Learn to Fly (26 page)

“
Great!”
Carl turned to leave, “See you in a bit. Goodnight, Lenny.”

“
Goodnight,
Carl.”

The door closed and
Lenny and Luke stared at each other in silence. Everything between
them had changed in the span a few breaths.

“
I
don’t want to go.” Luke finally said, his soul screaming
at him to say more.

“
I
know, but you have to,” she whispered.

Her cheeks were
still pink from their momentary passionate embrace. She looked at
him with clear eyes and Luke knew she wasn't asking him to leave
because she didn't want this. It was because she wanted it as badly
as he did.

Luke charged across
the room and crushed her to him. His hands started on her hips,
making their way up to her hair as he kissed her desperately. She
responded strongly, wanting him just as badly.

He stepped back,
breathless, her kiss making him dizzy. He held her face in his palm
and touched her lips with his thumb. “This is far from over,”
he whispered roughly.

He left reluctantly,
looking at Lenny one last time before closing the door. As he walked
down the hall and to the elevators he tried to calm down. He had
kissed lots of girls, more than he could count. But no one had
knocked the wind out of him. No one made him feel like the earth had
been slightly knocked off it's axis.

He smiled to himself
as the lift opened and he stepped inside.

She had kissed him
back.

***

Luke stared at the
ceiling. He had lost every hand in the poker game. He didn’t
care. He kept thinking about Lenny, alone in her room. He wanted to
go to her, keep her company. Hold her. Kiss her. Explain the things
that remained unexplainable without her around.

“
I
kissed Lenny.” He said out loud to the ceiling.

Mike was lying in
the next bed and he propped himself up on his elbow and looked at
Luke in the dark. “Whaaat?” He sounded like he was
laughing but Luke couldn’t see his face.

“
When?”
Mike asked.

“
Tonight.
Before the game.”

Mike was definitely
laughing. “Where?”

“
On
the mouth.”

Mike really laughed
then, “No, dude, where were you when you kissed her?”

“
Oh,
in her room.”

Mike waited for more
information then asked, “Was it awesome?”

“
Yeah.”

Mike laid back down
and chuckled again. “It’s about freakin' time, that’s
all I have to say.”

Luke smiled broadly.

“
It
also explains that stupid grin you had on your face the whole night.”

“
I
lost a lot of money to Blake.”

Mike guffawed.

“
Is
it wrong? Am I screwing up all our lives?”

“
Don't
be ridiculous,” Mike chided. “You two make the most
sense of anything ever.”

“
You
really think so?” Luke felt his nerves settle into a bundle in
the pit of his stomach.

“
Oh
yeah.” Mike said confidently. “She's your song.”

“
What
do you mean?”

“
Every
good lyric, melody or riff is Lenny in a package. Anyone can see it.
You look at her and you just know...she's the one you've been
singing about all this time. You just didn't know it.”

Luke felt his mouth
tug up on the side in a smile. That's exactly why he told Mike stuff
like this. For answers like that.

“
Mike,
don’t tell the others yet.”

“
You
know me; I always got your six, brother.”

Luke sighed
contentedly. He knew they were moving in the right direction finally
but he didn’t want to go too fast and scare her away. This was
a whole new ballgame.

***

Lenny was all smiles
when she woke the next morning. She had slept better last night than
she had in years. She took a shower and dressed in jeans and a white
t-shirt with the black band hoodie. She literally skipped to Carl
with his coffee.

“
You’re
awfully spunky today,” he eyed her suspiciously.

“
The
healing power of sleeping in a real bed,” Lenny joked. “Well,
that and finally having all those secrets come out last night lifted
a weight off me.”

Carl nodded, “That’s
why honesty is always the best policy.”

A wave of guilt
washed over Lenny and she changed the subject quickly.

“
I
better get the buses put back in order before we leave tomorrow.”
She was already hurrying off before Carl could ask any more
questions. She had promised him that nothing would happen with any
of the band members and something had definitely happened.

She had a lot to do,
moving Blake, Sway and Harrison’s things back to the Red Bus,
changing the sheets in the Blue Bus and restocking food.

She was just
finishing up in the Blue Bus when Luke appeared. They had eye contact
and Lenny couldn’t hide her excitement to see him. He grinned
and rushed to her, kissing her face and lips passionately.

He looked over his
shoulder to see if anyone was coming. Satisfied they were alone for
the time being, he let his fingers linger in her hair as he kissed
her again and again.

“
I
missed these lips,” he whispered between kisses.

“
We
have to keep this quiet, Luke.” Lenny pulled away from his
kisses and gave him a serious look. “If Carl finds out, he'll
fire me so fast.”

He gave her a
lopsided grin, “Hey, I totally got this.”

She rolled her eyes
and he planted one more kiss on her lips before he really had to go.
Someone would get suspicious if they weren’t careful.

He walked to the
door, turned and let his eyes rove over her face, unapologetic. He
tapped the door frame with his finger tips like he had something
important to say.

