Saving You

“Nothing’s wrong with you, baby girl…” Lucas held her close as they walked to the security office. “You told them about…?”

Layla froze, stopping both of them. “Oh my goodness, no! I’d sound like a crazy person.” Layla clung to him as though her life depended on it. “Thank you for coming.”

Gretchen was following, but not too closely behind. She wanted to give them space.

“She’s a good friend,” Lucas whispered.

“She’s the best. I’m not mad that she called you. Was my dad home?”

“No, he and your mom went fishing once I got there.”

They ended up giving more statements to security and Perkins and then another cop showed up.

“We just think that Miss Potter had too much to drink and…”

Lucas’s hands slammed down on the desk in front of the mall cop. “Don’t you fucking dare invalidate what she’s gone through, you stupid-ass ugly son of a bitch. My girlfriend is in her right frame of mind, and I swear to God—”

Perkins cleared his throat. “Let’s not say things we’ll regret, shall we?”

“We’ve taken all the statements she can provide, Mr…?”

“Lucas Daniel ‘Kick Your Fucking Ass’ Foster.”

“All right, let’s go!” Perkins escorted Lucas and Layla away from the office and down the main drag of the mall, Gretchen now at their side.

“Lucas, I know you don’t want to end up in jail again, but that temper of yours has to go.” Perkins nodded. “I promise I’ll keep an eye on the place today. Didn’t you mention you had a guy on her?”

“Yes, Heath.”

“It’s been Heath?” Layla looked surprised. “I don’t think—”

Lucas put his arm around her. “You can trust him, but I only put him on you at your school. Would you like him at all times? It’s what he does for a living.”

“How did he get into that line of work, and how did you meet him?”

Lucas sighed. She didn’t need to know this, but Lucas was desperately trying to keep her trust. “I was a driver for the mob.”

Gretchen raised her eyebrows. “Jesus Christ, Lucas, no wonder you’re a psycho.”

Lucas ignored her and continued, taking Layla’s hands into his own, “I won’t name names, but Heath was his bodyguard until he was shot and retired. Now he handles cases like yours.”

Layla sniffled. Not only was she overwhelmed by the morning’s events, the anxiety medicine was starting to make her sleepy.

“Let me take her home.” He turned to Gretchen. “I’m walking you out to your car and following you to your apartment.”

Gretchen smiled. “Damn. Maybe I should find a Lucas Foster. Sure you ain’t got a brother or something out there?”

Lucas smiled as the three headed out. He didn’t have a brother, but he had a douchebag cousin that he would have to call later that day.

“I’m going to find out what’s happening, baby girl,” Lucas whispered to Layla as she drifted off to sleep while they followed Gretchen in the truck. “If it’s the last thing I fucking do.”

Once home, Lucas ran her a bath and settled her in with some essential oils.

“I’m not going far. No need to drown in here today,” Lucas told her, tossing her bags on the bed and getting Layla some sleep shorts and a T-shirt.

Some of the lingerie toppled out of the bags and Lucas, stuffing the contents back into the bags, smiled, his dick aching to see her in the outfits. He chuckled at the plaid printed one.

“My little country girl…”

“Lucas,” Layla moaned from the bathroom. “Why am I in the tub?”

Lucas was beside her now, kneeling next to the tub.

“You need the rest and to sober up a bit, baby girl.” Lucas ditched the soapy loofah he was using to bathe her for his hands instead.

“Mmm, that feels nice…” Layla rested her head on a towel Lucas had bunched up to use as a pillow. “You know how to take care of me…”

Lucas’s fingers found their way to Layla’s pussy, but he ghosted it, much to her chagrin.

“Lucas…” Layla pouted as he chuckled.

“You know we’re not doing anything if you’ve been drinking.”

“What if we’ve both been drinking?”

“Baby, I left that life a long time ago. If I know a woman’s been drinking or taken anything, my dick doesn’t go anywhere near her. I want you to remember me—not regret me.”

Layla’s eyes closed as she melted into his touch. “I could never regret you, Lucas.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Little Hippie.”

“Hmm?” Layla was already falling asleep, so Lucas finished bathing her, dried her off, and put a shirt and panties on her.

Layla opened her eyes for a moment and saw the bags full of lingerie on the floor near her dresser.

“You didn’t see what was in those, did you?!”

Lucas chuckled, shaking his head. “Nope.”

Layla smiled. “Good. Don’t peek. I’m only going to sleep for a few minutes…”

“I’ll be back up to check on you.”

Lucas headed outside to take finish tinkering with one of Ron’s old cars. Dinah was at his feet.

He’d been working for a while when his phone rang. Tim.

