Hi there! Thank you for checking my little novel out, I'm so pleased to have you here! I love to hear from my readers in the comments so please dont be afraid to drop a line as you read! I've adored writing about Jae, Lucas, and the other characters in this book so much. I hope you'll come to love Lu and Jae as much as I do! -Quill

Lucas

The sky looked so crisp, so blue, and so beautiful. It looked welcoming even, despite the cold, but I couldn't say the same about me if somebody were to gauge my appearance this morning. The engine of my little Volkswagen Golf was purring contentedly as I shifted into third gear upon hitting the bottom of the hill. I was cruising at an easy forty miles per hour and was anxious to put it in fourth; in fact, I was anxious altogether.

Things like the sky, the weather, and my car... well, all of them seemed to have it together, they were just right. But me? I seemed to always get it wrong, and more than that, I was late... again.

Dad said if he got another call from school about my tardiness, he'd beat my ass—the problem with my father is that he's a man of his word.

I was using backroads to school as usual, flying by signage that placed the speed limit at thirty-five. Usually I'm law-abiding, but I couldn't afford to be late again, and there's hardly anyone on these back roads this time of day. Besides, all the locals speed here—everybody knows it.

At some point a car did pull out onto the backroad behind me, but I took little notice—just a black SUV going the speed limit.

The clock was glaring at me, six-forty, and I had to be in class by seven! I swallowed hard, trying not to fall apart. Deep down, I knew there was zero way I'd be making it to class on time, but I decided to gun for it anyway. Faster won't hurt. I pushed down on the gas pedal, odometer then at fifty, but fifty-five felt better. After a few seconds, I decided to make it an even sixty.

I didn't like odd numbers.

Suddenly, the unmistakeable flash of police lights reflected off my rear-view mirror, and my stomach dropped. No, no, no! Why today, of all days? Dread filled me as I turned my blinker on, pulling off to shoulder of the road.

I tried to remember the steps from Drivers Ed: pull over, car off, keys out of the ignition, and both hands on the wheel... right? I'd never been pulled over before.

My eyes followed the SUV behind me, and I felt really stupid for not recognizing it as an unmarked cop car to begin with. Those antennae should've been a dead giveaway, but nope, I was too busy speeding to notice. 

You're a dumbass, Lucas Price.

I peered through the driver's-side mirror and saw the SUV door open. Officer-ruin-my-day stepped out, and he seemed to be in no apparent hurry. He also had a bit of a swagger to his walk; didn't look forced, but rather natural, and that made him look even more intimidating.

I swallowed hard, watching the time tick by on my dashboard. I'd be at least thirty minutes late at this point, when all was said and done. Shit, being late would be the least of my problems. A ticket would make the beating so much worse, and I decided that I wasn't above begging and groveling if that meant he'd let me off with a warning. 

If dad finds out I got a ticket, I'll be a literal dead man.

The officer ran his hand over the trunk, and a few strained moments passed before he'd sauntered his way up to the driver's side, rapping his knuckles on the window. I cursed myself under my breath. Fucking consequences.

"Roll it down," his deep voice ordered.

"Y-yes sir, sorry!" I sputtered awkwardly, trying to force myself to look at him, but the second my thirsty eyes settled on his face, my brain blew a circuit. 

This man was beautiful, and I mean really beautiful.

Let's just say I'd recently discovered that I had an interest in the same sex, although I'd yet to date or be with a dude in real life. None of my friends at school knew, and I mean nobody, not even my best friend Ian. I was deathly afraid of dad finding out, like, absolutely terrified.

Hot-guy-officer was tall and lean, with sandy blonde hair pushed back off his forehead, with the sides buzzed and faded. He had warm, hazel eyes. The kind that would drink me up if I stared too long. Didn't help that he was chewing some bubblegum, and the action highlighted a strong jaw, neck, and pair of soft-looking lips with a perfect cupids bow to boot.
His nose was straight, and his shoulders broad, with perfect biceps that caused the fabric of his short-sleeve uniform to stretch deliciously.

This man looked built to fuck, and that made my face feel way too warm. I could've ogled him all day if he wasn't ticketing me, but reality came crashing down in seconds.

"License and Registration, please." His voice was stern and body language commanding, but his facial expression came off ironically relaxed, and that sort of belied his overall demeanor a little… well, not that I was about to test the guy.

I only nodded, still creeping on him as I dug out all my information. He had one hand hooked to the front of his vest, the other at his hip on his sidearm. His hazel eyes watched me intently, and he was blowing a bubble when I handed everything over.

"Thank you," he hummed casually, and his voice sounded sort of gravelly like he was tired, which was really fucking hot. I could only dream of a guy this hot asking me out. 

"Officer Hoffman, by the way." he added, gesturing to his nametape.

I nodded, looking on anxiously as hot-daddy-Hoffman looked over my info. 

"You know why I pulled you over, Lucas?" he eyed me briefly before returning his attention to my license.

I could feel myself flush a bit, deciding there was no use trying to lie. "Well, I was speeding..."

He smirked. "Sure were, clocked you at sixty in a thirty-five. Where you headed in such a hurry today?"

My head dropped against the steering wheel. "School... I'm like, super late."

He chuckled a bit. "Oh yeah? Was it worth it?"

I grumbled with regret. "Obviously not."

"You'll live, kid." He said, and I'm sure he meant it, but all I could think about was dad. 

No, I wouldn’t. Dad would break my neck, guaranteed. 

