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“Woman,” he mutters, shaking his head. “I have half a mind to carry you back up there right now. Are you at least taking it easy?”

“I promise I am.”

He nods with a sigh.

“You really don’t have to keep taking care of me though.”

He glances over at me and his eyes fall to my lips before he quickly looks away. “I couldn’t walk away from you. Besides, you’re not the hardest person to spend time with.”

“Well, thank you for that glowing recommendation.” I laugh and he grins. “You’re a good man, Lucas. I… just wanted you to know that.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he says and although I know he is trying to make a joke, the pain on his face is too intense to ignore. Leaning forward, I reach up and run my thumb across the line on his forehead.

“Why do you always look like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just my face.”

“It’s not.”

He jerks back slightly as his eyes narrow and after a second, he sighs. “I’ve got a lot of shit in my life, Quinn, and the truth is, you’re the only thing I’ve found that brings me any peace.”

“You don’t have to talk to me,” I whisper even though I’m dying to dig deeper. “But I am a pretty good listener and I don’t judge.”

Setting his food on the coffee table, he sighs and turns to face me on the couch. “It’s… uh, my brother, Clay. He’s been using drugs for the last six years and if I’m not on a job for the club, I’m out searching for him and trying to get him clean.”

“That’s heavy,” I whisper, watching as pain splays across his face. He nods.

“Yeah. I know it may seem pointless or stupid to keep trying when he doesn’t even want my help but he’s my brother and since we were kids, it’s just been the two of us. He’s all I have left.”

I grab his hand and give it a squeeze. “You don’t have to explain that to me. Alice is all Brooklyn and I have left, too, and I would do absolutely anything for her.”

“You understand,” he says like I’m the first to ever do so and I nod.

“Yeah, I do.”

Clearing his throat, he smiles and my heart skips a beat. It’s terrifying but I have to admit that there is something about Lucas that gets to me. It would be so easy to fall for him if I allowed myself to but I don’t know if that’s something I could do.

“I’m really glad I met you, Lucas,” I whisper, my heart racing and his smile is blinding as he reaches over and brushes his thumb over my cheek. A blush creeps up my own.

“You just read my mind, babe.”

* * * *

“Well, Quinn, car accident aside, you seem to be doing well. Have there been any more nightmares since we last spoke?” Dr. Jeffers asks from her chair across from me. She crosses her legs and sets her notebook down in her lap as she waits for my answer. I nod.

“Yes, a few.”

“And how did you handle them?”

I think back to the last nightmare I had and smile. “Pretty well, I think. I was able to let it go and get my day started without too much trouble.”

“Excellent!” she exclaims with a grin before her eyes narrow as she studies me. “There’s something different about you since I saw you two weeks ago.”

I twist my fingers in my lap, thinking about dinner with Lucas last night and the movie we watched together afterward. “I met someone.”

“I see. More good news. How did you meet him?”

“He was there when I got in the accident and he sat with Brooklyn and I until the paramedics got there. He even rode with me to the hospital because I was so scared.”