10. Lucky

10

LUCKY

W ho the hell am I?

I mean seriously, who is this asshole who went all of a decade without once acting on his feelings but after a serious heart-to-heart and swapping of scars, can’t seem to stop touching and kissing this amazing woman?

Oh right, I’m a guy who’s been in love with her for thirteen fucking years, and without her the last three.

Yup. That’s who I am now. I’m that guy.

And right now, I’m so lost in this kiss, so lost in Leo, I don’t hear her front door swing open until Mark’s voice booms into the space around us.

“Lucy, I’m hoooo shit...” he hollers in his worst Ricky Ricardo impersonation before he stops dead in his tracks, his jaw basically hitting the floor as Pete and Norm crash into him, all three loaded down with grocery bags they drop.

I immediately straighten up and shove Leo behind me since she’s standing here in nothing but her bra and incredibly short sleep shorts, and after her reaction to me seeing her scars, I doubt Leo is ready for them to.

“Dude, you fit through this door earlier, there is no reason you can’t now,” Pete grumbles as he shoves him forward a bit. “Fucking go, man…”

He looks over Mark’s shoulder and sees the two of us in a slightly compromising position; the piano is out, so is most of Leo’s skin, her shirt is on the bench, and we are pretty much glued together.

Bet they weren’t expecting to walk in on that.

Before I can even open my mouth, Leo reaches around me and snatches her shirt then bolts up the stairs to her bedroom.

“Nice, guys. Really,” I scold with a grin on my face as I move to help with their bags.

“Dude, if we would have thought, I mean, if we had any idea...” Norm’s words trail off as he sets his bags on the counter. “Man, Luck, you gotta know.”

“Know what? That the three of you have about as much tact as a herd of elephants? Yeah, I know that.” I smile and shake my head. “What exactly do you think was happening?”

“Well, I mean, it looked like... you know... it looked... Luck, man we had no idea you were gonna move that fast. I mean—” Mark is practically tripping over himself as he tries to grab the fruit now rolling all over the floor, his denial barely masked by ignorance.

“You’re so full of shit,” Pete says as he sets his bags on the counter. “We all are if we thought something like this wouldn’t happen so fast, but I didn’t, neither did you, and it’s about damn time we fucking solidify things so our girl knows she can’t push us away again.” He’s so nonchalant that Mark and Norm are shocked silent, especially when Pete shoots me the don’t fuck this up and we’ll talk later looks before he heads to the door. “You guys coming? There’s more shit to grab outta the beast.”

The two slowly shuffle behind him and as soon as the front door closes, I make quick work of the stairs, basically running up them to check on Leo.

Who greets me with a small smile from her place on the floor, her knees to her chest, her entire body wrapped in her comforter.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I plop down next to her. “I didn’t think they’d be back anytime soon. Or that they had a way to get in. If I’d have known, I wouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry I put you in that position, I just, I’ve waited so damn long to know what it was like to kiss you and I didn’t want to stop. I shouldn’t have put you in that position, though.”

Leo lets out a nervous laugh and gives me the side eye. “What are you talking about?”

“They saw us. Saw me kissing you. At least Mark did, I’m not sure about the other guys.” I run my hand through my hair anxiously because whether they saw or not, this isn’t news to them and once Mark gets his head out of his ass, everyone will be relieved. Leo is a different story, though. “I know I’m not something to be proud of, not even in front of those baboons.” I laugh at my self-depreciating comment and give her a nudge, hopefully to throw her off the scent.

Even if part of me does feel that way.

I haven’t talked to another girl since my face got destroyed.

I tried, don’t get me wrong, I went on a bit of a bender for a while and had a fuck Leo out of my system phase but by the twentieth time I got shot down with a look of yeah fucking right, I gave up. I’m not proud of that, especially when I was shit-faced and crying to Pete about how we’ll never have babies without Leo, but he managed to knock the sense back into me once I sobered up. He’s definitely why I give less shits about how I look than I did right after everything happened.

Even still, I know I’m not pretty to look at, it’s been pounded into my skull by more than my own stupidity. My mother and brother like to bring it up every time I see them, and they really drill the point home that my freakishly large body now has a face to match. So, I get it, trust me.

