“Hey, Ladon can sing pretty well,” Gabriel said, defending his little brother.
“That’s true.”
When Ladon came back, he handed the guitar to Lucas.
Owen stood and put his chair at the front of the patio as if it were a small stage. Lucas sat down. He sat on the edge of his seat and strummed the strings. He took the time to tune it. He smiled when he heard the sound he wanted.
“Okay, this is a song I was working on before I went on the run. Thinking of changing it up a bit. Making it slower. More of a love song, I guess. Like this,” Lucas explained. He started strumming, playing the cords.
Bennett, Ramsey, and Estelle came out of the door. He winked at Bennett and started singing. The entire time he sang, about being Bennett’s until the stars fall from the sky and the rivers ran dry, he had his eyes closed. It was a song that had a very 1960s feel to it. Heliked that decade and had been experimenting with songs of his own. It was quiet and so sweet, if not a little naïve. Lucas supposed the song showed more about himself than he really wanted to tell, about the way he wanted his relationship with Bennett to be. Considering he’d written the song even before he’d met Bennett, he supposed it was more about what he hoped for in a relationship.
Lucas opened his eyes and smiled at Bennett. They were certainly on the right track.
He shut his eyes again and finished the last chorus. He heard several people clap, way more people than was originally there. Lucas held a hand against the strings of the guitar to quiet them and opened his eyes again. He blushed with embarrassment, so he didn’t want to turn to see all those people.
“Bennett.” Lucas didn’t need to say anything else. Asking for help and getting it only took saying Bennett’s name.
Bennett closed the distance between them. “That song was for me?”
Lucas couldn’t decipher the look of stone. “Yeah. I was thinking about you when I sang it.”
“Go in the house and wait for me.” Did his eyes just soften? Gods, Lucas hoped so.
Lucas nodded, not wanting to create even more of a scene than he already had. He stood and walked past Bennett, handing Ladon the guitar. “Thanks for letting me play.”
“That was amazing. Can you teach me?”
Lucas smiled. “Later. I’m pretty sure Bennett’s going to yell at me now.”
Ladon crooked his finger at Lucas and then whispered into his ear. “Bennett has to maintain his badassness for the clan, but he loved it. You should have seen his face before the clan showed up.”
Lucas waited in the living room. He paced and wondered what Bennett was doing. Probably acting all threatening. Bennett could be like that, not that he ever really was with Lucas, but he was with everyone else. Literally everyone.
I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.He projected out to Bennett.
Nothing from Bennett.
“Did you mean it?” Bennett asked from behind him, and Lucas jumped.
He held a hand to his heart in an attempt to keep it in his chest. “Shit. You scared me.”
“Did you?”
Lucas saw the hope on Bennett’s face, and he realized that Ladon was right about Bennett. He really did love the song. “I meant everything I sang. Every word, Benny.”
Bennett flexed his fingers as if wanting to touch Lucas but not at the same time. “That was amazing, baby.”
“Really? You weren’t embarrassed?” Lucas hadn’t known he was even worried about it until he let out a breath and smiled at Bennett.
“No, baby. Not at all. I just couldn’t show emotion in front of some of the clan members.”
“Why don’t you come over here and kiss me then?”
“If I do that, I’m not going to let you go and I have a clan to see to. The meetings can sometimes get rough.”
“I’m good with you not letting me go. Really good with it, as a matter of fact.” Lucas grinned and stepped closer.
Bennett smiled and hooked an arm around Lucas’ waist once he got close enough. Bennett was so perfect, so gentle, even though he was so big. That always came as a surprise to Lucas and he wasn’t completely sure why. He hadn’t been scared of big men before meeting Bennett and it wasn’t fear that motivated his surprise. It was moreabout him stereotyping bigger men as big brutes who liked rough sex, which wasn’t true at all, not for Bennett.
