Lola stood in shock, frozen in the hallway in front of the bathroom, and she couldn't take her eyes away from Melissa and Ash standing half-naked in his doorframe. She muttered incoherent sounds and turned her head.
"Uhm...yeah," she said and walked with a razor-sharp focus to the guest room.
Lola opened the door and stepped inside, slamming the door shut behind her and shivering at the thought of her best friend and Jax's obnoxious cousin being together.
The door opened, and Melissa reached out her hands. The door closed behind her, and she looked at Lola with widened eyes.
"Him?!" Lola screeched.
"Let me explain," Melissa defended.
They stood in silence, staring at each other. Lola's eyes were filled with disgust, and Melissa was trying to find the right words.
"He's really hot," she said, landing on the argument that had gotten her into his bed in the first place.
"Mell!"
Melissa jumped on the spot and shushed Lola. "I was about to go to sleep. I got undressed and went to wash off the makeup, I swear! But then, when I walked back out, we kind of bumped into each other," she said and gestured with her hands to further visually showcase the interaction.
Melissa's fingers entwined, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"He looked at me... Oh god, you didn't see how he looked at me, and then we touched, and we kissed, and then... well," she said and folded her fingers over each other.
Lola noticeably shivered and couldn't hide the disgust she felt even if she tried.
Melissa tossed her arms in the air and removed Ash's shirt. She tossed it on the bed and went through Lola's closet in search of something to wear since she hadn't brought any clothes over the previous night. She grabbed an outfit and got dressed while defending herself and her choices, but there was a lingering tone of disbelief in her own words.
"It's Ash! He's a jerk, and you got into bed with him? What happened to standards and morals and all that crap that you always preach?" Lola asked, flinging her arms in the air.
"I stand true to all of that, but sometimes you gotta toss the morals aside and just let the hot guy take you- it promotes a happy life," Melissa said and hung her head.
Lola froze and furrowed her brows. "Ew," she said.
Lola heard herself and the condescending tone she had with her best friend. She lowered her voice and stepped back to gather herself.
"I'm sorry. I just have a hard time seeing you with him. You always seem so..." she said, fighting to find the last word.
"Perfect?" Melissa asked and scoffed. "Always put together with the right hairstyle for the right outfit, always home at a reasonable hour so my parents won't worry, and straight A's at every school I've ever attended." Melissa sighed. "I'm tired of being perfect. Sometimes, I want to do the wrong thing, and yesterday I did. I did the wrong thing, several times, and it felt amazing." Melissa's hair fell over her shoulders, disheveled and tussled, but her face was glowing.
Lola walked across the floor and smiled.
"Then this is the last you will hear from me about it." She grabbed Melissa's hand. "Just...please be careful. You know what you know now, and Ash is aloof. Don't trust him too much."
Melissa smiled and squeezed Lola's hand. "I don't trust him, but the way he uses his hands and that body," Melissa moaned.
They laughed and understood each other above the words and in the silence where they heard each other perfectly.
"But something is up with you. What happened?" Melissa asked and pulled her hand back.
She looked inquisitively at Lola and brushed through her hair before putting it half up in a bun.
Lola rubbed her lips together. "I told Jax about Lucien."
Melissa stopped. Her hands froze mid-air as she fixed the clip of the necklace and pulled it down.
"Why did you do that?" Melissa gasped.
"One of the vampires last night mentioned the man they were bringing me to, how he would never stop. Jax put it to memory, and this morning, he asked me about it. I told him." Lola regretted having told him the truth, or maybe she regretted not telling him sooner.
Regardless, the damage had been done, and she didn't know how to clean it up.
"What did he say when you told him?"
"He got mad and told me that it changes everything."
"And then what?" Melissa asked.
"And then nothing. He threw away the clothes from yesterday and got in the shower. He said he had to meet up with Ash later to change the plan or something."
Melissa saw the torment on Lola's face, how she questioned everything she'd said, and how things might have been different if she hadn't.
"It's a good thing that he knows," Melissa said, earning a deadpan glare from Lola.
"How? You didn't see him. He was furious, but not just that, he was sad... hurt that I hadn't told him earlier."
"And now he knows and can act accordingly," Melissa said and paused for a beat. "Does he know everything?"
Lola shook her head. "Just that it's Lucien."
"Maybe keep it that way. At least for now."
They dressed and left the room only to hear the house buzzing with chatter about the night before. Lola walked down to an eery shift in the air and a voice that drowned out all the others. A sweet tone, soft like honey, with a kindness similar to Melissa's but without the double meaning of a lawyer.
She looked around. The men were slumped on the couches, and it was the scene one would expect at a frat party. The girls were drinking champagne and gossiping about the men they'd met. Lola overheard one mentioning how she had spread her legs for one of them in the bathroom.
"Hey, Lola!" a girl yelled her over. "Who was that man you were with last night?"
The others chimed, "Yeah, he was hot as hell. Could you introduce me?"
"Unless you're thinking about switching," another one said, flicking her tongue.
"You saw him?" Lola asked.
"It was impossible not to," another scoffed.
"What else did you see?" she asked.
The girls looked at each other as if trying to remember.
"Just that," one of them said.
Lola nodded. She looked at Melissa, who was smiling, pretending as though everything was all right.
"You can have him," Melissa said and winked at the girls.
They laughed and felt giddy over the fact and returned to the earlier gossip.
When they turned for the kitchen, Lola recognized whose voice she'd heard earlier. The girl laughed, talking to Mrs. Blackwood.
"Lola, come meet a former member of this pack," Mrs. Blackwood said.
"This Lavina Sandon, a lot of history here," she said, her lips turning in a snarl.
Lavina smiled.
"We've met," she said. "It's nice to see you again, Lola." Her eyes glistened, and her pink lips pulled up.
"You too. Are you back?" Lola asked.
"Oh no, no. I'm just visiting for the day, and then I'm heading home to my mate," she said, a small pout on her lips for the longing of her man.
"Jax will be so happy to see you," Mrs. Blackwood chirped. "Have you seen him, Lola?"
"No, Mrs. Blackwood. I think he went to find Ash."
Mrs. Blackwood scoffed. A manic smile appeared on her face as she exhaled a laugh Lola had never heard before.
"Well then, I'm sure we'll hear from him soon," she said.
"With complaints i'm sure," Lavina laughed.