Leo stares at me for a hot second but says nothing, then she surprises the hell out of me with what she does next.

She knocks my knees down, straddles my lap, and wraps me in the comforter with her.

“Now you listen to me and you listen good, Lucius Louis De la Grange.” Leo cups my cheeks and looks me dead in the eye. “I bolted because I didn’t want them to see me, and I don’t mean see me kissing you. I didn’t want them to see these.”

She glances down at her scars and validates what I did earlier while confirming what I thought.

Leo also managed to lift my deflating ego with that too because it helps knowing she doesn’t see me as some sideshow attraction.

“I don’t think you understand how incredible you are.” Her fingers grip my cheeks a little tighter before her thumbs smooth under my eyes. “The qualities that made me fall in love with you, things like your passion and loyalty, your sense of humor and intelligence, even your most boring interests like golf and spoken word vinyl.” I roll my eyes at that because Leo has always given me shit for those but she stops until I look at her. “The list of things I love about you is endless. It’s just an added bonus that everything about this”—Leo motions to all of me— “just oozes sex appeal. And this scar, this beautiful, fantastic scar is a constant reminder of how fiercely you protect those you love. There isn’t one thing about you, Lucky, that would make me feel like I had to hide my feelings for you from anyone. Especially those baboons .”

Then Leo leans forward, bites my lip with a grin, and kisses the ever-loving shit out of me.

“Wait, what did you just say?” I blink as I jerk my head back, my face breaking out into a strange smile. I probably look nuts but I have a fantastic reason for that.

Leo holds back a laugh as she tilts her head. “Which part? I was monologue-ing.”

“The part where you said you were in love with me.”

My heart is pounding. The hope and confusion I’m feeling is threatening to have the damn thing flying right out of my chest.

Even as I watch her turn a deep shade of red and gnaw on her lip before she leans forward to kiss me again, nice and fucking slow this time.

“Goddamnit, why did it take so long for this to happen?” I ask as I wrap my arms around her and press my forehead to hers. “Say it again.”

“Say what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I open my mouth to tell her to quit being a smart ass when the front door opens again.

“We are in the apartment! We are setting things down and then we are going to get the last of the food from the beast.” Mark sounds like a goddamn robot, yelling his stupid warning through the loft. “Please do not stop what you are doing on account of us! Just know we will be back to make dinner in fifteen minutes. Ok, maybe more like twenty because I am too fat to go up and down the stairs this many times. All inappropriate activities must cease upon our return so we can commence forth with nourishment. Thank you!”

I look at Leo for a beat then we both bust up laughing.

“He’s an idiot.”

“I’m in love with you.”

I smile bigger than I have in three years. “Can I hear it just one more time, please?”

“ Je t’aime avec tout ce que je suis,” she whispers against my lips.

I love you with everything that I am.

And she said it in fucking French.

Leo’s hands slide down my neck and move over my chest, across my stomach to finally rest on my sides. And despite the worry etched on her pretty face, or the fact that we now have a lot more to talk about, my dick springs to life at a most inopportune time.

Her eyes snap to mine, and all I can do is laugh. “Sorry, cakes, can’t help it. You just said words I’ve waited years to hear while putting your hands on me, and my dick has always been one of your biggest fans. Not trying to scare you, just can’t help my reaction.”

Leo gives me a quick peck on the lips and goes to stand, but I grab her hips and hold her in place.

God, I need to get some food in her.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Leo? I can see it written all over your face. Something is bugging you.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Leonor...”

“I don’t want to ruin this,” she groans. “I just got you back, Lucky, and I’m terrified I’m going to fuck this up. It’s one thing to lose you as a friend, but it’s something else entirely to lose you as more. I don’t want either of those things.”

I push her hair out of her eyes and give her a soft smile. “You don’t want this?” Or she doesn’t want me?

“God, Lucky, that’s not what I meant. I have wanted you, wanted this for so long.” Leo chews her lip again as her nose scrunches in thought. “I just don’t want to ruin us . There is still so much we haven’t talked about, so much you need to know, and I’m scared shitless that when you find out, you’ll want nothing to do with me. As a friend or otherwise.”

“Baby cakes, now that I’m back, wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

“You say that now but that’s just because I’m straddling your hard-on.”

