Sheltered

Chapter 42

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, you should probably get to bed." Lukas yawns as they step through his worn apartment door.

"This is getting so repetitive." Savanna complains, plopping down onto a sofa.

Like gives her a puzzled look. "Repetitive?"

"Oh please." Sav lazily slips off her shoes and swings her feet onto the couch, sitting with her legs crossed. "Being here. And by here, I mean not in Mexico."

"Right. Well you know I'm just making sure-"

"Yes! Making sure that we're ready, great!" Savanna exclaims sarcastically. "I think we're pretty damn 'ready' if you ask me, Luke."

Lucas chews on his inner cheek for a moment before speaking. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Savanna scoffs. "How sweet."
She rises abruptly from her seat, heading toward "her" bedroom. "I'm willing to take that risk." And shuts the door behind her.

Lucas lets out an aggravated sigh before walking into the bathroom. He aggressively pulls off his t-shirt. "I wish I didn't owe you one, Ian. This girl is crazy."

Savanna opens a small cabinet next to her perch on the twin sized bed. Inside is an empty Twix wrapper, half-empty water bottle, and a stack of magazines.
"Harley-Davidson: Freewheeler! Harley goes BIG!"

She chuckles to herself as she reads one of the covers.
Flipping through the pages, photos of slim women dressed in skin-tight leather jump out from the pages.

The door opens.

"Heard of knocking?"

"Nope." Lucas chuckles.
He takes in the scene for a moment.
"Found my Harley collection?" He smiles.

"Mhm. Lots of naked girls." She flips a page casually.

Luke's jaw drops in mock-surprise.
"Not true."

He strides over to her, snatches the magazine from her hand, and sits on the side of the bed.

Flipping another page, he says defensively "They have clothes on."

"Barely." Savanna laughs."

Crack!

A loud "boom" sounds off somewhere close by, forcing Sav to draw in a sharp breath. Luke's eyes shoot toward her face, then dart around the room.

Savanna opens her mouth, What the hell-"
Luke slams his hand over her mouth, holding his other free pointer finger up to his lips.

Crack!

He leans into Sav's ear, his breath tickling her skin. "Don't make a sound."

He swiftly grabs onto her upper arm, guiding her off the bed. Pressing his lips to her ear again, "There's  room under here. Don't come out."

Luke leads Savanna onto the ground and motions under the bed. She slides under, her hands shaking.

After peeking out of the room from underneath the door, Luke stands up and walks silently to the bed. He slides his hand behind the headboard and does what sounds like unhinging something.

Lukas hastily kneels to the floor, holding out a small black pistol to Savanna.
His hands steady, he waits for her to take it.

"Are you serious? I'm not good with handguns." She whispers, so quietly that she's barely heard.

"Take. It." Luke hisses back. With a trembling hand, Savanna takes the gun and clings it to her chest like a child with her teddy bear.

He nods. "Good." His eyes seem to say. He slips out of the bedroom door and closes it.
Savanna closes her eyes as he hears the sound of Luke inserting a magazine into a gun and pulling back the slide.