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After we finished breakfast, Lucas took a shower and I packed my things. He asked me to go back to the city and stay with Cass, knowing she wouldn’t be able to handle this bit of information about him. He wanted someone with her, and I didn’t blame him. It would have been hard to pick which one to stay with because they would both need me. But he asked me to stay with Cass, and I couldn’t tell him no.
By the time I had everything packed and my room as clean as when I arrived, Lucas was finished with his shower. The solemn look on his face almost made me break down and blurt out my secret—I loved him, and my heart and soul would be with him until we were back together. But I didn’t. I couldn’t put that burden on him. I told him I wanted to give him my body, not my heart. If he didn’t feel the same, he would beat himself up for thinking he had led me on. He was compassionate like that.
I stepped into him, laid my head on his chest, and wrapped my arms around his waist. He put his arms around me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. When I looked up at him, he planted a gentle kiss on my lips. I wanted to deepen the kiss one last time, but I knew we wouldn’t leave the house if we got started, so I settled.
“You’re taking your car, right?” he asked.
“Yeah. I won’t be back for a while and don’t want to depend on Cass to drive me around.” He nodded distractedly. His face had that impassive mask on it, and to my surprise, his eyes weren’t giving anything away. I didn’t know if he was hiding something or if he was worried about the accomplice.
“Hey, you okay?” I placed my hand on his cheek, and he leaned into my hand, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
“I’m fine. Worried about my family. Worried about you.”
“Don’t worry about me. We’ll get through this. Together. Okay?”
He stared at me, searching my face, and nodded again before placing another soft kiss on my lips. “Go on. I’m right behind you. I’ll meet you at my parents’ house.”
After packing my suitcases in the trunk, I got in my car, pulled out of the garage, and made my way down the driveway. Lucas was locking up, and I knew he would be right behind me.
The drive back to the city an uncomfortable quiet. I missed our chats already. I missed hearing his deep laugh, his incessant questions, and his heavy breathing in my ear while he slept. After half an hour, I couldn’t take it anymore. We’d exchanged numbers before we left the house, and I pulled up his contact information on my car’s dashboard. I only paused for a second, but in that time, my phone rang. It was Lucas. I answered the phone, and his voice filled my car speakers.
“Hey,” I said when I answered.
“Hey. I know we just left each other, and I’m sorry for calling, but I had to hear your voice. The road is too silent. I can’t listen to music or anything. I only want to listen to you.”
I knew he would hear it in my voice. There was no way I could hide how I felt about him. He already knew me too well. “I’m glad you called. I was about to call you, actually. It’s too quiet in my car as well. I miss hearing you snore.”
He laughed a deep rumble that tickled my ears and made my heart flutter. “I don’t snore. I don’t think anyway. Do I really snore?”
It was my turn to laugh. “No, you don’t, which is surprising, considering how big you are. You are handsy when you’re asleep, though. I can’t count the number of times I woke up to you rubbing on my legs or my back, touching my stomach and chest.”
“Why didn’t you say something? I would have stopped. I don’t want to keep you from sleep.”
“I liked it. And you were asleep. You needed sleep.”
He was silent for a while, but this silence was different. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It was like the silences we shared sitting on the couch, watching a movie or him flipping through the television channels while I typed away on my book. Or when we sat at the lake, healing and getting to know ourselves.
“I like touching you. I wish I could have done it more.”
“Don’t,” I told him. “Don’t do that. Don’t talk like this is the last time we’ll see each other or the last time you’ll get to touch me. It’s not. Okay?”
“We said twenty-one days.” He sighed. “And it got cut short, but we’re not at the cabin anymore.” Fuck, that hurt. That knocked the wind out of me. He didn’t want more. He held up his end of the bargain. It was me that fell for him and messed it up in my own head.
“I did. You’re right. We’ll still see each other, though. I’m not going to stop being Cass’ friend or your parents’ surrogate son any time soon.” My voice was rough, and I hoped he didn’t hear it in my voice.
“Okay. No more talking about anything sad. We have a while until we’re at my parents’ house. Tell me about your book. I know I’m your muse, but what is it about?”
I barked a laugh, happy he was able to break the tension. I went into detail telling him about my book. About the espionage, the chasing, the fights in the London Underground. The plan to have the villain be a strong female character, someone who everyone underestimates but is brilliant and strategic. He asked questions and even gave me a few pointers that I planned to take into strong consideration. By the time we pulled in, we were wrapping up the side plot. After I put my car in park, I leaned back in my seat.
“Thanks for keeping me company. I really needed that. You ready for this?” I asked him. I heard him sigh through the phone and looked out my driver’s side window to see that he had pulled up beside me and was looking at me as well.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
We hung up and got out of our cars. His parents had a huge mansion with a wraparound driveway and a fountain in the middle. We’d taken two of the four spots reserved for family. One of the others had Cass’ car, and his parents’ car was probably parked in the garage.
Walking side by side toward the door, I squeezed his hand and let go as the door flew open. Cass bounded down the stairs and threw herself into his arms.
“Oh, big brother! It’s so good to see you!” She let him go and took a step back, looking him up and down. “Look at all these muscles! You got big. I thought cops only ate donuts.” He threw his head back and guffawed, pulling her into his arms again. I stood beside them, smiling like an idiot until I saw Momma and Pop come out. Momma was a short, full-figured woman. She had the same brown skin as her daughter and a curly fro that had more salt than pepper in it. Her honey-brown eyes were soft as they landed on me. She opened her arms to me, and I jogged up the stairs and sank into them. She rubbed my back and kissed my cheek, and I was sure she was leaving her signature red lipstick there.