I chuckle and shake my head. She isn’t quite there yet, but this woman is back on track to becoming herself again. The woman we all love so goddamn much.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Leo. We can take it slow; you can set the pace. Just please don’t stop this before we have a chance to start something so fucking phenomenal and see where it goes.” I tip her chin up to look her in the eyes. “And whatever you do, please do not stop kissing me. We can go slow in every other way but for the love of God, do not stop kissing me.”

She sits quietly for a few minutes then smiles and gives me a nod. “I don’t necessarily think we have to go at a snail’s pace, but the last twenty-four hours have been way more than I’ve handled in a very long time. You’re going to have to bear with me on everything, and know I can’t make you any promises, not right now. But I will not shut this down, I will set the pace.” Leo leans forward and kisses me again. “And I will not stop kissing you. I like it way too much.”

“Thank fuck for that.”

With a grin that makes my insides flip—and my cock twitch, let’s be real here—Leo grabs my hands and sets them on my stomach. “I need to shower.”

“Company?” I wag my eyebrows and laugh as she stands, her face and neck turning the darkest shade of red.

Yep, Leo’s thinking about me naked.

And I really fucking like it.

“Not this time, honey. We only have twenty minutes, remember?”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” And twenty minutes isn’t nearly enough time to explore the fantasy I’ve jerked off to more times than I’d like to admit over the last thirteen years.

Including a couple days ago.

Leo walks over to the dresser and removes her go-to sleeveless t-shirt and leggings as she rolls her eyes. “At least now I know sitting on you like that is no longer an option.”

“Nope.” I crack up as I get to my feet because fuck, I’m so happy I could pop. “You still have that drawer of my stuff?”

“Bottom left corner.”

Just like always.

I wait for her to shut the door and take off down the stairs in time for the boys to come strolling in.

“Hey,” I say, quickly grabbing a beer from Pete. “I need you guys to do me a favor.”

Mark smirks at me as he sets two cases of spring water down in Leo’s pantry. “Didn’t our girl just do you one?”

Pete arches a brow at me, cocking his head to the side while shooting me a look that says we really need to talk, and Norm just smiles.

God, this is going to be such a pain in the ass.

“No. Not that it’s any of your business right now, but I need you to do something for me.”

“You don’t want us to be weird in front of Leo,” Norm says with a shrug as he grabs a beer from Pete, too.

I just blink. Sometimes I forget we all know how Leo works, and that’s why she belongs to all of us, whether everyone is on board yet or not.

“Yeah. I mean, you guys don’t have to act like we aren’t together or whatever, but don’t bring up what you saw when you walked in or make any stupid comments to her. Her whole hermit lifestyle has been completely flipped upside down the last couple days, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to make her shut us out again. This is a huge step for her, us being here, and it changes things. I don’t want to lose her again.”

“Neither do we,” Pete grunts. “We aren’t going to be weird unless you make it weird.”

I lift my brow in question.

The four of us can get super weird without even trying, so I’m not really sure that makes me feel any better about keeping things normal.

“Are you guys gonna fuck in front of us without an invite?” He deadpans.

“Um, no. That wasn’t even a thing during the dark years .”

The dark years being how we refer to the two year stretch when the five of us got real heavy into drugs and partying. There was a lot of nudity, a lot of sloppiness, and a lot of throwing any morals we may have had out the fucking window, but we never got to the point of fucking groupies or whoever in front of each other without being polite about it.

Except the one time I walked in on some chick giving Pete a blow job right as he came in her mouth. We couldn’t make eye contact with each other for like four days after that.

It did not stop me from giving him shit for his O face or the size of his dick, however. Which is pretty damn funny to think back on now, all things considered.

“Then we won’t be weird unless you guys are.” Pete shrugs and takes a swig of his beer before pointing it at me. “But you need to talk to her sooner than later.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting a few details when you guys finally do get it on.” Mark grins as he ignores what Pete just said. “I bet Leo is a freak.”

This I do know, but I don’t tell them that. Especially when everything Mark says about this shit has a bite to it I’m not a huge fan of. I get it, but I don’t have to like it. Same as he doesn’t need to know what our girl is into until he’s ready to accept everything that goes with it.

