Page 8 of The Unseen

S TANDING ON THE SIDELINES OF THE BASKETBALL COURT IN THE GYM, Lucas watched the game play out. Sean passed the ball to his friend Monty Holcomb, who was taller and thinner than Sean. Monty dribbled the ball, jumped, and took the shot.

“Score!” Sean yelled, shooting a fist into the air. The buzzer sounded, and the game was over.

Lucas crossed the court as the players on both teams came together. “Good job, guys. Go ahead and hit the showers. One more class and it’ll be time to head home for the weekend.”

He watched Sean Handley disappear out the door. Tall and smart, the kid was a born leader. Though he’d been surly and argumentative when he’d first arrived, after a few months, he had accepted his circumstances and, instead of fighting the system, become an asset to the youth center.

Lucas liked him.

He liked Sean’s sister even more. He pushed that thought aside as a group of boys walked into the gym for the last athletics class before the weekend.

One of them, a kid named Hugo Rodriquez, was a real troublemaker.

He was shoving one of the younger boys, the smallest kid in the center, pushing him hard enough to send him sprawling.

When he’d opened the center, Lucas had learned how to deal with boys like Hugo. One thing he would not tolerate was a bully, particularly one who used his size and strength to intimidate smaller, weaker kids.

He walked over and helped the boy to his feet. “You okay, Tim?” A bruise was beginning to form on his cheek.

“I’m okay.” Tim glanced over at Hugo, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “It was an accident.”

“Is that so?” Lucas turned toward Hugo and a group of his friends a few feet away, self-satisfied smirks on their faces.

Lucas managed to hold on to his temper. “Rodriquez! Get over here!”

Hugo sauntered over. “Yeah, Coach?” At seventeen, the kid was six-two, 180 pounds of solid muscle, a real tough guy in the making. Nothing the teachers had done so far had managed to change Hugo’s belligerent attitude.

“Get in the ring.” Lucas turned. “Osborne, get him gloved up.”

Curtis Osborne, another kid Hugo picked on, broke into a grin. “Sure, Coach.”

The rest of the group stopped talking and moved closer to the ring as Lucas stripped his T-shirt off over his head and tossed it in the corner. He opened a locker and took out his own set of gloves. “Monty, give me a hand here.”

“Yes, sir!” Monty grinned, and the uncertain mood in the gym turned to excitement. As their boxing coach, Lucas had sparred with students, but the kids had never seen him with someone who could pose a real threat.

Lucas made it a point to work out and stay in shape. At thirty-five, he was still in prime condition. He walked over to the ring, ducked between the ropes, and headed for Hugo’s corner.

“Put your mouthpiece in and your headgear on.”

Hugo looked at him standing there bare-chested, wearing only his jeans and sneakers. They were evenly matched in height and weight. “You and me, huh?”

“That’s right. Just you and me.”

A nasty grin spread over Hugo’s face. Lucas turned to one of Rodriquez’s friends. “Jackson, get in here and referee.”

The kid just nodded and climbed into the ring, went to stand in the middle. “Let me know when you’re ready,” he said.

Lucas shoved in his mouthpiece, met Hugo in the middle of the ring, and held out his gloves. Hugo did the same. They bumped gloves, Jackson nodded, and Holcomb rang the bell.

The fight was on. It was clear in seconds—this was no sparring match.

As Nicole crossed the parking lot, she spotted Sean madly racing toward her. He grabbed her arm and started tugging her toward the gymnasium. “Come on, sis! Hurry! You gotta see this!” He took her hand and started pulling her faster.

“What in the world … ?”

“Hurry up!”

As they neared the gym, Nicole could hear male voices cheering and shouting. By the time she stepped through the door, the fight was in full swing.

“Isn’t he something?” Sean whispered. “I figured he could kick some ass, but I wasn’t sure he could kick Hugo’s ass.”

Nicole flashed her brother a quick frown at his language, but her gaze was riveted on Lucas Devereaux and his opponent, boxing in the middle of the ring. As they danced around each other, the tall, muscular teenager’s darker-skinned body was drenched in perspiration. Lucas wasn’t even sweating.

“That’s a guy named Rodriquez,” Sean whispered. “He’s a real dick.”

“Sean …” she hissed softly. “Watch your language.” The school discouraged swearing, and Sean was usually good about it, but apparently, he considered this an exception to the rule.

“Mr. D is really good.”

She couldn’t argue with that. She wasn’t sure Rodriquez had landed a single blow. Lucas hit him with a couple of jabs that knocked the kid’s head back, then drove a solid punch into his stomach. With a soft whoosh of air, the kid doubled over.

Both men were wearing headgear, Lucas’s blows just hard enough to make it clear who was in control of the fight. Lucas was pulling his punches, careful not to do any serious damage. Hugo was definitely not of the same mind.

The kid swung a powerful punch that would have done some major damage, if it had connected. He swung again, came closer, but Lucas just danced away.

Both fighters were bare-chested; Hugo in athletic shorts, Lucas in a pair of jeans. Clearly, the encounter had not been planned. Nicole tried to ignore Lucas’s muscled shoulders, powerful biceps, and six-pack abs, but it was impossible to look away.

