came into the room, followed by
the rest of the band.

“
Shane!” Sway's face lit
up with surprise and Shane stood, giving each of the entering men a
handshake. Luke got a full-on man-hug.

Lucy hadn't realized that the show was over
already, she had been talking to Shane the whole time. Pleasantries
were being exchanged and Lucy found herself disappointed that she
hadn't had more time with the snowboarding entrepreneur from
southern California. She still had so many questions.

“
I'm glad you stuck
around,” Blake said as he took Shane's vacated seat on the couch.
Lucy felt guilt rip through her as she realized that Blake thought
she'd been waiting in here for him. Truthfully, she probably would
have been if Shane Brookings hadn't shown up and dominated her
evening with his charm and witty banter. He had been the perfect
distraction from her confused feelings for the tattooed rocker who
still had more of a hold on her heart than she was comfortable
with.

Blake broke into her thoughts when he
reached over and untangled her fingers from her bracelets. She
looked up into his emerald eyes that were studying her far too
closely.

“
What's going on, Lucky?
Everything okay?” he muttered in a low voice, concern evident on
his features. She swallowed, wishing she wouldn't complicate her
life like this all the time. She wasn't smart enough for the
situations she always ended up in.

“
Yeah, I'm fine.” She
smiled sincerely at Blake and tried to clear her mind of her
confusing thoughts. “Why'd you wanna see me?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but Chad
leaned over the back of the couch and stuck his face in between
them.

“
Why do you call her
Lucky? Where's that come from?” he asked, completely oblivious to
his rude behavior.

Blake chuckled and raised his eyebrows at
Lucy. She shrugged slightly and looked away. It was a nickname he
had given her when they were kids. He was the only one who ever
used it because anytime someone else tried, he'd threaten to beat
them up.

“
Because this girl was
clumsy beyond reason, but completely fearless.” Blake touched the
top of her hand as he spoke. Lucy flipped her hand palm up and he
rested his hand on the top. “She fell off horses, fences, out of
trees, even off the water tower a couple times, and never got hurt.
And when she broke the rules, she either never got caught or never
got in trouble.” He gave her a crooked grin and she returned it.
Why did all of her best memories have to involve him? It made it
really hard to move on.

Chad squinted at the two of them. “Y'all
having a moment or what?”

Lucy smirked in irritation and pulled her
hand away from Blake's. Chad “humphed” and walked away as Blake
chuckled.

“
He really is the brother
I never had,” she sighed, trying to downplay the reaction that
Blake could invoke in her in an instant. Lucy looked back to Blake,
seeing a peacefulness in his expression that hadn't been there in a
long time. He looked like the young boy she used to know so
well.

“
You were frickin'
fantastic tonight, by the way.” He smiled at her, changing the
subject easily.

“
Thanks.” She bit her
bottom lip and smiled.

“
I wanted to ask you if
you'd be interested in collaborating with me on a few new songs.”
He looked hopeful. And excited. And sober. She could tell he had
thought about this for a while.

She took a deep breath, unable to hide her
smile. “That sounds... kind of awesome,” she responded, loving the
elation her words brought to his face.

“
We'll have to spend more
time together,” he warned. “Think you can put up with
me?”

“
I'll do my best.” She
laughed at him as he clenched his fist in a victory
pose.

“
Newton.” Shane stood in
front of her, drawing her attention away from Blake. “I have to
take off, but it was great getting to know you.”

She gave him a smile. “You too,
Brookings.”

“
What are my shoes doing
in here?” Chad exclaimed, and Lucy grinned and winked at Shane, who
laughed loudly.

“
Good to see you again
too, Blake.” He shook the guitarist's hand and then tapped Lucy's
nose. “See you around, kid.” He backed towards the door and gave a
final wave to everyone in the room before departing.

Kendra began waving people to their
designated buses and Lucy shoved her feet back into Chad's shoes,
intent on following orders. She didn't like Kendra today.

“
Can I please help you
before you break your neck?” Blake asked beside her.

“
I'm fine.” Lucy tried to
wave him off, but she tripped as she did so and would have smashed
her face on the cement floor if Blake hadn't caught her and set her
up right again.

“
Yeah, you're the
definition of grace,” he said sarcastically as he bent down and
removed the shoes from her feet. He tossed them to Chad on his way
by and turned his back to Lucy.

“
Hop on.” He looked over
his shoulder at her, indicating he wanted to give her a piggy-back
ride.

“
Argh,” Lucy groaned, but
did as she was told. She wrapped her arms around his neck and
growled in his ear. “This is so demeaning.”

“
But you'll make it to the
bus alive. I can't have my new writing partner die before any songs
get written.” He yelped when she pinched his chest.

“
Is that all I am to you,
a business asset?” she grumbled, half-joking.

They made it to the bus and he set her down
by the door and turned, backing her against the cool of the metal.
She was frozen to her spot by the intensity in his face.

“
I know you were only
kidding, but in case you really believe that, I need to correct
you.” His green eyes blazed as he reached up to cup her cheek. “You
know what you are to me, you're the only asset that
matters.”

