Stars Collide

Lucas smiled. It wasn’t something he wanted to hear, but he needed to hear it.

“Don’t fall for me, baby girl,” he said, wanting nothing more than for her to be happier than she’d ever been in her life. “Hey. You wanna grab some pizza and go back to my place?”

Layla, a little embarrassed by her admission to Lucas, nodded and smiled. She knew he had some sort of feelings for her, but Lucas was the biggest mystery.

Colt came closer to them, leaving Lucas no choice but to cling to Layla.

“Hi, Colt!” Layla waved, feeling Lucas stare daggers into her face.

“Layla.” He nodded. “Lucas… Congratulations on the win.”

The two stopped dancing as Colt and Layla conversed, much to Lucas’s chagrin.

“Thank you.” Layla smiled. “I am excited about the concert. Are you going?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Colt said. “Lots of good bands playing.”

Lucas wasn’t happy—he was far from it. Why was she talking to this weasel, and why was this weasel taking the chance of getting his face bashed in?

“Lucas, I’m going to the ladies’ room,” Layla said, barely acknowledging the man. Turning to Colt, she grinned. “It’s good talking to you. Maybe we’ll see you at the show?”

“Maybe.” Colt smiled at her as she walked off, turning his attention to Lucas. “Fucking up already, Foster?”

“You’re such a little bitch.”

“I’m not looking for a fight, but everyone and their fucking mom knows how she feels about you, and you’re just going to toss it away like the sad little man that you are.”

Lucas crossed his arms. “And how does she feel about me?”

Colt huffed. “If I have to spell it out for you, maybe you are too stupid to have a girl like that. Stop whining and see what’s right in front of you.

“And don’t fucking hit me because I’m telling the truth. You’re leading her on and that’s something even I wouldn’t do just to please my dick.”

Colt walked off, leaving Lucas steaming but able to compose himself when Lyle strutted over.

“What’d he want?”

“To piss me off.”

“Did it work?”

Lucas rolled his eyes but caught sight of Layla, who was mingling with people he didn’t know. Charging in her direction, his body was immediately flush with hers and his large hands grabbed her shoulders.

Leaning in, Lucas breathed heavily in her ear. “Let’s get out of here.”

“No.”

Lucas stepped back. “No?”

“No, I’m having a good time, Lucas. Go talk to your friends while I talk to mine.”

He realized the people she was talking to were from the crisis center and a few he’d seen on campus.

They all looked incredibly uncomfortable, and that’s not what Lucas wanted for his little hippie, so he left the building and made his way outside to where some of his buddies were drinking and bullshitting.

“Lucas! How goes it, brother!” Heath slapped him on the back and looked around. “Where’s that pretty little lady of yours?”

“Inside. Got another?” Lucas looked at Heath’s hand holding a beer, and Heath smiled.

“You know I do.”

“Lucas.”

Layla.

Lucas whirled around to see her staring him down just as Heath handed him a beer.

“Oh, honey, Lucas is a big boy. He can have a beer.”

Layla, not wanting to embarrass Lucas but knowing the trouble it would cause for him to drink, decided to act.

“Well, he’s not getting any tonight if he’s been drinking, so I’ll let him make the decision.”

“Shit, bro, I’d take her over a fucking beer,” Heath whispered, nudging Lucas in the arm.

Lucas, still glaring at Layla, handed the beer back to Heath and made his way to Layla. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped but didn’t fight him.

She wanted him, but she also wanted to save him from himself.

Sliding into the truck, Lucas leaned in to her face after buckling Layla in, cupping her face and smashing his lips with her.

It was brutal and made her wince, but then Lucas softened his kiss and they both melted into the moment.

“Wanna get some pizza?” Lucas asked, getting into the driver’s seat. “I know a nice place we could park and eat.”

They grabbed a pie and some drinks from a nearby mom-and-pop pizzeria and headed into an open field. There were a million stars dazzling above them, a full moon, and not one cloud to be seen.

Hopping into the bed of his truck, Lucas took a few blankets and laid them out, took the provisions, and then helped Layla in.

“This is nice, but whose property is this?” Layla asked.

“Mine.”

“Yours? I didn’t know you owned more land.”

“Yep. Friend of mine lost it in a bet about ten years ago.”

“How much land?”

“Twenty-five acres.”

“Must have been some bet, Lucas.”

“He bet me that I couldn’t fuck his wife.”

Layla stopped eating and narrowed her eyes. “Lucas, you didn’t…”

“I didn’t want to sleep with her, I wanted the land.” Lucas shoveled pizza into his mouth. “I told you that I wasn’t a good person.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that was bad, either…”

“Huh?”

“She was willing, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“So, any plans for the land?”

“I want to build a house on it, but I am not sure if I just won’t sell it.”

“I think whatever you decide will be fine,” Layla said, nodding to him.

“Layla…”

“Yeah?”

“Forgive me for my behavior tonight.”

“You were fine.” Layla waved.

“No, I wasn’t, and I was going to drink.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I can’t commit to you, Layla, and I want to.”

Layla swallowed hard, hoping that Lucas couldn’t really see her expression of loss all that well.

“You deserve someone who doesn’t have demons following them.”

“Stop, please. You don’t have to do this. We both have demons, Lucas. I was just better at hiding them.”

“What do you want to do about this?”

“About what?”

“Us.”

“Well, I don’t know, Lucas. You seem to be the hesitant one here.”

“I just want to know you’re willing to go on this crazy ass journey with me.”

“What are you asking me?”

“Dammit, Layla…” Lucas ran his hands through his hair. “I feel like a pubescent teenager. I’m not good at this shit, and I don’t even know how I really feel. You’ll regret all of it, I guarantee.”

Lucas continued to ramble on about repercussions and guilt and tragedy, while Layla moved the food and drinks out of the way and ended up straddling Lucas’s lap.

“You know what I want, so…?” Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist as Layla put her forehead against his. “Are you testing me? Is this a test?”

“Well, I can’t answer you if you don’t ask me, Lucas,” Layla whispered seductively in his ear.

“Can’t we just fuck and I tell you how I feel while we’re fucking?”

“I think we can fuck after you ask me what you want to ask me.”

“Be my girl.”

Layla smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Lucas let out a groan, his hands roaming her curves.

She started to unbutton his shirt while Lucas tossed her jacket to the side. Layla’s face lit up as the moonlight touched upon it. She’d waited a lot longer than she’d wanted to for him to ask her to be his.

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”