Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JENSEN
“Have you heard much from Luke today?” I asked Tyler as we headed towards our cars after school. Lukas hadn’t come to school and had been quiet most of the day, taking forever to reply to my messages.
I figured it was because Rory had gotten home this morning and they were in bed all damn day, but the longer the day went on, the more worried I became.
“Nah,” Tyler replied as he lit a cigarette, opening his car door and resting his arm on the roof. “Holloway said they were just having a chilled day with movies and stuff. Stop panicking. He’s been with them all day.”
“He has bad days when he’s with us too, you know?” I grumbled, unlocking the Camaro and opening the door.
“I’ll meet you there. He’s fine, Jense,” he promised, climbing into his car and starting it.
I texted Lukas to let him know we were heading to Caden’s, and I frowned when he read the message straight away but didn't reply.
The drive was quick, and I had to force myself not to run into the house. I had no idea why I was acting so crazy, but the bad feeling had been in my gut for the last two hours, and I couldn’t shake it.
I had to see him with my own eyes to know he was okay.
Tyler followed me, and part of me relaxed when I spotted Rory in the kitchen. She looked tired, but she usually did when she’d been with Skeeter overnight. I swore they didn’t sleep at all.
“Hey,” she smiled, happily hugging me and then Tyler before standing back. “Good day at school?”
“As good as school can be. Claire was bitching about you, but that’s nothing new,” Tyler scoffed, looping his finger through the belt loop on her jeans to tug her closer.
She leaned against him, watching me. “Luke’s in the theater room with Caden. Go see him, I think it would be good for him.”
Alarm bells went off in my head as panic set it. “Is he okay?”
“He will be. He walked out of his mom’s last night and cut her off. He’s angry and upset about it all, but he’ll be okay now he’s out of that house. He’s going to live here for now,” she answered, reaching out to give my arm a squeeze.
“He moved out?” Tyler asked with surprise.
“Yeah. Try not to make a big deal out of it,” she warned, taking Tyler’s hand to lead him down to the theater room with me behind them.
Lukas was sprawled out on one of the couches, staring at the TV but not really watching it. I dropped down beside him, putting an arm out to encourage him to lean into me.
At first, he was tense and looked like he was going to leave, but then he shuffled closer and curled into my side, sliding an arm around me.
His breath was hot on my neck as he nuzzled into me, his lips lightly pressing against my skin in a soft kiss.
Whatever had happened between him and Karen hadn’t pushed him away from me, so I kissed the top of his head, hoping I didn’t set him off into a tail-spin.
He shuddered, burying his face into my neck even more as if I could hide him.
“You okay?” I whispered when he didn’t say anything.
“Yeah.”
I didn’t understand why he hadn’t come to me, but bringing it up with him would only make the situation about my feelings, so I brushed it off. I came here too when I needed to feel like I had a home, so I understood the need to, but not why he didn’t call me.
Maybe he wanted some time alone?
"Where's Skeet?” I heard Tyler ask as he hauled Rory onto his lap on one of the other couches, drawing my attention.
“Had some shit to handle. We got a lead on Mom too, so I think he’s going to start looking,” she sighed, pressing her forehead to his.
“Someone remembered her?”
“The boyfriend still lives in Rosevale.”
Caden looked unsure for a moment before joining the conversation. “Marla’s not Rory’s bio mom. She was the woman Max was having an affair with.”
“So who’s her birth mom?” I asked, Lukas’ voice rumbling from my neck.
“She died giving birth to Rory.”
“You guys had enough time to talk about it since Rory got home?” I asked with a frown, and he lifted his head with a small smile.
“She got home hours ago, but we video called last night and they filled me in.”
“They had phone sex without us too,” Caden hummed, faking annoyance. “I can’t believe it, honestly.”
I looked at Lukas, his face heating as a small smile tugged at my lips.
“You jerked off on camera in front of Skeet?”
“Don’t remind me, it was a little weird,” he chuckled nervously, but Rory grinned.
“Don’t be shy. It was super hot.”
“Why does no one call me for phone sex?” Tyler grumbled.
“Next time,” Rory promised, giving him a quick kiss.
“Does this mean you need a night off from grabby hands?” Tyler groaned, fisting her hair to tug her head back gently, kissing across her throat.
“Definitely. Doctor’s orders.”
“What did your dentist say?”
She laughed and swatted him as she pulled back, squealing as he pulled her down and kissed her.
“Skeet will slip in while we’re all asleep and fuck her again anyway,” I joked, but Caden shook his head.
“Skeet won’t be back tonight. The Devils ambushed Rory and Diesel yesterday morning, so the crew are a little tense right now.”