Leo has confided in me more than once that her kink has ended up a problem for her on more than one occasion. She’s had a couple of guys break up with her after she got comfortable enough to open up about her interest in what she referred to as light bondage, and eventually she gave up trying. Apparently not everyone is into blindfolds, restraints, and wooden paddles.

I won’t knock what anyone else is or isn’t into, but I’ll never understand someone making their partner feel like shit for it.

And I’m not sorry to say that I probably asked for more details than necessary about what it was Leo was trying to introduce into her relationships. I always hated hearing about the guys she dated, but I loved listening to her paint the picture of our badass sweet girl bound and gagged while she waited to get fucked. I just always substituted the douche bag she was seeing for me.

Total spank bank material.

I clear my throat and try to stop thinking about fucking Leo because we just got her back and I’m already thinking with my dick like an asshole . “Just remember that we’ve all been through some shit and she doesn’t handle it well. Leo needs us to keep things as normal as possible right now, and I doubt a different kind of relationship between any of us will make that more difficult. So don’t prove me wrong.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Mark says as he gives me a sarcastic salute.

Dumbass .

“I need to make a phone call. Behave yourselves.”

On that, I leave them to put away enough groceries to feed at least three of Pete, and head upstairs to change.

I grab my phone from the nightstand and start rummaging through my drawer as I dial Franc.

“What do you want?” he barks into the phone as I pull out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

“Well hello to you too, big brother. Thanks for the heartfelt greeting.” I grin and double-check that Leo is still in the bathroom then drop my pants.

I don’t wear underwear.

Haven’t since I’ve been able to dress myself, and I don’t want the first time Leo sees me totally naked to be while I awkwardly try to put on super tight jeans I’m not sure I still fit into while talking on the phone.

“I don’t have time for your shit, Lucius. Just cut to the chase,” Franc huffs down the line.

God, he is such a dickhead.

“I need a favor.” I pin the phone between my ear and shoulder while I attempt to pull on denim that may or may not split any second. My obsessive working out definitely makes this a hell of a lot harder.

“I don’t owe you a favor.”

“No, but I’m asking anyway.” Tucking my junk uncomfortably into the black jeans, I finally manage to get the fuckers zipped. “I need you to look into someone for me.”

Franc pauses, and I brace myself for what’s coming. “Does this have anything to do with school? Are you working on an assignment or something?”

I roll my eyes and pull my t-shirt off.

About a year ago, I finally enrolled in the law program at one of the local colleges. Franc’s a cop, and my mother always tried to pressure me into following in his footsteps to some degree, and for some reason I caved. Really she wanted me to become a lawyer because even though Franc is her pride and joy, she never approved of his career path. Too dangerous, too common, and just not good enough. Franc kept trying though, and once I was old enough, he started pressuring me as much as Mama to get into law.

I hated it, hated school in general, and I definitely didn’t want to follow in Franc’s small-ass footsteps. I knew from the time I was little that music was it for me, that I’d end up doing something with my passion whether it made money or not. I was just fortunate enough to find four other people who shared that same dream and do something fucking amazing with it.

But when Leo ghosted on us, I decided I had to do something other than wait around for her to get her head out of her ass. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely not my preference but after two years I figured enough was enough, and I needed to fill my time with something. So, I started taking night classes and my family fucking flipped, thrilled I finally started to do something with my life because apparently touring the U.S. and earning two platinum albums makes me a bum.

“I dropped out.”

Silence.

“Franc, you there?”

“Where are you right now?”

I roll my eyes. “Are you gonna help me or not?”

After a solid thirty seconds of swearing in Italian, Franc finally asks, “Who are you looking into?”

“Do you know anything about the guy funding the restoration at the Bissonnette plantation? Where he came from, what his story is?”

“I know he isn’t from New Orleans, but that’s about it. Why do you want me to run him?”

I’m not entirely sure how to answer that.

I got pretty pissed listening to Leo recount her run-in with the bastard, but that’s not enough to run a background check on the guy. I just can’t seem to shake this feeling that he’s not on the up and up.

I mean, who moves to a new city and all of the sudden decides to fund a project that’s going to cost upwards of a million dollars for no real reason? How can he even afford that? Why would he want to do it in the first place?

