𝘿𝙀𝘾𝙀𝙋𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃

09. rail me

RAIL ME

"Luke... Hey! Didn't see you there." Michael says, followed by a nervous chuckle as he wipes imaginary sweat from his forehead.

"Considering I just flew over your car, I think that's pretty fucking obvious." Luke grumbles as Calum pulls him to his feet.

His friends, plus Lila, had been gone much longer than they said they would be, and Luke was walking to his car to go look for them when he was knocked on his ass.

"When I was in preschool my parents taught me to look both ways before crossing the street. You should take that into consideration next time!" Lila, whose head is poking through the car window, shouts with a smile.

The blond mentally gives her the finger before scowling and turning his back to her. "What the hell took you so long?" Frustration seeps through him, the veins in his arms tensing as he crosses his arms.

An uneasy smile pulls at Calum's lips. "We sort of had a... situation."

As if on cue, Ashton gets out of the car and drops to his knees.

Lila looks as if she could puke, and Luke finds amusement in the clear discomfort on her face.

"Sorry!" I thought I'd be able to hold you up. I didn't realize how, um, slippery you would be." She winces at the half-conscious boy and stretches her hand out to him before Luke pushes her aside and pulls Ashton to his feet.

Luke, like Calum, doesn't even blink as his close friend is seen injured and bloody before him. He asks a quick, "You good?" and Ashton gives a weak nod in response, which is good enough for Luke.

He gets handed off to Calum and Michael, with Luke instructing them to take care of the boy.

Lila intends to follow suit until a large hand is preventing her from moving. Luke's grip on her arm freezes her in place as he looks right through her.

"Uh hey... you're bleeding." Lila nods to his arm which has a nasty case of road rash plus a gash about two inches long.

"Blood doesn't bother me. I kind of like it." He continues to stare at her, at how out of her element she is and the color of crimson that coats her hands.

She gulps. "Right, yeah. I guess it's a pretty color–"

"Did you set this up?" He asks, his gaze harsh.

Lila is taken back by his accusation. Luke thinks she got Ashton stabbed? Is this guy on drugs? When would she have had the time or resources to orchestrate something like this? When she was locked in a basement? Lila doesn't think so.

"Is that a joke? Do I look like a girl who could pull off something like that?" She asks with a deep furrow in her eyebrows before continuing. "I mean, I know my muscles are huge and all..." Lila takes a moment to flex her arms and realize huge may have been an exaggeration.

Lila doesn't know whether to be insulted that Luke thinks she would ever hurt somebody like that or flattered that he thinks she's capable of pulling that off.

"Guess not. You are exceptionally weak. As for your muscles," he snickers, "I could snap your arm in half like a toothpick." His eyes fall on her noodle arms as he walks backwards and pins them, her, to the side of Michael's car.

"You intrigue me." He murmurs, looking down at her.

Lila swallows, her mouth going dry. "I'm not that interesting."

"Funny." With a flicker of a smile and a gaze that never wavered, he continues. "Uninteresting people generally don't have to say that."

The girl's brain seemed to stop functioning when Luke got closer to her. Her chest heaved up and down and her breathing quickened. If he took one step closer, she'd be mesmerized.