Free In Your Honor by Heidi Hutchinson Page A

she always hoped to. The life
she was supposed to...”
    He destroyed every beautiful thing he
touched.
    “ What if that's not the
case?” Lenny's tone changed slightly, and Blake frowned at her. She
nodded her head at the window behind him. He turned to look, hoping
it wasn't his imagination.
    Lucy was pulling luggage out of her
GTO and Kendra was carrying it to the red bus. Blake's chest
constricted as he watched.
    She was here. She was coming with
them.
    He swung his eyes back to Lenny and
she quickly laid her hand on his knee, apprehension coloring her
features.
    “ Lenny, I...” He wanted to
say so much more, but she nodded in understanding.
    “ I've got your back,
Blake. Just don't do anything stupid,” Lenny warned
carefully.
    “ How should I react?
Should I go talk to her?” Blake was suddenly very nervous. Lucky
was coming on the road with him. He was going to get to see her
every day. Hear her play again. It was... surreal.
    “ Yeah, you should be
friendly.” Lenny seemed to hesitate. “But keep it cool. You can do
that, right?”
    “ Yeah...” Blake rubbed his
hands on his pants again as Lenny opened the door to the lounge and
they walked through the bus. He released one final, cleansing
breath before putting on his game face.
    ***
    So, she would be sharing a
bus with three dudes that she only kind of knew. This should be fun.
    Lucy kept her beloved guitar with her
instead of stowing it with the other equipment. She chose a bunk
and tried to familiarize herself with the layout of the vehicle. It
was bigger than she thought it would be. And far more glamorous
than she expected for her first time on the road. But that was DBS
being overly accommodating.
    She went back outside and
found Blake waiting for her at the bottom of the steps with a
pretty blonde woman. So much for staying
away. His face was blank, sunglasses
firmly in place. Too cool for school.
    “ I wanted to welcome you
to the tour,” he said, sticking out his hand. It was almost painful
that this is what they were reduced to, practically strangers. At
best, polite acquaintances.
    “ Thanks, Blake.” She took
his hand and tried to ignore the way his skin felt against hers. It
was always new, and always startling. She let go quickly and looked
at the blonde.
    “ I'm Lenny Casey,” she
introduced herself with a warm smile, and Lucy relaxed slightly.
She had been a little fearful that maybe this was Blake's
girlfriend, and that would have made this whole encounter even more
awkward. “You must be Lucy Newton.”
    “ That's the rumor.” Lucy
shook Lenny's hand and smiled when Lenny smirked at her
reply.
    “ It'll be nice to have
another girl around. The testosterone around here can get a little
pungent.” Lenny's dark blue eyes shone playfully and Lucy found
herself drawn to the tall beauty. Maybe this tour wouldn't be quite
as uncomfortable as she had feared.
    “ I guess I figured the
groupies would help balance that out.” Lucy wasn't stupid. Her
father had told her enough for her to know how it worked on the
road.
    “ Nah, I have a special
groupie repellent.” Lenny winked and Lucy laughed. “No groupies
allowed. Although,” Lenny made a face, “that goes for you
too.”
    Lucy grinned, liking Lenny more and
more. “That won't be an issue. I seem to have a built-in repellent
of my own.”
    Lenny looked over quickly
at Blake, and Lucy realized she knew their history. His jaw was
working under his skin and she resisted the urge to reach out and
touch it like she used to. Well, that got
awkward fast.
    “ I have to get back to
sound check, but welcome to the tour, Lucy.” Lenny smiled again and
gave a look to Blake that could only come from an older sister.
Lucy fought to hide her amusement.
    Blake stood in front of her silently
for a few minutes and Lucy wasn't sure if she should say something
or walk away.
    “ I'm glad you decided to
come.” His voice was flat, his face expressionless.
    “ I want to be clear