by Dee Garcia
“What part?”
“All of it—from beginning to end. Why me?”
Did it matter?
It’s not like I could tell her the truth anyway.
“Just shut up, Lux. It’s not important.” I slammed my mouth against hers once more and kissed her with purpose.
Ot at least I tried to.
“Like hell it’s not!” She pushed me off, arm bent like a shield. “You’ve spent months harassing me, making my life a living hell, then you stupidly kiss me and suddenly you need me? Are you insane?”
There wasn’t a lick of humor in her voice. She was completely serious.
This I could be honest about.
“Yes,” I answered.
Evidently, that’s not the answer she wanted to hear.
“Oh my God, you’re fucking maddening!” She groaned, wiggling herself onto her feet.
Whether she was trying to run or not, I threw my hands down on either side of her, caging her in, the receptacle booming from my force.
“So are you—that’s what you don’t seem to understand.”
“How am I maddening?” she spat incredulously. “I’ve done fuck all to you!”
“Fuck all? Really?” Now I was laughing. “And you think I’m insane? You’ve fucking possessed me—worse than any demon ever could.”
“Oh, please. You kissed me once, Roman. Stop acting like—”
“Stop fucking calling me that!” I exploded.
I don’t know why, but I was so fucking tired of hearing it come out of her mouth.
“It’s your name, psycho!” she squeaked. “The fuck would you like me to call you? Asshole? Douchebag? Motherfu—”
“Rome, Lux.” My hands were on her again, nose in her hair. “Just Rome.”
I’d been dying to hear her say it, especially in that little breathy tone of hers when I was touching her.
Just as I inhaled deeply, coiling around her like a snake, she pushed me off a second time, holding up a warning finger in my face.
“Stay away from me.”
“I can’t do that.” I shook my head.
“I’m serious,” she growled. “Stay. Away from me, Rome. We aren’t good for each other.”
“I’ve already told you that you can’t run from the King, kitty kat, but if you wanna continue living in the land of denial, then be my guest. I’ll catch up to you eventually.”
I would, too.
Eventually, Lux would give into me.
Into this.
The force was too strong for either one of us to escape.
“Kitty kat?” One of her sleek brows shot up as a scoff broke free. “What is it with you and animal names? Do I look like a damned cat to you?”
“No, but those eyes of yours are quite feline.” A single step forward. “And those claws, those claws are quite sharp.”
“I’m not afraid to use them.” She firmed her finger, pointing one of said claws in question right at my throat.
“I believe it.” I pushed her arm aside with ease, inching toward her again. “Can’t wait to feel them running down my back when I finally—”
“When you finally nothing. Nothing is going to happen, Rome. Seriously, stay away from me. This,” she motioned between us, “is a volatile mess, a disaster waiting happen.”
“So you’re going to keep denying you don’t feel it?” I asked, insulted enough that she was able to slip past me and put at least five feet between us.
“I never said I didn’t, but I’m not willing to risk anymore of my sanity to explore it. Promise me you’ll stay away from me…”
Fuck no.
“Lux…” I tried, but she shook her head.
“Promise me, goddammit! In return, I’ll leave you alone, too. I’ll even give you a cut of my territories, whatever you want. Just stay away from me, please. I’m fucking begging you, and I never beg anyone for shit.”
I heard the plea in her voice, but it was the ache in her eyes that hit me hardest.
I hated her all over again for doing this.
For torturing us both when she knew running away from this wasn’t that easy.
A pointless feat.
I wanted to wring her neck, shake the common sense into her. But in a split-second decision, I decided to go along with it.
For now.
I’d bend her soon enough.
“Fine,” I conceded, balling my hands into fists. “But who do I call for—”
“I’ll have my PA get in touch with you. Goodnight, Roman, and goodbye.”
And as quickly as she’d pulled me behind the dumpster was as quickly as she was gone.
♫ This is Halloween - Marilyn Manson ♫
Two weeks had rolled by since the night Rome showed up at Vybe and, thankfully, he’d kept true to his word.
I hadn’t seen him.
Hadn’t heard from him.
Nothing.
On the one hand, I was grateful. Everything had spiraled way out of control, and we were falling captive to desires at an alarming pace. The only way to keep it at bay was to stay away from each other altogether.
A task easier said than done.
I was constantly astir. On edge. Wanting to seek him out. My body craved his touch, his kisses, the low timber of his voice in my ear when he growled in satisfaction. I wanted him so badly it—
“Earth to Lux.”
That was Suki as she snapped her fingers in my face.
Refocusing on her dolled up features, I found Ramsey looming behind her, too, both of them staring at me with curious eyes.
“Are you okay?” she asked, arching a tattooed brow. “That’s the third time you’ve zoned out in the last half hour.”
The sad part was, she was absolutely right.
Drowning in a Roman King-induced Lala Land was all my brain seemed to be able to do these days. The flashbacks were so lucid, I actually felt the loss of his touch whenever I came to.
