Lukas (Ashes & Embers 3)

I run my hand through my hair and rub my eyes. “Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m at a party, and the asshole I came with took off with some bimbo and left me here. I have no ride home.”

“Shit. Did you call your mom?”

“We had a fight this morning. She didn’t want me to come to the party, but I came anyway. I can’t call her now, or she’ll freak out, and I can’t call my dad. You know what a jerk he can be.”

I blow out a frustrated breath. “Fine, I’ll come get you and you can crash here, but your mom stops by in the mornings sometimes so we can have coffee together. She’s going to see you here.”

“That’s fine. I’ll deal with it then. She won’t yell as much if we’re at your place. Please, just don’t tell her about the drinking part, okay?”

“Fine, but you’re going to tell her yourself tomorrow. I’m not gonna keep secrets from your mother.”

“You’re the best! Thank you. Lemme give you the address of where I am.”

I throw on some clothes and drive half an hour to pick her up at some house in the ghetto. Drunk kids are stumbling all over the front lawn, reminding me of my own party episodes back in the day. Ivy would freak if she knew Macy was hanging out here.

“Who the hell is this kid that left you here?” I ask her when she gets in the car. “And don’t puke in my ’Vette.”

“He’s just some asshole.”

I pull the car back out into the street and head for home. “Macy, you can’t just be running off to parties with guys, and getting drunk. You could get yourself in a lot of trouble. This is a bad neighborhood.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Seriously? Are you going to lecture me?”

I glance over at her and shake my head. “Yes, I am. Don’t do stupid shit.”

She goes into hysterics. “You would make the best dad, Lukas. Really.”

“Thanks, kiddo. I’m fucking exhausted. I worked all day, ya know. Next time you need a ride, call me earlier.”

“Okay.”

“How much did you have to drink?”

“A few beers and some shots of Jack Daniels.”

“Listen to me, Macy. I know you’re going to college soon, and it’s gonna be party central, but I want you to keep your head together, okay? Don’t drink and do drugs. Trust me. I did that shit when I was your age, and it’s only fun for like a week. Then it sucks ass.”

“Duly noted.”

“I’m serious.”

“Okay, okay. My head hurts. Stop talking.”

“It’ll hurt worse tomorrow.”

“Oh, joy.”

When we get to my house, she stumbles directly to Ray’s cage. “Macy, don’t get him started, please,” I say, not in the mood to hear Ray babbling all night. “He knows he’s supposed to be quiet at night.”

“But I love him!”

“I’m a pretty bird,” Ray says.

“Yes, you are! You’re amazing.”

“I love you.”

She sways and grabs onto his cage. “I love you, too, Ray. You’d make such a great boyfriend if you weren’t a bird.”

“You’re so hawt,” Ray squawks back. Jesus Christ. I have to stop fooling around with Ivy downstairs.

Macy starts to giggle and almost knocks his cage over. “I love this fucking bird.”

I grab her arm and gently tug her away. “Come on. It’s late. We don’t need to have drunk conversations with the bird.”

“Whatever,” she snaps, pulling her arm away from me.

I get her some water and asprin from the kitchen, and hand them to her when I return to the living room, where she’s staring intently at one of my drawings on the wall. “Drink some water and take this. Are you sure you don’t want to call your mom?

“Yes. She’s just gonna yell at me. She thinks I’m staying at Shelly’s.”

“Come on, then. I’ll set you up in the guest room, and we’ll deal with this tomorrow. It’s almost three A.M. I need to get some sleep, and you should, too.”

She follows me upstairs to the guest room, babbling, “Oh my God, all these stairs. Why do you have so many stairs?”

“All the sheets are clean,” I say, ignoring the drunken talk. This is exactly why I don’t like dating girls my age or younger. Most of them party and act like idiots, and I have no tolerance for it at all. “Do you need something to sleep in?”

She looks around the room. “Your house is just, like, so amazing. I want to live here.”

“Yeah, I’m working on that with your mom. I want us all to live here, but she doesn’t think it’s a good place for your brother to grow up.”

“Mom is so lame sometimes. This would be a great place to grow up. You have tons of cool stuff.”

“Thanks. You didn’t answer me. Do you need something to sleep in?”

She looks down at the skinny jeans and blouse she’s wearing. “Yeah, that would be great if you have something.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I find her a t-shirt and a pair of sweat shorts to sleep in from my room. “Here ya go,” I say, walking back into the guest room, just as she comes out of the adjoining bathroom wearing nothing but her bra and pan

ties.

“Whoa!” I say, putting my hands up and looking away. “Where are your clothes?”

She strolls up to me and touches my chest. “I don’t think I need them.”

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

She rubs her hand across my chest. “What do you want to go on, Lukas?”

I grab her hand. “Stop it. Why are you acting like this? Did you take something?” I push the clothes against her chest and scan the room for any pill bottles. “Put these on, please. Stop playing games.”

She takes a step back and turns around slowly in front of me, showing off the black push-up bra and thong she’s wearing. “Don’t you like me?”

Fuck. She looks just like a much younger version of Ivy. I quickly avert my eyes to the floor. “Of course I like you. You’re like family to me. You know that. But I don’t like you like this.”

I wonder if she really did sneak some pills to be making her act like this, because she’s never behaved like this before with me, not since the day I fixed the shed and she blatantly flirted with me before she knew who I was. Since then, she’s always treated me as her mom’s boyfriend, coming to me for help or advice, and I’ve always considered her as my future stepdaughter. I’ve never once thought of her in any other way, especially sexually.

She puts her hands on my chest again, goes on her tiptoes, and presses her lips against mine, before I have a chance to back away from her. “We could be together, you know. We’re closer in age than you and my mother are.”

“Macy, don’t even go there. I love your mother.”

She slides her hand down and squeezes my cock. “Well, it feels like maybe you like me, too.”

I grab her hands and hold them tightly away from me. “Do not touch me,” I hiss at her. “You’re drunk.”

“And you’re hard.” She giggles, leaning her body against mine.

I push her away from me, disgusted and embarrassed. “Go to bed. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you, but you better cut it out. I don’t think of you that way.”

I want to catch her as she stumbles but keep my distance from her. “You’re a fucking rock star. Don’t tell me you don’t want to nail everything in sight, including me.”