Hunger

Chapter Seven

"Turn right up here."

Luca glanced at Jackson to see how the alpha would handle being ordered around, but he wasn't getting a hostile reaction. The alpha simply followed his direction and turned onto the street that would take him to his apartment.

He really didn't like the idea of the alpha knowing where he lived, but the bastard refused to take him to a bus stop. He'd finally relented in telling the guy where he lived only because, if the alpha had really wanted to assault him, he would've done it while he was sleeping.

And fuck, he couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep at the guy's place and woken up in his fucking bedroom. It still made his skin crawl to think he'd slept in that bed. It was mostly knowing that he'd woken up, cuddled up in those blankets, inhaling his delicious earthy scent, with a raging hard-on that begged to be pleased. Worst of all, he knew his scent was pouring out of him like a fucking Glade plug-in.

He and Jackson both pretended he hadn't tried to scent mark his bed. Or that he woke up with a boner.

Yup. Never happened.

"This?" Jackson's tone didn't speak of disgust, much to Luca's surprise. He knew his apartment wasn't classy, or anything Jackson would be used to. The apartment was three stories of abandoned motel horror story with busted windows, blue tarps floating in the wind, and the stench of all manner of human filth. It was the kind of place that saw a lot of cops hanging around and drug dealers.

"Yeah, just drop me off in the parking lot."

"I rather walk you to your door."

"I am not your fucking prom date, asshole."

"And I am not leaving you alone in a parking lot when your heat is about to start," Jackson replied simply as he pulled into a parking spot. Luca rolled his eyes so hard, he was surprised they didn't get stuck in the back of his head. He kicked the door to Jackson's shiny fancy SUV and got out, pausing to glance over at a group of hooded teenagers clustered together near one of the rooms, eyeing the SUV like candy in a candy shop.

"Might wanna lock your doors," Luca muttered. Jackson wasn't going to argue with that. He hit his key fob twice so the SUV beeped as it locked and the kids scurried away, as if already being caught in the act of contemplation.

Luca shook his head and headed up the rickety steps. He spotted a package sitting outside his doorstep as he approached and he was fucking stunned nobody had ripped it off, so either the postman had just left seconds ago or the cops had shown up the night before, leaving everyone in the complex skittish of crime for about twenty-four hours.

Luca stooped and grabbed the package before Jackson could see the label, tucking it under his arm and turning to his apartment door.

"Oh, right," Jackson said, "Your keys--" He didn't finish as Luca opened the door up without issue. Jackson immediately frowned and looked at him. Luca arched a brow.

"Locks from the inside. But I have nothing worth stealing, so whatever," he answered, opening the door. Jackson frowned further, taking a step forward to follow him in, but Luca immediately spun around and blocked his path.

"You're just dropping me off, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor," Luca said dryly, making Jackson arch a brow,, "Nothing more, nothing less." Jackson studied him and appeared to realize Luca was not going to relent. He took a step back and straightened his jacket, inclining his head. He glanced down the way, then back at Luca, who eyed him suspiciously.

"Listen," Jackson said, making Luca frown as Jackson reached into his pocket and drew out a small card, "It feels wrong to be just... parting ways like this. I want you to take my card, in case you ever need anything. And I do mean anything." Luca took the business card. It was all fancy and laminated with his name printed across the front, plus the hospital and address as well as a phone number to reach him. Luca gave him a droll look.