But since I was still somewhat ticked at Suki for forcing him on me that night, I hadn’t bothered telling them yet. It would only confirm Suki’s point, which would lead to a speech.
One I didn’t care to hear.
Rolling my eyes, I shooed them away instead and rose onto my feet from Suki’s cloud of a bed with a sigh. “I’m fine.”
“You sure about that?” she called out right as I sauntered into her bathroom to get myself ready for our evening.
Black Widow make up covered the entire countertop, along with a straightener, a curling iron, and a large jug of fake blood.
Can’t have Halloween without some gore.
“Yes,” I lied, reaching for the eye primer.
“Positive?” she pressed.
“Mhmm.”
“Hundred bucks says she was day dreaming about King again,” I heard her murmur to Ramsey.
Wand in hand, I jerked still. “I heard that!”
“You were supposed to!” she yelled back.
I loathed when they did this shit.
Slamming the small bottle back onto the counter, I poked my head around the threshold and glared at my two so-called best friends. “Fuck you, okay? I was not day dreaming about him.”
“No?” Suki crossed her arms, distributing all her weight on one stocking-clad leg. “Then what were you dwelling on so hard? And don’t say nothing because you know I’m not that vapid.”
Ramsey followed suit, daring me with the quirk in her expression to lie, and still all I could do was shrug.
“It’s nothing. Just some work shit.”
Suki and Ramsey exchanged a knowing look before they pinned it on me.
“I’m calling bull, L,” Ramsey piped up first.
“Oh, it’s bull, alright,” Suki agreed, bounding up to me with an accusing finger pointed at my chest. “Do I need to remind you I was there? I saw you, L, and I don’t mean just your performance. I saw you and King outside after the fact. All of it.”
Ramsey gasped and shuffled forward, too, as my entire body broke out in
goose pimples. “What happened?”
“You wanna tell her or should I?” Suki snapped.
I bounced my gaze between the two.
Should I tell them?
Had Suki really seen or was she spouting shit out of her ass to get me to talk? Wouldn’t be the first time.
“Well, I’d like to know what you supposedly saw before I tell Rams how insane you are.”
Suki looked at me like I’d lost my mind, her mouthing popping open and all. “Are you kidding me right now? Is he frying your brain cells that much?”
“Just tell me what you saw Suk!” I barked.
My patience had about reached its end.
“They were arguing.” She turned to Ramsey. “I couldn’t hear about what exactly with the music blaring, but they were arguing, Lux had him cornered. And from one second to the next, they were on each other like rabid animals. Like they needed each other to breathe.”
Ramsey’s eyes blew up. I could almost see a million little hearts swimming to the surface within them.
“Is this true?” she asked.
I didn’t move a single muscle. Didn’t speak. I just stared at them with the most blank expression possible.
Wasn’t blank enough, though.
The answer must have been written all over my face given the way realization dawned over hers. “You’re sleeping with the enemy?!”
Fucks sake.
Attempting to remain as calm as possible, I offered them a simple shake of my head. “We haven’t slept together.”
“Yet,” Suki chimed in.
“No, not yet, for your information,” I retorted. “We came to an agreement actually.”
An anxious silence briefly filled the room as they stood before me, waiting for me to elaborate.
The sigh that left me could not have sounded more exasperated. “We agreed to stay away from each other.”
Suki scoffed and rolled her eyes while Ramsey busted out laughing, shaking her flaming red head.
“I’d like to point out that I—”
“If you say called it so help me God, Rams,” I growled, beyond irate at their reactions.
“She did, though,” Suki countered in her defense. “We both did, but that’s beside the point. I could give three fucks if you’re turning him inside out or not. What I want to know is why the bloody hell you’ve been hiding this from us? I mean, I suspected, hence why I did what I did, but really? Really, L?”
The was a tinge of an ache in her voice. An ache I’d put there by being unnecessarily secretive, an ache that lanced right through me and wound itself around my heart.
I couldn’t have felt more like scum than I did in that moment, swallowing down the lump of guilt that had briskly accumulated in my throat.
“I’m sorry, okay? It wasn’t intentional. I barely knew how to handle it myself so I kept my mouth shut.”
“Yeah? And now I’m going to keep my mouth shut before I say something that’s going to ruin our evening to shit,” Suki grated.
“Both of you stop.” Ramsey stepped between us, holding a palm out to our chests. “Now is not the time to hash this out, but we will discuss this later, got it?”
The question was clearly directed at me, and while I really didn’t want to go into depth on this topic just yet, I knew I didn’t have much a choice anymore. They knew and there was no way to backtrack from here.
“Fine,” I conceded, my voice even and surprisingly steady. “I’m going to finish getting ready then. If you need me, I’ll be doing my makeup.”
“Don’t put on too much,” Ramsey called out behind me. “Our masks will cover it.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
She had a point, but only to an extent. Purge Crew or not, I didn’t intend to wear the damn thing all night. Ladies drank for free until ten, and I planned to be blasted by then.
