Page 14 of Primal Urges (Bikers of Mayhem #1)

CADEN

O ver the next two weeks, Caden watched as Lucas came out of his shell. He seemed to be more comfortable and talkative, even laughing and joking with the guys at work. He still shied away from men who were big and bulky, but with people like Ace and Alexis, he really seemed to warm.

Caden, unfortunately, was still one of those people who Lucas got awkward around. He seemed to get tongue-tied and was never able to hold eye contact with Caden for very long. Seeing the boy blush and then quickly scurry away was both endearing and frustrating.

He wanted to get to know the boy better but found it difficult when he kept running away. Caden had half a mind to tie the guy down and force him to have a conversation… but with today’s forceful confinement laws, holding someone against their will was kind of frowned upon.

All joking aside, Cade tried his best to make Lucas feel more comfortable around him.

He gave him head nods, tried to strike up conversations, and even went so far as to stay late after his shift to help the boy clean up the back storage room.

All that managed to do was provide them both with thirty minutes of awkward conversation.

No matter how hard he tried, each attempt seemed to end in failure.

He wasn’t sure what the kid’s issue was, but he hoped that with time, he might relax and let him in.

Monday nights were another slow time at the bar, so Caden and Nikolai rotated working the shift. Tonight was Caden’s night off.

Bored, Caden decided to walk down to Betty’s Diner and grab a burger for a late-night dinner. It was half past nine, and the place was mostly empty. Another slow night, it seemed.

Walking into the diner, Caden scanned the room, trying to decide where he wanted to sit. He pretty much had his pick of the place.

Just as he was about to sit down in an empty booth, he noticed a head of light-brown hair hunched over while reading a book.

Was that?

Smirking, Caden strutted on over to the table at the far end of the diner and stopped once he reached the table.

“Taking your book boyfriend out for dinner?” Caden asked, leaning against the side of the booth, arms crossed against his chest, biceps flexed.

He’d been adding a bicep flex to his stance since he was seventeen and realized that people were attracted to his muscles. He did it so often now that he didn’t even take gender into account when posing.

A confused Lucas looked up, mouth slightly askew as his eyes focused on the person interrupting his dinner date.

“Cade? Wh-what are you doing here?”

Was it surprise or disappointment that he heard in Lucas’s voice?

He hoped the first.

“Came in to do some laundry. How about you?”

He watched as the boy’s face became even more confused. It was only after a few seconds that Lucas suddenly realized that Cade was joking.

“You might have to wait a while. It’s pretty busy in here tonight,” Lucas responded with his own attempt at humor.

Caden looked around. Even the waitress behind the counter looked bored.

“Mind if I sit?”

Lucas motioned to the seat in front of him.

At least it didn’t appear that the kid was going to get up and run this time.

“So what’cha reading?” Cade asked, sliding his butt into the seat across from him.

Lucas flipped over the cover, revealing some tattooed muscle biker dude giving the reader a look that said he was about to bend them over and fuck them hard against his bike.

Cade gave an approving nod.

“Well, if you’re gonna fantasize about getting railed by a guy, best to make it a ripped biker dude.

We got the moves and the stamina to make you see stars before you pass out from exhaustion when shooting your load.

” Cade watched as Lucas’s eyes dilated. Clearly, the kid had a thing for built bikers.

“Umm.” Blushing, Lucas put his bookmark back in his book and set it face down on the table next to him. “I-I like the story,” he stuttered, looking like someone who’d just been caught watching porn instead of studying or doing their afternoon chores. “It’s got a really good… plot.”

“I’m sure it does. Any story involving an eight-inch cock and an eager young twink is bound to have a great… plot .” Cade winked, loving the way that Lucas’s cheeks flushed even more than they had just moments ago.

There was something sweet and endearing about watching the boy blush and squirm.

“It does. This series has a great storyline… as well as some really hot… steamy scenes.” Lucas let out a chuckle. “Shut up. It’s not like you don’t read girlie magazines for their riveting… plots .”

Another smile.

Caden shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t help it. The suspense of turning that page and wondering just how big the woman’s knockers are going to be has me just…”

“Can I get you gentlemen anything?” the bored waitress from behind the counter asked, completely ruining the back-and-forth banter they had finally established.

The bitch was getting no tip.

“Just a burger and fries for me. How about you, Mr. Romance ?”