“I’m just curious, I guess.”

My brother scoffs, “It doesn’t have anything to do with a redheaded bitch who happens to know the groundskeepers at that very plantation, does it?”

Oh yeah, and my dickhead brother absolutely hates Leo. It’s about ninety percent of the reason we don’t talk anymore.

The shower cuts off, and I turn away from the door, lowering my voice as I do. “You gonna do this for me or not?”

“I’ll do it. Give me a few days, and I’ll get you what you need.”

Damn right he will.

Franc may not think he owes me, but he has thirty-six years of being a shitty big brother to make up for.

PETE

“That bother you?”

My eyes shift from the staircase to Mark as soon as Luck is out of sight, and I hold his stare while I take a drink of my beer, carefully thinking over my response.

He’s asking a very specific question, one that relates directly to what he ignored earlier, and I don’t feel like getting into this right now.

Lucky and I have been together since about a week before they were attacked. As in, together together; in love, sharing his condo, and having outstanding sex for the better part of the last three years.

We told Mark and Norman almost as soon as we realized that the best friendship we’ve had since we were little kids was a hell of a lot more—denial definitely wasn’t a river in Egypt when it came to the two of us—but that was more or less because they walked in on us and forced our hand.

For all the times we’ve seen each other bang any number of people, getting on our tour bus to find Luck and I in the master bedroom making out up against the wall, my hand down his pants, his down mine, brutally jerking each other off while we were halfway through changing for the show was a surprise to them.

Eh, maybe not a surprise necessarily, but I don’t think Mark or Norm expected it, and momentarily awkward or not, it made it easier to talk about with them.

Lucky has always been way more open about his sexuality than most of us, save for maybe Leo. He knew he was bisexual before we hit puberty, and he was never shy about it, except with his mother and brother. And shy isn’t really the word I’d use to describe his attitude over the way they reacted whenever he showed interest in a male. Pissed off is more like it, even when he’d come to my house upset and hurt over the way they treated him.

All of us knew going in that Lucky proudly batted for both teams, Leo included, and it never changed anything about our dynamic as a band, or a family. It was just normal, the way that shit should always be.

Lucky had his pick of groupies, Leo too for that matter since she’s been with almost as many women as she has men, and I’m pretty fucking sure Norm has a thing for all of us and has for a long time. He’s never said as much, and I’m not sure he ever will, but I can see it written all over his face at times.

Mark, on the other hand? I have my theories and if anything, he’s probably in the same boat I was.

I did not embrace my sexuality or my one hundred percent authentic self until we were in our fucking thirties.

I was raised in a pretty conservative, religious, single parent household, and while my mama had an unwavering faith in God, she never would have judged me or loved me any less if I told her what was going on. So, I can’t blame my perception of being attracted to whoever made me happy regardless of gender on my upbringing, nor can I blame it for how hard I fought the fact that’s who I was.

What it came down to was, I was the man of our house after my dad split when my mom was pregnant with my baby sister and living paycheck to paycheck meant I had to grow the fuck up and act like it.

That’s what I thought and tried to do for a long fucking time.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t see someone’s gender when I looked at them, I only saw what I found attractive inside and out, and it sure as fuck didn’t matter that I’d been in love with my best friend since I understood the feeling.

Until one day, I had enough.

Lucky was flirting with everyone as usual—he was a huge flirt before the attack, and a lot more confident in himself—and the minute I had him alone, I flirted back.

I was done fucking around, done waiting for my feelings to go away or change, and I took a chance, a huge risk in my eyes, by doing something ridiculously out of character by actually making a pass at Lucky. One that surprised him for sure, but it made him happy as hell.

Honestly, he seemed relieved.

Because my best friend was in love with me too.

But then there was Leo.

We knew she’d accept us, knew it wasn’t even going to move her meter, but Luck had been just as hung up on her as he was me apparently, and he was pretty worried about how that was going to play into a relationship he and I started.

Fortunately for him, I’ve been hooked on that fiery little redhead almost as long as he has.

So, we decided together that we were going to tell her about us, and how we felt about her after our ten-year anniversary show. It’s why Lucky was going to meet her backstage the night that bastard tried to take her away from all of us. The way Leo felt about him was clear, we’d all seen it for a long time, and knowing she had feelings for Luck meant it would be easier for him to talk to her about everything.