Twenty minutes later, I’d made myself up to near perfection and was mid-way through applying falsies when my phone vibrated on the counter. I stole a quick glance at the screen as I set the lash in place, only to do a double-take and nearly drop the damn thing in the sink.
Unknown: I can’t stop thinking about you…
My heart immediately started banging in my chest. I stared at the message for several long moments before dropping the tweezers and snatching up the phone.
Me: Who is this?
Deep down, I knew damn well who it was, but I tried convincing myself otherwise. I mean, it couldn’t be, right?
When the reply came through almost instantaneously, I peeked out into Suki’s room to ensure they weren’t going to barge in at any given moment, and shut the door, pressing my back flush against its cool surface.
Unknown: Take a guess…or do you really have that many poor blokes caught under your spell?
It was him.
Thump, thump, thump.
My fingers moved at lightning speed.
Me: JFC. How the hell did you get my number?
Unknown: I have my ways.
Me: What do you want, Roman?
Unknown: Let me see you.
Me: NO.
Unknown: Five minutes, Lux. Give me five minutes. I’m going mad.
So was I, but no. I couldn’t allow it. We all know what happened the second I let that man anywhere near me…
Me: Not my problem.
Unknown: It is very much your problem considering it’s your fault. Five minutes won’t kill you.
Me: And yet that’s five minutes I don’t have, especially for you. Goodbye, Roman. Lose my number.
Setting the phone back onto the counter, I dragged my gaze up to my flustered reflection. Getting rid of Roman of was going to be harder than I thought.
My phone buzzed yet again.
Unknown: What could you possibly be doing that you don’t have a spare five minutes?
Me: Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going out.
Unknown: Where?
If I told him, he’d show. There wasn’t a single doubt about it in my mind.
So I opted for vague.
Me: Halloween party.
Unknown: Where is it?
Me: Noneya.
And that’s how I left it, hoping like hell he’d take the hint and leave it at that, too.
Spoiler alert…he didn’t.
Creepy glowing masks with the X’d out eyes.
Blood-stained white tees.
Black thigh-high nylons.
By nine o’clock—and without further inquisition on the Roman front—the girls and I made it to Club Space in our full-on Purge gear.
By nine-thirty, Stryker and his boys joined us at the bar, also in Purge ensembles.
And by ten, I’d effectively accomplished my goal for the evening.
I was feeling good.
Really good.
The kind of good where everything is wonderful and comical, where everyday problems and stressors don’t exist—leaving you weightless.
Dazed.
In a state of bliss.
Smile on my face, I swayed around on the crowded dance floor with my girls, jamming out to Major Lazer. We were packed together like lab rats, but I didn’t care.
I couldn’t be bothered to give a single fuck.
The vibe in here was insane.
Freeing.
Strobe lights above flickered and flashed in different colors, heightening the energy rippling through the club with every minute that passed. Bodies writhed to the beat, drinks were passed along, substances of all kinds were consumed at every turn.
It’s like Ultra and Halloween fucked on ecstacy and had a baby.
Taking another sip from my drink, I dragged my gaze over to Suki. She was shamelessly all over Stryker, staking her claim for every woman in the near vicinity to see. Ramsey wasn’t too far behind with Marco either, though hers wasn’t as possessive as it was drunk and horny.
I shook my head amusedly.
Fucking slags, the both of them.
When G-Eazy and Halsey fad
ed in with “Him and I,” hoots and hollers of approval erupted all around us. Even I belted out an appraising scream, lifting my arms in the air.
I threw my head back.
Shut my eyes.
I loved this song despite what it stood for and who it made me think of.
No, we’re not going there…
Pushing him back to the recess’ of my mind, I continued swaying my hips, rocking side to side sensually, completely lost in the music.
But that’s when I felt it…
Searing body warmth.
A strong arm around my waist.
A possessive hand at my hip and warm lips ghosting along the column of my neck.
No.
I stilled in place, melting inadvertently into this familiar touch regardless of my girls standing not five feet away.
Regardless of my brain screaming, “Abort, abort!”
“Didn’t I tell you that you couldn’t run from the King?” His voice somehow boomed in my ear above everything else, reeling me further into him.
Not a single word came out of my mouth.
And believe me, I tried. My mouth popped open, ready to outcry my demurral.
But words failed me.
Suddenly, I was ten times more buzzed; light-headed, weak in the knees, my stomach one giant knot.
He was here.
How?
Why?
“Tongue tied, are we?” Roman chuckled, rolling his hips against me.
Again, I couldn’t answer. It felt like every set of eyes in the room was on me.
On us.
The girls’ were for sure. Stryker and Marco, too. I didn’t have to look their way for confirmation; their stares were more than palpable.
Fixated.
Downright shocked.
I had to get Roman out of here before the drunken inquisition started.
Reaching back, I gripped his wrist and yanked him off the dance floor without any explanations. In my half sensible state, I trudged through the masses in an emotional fog, the palm of my hand aflame at the feel of Roman’s skin beneath my own.
Why the fuck was he here?
How did he find me?
Is this what it had come to? Him stalking me because I wouldn’t give him what he wanted?
