Page 72 of Primal Urges

He would hold on to Caden for as long as he could. Hopefully, he could hold on to him… forever.

22

LUCAS

When they got back to Caden’s place, Lucas was still in panic mode.

Had Darryl seen the video? Did his ex know where he was? Perhaps he should grab his stuff and leave town.

What stuff? You lost it all in that fire.

The fire.

Was it even an accident?

They were still waiting to hear back from the fire marshal regarding the cause of the fire.

Stop it. Don’t jump to any weird conclusions. It’s a barn. The fire could have been caused by many things.

He wasn’t exactly the most careful the other night. He had been drinking; he’d been distracted by Cade. He could have accidentally bumped a heater or perhaps overloaded one of the fuses, causing a spark. Who knew? There was no point in panicking about it until they got back the results of the investigation.

Now, there was this video. He shouldn’t have been in such a rush to delete the damn thing. He should have checked first to see who had viewed it.

All six hundred thousand names?

Yeah, that was kind of a stupid plan. But still. If he had been able to see who viewed the video, he would have been able to confirm whether Darryl had seen it.

If he used his regular handle.

No. Darryl was smarter than that. He was a police officer with nearly twenty years under his belt. He knew how to conduct investigations and surveillance without being caught. That was one of the other reasons why he was so afraid of him. It would only take one slip, one small mistake, to lead Darryl right to him.

Should he take off again… just in case?

“Stop. I can see you getting inside your own head.” Caden’s voice cut through the panic beginning to take hold. He was right. He was starting to lose it.

Caden entered the room, carrying a bottle of red wine and two glasses. He sat down next to Lucas on the couch and popped the cork on the bottle.

After pouring two glasses, he slid his body behind Lucas’s and pulled Lucas up against his chest.

With his arms wrapped around him, Cade rested his chin in the crook of Lucas’s neck.

“Look, we don’t know who saw the video. It was only up for a few weeks, and the internet is a big place. Six hundred thousand could be spread out across the world. What’s the likelihood that one specific man happened to see that exact video?”

Lucas turned his head slightly.

“That asshole from college did,” Lucas reminded him.

“Yeah, well, it sounds like he trolls around looking for trends so that he can steal them for himself instead of trying to be original.”

During the ride home, Lucas told Caden about his connection with the mystery commentator on his viral post.

Lucas snaked his fingers in between Caden’s.

It was moments like these that Lucas cherished the most—the quiet, calm connection where it was just Caden and him. The gentle caress of Caden’s caring touch made Lucas feel safe and protected as if he never had to worry about anyone ever hurting him again.

“Thank you for this.” Lucas’s voice was barely a whisper.

“I told you that I would always be here for you. I’ll always protect you and be whatever it is that you need me to be.”

---