Instead, he gave her
a wink, “I’ll see you later.” And he ducked out
the door.

Lenny grinned, she
felt like a teenager. She knew she was behaving ridiculously but it
was hard to stop. For the first time in a long time, she felt like
she could breathe again.

***

Cody
bullied her way into the arena using a combination of flirting and
threats. It always seemed a touch harder to get what she wanted than
she thought it should be.
You
catch more flies with honey.
Her grandfather's words echoed in her head and she rolled her eyes at
the memory. Foolish old man.

She spotted Lenny immediately despite the security
giants trying to block her way. Her hair was longer and not in that
god-awful braid she had insisted on wearing since...well, since then.

“
Lenny
Effing Freebird Evans!” Cody shouted at the top of her lungs,
ignoring security as they tried to muscle her back out the door. Her
voice echoed through the open space and she smirked with satisfaction
when she saw that brilliant head of golden hair whip around in her
direction.

Lenny nodded to security and they let Cody through. She
sauntered to the stage, taking careful note of Lenny's posture and
body language. Cody wasn't sure if Lenny was happy to see her or
not. She'd been pretty guarded since the wreck and even more
reserved in the months leading up to her unexpected departure with a
rock band.

“
What
the hell? You're in town and you weren't gonna call me?” Cody
smiled widely and ignored the fact that Lenny didn't smile in return.

“
Scott
called you?” Lenny asked instead, slipping her hands into her
back pockets and walking to the edge of the stage.

This would be easier than Cody thought. The only reason
she was here was to keep up appearances anyway. What kind of a best
friend would she be if she didn't at least feign interest in Lenny's
life? Besides, if she thought Scott was her source then maybe that
meant she was thinking about coming back.

“
Damn,
girl. When you want to disappear, you do it in style.” Cody
didn't answer her question, the same as Lenny had done to her. She
would play every game Lenny wanted to. She would just do it better.

Cody hopped on the
stage and hugged her oldest friend. Their relationship had always
been complicated, but Cody had never found anyone who could truly
replace Lenny. She was one of a kind. Perfect Lenny, with her
perfect hair and her perfect teeth and her perfect life. She was
so...perfect.

***

Mike watched Lenny
talking to her friend from his usual place behind the drums. Was it
just him or did Lenny look a little stiff? He shifted on his stool
and saw Sway texting out of the corner of his eye.

“
Who you talking to?” He
asked. It wasn't any of his business and normally he could care less
who Sway was talking to, but Mike was feeling curious today.

“
A girl,” Sway mumbled.
“You don't know her.”

Mike frowned. Sway didn't give his number out to girls.
Weird.

“
She a friend?” Mike was
actually pushing. He seriously didn't even want to know, he didn't
know why he was asking.

“
Yeah, dude, she's a friend.
Why do you care?” Sway looked up in exasperation.

“
I don't,” Mike rubbed
his hand down his face and turned away.

“
Whatever, man. I really wish
you'd get over it.”

Mike glared at Sway whose head was bent back to his
phone. He wanted to yell at him, curse him, tell him to shut up but
he couldn't. Sway was right, Mike was acting paranoid. Again.
Private conversations always set him on edge.

He knew being on the road would make him jumpy after a
while. The stress and the travel and all the crap that somehow goes
along with it. Having Luke around helped. A lot. But being alone
still sucked. And now that Luke and Lenny had finally kissed...kind
of solidified his forsaken nature once again.

Why
did
he care who Sway was talking to? Because he knew who he was hoping
it was... But it wasn't. And it never would be again.

Mike looked up to see Lenny
approaching with her friend. He really didn't feel like meeting new
people today but Lenny meant a lot to him so he'd attempt his best
behavior.
Fake it
till you make it, right?

“
This is my friend, Cody.”
Lenny introduced with a tight smile.

Mike shook the girl's hand and ignored the once over he
received. He wasn't interested. She seemed nice enough and being
Lenny's friend, she probably was. Mike just wasn't that guy.

Sway was overt in his praise of the new girl and Mike
found himself backing away from the group ever so subtly. Lenny
caught his eye and they exchanged what he could only describe as a
painful look. She didn't want Cody there either. And she needed an
ally. Mike sighed inwardly; he could be that for Lenny. It might
give him something to focus on besides the turmoil.

“
I'll stick around.”
Cody was nodding her head. “Someone's got to fill you in on
this chick,” she elbowed Lenny in the ribs. “I bet she
hasn't told you any of the good stuff.”

Mike wondered where
the hell Lenny had connected up with this girl. She was like the
night to Lenny's day. And Lenny looked like she was going to lose
her lunch. He looked around at the rest of the guys, why didn't they
see whatever it was he was picking up on? Why did stuff like this
always fall on him to fix?

***

“
So
what's the deal with you and the guys? Have you hooked up with any
of them?” Cody was trying to get Lenny to open up a bit more.
She was being particularly cagey. Even for Lenny. They had covered
the Ashton mess, Lenny coming to Aspen and life on the road. All
that was left was Lenny's love life.