Page 55 of Primal Urges

Caden was grateful that he and Amber were still great friends. Sharing a child would have been so much harder if they hated each other. They had tried to date on and off after Lizzywas first born, but it became clear pretty quickly that they were not compatible as a couple in any way.

He didn’t regret any of it. He loved Lizzy and respected Amber, but they were just not right for each other in the end.

“Yeah, I had a great time with Daddy and Lucas!”

“Lucas?” Amber asked, flicking a glance in Caden’s direction, clearly forgetting the conversation they had earlier in the day.

“Yeah, he’s one of the new guys at work I was telling you about. The one who suggested this thing.”

And he gives fantastic hand jobs.

“Oh yeah.” She nodded, turning her attention back to her daughter in the rearview mirror. “Are you ready to go? Say goodbye to Daddy, sweetheart.”

Lizzy blew her daddy a kiss and turned her attention back to the blue wig that Lucas had insisted she keep.

“You never know when the mood might strike, and you’ll want to put on a performance with Daddy!” Lucas had informed his daughter.

Caden considered those threats of terror.

As Caden watched Amber drive away with the only thing that gave his life meaning, he turned his attention back to the handsome man sitting patiently on a bench, waiting for him.

“You got any plans for the rest of the night?” Caden asked, giving the boy a hopeful smile.

The corners of Lucas’s lips turned upward.

“No. What did you have in mind?”

“Picnic under the stars?” Caden asked, hoping that his suggestion wasn’t too forward.

“Sounds romantic.”

“That’s me. Mr. Romance. Don’t tell anyone. I have a bad-boy image to maintain.”

Chuckling, Lucas picked up his items and followed Caden out of the parking lot.

Caden stopped to grab them some burgers, fries, and cold salads to eat under the stars. He even ran into a corner store to grab a bottle of wine and some beers for them to enjoy.

“You sure you don’t want any money?” Lucas asked for the twentieth time that evening.

“No. When a man invites someone out for a ‘romantic picnic,’ as you so eloquently put it, he pays for dinner and any expenses incurred as part of that night.”

“You’re very confusing, you know,” Lucas responded, giving him a sideways glance.

“What do you mean?” Caden asked, unsure what he was inferring.

“This. Here. If it were a date, I’d be impressed as hell. But considering your reaction the last time we ‘hung out,’ I’m not really sure what this is supposed to all mean,” he said, holding up the bag of food and supplies.

Caden’s cheeks flushed. He still felt horrible for the way he reacted. Lucas didn’t deserve that kind of reaction and then to be ignored for two weeks after that.

That shit was all on him.

“Where are we going anyway?” Lucas asked, turning around and glancing in all directions.

“The funny thing is that the best place to stargaze just so happens to be on Old Man Benson’s farm.”

Seeing Lucas’s reaction was priceless. His mouth fell open, and his eyebrows scrunched together.

“So you invited me out on a romantic date at my own house?”