Two more jabs, followed by a hard right punch, sent Rodriquez into the ropes. He staggered and managed to get back on his feet, but he was wheeling around the ring, swaying back and forth, clearly defeated.

“Ring the bell,” Lucas commanded. “Fight’s over.”

One of Rodriquez’s friends helped him over to a stool in the corner and urged him to sit down.

“Dude, Coach gave you a real ass-whuppin’,” his friend said as Rodriquez pulled off his headgear and spit out his mouthpiece.

Lucas strode across the ring, stopping in front of them. “He doesn’t need to hear that from you, Montoya. Boxing’s a skill. Being good requires putting in a lot of work. It has nothing to do with having a set of balls. It’s a matter of technique.”

He waited until Rodriquez looked up at him. “You have everything you need to be exceptionally good at this, Hugo—if you’re willing to put in the work it takes to learn.”

Rodriquez tugged at the laces on his glove. “You really think I could be good … I mean, good as you?”

“I do. In school, I was always fighting. Sometimes I even won. I was lucky enough to run across a coach who was willing to teach me the skills required to make me a damn good boxer.”

Rodriguez said nothing, but Nicole could almost see his mind spinning.

“Let me know if you’re interested,” Lucas finished. He grabbed the white terry cloth towel one of the boys handed him and ducked out of the ring. Nicole watched as he mopped his face and draped the towel around his neck.

“We better get going,” she said to Sean, and turned to leave.

“Wait up!” Lucas called out, catching up with them.

Sean paused. “That was really somethin’, Coach.”

Lucas smiled at Sean. “Like I said, it’s mostly a matter of learning the right skills.” He looked at Nicole. “I don’t suppose you two would have time for an early supper before you head home?”

Nicole forced herself not to ogle Lucas’s gorgeous bare chest. He had a V-shaped body, wide shoulders, not too bulky, just lean muscle in all the right places. “I don’t know … We probably ought to—”

“Come on, sis. I wanna talk to Coach about the fight.”

Her gaze went to Lucas. “Are you sure about this?”

“If you can wait long enough for me to shower and get dressed. Won’t take long. You like pizza?”

“I love pizza!” Sean said.

Nicole smiled. “So do I. Looks like we’re having pizza for supper.”

“I’ll make it quick,” Lucas promised. “Be right back.” He left them standing near the door of the gym.

“Told you he likes you,” Sean said.

“He’s probably just being nice.”

“Sure, he is. I might be your brother, but I’m also a guy. I know how guys think.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if Lucas and I went out on a date? What would your friends say?”

Sean frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Disappointment filtered through her. “Well, it’s only pizza, so you really don’t have to worry.”

Sean made no reply. Nicole figured that was answer enough. Even if Lucas asked her out, she couldn’t go. Sean had to come first. She had accepted that when she had become his guardian. In return, she had been given the gift of her brother’s love—and learned how to give love in return.

Perhaps she and Lucas could just be friends. More than that was a bad idea. She couldn’t afford to have a man in her life while she was trying to raise her brother.

She told herself it didn’t matter.

It hadn’t. Until she’d met Lucas Devereaux.

Lucas walked out of the gym, his dark hair still damp, and they headed for the parking lot.

He led them over to a gunmetal-gray Jeep Wrangler and they all piled in.

As Lucas started the engine and pulled out of the lot, Nicole reminded herself it was only pizza, just a short trip to a place called Rosa’s Italian.

“I’ll get us a table,” Sean volunteered as soon as the Jeep pulled up in front. He jumped out before the engine was even turned off.

Nicole smiled. Her brother had plenty of energy—that was for sure. She cracked the passenger door and started to climb out, but Lucas was already there, helping her down from the seat.

“I’ve been hoping for a minute alone with you,” he said. “I need to ask a favor.”

She looked up at him, tried not to think how handsome he was, tried to ignore the little hum of attraction racing through her. “What kind of favor?”

“If it’s too short notice, it’s no big deal. I should have asked when I was out at Belle Reve last Saturday.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a black-tie affair tomorrow night in honor of the mayor. All the Baton Rouge notables will be there. Which means some major donors to the center. I have to go. I might actually enjoy myself if you would go with me. Is there a chance you could make it?”

She wanted to go, she realized. She wanted to see him in other circumstances besides their connection through the youth center. She wanted to pursue the attraction that grew stronger every time she was with him.

“What about Sean?” she asked.

“You think he’ll object?”

Would he? “No, but it might cause him problems at school.”

“I don’t talk about my personal life at the center. If you’re worried about it, why don’t you tell him you’re doing me a favor. I needed a date on short notice, and you agreed to help.”

She mulled that over. “I’d never lie to him, but I guess that’s pretty much the truth.”

When the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile, a little curl of heat slid into her stomach.

“Yes, it is,” he agreed.

“Okay, then. I’ll be your last-minute date to the party.”

“Great. I appreciate it. I’ll pick you up at seven, if that’s okay. That should give us plenty of time to get there.”

“All right, seven o’clock. So where are we going?”

“The party’s in Mallard Lakes, at Phillipe Villard’s estate.” He cast her a glance. “I didn’t tell you?”