Before I had even registered what was happening, Lucas had me off his lap and was placing his body in front of mine, even though I had all my clothes on and he was the one naked from the waist up.
It had me wondering who—or what—would walk in Lucas’s front door that he felt he needed to protect me from.
Chapter10
“Knock much, asshole?”Lucas said to Stick as he entered the apartment.
“I thought I’d wake up Andy,” Stick said in a soft voice matching Lucas’s. “Hey, Lily,” he said in my direction.
“Hi, Stick,” I replied as Lucas moved away from me, grabbing his T-shirt from the couch and, sadly, putting it back on.
“You couldn’t text that you were about to go all B&E on me?”
“It’s not exactly B&E if I have the keys,” Stick said, jingling his keychain before shoving it in his jeans pocket. “Besides, I needed to talk to you.”
I didn’t mention that talking to Lucas could be accomplished via phone. And then my suspicious mind took the turn that perhaps what Stick wanted to talk to Lucas about should not be done on a phone or with texts.
Was Lucas telling me the truth? Was he done with that life?
“There’s nothing that we have to talk about that can’t be said on a phone,” Lucas said, as if reading my thoughts. Or maybe my skeptical look.
“Let’s go into your room for a sec,” Stick said, starting down the hallway, not even stopping in the living room.
“No,” Lucas said, still sitting on the couch with me. Stick turned around and gave Lucas a pointed look. “I mean it, Stick. No. I just got done telling Lily that I wasn’t doing…anything I shouldn’t anymore.”
Stick looked at me with a look I couldn’t quite decipher. Partially pissed off, yes. But also with an almost grudging respect. “Do you think that was a good idea?” he asked Lucas. He made his way back to the living room, sitting in a beat-up chair to the side of the couch.
“I trust Lily,” Lucas said.
“Yes, but now I have to, too.”
“You can,” Lucas and I said at the same time.
I rose from the couch, hating to leave Lucas’s warm body beside me, but knowing that the whole vibe of the evening had completely changed—first with Lucas’s story, and now with Stick showing up. “I think I’m going to take off. It’s getting late.”
“So many frat boys with roofies to do, so little time,” Stick said, moving his legs so I could pass by him.
“Shut up, Stick,” Lucas and I both said at the same time. Lucas rose and came after me. “Lily, you don’t have to leave.” He gently held my arm, and I would have loved nothing more than to sink back into his hold, into him. But instead I smiled and said, “I know I don’t have to, but it’s late, and umm, maybe it’s better to not have so much…temptation with Andy in the next room and all.”
“Right. Right.” Lucas nodded, glancing down the hallway to where Andy slept. “No Naked Big Brother. Got it.”
Stick wisely kept his mouth shut at this, and I just nodded and stepped into Lucas’s arms, which quickly encircled me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and went on my tiptoes to kiss him lightly. “Call me tomorrow,” I said. “If you want,” I added.
“Oh, I want,” he said. “I want very bad.”
I smiled. “Me too,” I whispered against his mouth, kissing him one last time.
Stepping away from him, I crossed to my backpack and pulled out my phone. “Do you have a number for a cab? Or is there a bus stand nearby?” I knew he couldn’t leave Andy there alone.
“You do not want to stand in this neighborhood for a bus this time of night,” Stick said, rising from the chair. “I’ll give you a ride to your dorm. Or wherever you’re going.”
“To my dorm. And I can take a cab. I’ll just find a number for one.” I started scrolling my phone when Lucas put a hand on mine, stilling my motions.
“No cab is going to come here, either. I can have Stick stay here with Andy and I can give you a ride.”
For some reason, I didn’t want Stick to be here when Lucas got home from dropping me off. Didn’t want Stick to have unlimited time to try and convince Lucas to do whatever plan Stick had come here with.
“That’s okay,” I said, and turned to Stick. “Your offer still stand?”
