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?”
“Yeah, can you just give me a second alone with Lucas first?”
Lucas was about to object, but I laid a hand on his chest, the same chest that only moments ago was naked and I was caressing with my mouth. “Sure. I need to use the restroom anyway.”
I made my way down the hallway, feeling both sets of eyes on me. Lucas probably watching my ass. Stick probably waiting for me to close the door.
Not even waiting. “Dude, this is a no-brainer. Zero risk. And—” That was all I heard before I shut the bathroom door. I wished it wouldn’t have been so obvious with them both watching, or I would have left it open a crack.
And for a small apartment in a shitty part of town, the bathroom door was surprisingly, frustratingly, thick and soundproof.
Taking care of business as quickly as I could, I reentered the living room to see a pissed-off Stick and an at-ease Lucas, and the sight gave me a small rush of relief.
I cared what Lucas did before we met, of course. But what really mattered to me was the man he was now, and that man was taking a shitty job so he’d be able to keep his kid brother in a stable situation.
That was enough for me. For now.
Lucas gave me a goodnight kiss that had me silent for the first five minutes of the ride home with Stick.
