Page 35 of Primal Urges

Cheesy diner music played quietly over the speakers as they sat in silence, staring at each other. Was Lucas ever going to trust him enough to open up and let him peek behind the curtain?

Appearing to come to terms with a difficult decision, Lucas leaned forward, interlocking his fingers on the table and lowering his gaze.

“Well, I’m from LA.” His voice was low and sullen as if he feared being overheard.

Even if their waitress had overheard their conversation, Caden doubted that she had the interest or the technological savvy to repost their conversation online. Something told Caden that if the woman had a cell phone, it was likely one of those ancient flip phones that one could purchase at a gas station or corner store.

“Nice. I’ve been there a few times. Love the beaches and hot weather. So what made you decide to move?”

Lucas glanced up at Cade before lowering his gaze once again.

“A bad relationship.” There was a momentary pause before he looked up and added, “A very bad relationship.”

Caden studied Lucas’s face for a moment, trying to decipher the pained expression he had on his face.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Can I ask who ended it?”

Caden wanted to be sympathetic, but he also wanted to understand more about Lucas. Was he running from trouble? Or trying to heal a broken heart? If it was just a broken heart, why all the secrecy and no background checks and stuff?

No. There had to be more to the story.

“I did,” Lucas finally answered after the longest silence in conversation history. “I think he got the message that it was over when he woke up, and I had run off.”

“Run off?” Caden was even more confused.

“My ex was not a nice man. He was possessive, physically and verbally abusive, and had it in his mind that I was his to be controlled. It got so bad that I knew there were only two ways for me to escape, either by ending my life or by running off in the night.”

“Jesus,” Caden gasped. He reached across the table and took Lucas’s hand in his. He gave it a firm squeeze, hoping that Lucas could pull some of his strength and courage.

“I chose the latter. I spiked his whiskey one night with a crazy amount of sleeping pills, and when he finally passed out, I hopped on the first bus out of LA.”

Squeezing Lucas’s hand, Caden could feel his blood begin to boil. He hated bullies and people who took advantage of and hurt the little guys. That was something that he never put up with.

“Give me this asshole’s name and address, and I’m going to go bash his fuckin’ face in,” Cade snarled.

He couldn’t imagine anyone ever trying to hurt the sweet young man sitting across from him. This fucker deserved to get his face smashed in and his teeth knocked out. Perhaps, even have his nuts cut off. Clearly, he didn’t know what being a man was all about.

Lucas shook his head. His hands began fidgeting with the corners of his steamy biker sex book.

“No. Please don’t. Darryl is a dangerous man and has resources at his disposal.”

“Is that why you’ve been working cash jobs and don’t have a credit card?” Cade asked, realizing his mistake when it was too late. He felt his cheeks burn.

“What? How do you know that I don’t have a credit card?”

Cade released Lucas’s hand and leaned back in his seat. The music playing over the crackling speakers had changed to some sort of eighties cover band.

What was with the music in this place?

“When you first started working at Ride ’em Hard, I thought you were a criminal or on the run, so I shared my concerns with the big guy. He happened to mention that there might be other reasons why someone wouldn’t want a background checkdone on them. I’m guessing that’s also why you ditched your cell phone?”

Lucas nodded. His hair fell slightly over his eyes.

Caden couldn’t believe how much Lucas was opening up to him. All awkwardness and nervousness had seemed to disappear from the boy. Perhaps all Lucas needed was a chance to get to know Caden outside of the bar setting.

“That would have been the easiest way for Darryl to find me. That, and through my credit card usage. So I took out a few grand from my account when I left and haven’t touched a penny since.”

“But how can this asshole get access to all that info without being your husband or joint on your accounts? Or was he?” Cade suddenly realized that he never asked whether Lucas and his ex were married.

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