The Place

“Oh God! I’m gonna be sick!”

Lucas rushed her to the trash can just in time for most of the JD to come up. He held her hair back and steadied her so she wouldn’t have to grip the sides of the can.

“Can you make it to your bathroom?”

Layla nodded. They trudged up the stairs, and her body continued to let out the alcohol. She knelt in front of the toilet as Lucas once again held her hair.

She crumpled over onto the floor next to Lucas, who stroked her cheek.

“I’m so embarrassed.” Layla shuddered.

“Don’t be. I’ve seen worse. I’ve ~done~ worse,” Lucas told he. “You just need to get some food in you and a nice shower.”

“I can’t eat,” Layla moaned.

“Yes, you can.” Lucas smiled, moving her head into his lap. “You’ll feel better.”

“Why do you care?”

“I care a great deal for you, Layla,” Lucas told her. “Why do you care for me?”

“I just do,” she murmured, her voice calm and her breath deepening. “I think I might even…”

Her voice trailed off as sleep took over. Whatever she was going to say was lost to the universe.

Lucas lifted her gently into his arms and carried her to her bed. He still wanted her to eat, but a little rest wasn’t going to hurt at all.

He was, however, going to rip to shreds anyone who messed with his little hippie, his sweet, delicious, and kind Layla.

“You need a good woman, Lucas,” Layla mumbled as he pulled off her shoes. “One who’ll take your shit when she’s having a bad day.” Another hiccup, but then a giggle. “Ew. That tasted awful.”

“Sleep, Little Hippie.” He pulled the covers over her. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Lucas cleaned up the glass and finished cooking up some sandwiches and carried the food upstairs, where he found Layla sitting up and looking bashful.

“Lucas, I’m sorry about earlier,” she said, clearing her thoughts. “I don’t even know what I said or did.”

Lucas shook his head. “Nothing I haven’t done before.”

“I’m usually not like this. What did I say?” She smiled as he brought her tray closer. “It smells good, but I have a horrid taste in my mouth. Oh my God! Did I throw up in front of you?”

The embarrassment spread across her cheeks as they turned a rosy red.

“Yes, but I’ve been there too.” Lucas chuckled. “I can hold my liquor though, baby girl. It’s rare when I get sick. You need to eat.”

Layla watched as Lucas sat with her, his own plate lounging on his lap. She was so envious of that plate at the moment, and that wasn’t like her.

Yeah, she definitely loved being intimate with Lucas, but her hormones were out of control.

“Did you still want to go to Oklahoma soon?” Lucas asked between bites.

Layla froze. She hadn’t thought about it in a while. “I have to call them.”

Lucas nodded. “When’s the last time you saw them?”

Layla shrugged, “I think when I was about eleven? They send cards sometimes, but it seems distant or like a second thought. My birthday is in June, and they always send me a card in July.”

“My birthday is in July.” Lucas snickered.

“I’ll send you my card,” Layla joked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Lucas watched her. Even in her current state, she was so beautiful.

Whatever pain lingered in her heart, she was close to telling him—closer than she wanted to be. He certainly wasn’t going to try and get her drunk again so she’d share her secrets.

“My family is coming back next month,” he said, watching her face pale. “I don’t want you anywhere near my house. Go to Gretchen’s.”

Layla nodded. She still couldn’t place Liam, but she didn’t like him anyway. It wasn’t like her to be so absurd, but something didn’t sit right with Lucas’s cousin.

She was hoping she was wrong, but her gut said don’t go near him.

“I’m sorry for my behavior,” Layla said as Lucas handed her a water. “Thank you.”

“I told you to stop apologizing. If you continue, I’m going to have to put that mouth to better use,” he said, eating the last bite of his food.

“Is that what you want?” Layla picked at her sandwich, watching Lucas’s gaze shift from one of concern and care to lust and yearning.

“It’s what I want, but it’s not what you need right now.” He pointed at her sandwich. “This is gourmet, Little Hippie, don’t let it go to waste.”

Winking, he moved in and took the food she’d been picking at. “What? Do I need to feed you?”

“No, I—”

Before she could protest, Lucas held the sandwich up to her mouth, wishing his cock was making a trip past her velvet lips. He was quite jealous of the corned beef sandwich.

“Take a bite.” He wanted to do this—needed to take care of her. This was all he wanted to do anymore.

“Lucas…”

“For me?”

She smiled, opening her mouth and allowing him to feed her the rest of the sandwich.

“You know, I can buckle myself in and eat like a big girl, Lucas,” she teased him as he wiped her face with a napkin.

Lucas shrugged. “You need to be cared for. Whatever lucky man gets with you better know how to treat you because I don’t want to have to beat his ass.”

“Are you going to keep tabs on my love life, Lucas?”

“If I have to, then yes.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“I keep my word,” Lucas said, taking her plate and turning to head back to the kitchen. “Especially when it comes to crushing skulls.”

“Can we please go for a drive?” Layla asked when Lucas appeared in her room again. “I’ll behave.”

Lucas smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait! Where are you going?”

It took about fifteen minutes, but once Layla heard the roar of Lucas’s Harley, her libido jumped through the roof.

“Calm down, Layla… Mother Mary and Joseph, I need to get a grip.” She watched as Lucas pulled into her yard on his bike, wearing a leather jacket and a helmet with flames down the sides. “Hot damn alive…”

He looked up at her window and waved her down. She grabbed her bag, tossed on her boots and ran outside.

Lucas handed her a helmet. “Hold on to me and don’t you dare let go!” he exclaimed over the purr of the engine.

She straddled the hog and held on to Lucas with every fiber of her being.

Her touch alone was filling the man with so much desire that he had a mind to pull off to the side of the road and let her straddle him on that bike.

Instead, they drove through the countryside, taking in the beautiful Texas spring day.

Lucas took them down old dirt roads and way back into the woods, then down a country road he didn’t want to go down, but Layla had mentioned it.

The road that had that dreadful place that he’d burn down himself one day.

“Why are we here?” Layla asked, as if she hadn’t been talking about it earlier.

Lucas cut the engine and dropped the kickstand. “You wanted to come here.”

The moment was quiet. Even the woods were too quiet, as if nothing living wanted to be there except for the two of them.

“I must have drank a lot.”

Layla sighed, finally allowing Lucas to help her off the bike. She took off her helmet and held it close to her like a shield. “Is it condemned?”

“No, which is strange.” Lucas frowned. “This piece of shit should be destroyed immediately.”

“What happened here, Lucas?”

He looked at her and frowned. “Why don’t you tell me, Layla? What happened at this place?”