The feeling of needing to cry suddenly gathered in the back of my throat, but I tried to force it down. I didn't want this dude to see me cry. I could feel him looking me over for a little, and I wished he'd stop. It's like he was looking through me there for a moment, and I hated it. 

"M'kay Lucas, you sit tight. I'll be back." There was a hint of amusement in his deep voice, and he paused to look at something on the roof of my car before sauntering back to his SUV.

Why did I have such bad luck, and why did he have to be so good-looking? I tried to breath in and out to calm myself, all while watching the clock. It was seven A.M. now.

Finally, after an excruciating five minutes or so, he strolled back over, blowing another bubble as he passed my info back through the window.

"Kay, here's the deal, Lucas. I can see you've got a good driving record, and I'm guessing this isn't typical of you?" He raised a brow, eyeing me sort of like a scolding parent would. 

My face burned in shame. "No, Sir..."

His eyes smirked. "Well, today you’re in luck, cause I'm gonna let you off with a warning, but if one of us catches you speeding like that again, it'll be a hefty ticket."

"Of course, no more speeding! Thank you, Sir!" I stuttered in disbelief.

"Which school you headed to?" he asked, tapping what I assumed was the warning citation on the palm of his hand.

"Uh, Sherman High." I babbled awkwardly. 

Hoffman shook his head and gave me a crooked smile as he popped a bubble. "Dude, you were never making that seven A.M. start time."

I frowned. "M-maybe not... but would you know, anyway?" I got cheeky with him, for some reason, which felt unnecessarily ballsy of me.

"Cause I never did." he grinned knowingly.

My interest was piqued immediately. "What the fuck? You went to Sherman?"

"Sure did. Which class you late for?" He shifted on his feet and smiled some, glancing down to kick some rocks around on the ground.

I found myself also smiling in pleasant surprise. "Uh, A.P. Chem."

I'd never seen this guy before, but clearly, we lived in the same city.

"Briana Massey still teaching that?" he asked, expression relaxed.

I recognized her last name; Massey was my teacher, but she was married and did that whole hyphenated thing.

"Pretty sure; she goes by Mrs. Massey-Erickson now, but we call her Mrs. M. She's kind of a witch, though, not gonna lie." I made a "bleh" face and rolled my eyes.  

Officer Hoffman chuckled, "No shit? Huh, well, doesn't sound like much has changed, then."

We sat in silence for a beat, and then he blew another bubble, warm eyes running over me one last time. "Well then Lucas, I better let you go. Just do me a favor and slow it down from now on, 'Kay?"

"Y-yes sir, I promise!" I said excitedly, unable to hide my heated face. 

"Good." He passed me the citation, and my heart fluttered when his hand brushed against mine.

He turned to leave, but then he paused. "You know, tell Miss Massey that Jae Hoffman says hi, alright? Now drive safe, kid." There was a smirk at the corner of his mouth when he said her name, which I found curious. What was up with that?

All the same, I found myself cringing at the word "kid", and it made me wish I was older just then.

All I could do was just nod. "Y-yeah, sure thing."

He smiled, patted the roof of my car twice, and then turned to leave. Meanwhile, I gripped the steering wheel, heart racing as I thought. Officer Hoffman looked to be in his mid to late twenties maybe, which was sort of a stretch... but I was eighteen now, so that meant he was technically fair game, right?

Right.

"Fuck it," I muttered, fumbling for my notebook to scribble my number down.

I wasn't sure what possessed me, because I typically never would’ve had the confidence to do what I was about to do… but, if there was the slightest chance this guy might be remotely interested, then I'd do anything to connect with him. Anything, which included braving the awkwardness of giving him my number during a traffic stop, of all things.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe suddenly, and my confidence began to falter as I watched him open his door, but I knew I'd have to act fast. 

Fuck. It's now or never, Lucas. Do it or cut your losses.

"H-hey, wait!" I shouted. He paused and turned to eye me in question.

Soon, I heard the heavy "thud" of his door as it shut, and within a few seconds, there were once again his sauntering steps upon the gravel. A rush of adrenaline and anxiety filled me while he made his way back, and before I knew it, there he was at the window.

My brain betrayed me, though, freezing up immediately. I just said nothing, only stared at him awkwardly.

He raised his brow. "... what's up?"

"Oh, uh, for you!" I mumbled, snapping out of my daze to shove the folded paper at him.

He tilted his head with curiosity, blowing a bubble as he took it. I looked on in bated breath, trying to gauge his reaction while he looked it over. An amused smile soon formed in the crook of his mouth, his eyes darting to mine and then back to the paper.

He stifled the smile. "Your license said you'd be eighteen by now. That right, Lucas?"

I nodded nervously.

Hoffman exhaled and looked around as he folded the paper back up, his expression now unreadable. "You... have a nice day, Lucas."

I watched in complete embarrassment as he sauntered off, pocketing my feeble first attempt to hit on the same sex.

I slumped down into my seat, kicking myself. He's never gonna text me. My gaydar sucks anyway and he was probably straight in the first place.

I cursed, banging my head against the steering wheel.

Just be grateful he didn't give you an actual ticket, dumbass.

The beating tonight will probably be bad, but it could've been so much worse had he given me a ticket.

Sighing, I turned the key in the ignition, my car coming to life. Hoffman pulled out onto the road first, passing me, and I followed suit. After that, I drove in silence, contemplating what in the actual fuck I just did.

Today would suck ass, I just knew it.