Chapter 12

Ruby couldn't wait to drag Lucas away from Greg. She felt naughty doing it, but the feeling of wrongdoing only made her more excited.

As the pair walked up the brightly lit corridor, flooded with natural light from the giant windows, Lucas placed an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. The roughness of the act made her cry out in shock.

She looked up at him questioningly.

"You mind?" he asked, glancing down at her with an angry frown.

Ruby smiled as she looked down and shook her head, walking as one with their hips swinging in time. It felt so right.

When they reached the cafeteria, Lucas pulled out his wallet and sighed. "I have no cash."

"I'll get you something," Ruby blurted with far too much enthusiasm.

He looked away, glancing out at the playing fields beyond the carpark. The look on his face suggested he didn't like having stuff bought for him, especially in a situation like this one.

'It feels like a date,' Ruby realized.

"You can pay next time," she said in a voice as casual as she could muster.

"Next time, eh?" Lucas chuckled. "I don't think Greg will let us have a next time."

"Why does he get to decide what we do? We're both adults," Ruby argued. She hated the thought that Greg might stand in the way of her getting the only guy she'd wanted since the Tom fiasco.

"He's not just my best friend," Lucas said. "He's my only friend."

Ruby wanted to ask why. Why someone as awesome as Lucas only had one friend. Maybe it was an exaggeration. Or maybe it was something to do with his home situation. People could be so judgmental.

She desperately wanted to know. To ask question after question until she knew every detail of his life and facet of his existence.

The look on his face told her it wasn't the time for a serious talk.

"Maybe he'll be okay with it," Ruby said. She didn't tell him that she was going to ask. There wasn't much point in getting their hopes up.

When she passed him his black coffee, she noticed he had fresh grazes on his knuckles.

"Been fighting again?" she asked, mostly to change the subject.

"Yeah," he muttered, rubbing his chin with his thumb.

"What about?" she asked.

"Huh?" Lucas asked. He seemed thrown by the question.

"Why were you fighting?" she repeated.

He shrugged. "Just some made-up reason, I guess. Nobody wants to fight me anymore, so I have to pretend they did something to offend me."

"Why?" Ruby asked, feeling bemused. Why would he beat someone up for no reason? Was that a normal thing to do at his school?

"I like fighting," he said.

'Is it fighting if you don't take a single hit,' Ruby wondered. She imaged being pinned beneath him as he reigned down punch after punch and felt herself getting turned on by the thought.

'What's wrong with me?' she wondered.

In reality, being beaten wouldn't do anything for her. She knew that as well as she knew she would never stay with a man who hit her. Yet, the thought of it was making her wet.

She imagined squirming under his weight, trapped by powerful thighs that did not give, and pleading for mercy.

"What do they do?" she asked.

This question made him narrow his eyes and cock his head. Maybe it was a strange thing to ask, but she wanted to complete her mental image.

"One guy just stood there when he realized I was going to hit him. I told him to at least put a guard up or I'd finish him in one punch and just sort of shrugged and let me punch his face in," Lucas said. He smiled, as though the memory amused him.

"Do they ever beg you to stop?" she asked.

"Erm, sometimes. Mostly they apologize even though they haven't actually done whatever I accuse them of. It's funny," he said, snorting with laughter.

"Oh," he added, waving his finger. "There was this one guy who properly begged on his knees like you did to Greg when I first saw you. He seemed like he thought I was going to kill him or something."

Ruby flushed at the memory, feeling stupid for how neurotic she'd been over the whole situation.

"So did you still hit that guy?" she asked.

"No." Lucas shook his head.

He blew his hair from his eyes and took a sip of his coffee.

"I kicked him instead," Lucas said and shrugged. "He was closer to my feet."

Ruby let out a burst of laughter so loud she attracted the attention of the customers at the next table. She covered her mouth with her hands, trying to stifle her laugher.

"That's not funny," she gasped. "Why am I laughing?"

"Don't ask me." Lucas shrugged and joined in with her laughter. "Crazy bitch."

"Hey," she said, playfully swiping at him. He leaned forward and pinched her side, making her recoil so hard she almost knocked her drink off the table.