Lucas’s cheeks flushed once again.

Why was all this teasing so much fun?

“I’ll just have a minestrone soup, please.”

Caden frowned at the boy.

“Where’s the meat? Where’s the carbs?”

“There are carbs in the pasta shells,” Lucas noted.

Caden shook his head.

Perhaps the kid was on a tight budget. He should lay off the teasing .

“Oh, and two beers. No, wait, one beer and…” Caden’s voice trailed off as he gestured toward Lucas, waiting for his response.

“Oh, nothing for me.”

“Come on, Mr. Romance. I’m payin’ for dinner. So let’s get shit-faced, and you can tell me all the different ways Mr. Big Dick fucks his little twink in your book.” Caden gave him a teasing smirk.

Lucas looked mortified. He almost felt guilty but actually didn’t.

The boy finally turned toward the waitress, most likely realizing that the faster he ordered a drink, the faster she would leave, and his humiliation would end.

“I’ll have a beer as well. Thanks.”

The waitress gave a nod, then disappeared into the back of the diner.

“Okay, so tell me about your book,” Caden asked, interlocking his fingers and leaning forward on the table. He felt like an eager young schoolboy about to learn all the cheat codes in his favorite video game.

Lucas raised an eyebrow as he stared at Caden awkwardly.

“Why would a straight man want to hear all about how some twink gets his hole stretched out by some bouncer at a biker bar?”

Now it was Cade’s turn to blush.

“Really? It’s about a bouncer?” What were the chances? And did this mean that Lucas wanted his— Then he noticed the evil smirk on Lucas’s face. “You’re pulling my leg.”

Chuckling, Lucas leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest.

“Smooth. So, fine. If you won’t tell me about your hot and steamy sex book, then tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from originally?”

Lucas’s breath caught in his chest. He had a feeling that the boy was going to try and change the subject.

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 check done 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.

“He’s a cop. And a crooked one at that.”

Now it was all beginning to make sense. Lucas’s ex would have had all his buddies hunting down his ex in a matter of days if he’d tried to use any of his accounts or cell phone.

Caden reached over the table and squeezed Lucas’s hand once again.

“You’re under our protection now. That asshole is never going to hurt you again. I promise you that.”

Strangely, he felt this intense need to shield and protect the young man sitting across from him. Yes, they hadn’t known each other for very long, and this was probably one of the longest conversations he’d ever had with the guy, but something inside him wanted to protect him.

No matter what, no harm would ever come to this man, ever again.

“Here are your drinks. Your food will be out in a sec,” the waitress announced, materializing out of thin air.

Cade had totally forgotten about their order. He’d need more than a few beers to calm himself after hearing this crazy story.

“Thank you, Cade. You and the guys at the bar have been so great to me.”

“Well, you’re one of us now. We all stick together and watch out for one another.”

“I’m starting to see that,” Lucas said with a smile on his face.

A few minutes later, the waitress brought out their orders.

“So, where is Lizzy tonight?”

Freezing mid-chew, Caden put aside his tentative murder plot for Lucas’s ex and rejoined the conversation at the table.

“Oh, she’s with her mom tonight.”

“Your wife didn’t want to join you for dinner?”

“What?” Caden asked, confused and a tiny bit lost. Then his brain caught up with the conversation.

“No. Lizzy’s mom and I aren’t together. She’s just a chick I fucked one night after having too many drinks at the bar.

Amber decided to keep the baby, and I usually get to see Lizzy on weekends during the day and on alternating holidays.

Amber is decent about letting me see Lizzy whenever I want, so I have it pretty good compared to some other single dads.

I had her the other day at the bar because Amber needed someone to babysit for her while she went to an appointment. ”

Caden couldn’t believe he was sharing all of this personal info with someone he barely knew. Usually, he never discussed his personal life or Lizzy and her mom. It was one of those “men don’t share feelings with others” kind of things.

“Well, Lizzy seems like a really sweet kid.”

“That’s all her mom. Thankfully, she doesn’t take after me.” Caden let out a chuckle as he finished off the last of his fries.

Caden was one of those weird people who liked to eat his fries first before diving into his burger. Why let your fries get cold? Then they taste like shit, and all you have is a juicy burger.

“We both know that isn’t true.”

Caden glanced up at the man sitting across from him. His stomach felt fluttery.

Why was getting a compliment from the boy making his stomach feel all funny?