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716 Words
"I hate him."
I violently swirled my straw in my iced coffee, glaring at the diner table like it had personally offended me. Across from me, Jade—decked out in a cropped denim jacket and shorts that could legally be considered a handkerchief—rolled her eyes so hard I worried they'd get stuck.
"Mhmm," she hummed, stealing a fry from my plate. "You hate the giant, mysterious lumberjack who carries firewood shirtless and glares at you like you're his favorite sin."
"He growled at me yesterday because I let Bear have two cookies after dinner!"
Jade smirked. "And yet you dreamily stared at his biceps for a solid five minutes afterward."
I threw a sugar packet at her.
It had been three weeks since I'd started working for Lukas Grove, and every interaction went the same way:
Me: Existing
Lukas: Growling about it
And yet...
There were moments.
When he'd silently fix the loose step on the porch after I almost tripped. When I'd catch him watching me read to Bear with an unreadable expression. When his calloused fingers would brush mine passing a coffee mug, sending sparks up my arm—
"Earth to Autumn!" Jade snapped her fingers in my face. "We're going to Sigma Kappa's party tonight. You're wearing that black dress that makes you look like a sexy woodland fairy, and we're getting you so drunk you forget Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broody."
That Night - Frat Party From Hell
The Sigma Kappa house pulsed with bass so loud I could feel it in my teeth. Jade had gone full glam—honey-blonde curls bouncing, gold hoops glinting, her crop top showing off the rose tattoo on her ribcage. Meanwhile, I tugged self-consciously at my stupidly short black dress.
"Stop fidgeting!" Jade yelled over the music, shoving a red cup into my hand. "You look hot! Now drink!"
The vodka-cranberry burned going down.
For a while, it worked. The music, the crowd, the glitter Jade had insisted on dusting over my collarbones—it all blurred together until I almost forgot about him.
Then Brad showed up.
"Hey gorgeous."
The guy—tall, blond, smelling like Axe body spray and bad decisions—materialized beside me, his hand landing on my waist. "Wanna dance?"
I stepped back. "No thanks."
His grip tightened. "C'mon, don't be like that—"
"I said no." I tried to move away, but the crowd pressed in, trapping me.
His smile turned predatory. "You're cute when you play hard to get."
My stomach lurched as his other hand grabbed my hip—
Then suddenly, the air changed.
The temperature dropped. The hair on my arms stood up. The crowd parted like the Red Sea.
And there—
Lukas.
Dressed in all black, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle twitching. His eyes—were they glowing?—locked onto Brad's hand still on me.
"Remove your hand," he said, voice so low it cut through the music.
Brad laughed. "Who's gonna make me, huh?"
What happened next was a blur.
One second Brad was smirking, the next Lukas had him pinned against the wall, his forearm pressed to Brad's throat.
"I won't ask twice," Lukas growled—and holy s**t, that wasn't a figure of speech. The sound vibrated in my chest, primal and terrifying.
Brad paled. "Dude, what the f**k—"
"Autumn." Lukas didn't even look at me, but I jumped at the command in his voice. "Car. Now."
Jade gaped at me from across the room. I mouthed "I'll text you" before following Lukas out, my heart pounding.
The cold night air hit me like a slap. Lukas stalked ahead, his shoulders tense beneath his shirt.
"What the hell was that?" I demanded, struggling to keep up in my heels. "That wasn't just—you growled at him! Like, actually growled!"
Lukas whirled around so fast I almost crashed into him. His eyes were glowing—gold and wild—as he crowded me against his truck.
"You're mine to protect," he snarled, his breath hot on my face.
I froze. What?
Before I could respond, he wrenched open the passenger door. "Get in."
As the truck roared to life, one terrifying thought consumed me:
What exactly is Lukas Grove?
- Writer
