LOGINRefugeLUCAS“No.”Nico blinked. “No, what?”“Whatever you’re thinking.”“I wasn’t thinking about anything.”“That,” I said, “is a fucking lie.”Nine years of knowing this man, his thoughts revolved around two things. Cash and Dicks. Yes, plural. Dicks. Dicks from all races.No shades to any race.His smile widened. Those blue eyes—doe-soft, stupidly pretty—caught the light the way they always did. That was the first thing that had gotten me, years ago. Those eyes. I’d been nineteen and all I wanted to do was shove my dick down his throat and watch those eyes tear up.I was not nineteen anymore.I was also, apparently, not immune, because my dick is bricking up in my pants. It just clocked in my head that I haven't gotten laid in a while. That should be the vivid reason for my annoyance. I rubbed my temple, feeling my traitorous dick throb in my pants. The music from the club floor pulsed faintly through the floorboards—low and rhythmic, like a second heartbeat beneath our feet.
Refuge LUCAS I drove fast when I was angry. Faster when I couldn’t figure out why. This afternoon was definitely the second one, which was significantly more annoying. The Bugatti tore through London like it had somewhere important to be. I didn’t, technically. But the car didn’t need to know that. The city lights smeared into gold ribbons outside the windows and I kept my foot down and my thoughts exactly where I didn’t want them — back at that garage. Back at Shaw’s face when the woman said triple my premiums like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Which it was. That was the irritating part. I drummed my fingers against the wheel. I wasn’t the one who got rejected. I wasn’t the parolee. I wasn’t the one rebuilding from scratch with an ankle bracelet and a rap sheet and a roof that didn’t belong to him. None of that was me. I had a Bugatti and a trust fund and a father who despised me and a life that looked excellent from the outside. So why had I left
Dead EndsSHAW“He’s fit for the job.”For one stupid second, I let myself believe it.Then Mateo’s mother kept talking.“But I’m not hiring somebody on parole.”There it was. That familiar drop in my chest, the one that came every single time hope decided to show up uninvited. I should’ve stopped letting it in. It never stayed long enough to matter.Lucas frowned beside me. “Why?”She looked at him like he was asking an obvious question. With patience and looking slightly tired. She wiped grease from her hands with an old rag and said it plainly.“My insurance company doesn’t care if your friend’s trying to turn his life around. They see felony convictions and they triple my premiums.”Lowering my head, I squeezed my eyes short. This was way past her judging me. This was a fact.I stood there staring at the stained concrete floor while something hot crawled up the back of my neck. Something quieter and uglier than anger.Of course.Insurance. Background checks. Liability. Risk asses
First ImpressionsSHAWLucas Hale’s Bugatti met my expectations, of course. I sat stiffly in the passenger seat trying very hard not to touch anything unnecessarily because every surface looked expensive enough to sue me personally if I damaged it. The leather seats were smooth black with blue stitching. The dashboard glowed softly beneath tinted glass. Even the air-conditioning smelled expensive somehow.How does air smell expensive?Rich people were terrifying.Meanwhile, Lucas looked completely at home behind the wheel like he was born inside luxury vehicles and personally breastfed by capitalism.“This car should honestly be illegal,” I muttered.Lucas smirked without taking his eyes off the road.“It practically is.”The engine purred beneath us like something alive.No, not purred.It literally growled.The Bugatti felt less like a car and more like a very wealthy predator.Lucas tapped the steering wheel lazily before suddenly accelerating hard.My entire body slammed back aga
Equal ClassSHAWLucas stood so abruptly that it startled me.He was sprawled comfortably across the lawn taking unauthorized pictures of my suffering one second ago. And the next, he was on his feet clutching his phone dramatically against his chest like a Victorian woman protecting her virtue.“Absolutely not,” he declared.I blinked up at him from the grass. “What?”“You’re going to ruin this phone too.”I stared at him in disbelief.“You smashed your phone yourself.”Lucas pointed at me immediately. “You caused the circumstances.”“I did not. You slammed me into a wall!”“And yet somehow my screen still suffered most.”“That’s because you launched it across the bathroom like a fucking frisbee!”Lucas narrowed his eyes at me thoughtfully.“You’re unusually argumentative for someone unemployed.”I scoffed loudly and pushed myself upright from the grass. “You’re insane.”“And you’re still jobless. Shut the fuck up and focus.”I hated that he always found my loops to pull on them.Lu
Professional RecommendationsLUCASI probably should not have helped Shaw Carter rebuild his life.That felt important to acknowledge.There were several reasons for this.First: he was technically an ex-felon with anger issues and prison trauma.Second: I was me.Third—and honestly most importantly—I was originally supposed to hate him properly and consistently.Instead, I was currently sitting shirtless beside him on the Hale family lawn while he held together the torn remains of his résumé like a grieving widow.Life came at you fast.“I might know how to help you,” I said.Immediately, Shaw narrowed his eyes at me like I’d announced plans to sell him illegally on the dark web.Fair.“Why do you look evil when you say helpful things?” he asked suspiciously.“That’s just my face.”“No, it’s not.”“It absolutely is.”He squinted harder.The sunlight caught against his hair annoyingly well today. His green eyes looked brighter outside. Softer too. Prison stripped a lot out of him, but