But we were never given the chance.

We’ve waited for three fucking years, and we both knew if the opportunity ever presented itself again, Lucky would tell Leo how he felt, tell her about our relationship, then ask her to be with both of us because that’s how things should fucking be.

Almost.

So, no.

It doesn’t bother me.

I’m impatient as hell and worried the other shoe is going to drop before we have that talk, but I’m not upset Luck hasn’t mentioned our relationship to Leo yet. It’s barely been forty-eight hours since her world imploded, and dropping all these bombs has to be done with finesse.

If not, we will lose Leonor again.

“It bother you ?” I arch a brow and cross my arms against my chest, my beer bottle dangling between my fingers as I present Mark with a small challenge.

The conversation I don’t want to have with him?

It’s the one where he’s almost overly supportive of Lucky and I, soapboxes about how people who love us—like my sisters— should know and be on board, people who don’t like it—like Franc—should fuck off, and then argues with me over why none of that actually matters. He isn’t wrong but I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about my relationships with anyone, and I think it’s all Mark’s way of deflecting and overcompensating at the same time for his own conflicting feelings. Which he hates getting called out on, and ultimately shuts down and disappears for a couple of days when I do it.

That’s the one, and until he wants to own up to his shit, I’m done having it.

“No,” Mark says as he visibly gears up to get into it. “I just think?—"

“There’s someone outside Leo’s door.”

We both turn toward Norm, who’s crouching by her front door, his ear pressed against it while he lifts a finger for us to be quiet.

Which is stupid since he just blurted that out while he was creeping, but whatever. Norm had to interrupt our argument before it started, so I can’t really fault him.

Mark and I set down our beers before we slowly make our way over, tiptoeing like fucking cartoon characters as if whoever is out there is going to hear us and still break in.

I gently push Norman out of the way and take his place, and sure as shit, when I lean toward the heavy, old as fuck wooden door, I can hear someone in the hall.

Looking between the two of them, I pause briefly to think about what I’m going to do.

The three of us are felons for what happened three years ago. We did different amounts of time and our charges varied, but we have that stain on our permanent records because of how we handled shit. And even though I know we’d do the exact same thing all over in order to protect our family, I don’t want Norman or Mark to have to deal with the justice system again.

Too bad the shit we found in Leo’s junk drawer has us spooked enough to consider we might have to.

I look at them a little longer, Mark staring past me at the door like he’s going to magically develop X-ray vision, Norm nervously rolling his lip over his teeth enough times to peel the skin off. Guess it’s gonna have to be me.

Which is fine.

I’ll go down in flames for any one of these fuckers, and you better believe there won’t be an ounce of hesitation in my bones if I have to kill for my princess again.

With a smirk—because Leo hates it when I call her that, but it’s been my nickname for her since we met—I lift my finger to my lips to keep these asshats quiet then do a three count before I whip the front door open and basically roar.

Right in the face of a prepubescent teenage boy.

“I’m sorry!” he yelps as he jumps backwards. “I-I didn’t know anyone was home, I was just delivering this!”

The kid throws a rolled-up newspaper at me before he takes off running, his skinny legs carrying him toward the stairs so fast he almost falls down the first two.

“Sorry,” Norm says with a sigh as I close the door. “I thought?—"

“You’re good, man. I get it.” I pat him on the back as I walk into the living room, staring down at the physical newspaper I didn’t think anyone got anymore, let alone Leo. Weird. “You think paperboys make decent money?”

Mark chuckles as he smooths out his beard. “I didn’t think being a paperboy was still a possibility in the days of online everything.”

Nodding my agreement, I unfold it with a shake to see what’s happening, but when I do, a bunch of the inserts and ads fall out of the middle. And because I know Lucky will have a coronary if he comes downstairs to what he considers a mess , I bend to start picking up, only to freeze.

There’s a photo mixed in with all that shit.

An 8 x 10 glossy in black and white, and it’s a picture of the five of us.

It’s not just any picture, though.

This one happens to be of the five of us from yesterday , standing in the goddamn parking structure right after Norm almost burned his pants off.

And all five pairs of eyes are blacked out in sharpie.