Care to Command

5 Social Butterfly

Chapter 5

***

The craziest dream came to me last night.

Supposedly, Lucas decided that we did need to go over the slides and knocked on my door at 3 a.m.. But when I opened to let him in, he was standing before me without a shirt on, brown hair a tousled mess, sporting a smoldering smirk.

Then I gasped, like a telenovela drama queen, and demanded an explanation. To which he purred with a Spanish accent, saying 'you must loosen up, my Layla, let me help you.'

I told him we can't, obviously, but my body dissolved under his taunting orbs, contradicting logic with heavy breaths and flushed skin. So, naturally, I threw myself out the window.

Still, my morning has been a flustered mess, trying to exorcise the demon. I'm ready to punch a wall, set myself on fire, jump in front of a bus, but instead, I head to the gym.

It's 7 a.m. and blissfully empty, a few sleepy heads occupy the machines in sparse corners, but the squat racks are vacant. So I blast Imagine Dragons on my gigantic headphones and set up the weight plates onto the barbell.

I roll out a yoga mat a few feet away for warm ups, grab some resistance bands for glute activations, and since the place is empty, I also pull a bench beside me, with a couple of dumbbells. 

Twenty minutes later, when every muscle is stretched and ready, all my plans go down the drain when Lucas steps into the gym wearing black shorts with a matching sleeveless shirt.

Oh, fuck him.

What's with the tan, muscular, large arms? 

Not to mention, those strokes of black ink stretching over his wide shoulders like satanic spells of seduction. 

Oh, GREAT. And he's headed our way.  

Just like in my dream, I reach for an escape and army crawl across the floor towards the exit,  grimacing from the dirt and dust flaring up my nose. As I reach the door and get on my feet to run, I stifle a giggle at how Lucas yells 'seriously? who the fuck leaves their shit like this?!'

~

I'm having lunch at the hotel restaurant when dad emails, saying he's available for brunch tomorrow. His assistant confirms the time and place, while I mentally prepare what I'll be wearing. 

Casey checks in again, and we FaceTime while I spread apricot jam on a buttered slice of baguette. "Did you and Lucas hang out last night?" She asks. 

"No? Why?" The nightmare flashes in my head, causing me to spread more violently.

"Oh, he didn't text me back, I was wondering if something happened." She frowns, applying coconut oil to her curls.

"Hm, have you talked to him today?"

"Yeah, briefly though. He said he had to prepare for a meeting."

I scowl, remembering how he refused when I offered. "You don't believe him?"

"I do...I don't know, I'm just not sure if he's into me anymore."

"That was fast." I pause mid bite and lower my precious bread. "Why do you say that?"

"He's just been distant, and he doesn't even open up when I ask questions, so I never really know what's going on in his head."

"Well, that's Lucas for you. I've been working with him for four years and the only thing that I know is that he was a Marine, and that's because people don't stop talking about it."