Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“ Damn, girl, your roommate is hot as Hell ,” Fifi signed to Thea.
Thea shook her head, replying, “ No one needs abs like that. They could grate cheese .”
“ Did you see his eyes? ” Elise signed. “ They penetrate you. To the point that you can’t help but think about other ways he could penetrate you. Like his dick. I’m talking about his dick .”
Thea shook her head again at her friends, blushing a deep, hot red.
“ Have you accidentally seen him naked yet? ” Fifi signed. “ Please sign ‘ yes .’”
“ No! ”
“ You are living together. There must be a moment where one of you accidentally drops your towel after leaving the shower. It is roommate law .”
Thea giggled, feeling lighter and more at home than she had since leaving Alec. She had missed her friends. It was always awkward when breaking up with someone inside your friend group. She had worried some of them would take sides.
“ Thank you guys for coming ,” Thea signed to them.
They waved off her comment with “ of course ” and “ duh .”
Mallory showed up a few minutes later, hugging everyone. When she didn’t see Draven, she joked to Thea, “ Is he out at the bar finding his next hookup? ”
Thea’s lips curled down into a frown. That was what she had thought about Draven in the beginning too. “ No, he is in his bedroom .”
Mallory noticed her frown and blinked in surprise. “ What’s wrong? Is he being nice to you? ”
Too nice . “ Draven’s fine .” Other than being delusional about having bought her almond milk.
“ Very fine ,” Elise signed. “ How come he doesn’t own a three-bedroom apartment? I’d move in tonight. ”
Fifi laughed. “ Elise, you’re married .”
After enjoying snacks and making frozen margaritas, Mallory signed, “ So, how are you doing with everything? Have you found any possible jobs yet? ”
Thea scooted to the edge of the couch cushion as she nervously signed, “ Actually, I’ve been thinking about doing something different .”
“ Different? ”
“ I don’t like finance. I mean, it’s fine, but this could be my turning point, you know? The moment I find what I really want to do with my life. Hitting rock bottom —”
“ You have not hit rock bottom .” Mallory patted her shoulder. “ An asshole cheated on you and lost his amazing girlfriend. He hit rock bottom .”
“ And I was fired ,” Thea reminded her. “ Rock bottom .”
“ What are you interested in doing instead? ” Fifi signed.
“ Well, that’s the thing. I have been working toward a job in finance after my parents pushed it on me since freshman year of college. I don’t really know—I mean, I need help coming up with a dream. ”
The women glanced at each other.
“ We need a brainstorming chart and more alcohol for this ,” Mallory, the genius of the group, signed.
So, they got drunk. Well, they got Thea drunk, since she was the one not having to drive home. Plying her with margaritas and shots, they asked her rapid-fire questions, trying to see what type of career fit her best.
Finally, when Thea started “slurring” her words, meaning she signed slower and more exaggerated, repeating motions at different moments, it came out that Thea used to love makeup.
“ Like being a makeup artist for brides and stuff? ” Elise asked.
“ No ,” Thea signed. “ Movie makeup. Horror movie makeup. With monsters and zombies .” She sighed and hiccuped. “ Grandpa used to show me all these silent horror movies, and I used to paint my dolls’ faces to look like monsters. Mom hated it. One day, she switched all my dolls with math textbooks .”
“ Oh my God ,” Mallory signed. “ You live in L.A. Doing movie makeup is the perfect job. ”
The alcohol may or may not have contributed to the blasé manner in which they regarded Thea entering the highly competitive and skilled career path of a movie makeup artist.
Fifi’s eyes lit up. “ I have a friend who does costume design ,” she signed. “ I bet she could help you get a job as a makeup assistant or something! ”
“ Do my makeup right now, Thea ,” Mallory demanded. “ Make me look super creepy. I want to scare Wren when I get home .”
“ What if his six-year-old daughter sees you? ” Mallory was engaged to Wren, but truly she was marrying into his family: a young deaf daughter Mal used to nanny.
“ Psh, that girl fears nothing ,” Mallory signed back.
By the time the women left, Thea felt better. Floating on clouds. Swaying. Ooof! She cupped her face after having walked into a wall. Wow, I drank a lot .
Draven was sooooo nice earlier. He is learning sign language. For me?
She fumbled to her bedroom, unzipped her dress, and climbed into bed in nothing but panties. Not being as curvy as her friends came with one major perk: she rarely needed to wear a bra.
Instant comfort . She covered herself in cool, smooth sheets and passed out.
* * *
A shift in weight shook the bed, jolting Thea awake.
Groaning from a significant hangover migraine from Hell, Thea opened her eyes, leaning up from where she slept on her stomach.
A shirtless Draven laid beside her on the bed, balancing himself up on an elbow. His mouth hung open as if he saw her and screamed in alarm, which she mimicked as she screamed at seeing him in her bed.
Wait. This was not her bedroom.
Draven’s lips moved wildly, shrieking something that was probably, “ What are you doing in my bed? ”
She winced, her throat sore with thirst and her headache killing her. Too much to take in all at once . Draven was beside her in bed wearing nothing but boxers, which did nothing to hide his massive, straining erection.
Massive. Straining. Erection.
He leaned toward her, shooting forward, and for a moment, she thought he might mount her or something. Instead, he reached over her naked back to grab something from his nightstand. A notepad.
He wrote, “ Thea, why are you in my bed? ”
He shoved the pad and pen to her, but she groaned. Too much effort.
She mimed drinking a lot and pain in her forehead.
His mouth remained open, gaping at her the entire time. “ You got drunk last night and climbed into my bed? ” he wrote.
She shot him an expression that screamed, “ It seems that way .”
“ Why are you naked? ” His gaze drifted down her body, everything below the waist hidden behind the sheet as she laid on her stomach.
Great question. She took his pen and pad this time to write, “ I’m not naked. I am wearing panties .”