Free Learn to Fly by Heidi Hutchinson Page A

Casey's
lap. It was ludicrous.
    “ I
guess he reminds me of my brother, Scott.” Lenny said slowly.
    The tense lines
around Luke's mouth seemed to relax and the playfulness came back
into his voice. “Then what's the real reason you won't come
fishing tomorrow?”
    Oh, boy. Lenny was
about to spill. She swallowed hard, lying to Luke left a bad taste
in her mouth.
    “ I
can't tell you,” she finally mustered out. She wanted to smack
her forehead with her palm. Why was she so weak when it came to him?
    The silence that
followed was oppressive and Lenny thought she was actually going to
choke. And then Luke let her off the hook.
    “ I
can accept that,” he dipped his head in truce. “You don't
have to tell me everything, Lenny...just don't lie to me.”
    “ Can
I ask you a question?” Lenny took advantage of the familiarity
that seemed to erupt between them without her permission. It may
have been her imagination, or possibly her ego, but she had the
distinct impression that Luke was more open with her than he
realized.
    “ Always.”
He answered without pause and she felt a tiny shiver race down her
spine.
    “ What
changed in between this tour and the last one?” She licked her
bottom lip and tried to clarify quickly, “I mean, I know that
Mike was in rehab but it seems like this is really important to you.
To all of you,” she looked at him with soft eyes, “But
especially you.”
    Luke let out a
careful breath, “That obvious, huh?” He chuckled
nervously and rubbed his hand down the side of his face.
    Lenny was a little
fearful she'd asked too personal of a question. But she couldn't
stop herself this time. She wanted to know. Her need to know more
about Luke was sometimes overpowering, like now. It overshadowed her
sensible reasoning to keep a safe distance. She wanted to see past
the image that was projected to the public and know who he was at his
core.
    Why did he give her
want to make exceptions to all the rules that she believed would keep
her safe from defeat? Was it the way his mouth curved up slightly on
one side, how his voice deepened when he talked about his friends,
the way he seemed to have one more thing to say but never said it?
All of the above.
    “ It's
hard to explain.” His eyebrows raised slightly and he focused
on the center of the floor. “My parents died in a car accident
when I was in fourth grade and my great aunt took me in. I met Mike
in sixth grade and we were pretty much inseparable after that. My
aunt died a week after I turned eighteen, leaving me a ton of money
and no relatives.”
    His eyes returned to
hers and she saw something deeper, more vivid, than Luke had ever
revealed.
    “ The
band became my family. I'd do anything for them. But we got too big
too fast and none of us were super responsible about what to do with
that kind of popularity. I was drinking,” his eyes widened and
he looked into his lap, “a lot. I didn't pay attention to what
was happening to us. The night we almost lost Mike, I realized how
much I needed him. They're my family, maybe not by blood, but that
doesn't really matter. They're my brothers.”
    “ You
love them.” Lenny said it as a definitive statement, squeezed
from her by the emotion she heard in his voice as he relayed his
simple story.
    “ Yes,”
he nodded. “More than anything.” He looked into her
face and she couldn't help but see the burden he carried for his
loved ones. The inner conviction and loyalty that drove him.
    “ The
music is more than a hobby or something we happen to be good at.
It's who we are. It's or heart-breath, our creed, our passion.”
His blue eyes blazed around the edges. “That's why this tour
is so important to me. Because they're important to me.”
    Lenny's heart
pounded at his words. His intensity, his truth...it was exquisite.
    She didn't get a
chance to respond because Mike rejoined them at that moment. He
staggered from the back of the bus, his messy brown hair even more
mussed. He rubbed his