Page 22 of Primal Urges (Bikers of Mayhem #1)

CADEN

W atching Lucas interact with Lizzy was the cutest thing in the world. Lizzy had really taken a shine to Lucas, mimicking his every dance move and doing her best to sing along with the characters on-screen.

They had seen the movie once before, but Caden doubted if Lizzy remembered much of it. She had spent so much of the movie asking who each character was and why they had such funny-looking hair and outfits. Try explaining to a six-year-old about the evolution of fashion and hairstyles.

It was around the first twenty-minute mark of the movie when Lucas sent Lizzy to retrieve her daddy and convince him that it was her Christmas wish that her daddy would dance with her like the other girls and boys in the movie.

Lucas, the conniving little…

The man just smirked when Caden joined him and the collection of children, who were now all dancing and screaming like a bunch of hopped-up kittens having their first taste of catnip.

At some point during the movie, Caden convinced the dancing devils to take a break and join him back on the blanket for some popcorn and sodas.

“Can we have candy too?” Lizzy’s eyes lit up at the thought of all that sugar just waiting to be ingested.

Caden felt a bit guilty returning his daughter to her mom, all hopped up on sugar—a.k.a kiddie crack. But hey, he was the fun dad. Lizzy could stay up a little later, telling her mother about how much fun she had with her amazingly cool dad.

Once the movie was over, Cade waited in the parking lot for Lizzy’s mother to pick her up. She was coming from a date with a new guy she was seeing, so she offered to swing by the park and grab their daughter on her way back.

Lucas sat on a bench a few feet away, hoping to go unnoticed by Caden’s ex and the woman who had given birth to Lizzy. Caden didn’t resist. He understood the importance of giving people their space and private moments with family.

He wondered if Lucas had any family. He never mentioned any siblings or parents.

“Mommy!” Lizzy screamed as her mother pulled into the lot, driving a beat-up minivan.

The van was at least fifteen years old and had belonged to Amber’s neighbor before he sold it to Lizzy’s mom six years ago.

Caden took his daughter’s hand and led her to her mom’s van. He popped open the side door and helped his little princess into the seat. He fastened her seatbelt and made sure that the strap was nice and snug.

“Did you have a good time?” Amber asked her daughter with a huge smile.

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 Lizzy was 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?”

Caden couldn’t help but chuckle. “Romantic as fuck, isn’t it?”

They walked up Old Man Benson’s dirt driveway and looped around to the back of his barn.

“This is the perfect spot right here,” Caden said as he set the food down and began unfolding the blankets and laying them down on the field.

Once they were all settled, Caden popped the cork on the bottle of wine that he had purchased and began filling their plastic cups.

“To getting to know one another and being romantic as fuck,” Caden toasted, clacking his cup against Lucas’s.

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Still confusing as fuck.”

Caden passed him a burger and some cold salads before he began digging in himself. It wasn’t fancy, but it was him.

Over the next few hours, they talked about their friends and family.

Lucas had one older sister who lived on the East Coast. They weren’t close, and he had left her a message that he was going to be traveling through Europe for the next few months when he decided to leave his ex and LA.

He figured that he would contact her again once all the heat had died down and he was able to safely get in touch.

His parents? Well, they were useless, according to Luc. They had taken off to South America to pursue their dream careers studying endangered species—something Lucas had absolutely no interest in. He spoke to them once in a blue moon, but in his eyes, he had no parents.

Lucas still avoided talking about his ex, only stating that he was a horrible man and that it took him a lot to gather the courage to leave him.

Sensing the boy’s failing mood, Caden decided to steer his attention toward the stars above. The night was warm, and the sky was clear, perfect for gazing up at the heavens.

“I can’t believe how many you can see,” Lucas marveled, lying on his back, arm tucked under his head. His chest rose and fell as he breathed in the warm summer night.

Caden lay beside him, their shoulders touching ever so slightly.

He felt calm and connected. Like somehow, all of his stress and worries had been cut in half.

Like somehow, Lucas had accepted the burden and sucked his troubles out of him through his body.

It was strange, but being around the boy always made him feel relaxed and at peace.

That was, of course, when he wasn’t freaking out and running off like a scared pansy-ass.

Still, being under the night sky with Lucas somehow felt right.

Feeling at peace, Caden stared up at the stars and let himself just be in the moment.

“I used to sneak over here when I was in high school. I’d lie down on the grass, stare up at the stars, and wonder how many planets had aliens on them.”

“That movie always scared me.”

“What? Aliens ?” Caden asked, turning his head ever so slightly.

“Yeah, the one with Sigourney Weaver. The woman was badass in it, but the way those aliens moved and were able to hide in any dark corner always scared the shit out of me.”

Heart pounding in his chest, Caden slowly slid his hand until it was barely touching Lucas’s.

He felt the boy’s body tense.

Swallowing hard, Caden slid his hand over Lucas’s and gently took his hand in his.

Caden held his breath while he waited for Lucas to say something. Gradually, he felt Lucas’s warm fingers begin to curl around his.

The beating of his heart quickened.

Why was he so nervous? He wasn’t a virgin, and he had held hands with people before.

Women. He’d held hands with women. That was the huge distinction.

Yet holding Lucas’s hand in his was not the same. There was more to it. More feeling than he had ever felt before.

Cade’s heart continued to beat against his chest.

“Cade?” Lucas’s voice was soft and cracked slightly when he pronounced the D.

“Yeah?” Cade managed to choke out. His heart was racing as he waited for Lucas’s question.

“What are we doing here?”

The question was so innocent.

And to be honest, Caden wasn’t quite sure himself. All he knew was that when Lucas mentioned his fear, he wanted to take his hand and comfort him.

“I… I’m not sure.”

“Are you bi?” Lucas’s voice was barely a whisper. He sounded so nervous, and there was a slight tremor in his voice.

“No. I don’t think so.” There was a long pause as Caden stared up at the night sky.

The stars above them twinkled as their breathing grew more in sync. Their hands remained connected as they quietly listened to the crickets sing in the fields around them.