Page 48 of Legends Luke

“So, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t exactly explain it.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Lyric demanded. “Melon, I talked to you after you had the most epic first date of all time. Those were your words, not mine. Don’t get me started on the texts andphone calls you swooned over or the fact that he looks like sex on a stick. Again, your words, not mine. What are younottelling me? Do I need to come down there and get all ninja warrior on his ass?”

“Come here, yes. I miss you. Ninja warrior, no. I may be struggling with how to handle it, but I will handle it.”

Lyric fell silent, and if it wasn’t for the call timer ticking away on her car’s screen, Melody might have thought the call dropped.

“Okay. Level with me. Did you find out he was secretly married with twelve kids?”

Melody’s eyes widened. “No. Are you kidding?”

“Is he a criminal? Ax murderer? Serial killer?”

Melody squirmed in the seat. “No.”

“Does he pick his nose in public or burp the alphabet or scratch his crotch in a room full of people?”

Melody giggled. “No! Bird, you’re acting silly.”

“I’m making a point. Tell me what’s so wrong with this guy that it’s become a deal breaker for you?”

Melody sobered. “I found out something about how he lives his life. It got me thinking about how different we are. We are from two separate worlds. I’ve had fun with him. I like him. And I know I said I was only looking for someone to hang out with, but I realized I want more. I want forever, and at first, I thought Luke could fit the bill. But now, I can’t see how we could mesh our two worlds together and live happily ever after.”

Lyric started to rail at her again, but Melody stopped her before she barely her first sentence. “I know it doesn’t make sense. I wishI could explain it better, but I promised I wouldn’t share that part of his life with anyone. He’s, uh, private about it.”

“But it’s not illegal or sadist or creepy?”

Melody started to dodge Lyric’s question about legality. The truth was she couldn’t be entirely sure that Luke and his brothers operated within the true parameters of the law. Luke referred to it as a gray area. In Melody’s world, gray areas often led to trouble. Finally, she sighed again.

“No. It’s not sadistic or creepy and not technically illegal. I can’t say anymore. I’m sorry, Bird. I want to tell you, but I promised.”

“I don’t need to know,” Lyric returned, startling Melody with her response. “I can already tell you what’s going on without knowing the particulars about what you found out.”

“Okay.” Melody drawled the word out slowly. “And what do you think is going on?”

“You’re overanalyzing the situation. It’s what you do, and it’s not a bad thing. It makes you an awesome paralegal, and Lord knows neither of us could have survived after Mom and Dad’s deaths if you hadn’t handled the situation with the same logic and analytical assessment that you handle everything in your life. It’s one of the things I love about you. But when it comes to matters of the heart? Melody, you need to leave logic out of it.”

Melody sat up straighter, feeling a jolt at Lyric using her real name and not her nickname. “I’m not—”

“Let me finish. I’ve wanted to say this to you before, but frankly, your analytical self has kept you from making mistakes when itcomes to relationships. In this case, I think it may be keeping you from joy. I don’t know if Luke isthe one. Only you know that. But I’ve witnessed how happy you’ve been since you’ve met him. I’ve been on the receiving end of what a nice guy he is. Have you met anyone who’s had a negative thing to say about him?”

Melody stubbornly wanted to keep her mouth shut, but she couldn’t stop the denial from slipping from her lips. “No.”

“So now you’ve found something out about him that surprised you and left you doubting what was happening. You found out he’s not as perfect as you painted him to be. I’d be worried if this didn’t happen at some point. But is it really so awful that you’re going to throw this away to save yourself from being hurt? You can’t avoid pain indefinitely, even with the best relationships.”

Melody opened her mouth, but no words came out. In fact, her mind was a blank, and her conviction about Luke was shaken. She wanted to denounce her sister’s opinion as fanciful. She wanted to believe Lyric wouldn’t say any of those things if she knew the whole truth. But she found more validity than fancy in Lyric’s words, and it was enough to make her wonder why she had the reaction she did to learning about the Legends.

“Melon?”

Melody shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Yes, I’m here.”

“Finish your lunch and go back to work. We can talk later.”

“How did you know I hadn’t finished my lunch?”

Lyric chuckled. “I’m meeting up with a study group at the coffeehouse. I’ll call you later. Think about what I said, okay?”

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