Lucy couldn't breathe. Her body screamed at
her to pull him to her, but her head was still in control. Thank
God.

He kissed her forehead and grinned. “I'll
see you tomorrow.”

He backed away, a bemused look on his face,
then turned around and jogged to his own bus.

Lucy took a shaky breath and put her hand to
her forehead, closing her eyes. Her heart was a complete disaster.
It was too hard for her to get it to follow any sort of direction.
Blake always left her with that “caught in a rainstorm” feeling
that she could never shake entirely.

I am a wreck. Maybe I need therapy. Or a
lobotomy.

***

“
I feel like we should
discuss the presence of Shane Brookings after tonight's show.” Sway
put his hands behind his head with a grim look.

“
What about it?” Blake
asked as he stripped off his sweat-soaked shirt and put on the
fresh one that Kendra handed to him. He saw the nervous look pass
across her face at Sway's words.

“
Does he owe you money or
something?” Mike chuckled from his seat in the main
lounge.

“
No. I mean, he was kind
of totally hitting on Lucy,” Sway clarified with a
frown.

“
No, he wasn't,” Harrison
protested, looking at Sway like he was being silly.

Blake swallowed hard and looked back at
Kendra, whose face was pinched and she wouldn't meet his eyes.

“
Trust me, I know the
look. Shane definitely had the look,” Sway pressed on
adamantly.

“
What look?” Blake asked
cautiously. Harrison and Mike swiveled to face him, as if just
registering what Sway was talking about.

“
The
look
. The one that says, I'm a
complete sucker for this girl and I don't care who knows. Luke
walked around with it the entire time he was pretending not to like
Lenny. Am I really the only one who notices these
things?”

Blake shrugged one shoulder. “So? Lucy's
awesome. It would be more weird if he didn't notice.”

That caused wide eyes and
complete silence. Blake chuckled lightly. “I know I was crazy about
anyone being around her in the beginning, but I'm over that. I'm
not gonna be all territorial with her. She's not mine.”
Even if I'm still her's.

“
That's really big of you,
Blake,” Mike acknowledged with a chin lift.

“
Yeah, very classy,”
Harrison concurred.

Sway scowled at him and folded his arms over
his chest. “Really? You want us to believe that you're totally fine
with Shane going after the one woman you've ever loved? The woman
who makes you so out of your head crazy that half of your body is
covered in ink as tribute to the pain she's caused you?”

Blake returned his glare. “He was flirting
with her. What's the big deal? He's not going after her. They'll
probably never even see each other again.”

Sway closed his eyes and shook his head.
Blake turned to Kendra, whose lips were drawn in a hard line. He
forced a short laugh.

“
You guys can relax. I'm
fine. Shane is going halfway around the world tomorrow and Lucy and
I are just friends. I'm not worried and you shouldn't be
either.”

Blake retreated to his bunk without
bothering to wait for a response. He wasn't worried. Why should he
be? He saw the way Lucy looked at him, the way her breath caught
when he touched her. The look of complete desire on her face when
he backed her against the side of the bus before saying
goodnight.

Shane who?

When the touring schedule had been made,
Harrison had taken it upon himself to make certain that the band
got the rest they needed between major shows. He felt that without
their former label breathing down their necks for ticket sales,
they would be able to give their fans even better shows if they
were properly rested. As a result, Harrison found himself with an
open day going to a rock festival with his band, and they were not
scheduled to perform. It was a nice change.

“
I'm not as into death metal as... the
rest... of this... crowd...” he trailed off as he glanced around at
the nearby concert goers, choosing his words carefully.

“
C'mon, Harry,” Lenny grabbed his arm
with a smile, “where's your sense of adventure?”

“
Possibly back on the bus,” he said
loudly as he allowed her to lead him through the sweaty, drunk mass
of people.

As they got closer to the stage, Harrison
started to feel claustrophobic despite it being an outdoor
festival.

“
So... which one is Mordrid?” he
asked, trying to keep his elbows tucked close to his ribs so he
wasn't bumping into people. It was a futile gesture.

“
Um.” Lenny stood up on her toes and
narrowed her eyes at the performers on stage. “I think
they're
all
Mordrid... collectively.”

“
Like when the Power
Rangers combine to make the Mega Zord?”

Lenny gave him a sideways smile and patted
his back. “Yeah, Harry, kinda like that.”

Mordrid the Destroyer was what had been
listed on the bill. Harrison had voiced some curiosity in front of
Lenny, something he hadn't yet learned to curb. She always seized
an opportunity to try something new, and now Harrison found himself
neck-deep in metal fans. And Lenny was getting closer to the
pit.

“
Lenny!” He yanked her
backwards. If anything happened to her, Luke would kill him. “I
think we're close enough.”

Rebellion flashed in her eyes and for the
tenth time that day, he wondered what he had been thinking when
he'd agreed to spend the day with the craziest girl he knew. So
much of Lenny reminded him of his younger sister, Greta. Except he
could boss Greta around. Lenny, not so much.