Sugar (Gimme 1)

“Let me go in first,” I mutter, grabbing the key from her and unlocking the door.

“But Vlad might jump on you. He’s friendly, but he’s still a puppy,” she explains.

I wave her off because I can handle the dog. I like them, but never had the time to care for one. I get inside, but the dog doesn’t immediately come to the door which surprises Lexi. She calls out for the door and hears it whimpering. We move toward the sound when the bedroom door opens, and there’s a guy with his zipper open and a knife in one hand and a pair of her panties in the other.

“Cody, what are you doing in my apartment?” I push her to the side. This fucker had plans, but what is unclear.

“You,” he snarls, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Who is he?” I ask her, wanting to rip his head off.

“I’m her boyfriend. You stole her. I saw you two last night.”

“There’s no way unless you were following her.”

“I always do.” Lexi lets out a gasp. “How dare you betray me? You told me you were saving yourself for me.” I can sense the terror coming from Lexi. She doesn’t respond vocally, but she shakes her head. I have to get her out of here before he hurts her. His eyes look crazed.

The dog’s whimpering grows louder. “What did you do to my dog?” she shouts, panic setting in.

“I didn’t do anything. He’s locked in the bathroom. You’re lucky I like dogs.”

“Please leave,” she pleads with him.

“I will, but you’re coming with me after I get rid of him.” He points the knife at me, and I know what he’s going to do. He charges forward, but I’ve spent years wrestling with my brother, and I drop his ass, twisting his wrist and making him release the knife.

“Lexi, call the police.” She does, and he tries to kick me in the nuts but misses. I deck him in the face, knocking his ass out.

“Lucas, are you okay?”

“Yes, sugar. Go get your puppy before he scratches his way through the door.” She opens the door and giggles when the dog jumps on her. I look toward them and see the dog has toilet paper wrapped around it. The dog is cute, but the jackass on the floor in front of me is groaning, so I kick him in the ribs.

It takes all of five minutes for the first officers to arrive. We talk to them about what happened, giving them a report as best as we can, then they take him out of the apartment in cuffs.

“We need to do a search of the apartment. It’ll help with the charges.”

“Go ahead,” she mutters. They go about the apartment “I can’t stay here tonight,” she adds softly as if she’s talking to herself.

“I thought we made that clear in the car.”

“Sorry, I know. I’m just out of it.”

“Miss, can you please come in the bedroom?” an officer asks, leaning out of the bedroom door. We do as he asks, and I fucking see red. Every single pair of underwear has been shredded. She breaks down, crying into my chest.

“It’s okay, sugar. I was going to end up shredding them anyway,” I tease, trying to make her laugh. She gives me a mix of a giggle and a cry. “I’ve never been panty shopping. That would be a great Valentine’s day present for me,” I add.

“I bet,” she mutters, drying her tears with her sleeve. I pull out my handkerchief and hand it to her. “I’m keeping this.”

“Now that’s what I want to see. Can she grab some of her things, or will she have to wait?”

“It’ll be another half-hour before we can finish up. Then we’ll head over to his apartment.” That had been an interesting tidbit I learned about when we were speaking to the cops. He’d been her neighbor for the past year. He’d asked her out, and she turned him down saying she was too busy with school. Which now made sense when he was ranting and raving. He took what she said and twisted it to live this fantasy. I bet his place is a wreck right now. Knowing she was with me last night would have set him off. I’ve been in on cases where stalkers have gone nuts once the girl starts dating someone.

“Do you want to get some breakfast down the street? We can come back afterward.”

“What about Vlad?”

“Jeff can take him to the condo, then meet us back here.” There’s a neighborhood restaurant about a half block up from her apartment. We can easily walk there and back.

“Do you always think of everything?”

“No, because my ass would have gotten the dog last night or tied your ass to the bed,” I joked. Well, at least I made it seem like a joke.