"You're so little and cute," he said. "I just want to pick you up and rag you about."

When the lad at the next table flashed him a surprised look Lucas noticed, turning to the lad with a dark glare. "Fuck's your problem?"

The poor guy looked like he was about to crap his pants. He said nothing, just blinked a few times and returned to his conversation with his friends.

Ruby felt a rush of panic as Lucas scraped his chair legs back, about to get up from the table.

"Oh, don't, please don't," she cried, shaking her head.

He looked down at her.

"Let's go outside and sit on the grass," she suggested, taking hold of his hand. The sun beamed down on the field, drying the ground and making the perfect environment for a picnic. She popped the sandwiches in a bag and grabbed her coffee, waiting for Lucas to follow.

He eyed the lad at the next table as he walked past, giving him a death stare that made him cower visibly. Ruby felt bad for the guy, who ignored his friend when they asked what was up.

"I'm gonna wait till he leaves and beat the shit out of him," Lucas said loudly enough for him to hear.

"Oh, don't," Ruby pleaded. She liked hearing the stories, for reasons she couldn't quite fathom, but seeing it up close would just be scary.

"Fight me instead," she said, placing her bag, coat, and coffee on an even patch of field.

"I feel like we've been through this already," he said, smirking.

"Round two?" Ruby asked. It was a thinly veiled ploy to touch him. All she wanted was for him to pin her again.

She screamed as he rugby tackled her to the ground and mounted her.

Time seemed to slow as the pair sat on the grass, entwined. She loved the way his hair fell across his face as he grinned down at her, leaning over to grab a wrist in each hand.

The romance subsided as he Used her balled-up fists to hit her gently in the face while repeating, "Stop hitting yourself," in a childish voice.

"Stop, stop," she cried, blinking each time as the fists neared her face.

He finally quit, pinning her arms back behind her head. His face was so close to hers that his stray hairs tickled her cheeks. So close she could smell him—a masculine mixture of sweat and cologne.

The cutest dimples formed in his cheeks as he smiled, staring into her eyes.

Then his eyes darted toward the building.

For a horrible moment she thought Greg had clocked them. She sighed with relief when she saw it was just the guy from the canteen.

Lucas released her and stood in one swift motion before making a beeline for the guy.

'Oh, shit,' Ruby thought, chasing after him. She had to run to catch him up, and when she did, she clung to his arm, trying to weigh him down and stop him in his tracks.

It didn't work. Her weight was like nothing to him. As ineffectual as air.

"Oi, dickhead!" he called the guy.

The lad's eyes shot open. He froze like a deer in the headlights as Lucas loomed over him.

Ruby felt sorry for him. She felt even worse for him then the girl he was with grabbed his hand and stepped in front of him, almost as if she were shielding him. Though the girl was only being protective, it had to make the guy feel small.

'He is small,' Ruby's brain chirped up in sarcastic mode.

"What's your problem?" the girl asked.

"Ask him. He was the one giving me dirty looks," Lucas said, nudging her aside.

"I—I didn't," the guy stammered and shook his head. "I mean, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. I—I'm really sorry."

Lucas turned to Ruby, grinning widely, and laughed. "See. What did I tell you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Lucas imitated the guy and laughed.

The poor guy blushed but also breathed a sigh a relief—probably happy he wasn't about to get his face smashed in.

Lucas sniffed, looking back at his victim. "I won't beat you up in front of your girl."

The lad, the girl and their other mate all shuffled back a few steps, turned, and broke out in a full-on sprint to get away.

As the pair stood at the canteen doorway snickering quietly, Greg and Amber appeared.

"Quick," Amber said, ushering them away. "Before the geek squad finds us."

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"Did you know he's King Cold?" Amber asked.

"What's a what now?" Ruby asked, confused by the question. "Isn't King Cold Freeza's dad in Dragon ball Z?"

"Yeah," Greg let out a snort-like laugh and scratched his head. "I was twelve when I made my account. I thought the name was witty and cool at the time."

Ruby had no idea what he was talking about. In all honestly, she didn't care. All she could think about was being beneath Lucas, his soft brown hair tickling her face as he smiled down at her.

'I wonder if he was going to kiss me.'