“What?” Lukas and I both said at the same time, Tyler breaking the kiss to scowl at Rory.
“You got attacked?”
“Ambushed,” Rory corrected as if that made it sound any better. “I don’t have a mark on me. Caden made sure.”
“Why is this the first we’re hearing about it?” Lukas bit out, and she shrugged.
“I’m fine so—”
“What happened? I want details,” Tyler demanded, holding her waist to stop her from escaping.
She went into detail like he asked, and I gave Caden a dirty look when she was done.
“You knew all of this and didn't tell us?”
“Like she said, she’s fine,” he muttered, but he had the decency to look apologetic about it.
“She was shot at and dragged out of a car by Skeet’s fucking rivals. They knocked Diesel out and left her unprotected.”
“Hey,” Rory scowled, glaring at me. “I handled my shit and got a gun.”
“I don’t feel any better knowing that,” I said flatly, the others mumbling their agreement. “That asshole has a major hard-on for you, babe. He won’t leave you alone.”
“To be fair, he was there to take out Skeet and didn’t know I was there,” she said under her breath. “I don’t want to fight with you guys today. Can we talk about something else?”
Lukas hesitated before sitting back, glancing at me. “Mom showed up in the middle of the night with some girl and told us to get to know each other because we were getting married in December.”
“Excuse me?” I scoffed, and he winced.
“I kind of snapped. Threw the keys and my credit cards at her, and left. I’ll lose all my shares in the companies she owns, but I have real estate and my own accounts that she didn’t know about.
Even if I didn’t, someone once told me I’d be happy living in a cardboard box flipping burgers, and I’m kind of thinking they’re right.
” He smiled at Rory, and she gave him a soft look.
“Aw, I’ll teach you how to wash your own clothes and everything.”
“Ha ha. You’re funny,” he grumbled, glancing at Caden. “The staff here can do it.”
“Ugh, you guys are ridiculous,” she grunted, getting to her feet and walking towards us, dropping down on Lukas’ other side. “You’ll be fine, Luke. You don’t need her or her money.”
“I’ll be your sugar daddy,” I teased, thankful when he chuckled.
“Then I’d have to give you something in return.”
“Absolutely. If you want Daddy, you bring the sugar,” I smirked, risking it by kissing his cheek. “Seriously though, we’ve got you. Fuck her.”
“Thanks, guys,” he murmured, leaning into me again and pulling Rory with him.
I loved that he found comfort in both of us.
“Make sure you take her off all of your emergency contact information too,” Tyler suggested, and Caden smirked.
“You don’t think Mom was already all over that shit today? She handled everything. I was starting to think she was going to go down to the courthouse and petition to get his name changed to Lukas Holloway. She’s in mama bear mode. Managed to get Karen banned from the school and everything.”
That didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Josie always went to bat for us when we needed her.
My fingers gently raked through Rory’s hair and she melted against Lukas more, her eyes closing as she relaxed.
“Hey,” Caden murmured a few minutes later, jerking his chin at Rory and Lukas to draw my attention. They were both asleep, my fingers continuing to toy with her hair. “Guess they were tired.”
“I don’t blame them. It’s been a long twenty-four hours,” I replied quietly.
“Max is still in town. One of Mom’s friends saw him,” he sighed, his face pinching with annoyance.
“Want to go find him?” Tyler offered, cracking his knuckles. “We can make him leave.”
“I think we should let Skeet find him and tie him up so Rory can get her pound of flesh.”
“He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her, let alone see her again,” I muttered, running my gaze over her face. She looked peaceful, a sight that was pretty rare but had been becoming more frequent as of late. “Besides, it sounds like Skeet’s busy dealing with the Devils.”
“He’d do it for her,” Caden pointed out, and Tyler nodded his agreement.
“Slash would help too.”
“No, he fucking wouldn’t,” I scoffed, making him roll his eyes.
“He would, trust me. He’s trying hard to prove himself to her. What says he cares more than tracking down that piece of shit and letting her beat on him?”
He had a point, but I didn’t want Rory near Slash or Max.
“What does Josie want to do? Is she going after him legally? She totally could, right?” I asked carefully, and Caden winced.
“He’s safe from her wrath because Rory’s refusing to take that step. He’d be in prison by the end of the day if she gave Mom the go-ahead though.”
“Do we convince her to testify then?”
“She won’t,” Tyler said, texting on his phone. “Even if she wanted to, she’s Heights. Heights don’t call the cops to handle their shit.”
“But she’s not from there now,” Caden growled, crossing his arms like a brat.