“Yeah?”

“Lucas! I need you, asshole!”

Lucas cringed, fiddling around with wrench sizes. “For what?”

A silence, followed by a laugh.

“You fucking know. Don’t make me ask again.”

“You have yet to ask a question, Tim.”

“Look, you haven’t been around for a while and I’m in Cancun! Got a guy who’ll sponsor you for one night! One night, Lucas! He says it’s big money.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Brother, I know you’re pussy whipped all of a sudden, but Christ. It’s ten grand.”

“What the fuck?”

“Ten grand, Lucas, and I hear the guy is easy to defeat!”

Lucas hadn’t fought in a few months. Layla was happy with that, but he hadn’t promised her he wouldn’t go back.

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“Time?”

“Ten.”

Lucas watched as Ron and Shelly pulled back into the yard with their boat and Layla made her way out to them.

He could see her as she told them about what had happened at the mall and how pissed off Ron was. Shelly looked completely devastated for her only child.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Click.

“Thank you, Lucas, for going to her,” Shelly said as Lucas wiped his hands on a rag.

The Texas heat was already jarring and he’d taken his shirt off—much to the liking of a little hippie ogling him from the porch. He put his shirt back on and nodded at Shelly.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I made her a promise that I’d get to the bottom of it.”

Ron sighed heavily. “I would give my life to know what happened to her. My kid… My little girl. Not so little anymore.”

There was so much pain behind his eyes, as if he’d failed his daughter. Shelly rubbed Ron’s arm.

“Honey, we’ve been waiting for years to get answers. Poor Layla just soldiers on.”

Layla made her way down to them with Dinah at her heels.

She wrapped her arms around Lucas’s waist, but he was such a large guy that her fingertips barely brushed each other when she clasped them.

“Sweaty.” Layla wrinkled her nose, but she was smiling, and that was all that mattered to Lucas, who needed to head out if he was going to get ready for the fight.

Ron and Shelly let the two have some alone time, and Layla watched as he put away the tools, his chiseled body snug as a bug in a rug in the jeans he was wearing.

He was such a built man that it took forever to find clothes that fit him half the time—he was practically popping out of his shirt.

“You like what you see?”

Layla—even though they were together—blushed. It didn’t take much for her to do that, and it tickled Lucas so much.

“Come here,” Lucas growled, taking her in his arms and setting her on the hood of the Camaro.

“Lucas, what are you doing?” Layla giggled, looking back at the house. “They can come out at any time!”

“I can get in there and get out in five minutes. Time me.”

“Is that really a thing to brag about?” Layla teased.

“It is if that’s the goal.” Lucas ran his tongue along her lips, groping her everywhere as she moaned with the deepest desire for him.

“Does this turn you on? Knowing my parents are right there?” Layla moaned into him as Lucas feathered kisses all over her neck and face.

“I know it turns you on.” Lucas pushed her shorts to the side, feeling her dampness betraying her.

“~You~ turn me on, Lucas. Hurry up!” Layla giggled as her body heated up underneath him.

Taking his hard cock out, Lucas watched as Layla pulled her shorts even further to the side, exposing her glistening hole. Lucas lined himself up with her entrance and slammed into her with one thrust, stealing her scream as he smashed his lips into hers.

Over and over again, Lucas filled her, holding her up as Layla wrapped her legs around him so he could go deeper.

“Five minutes,” Layla joked as Lucas plunged in and out, not stopping, not giving them time to breathe or even worry about any care they had earlier.

Her moans were subtle, and she kept looking over at the house, giggling as Dinah paced the front of the garage like a guard dog.

“I’m going to cum, Lucas… Oh fuck… Yes! Yes! Yes!” Layla wailed as her orgasm tore through her like a bolt of lightning, setting off such an electric shock that Lucas’s dick became trapped by her clenched walls.

“Shit,” Lucas whimpered, kissing Layla again as his release took over and he filled her core with his cum. “Fuck me… Damn…”

The pacing of the dog and their heavy panting was all anyone could possibly hear.

Lucas kissed her forehead as he softened and slipped out of her. Layla’s legs were too wobbly to stand, so she held on to Lucas for a few moments, taking in what they’d done.

“Five minutes.”

“Six.” She showed him her watch. “I timed you.”

Lucas shook his head, but his smile couldn’t be hidden from his little hippie.

“I have to go,” Lucas said. “Pick you up tomorrow morning?”

“Yep,” Layla said, straightening herself out. “Bright and early.”

Lucas hoped he wouldn’t look rough when he did pick her up.

