Lay Me Down (MxM)

1. Late

Hi lovely humans! I hope you'll come to adore these beautiful, non-toxic men as much as I've enjoyed creating them.

Happy reading! -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.