Page 30 of The Destruction You Desire

He glances over at me but whatever words were on the tip of his tongue die the second his eyes lock with mine.

"I'm on your side here, Peyton. But I'm worried about him."

"Same. I'm worried about both of you. You might have been wearing a smile all afternoon, Lee, but don't think I can't see beneath that," I confess, referencing the dark clouds that have been in his eyes ever since my confession earlier.

"I'm fine. It was just a shock."

"Sure," I agree, knowing that he's not going to want to talk to me about whatever it is. It's not like we've ever been close. "But if you ever need to talk or whatever, I'm here. Okay. I'm not—I wasn't—just Luc's friend."

"I don't think that's a good idea. As far as he's concerned, we've already spent too much time together."

"Well, he can go fuck himself. We're allowed to be friends. What happened with Letty, it's not going to happen here."

"Not into the twin thing, huh?" he deadpans.

"Lee," I breathe.

"Sorry. It's just easier to joke sometimes, you know?"

"I do," I whisper as he pulls into the parking lot for The Locker Room.

"Ready to go and see what state your boy is in?"

His words make my chest ache. He's not mine anymore.

With a loud sigh, the two of us climb out of Leon's car and head toward the main door which security opens for us.

"Where is he?" Leon asks the second Bry looks up from his place behind the bar.

Bry nods to the back corner and when I turn around, all I can see is a pair of feet sticking out into the walkway between the booths.

"Fucking hell. We'll get him out of your way."

I march over with Leon hot on my tail.

We find Luca passed out on the bench seat and still holding an empty bottle of whisky.

"You two really need to hash this out. He can't keep this shit up," Leon mutters, plucking the bottle from his brother's hand before pulling him so he's sitting up.

"Luca, asshole," he shouts, slapping his face with a little more force than probably necessary. "Luca, wake the fuck up. I ain't carrying your drunk ass all the way to the car."

Luca groans, his head rolling and his eyes remaining tightly shut.

"Grab an arm, I’ll get the other. It's not that far."

Leon looks at me with wide eyes. "What? I'm stronger than I look."

"If you say so," he mutters, pulling hard on Luca's arm until his ass leaves the bench and lifts him into his body.

Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, we set about maneuvering him toward the exit and into Leon's car.

"If you puke in here, you're paying for a full detail," Leon barks before closing the door on Luca.

He groans in response and that's the last we hear of him all the way home.

The second we have him inside the house, one of their friends that I recognize emerges and thankfully takes my place. I might be strong and able to move Kayden around with little effort, but Luca is another story.

I lead the way, opening his bedroom door so the guys can unceremoniously dump Luca onto his bed.