“I’ll see you then, baby girl,” Lucas said to Layla as he pet Dinah on the head, then hopped into his truck. “Don’t get into trouble, and you call me if you need me. You know that.”

“I will.” She waved as he headed out, turning back to the garage before closing it up.

“Oh shit, his phone,” Layla said, picking up Lucas’s burner phone. He always had it on him, and Layla didn’t ask questions. Lucas probably had two or three phones if she remembered correctly.

Layla looked down at the text message from Tim.

Tim

BE THERE AT 7 TO GET READY. THIS GUY IS THE REAL DEAL.

Lucas

I’ll be there. You make sure your contact has the money.

Tim

Wish I was there to see you kick his ass.

Lucas

Who is it again? Title?

Tim

Rambo or something.

Lucas

Jesus…OK….

“Oh really?” Layla frowned. “I’ll be there, too.”

Layla called Gretchen to see if she wanted to go and, of course, she did.

“Don’t dress up, and please bring your wits about you,” Layla told her. Gretchen soon pulled into her place, and the two headed into Dallas.

“Why would he go tonight?”

Layla sighed. “He said he’d only fight for big money. He hasn’t promised me anything, so I’m not mad that he’s here.”

“Yeah, you are.” Gretchen frowned. “You are mad. I know you.”

“I’m worried.”

Gretchen nodded. “And you have every right to be.”

Gretchen ditched her car at a nearby friend’s house, and the two took a cab to the venue.

It didn’t take long for them to be sucked into the crowd. Layla told Gretchen that she was going to try to stay as far away as possible from the ring and the VIP seats where Shawna and the team sat.

“When does he get in there?” Gretchen asked, not at all excited about being there.

“In about ten minutes,” Layla said, wringing her fingers. She knew Lucas was going to be angry if he caught her there.

“I’m so fucking excited for this one, man!” a guy said to another man sitting next to them. “My money is on Tornado.”

“What did you hear?” the other guy asked.

“Death match.”

Layla gasped. She knew what that meant, but Lucas wouldn’t do that. He had told her about the death matches that he refused to partake in no matter the amount of money.

The crowd was large—larger than she expected. It was probably a fire hazard or some type of emergency hazard to be honest.

“Gretchen, do you see him?”

Gretchen narrowed her eyes. “Not yet.”

“So it’s a death match?” Layla asked the man sitting next to her. “How does that work?”

“It was a last-minute thing, honey,” the guy said. “You know what’s fucked-up? Sometimes, another opponent or both of them don’t even know—they just let ’em go at it.”

Something caught Layla’s eye and she froze. Was that—Liam? Or…? Who was that heading to the other VIP box?

The ref started to announce the fighters. The Tornado and Rambo made their way out of the corridors and into the ring, dancing around a few times and warming up.

“This isn’t right, Gretchen. This is all sorts of wrong.”

“What? What is it?” Gretchen asked her as the bell rang. The two watched as Lucas and his opponent circled each other, throwing punches here and there.

“It’s a death match.”

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, but no one knows who set it up,” the guy next to Layla said. “Why do you think there are so many people here tonight?”

“Who is everyone betting on?”

“Rambo.”

“Why?”

“There was a tip-off…”

Before the guy could finish, Layla ran from her spot in the bleachers, pushing and shoving everyone she could out of the way. Gretchen was at her heels. They could see Lucas getting pummeled over and over again.

“It’s a setup! Someone’s trying to have him killed!” Layla called back to Gretchen, who took the hint right away.

They pushed and shoved and stumbled their way through the crowd, every man looking like Layla’s enemy.

She saw Lucas lying in the middle of the ring with Rambo dancing around him.

“Lucas!!!!” Layla called out. “Lucas, get up! Get up, please?!!!!!”

Gretchen tried to pull her friend back, but to no avail. Layla watched as Lucas stood up, battered and bloodied. Rambo had a shiner and a busted lip.

“Lucas!!” Layla crawled into the ring, much to the shock of the crowd. Lucas stared at her momentarily before realizing it was, indeed, his little hippie.

“Layla, what the fuck? What the hell?”

Rambo pushed her down, and that set Lucas off. He scrambled to her and kicked Rambo’s legs out from underneath him, causing the large man to fall back onto the ropes.

Picking Layla up, Lucas growled. “I told you to stay the fuck out of here… What in the name of Christ are you doing here?”

The ref had called a time as Layla trembled in Lucas’s arms. “Lucas, this is a death match…”

“The fuck are you talking about?”

“Someone set up a death match, Lucas. Someone is trying to have you killed.”

Layla fell into his arms as Lucas stumbled back, but he caught himself and gripped her tightly.

“I’m saving you.”