Chapter 28
R enee paced anxiously in Lola’s back garden.
With slate paving stones set around dramatic succulents and a beautiful pool done in painted Spanish tile, it was so nice, it made it hard to be truly anxious.
Still, Renee managed, because her blood felt practically effervescent with anticipation as she waited for Lola to come home from her meeting with Gloriana.
Lola was going to stand up for herself and what she wanted. She was taking control of her story. Once she did that, Lola would truly be unstoppable.
Renee was so damn proud of her.
Renee had a bottle of champagne chilling to celebrate, although they’d probably end up in the bedroom first. Or the couch, if they didn’t make it that far.
Renee couldn’t wait to get started on the real work of putting the film together.
Since New York, her vision for it had sharpened, her anxieties blurring into the background.
She could feel their story taking shape—not only on film, but off-screen too.
There was something so satisfyingly elegant about how they were intertwined, it was practically cinematic in itself: Lola reclaiming her voice, Renee battling her own creative demons to tell that story, the two of them in love.
Not that they were in love. Were they?
Her phone buzzed.
Hello stranger
Renee frowned, disappointed that it was Kadijah. She hadn’t answered their texts since before New York.
What is this?
It was a link to another TikTok. Renee clicked through—she had the app downloaded now.
Shit. Someone had filmed them at the Saint Satin show: her and Lola, pressed together, as Renee murmured into her ear.
The creator thought they’d kissed. They used a hashtag referencing Lola’s lyrics: #morethanfriends.
Shit, shit, shit. Renee watched it again and again. She’d honestly thought they wouldn’t be seen. But of course, there was always someone looking at Lola.
Doesn’t look like nothing’s going on.
The glare of the sun reflected off the phone’s screen and into her eyes.
If this had been a normal relationship, Renee would already have gushed to Kadijah about how kind Lola was, how her wry sense of humor only came out when they were alone.
How it was so painfully, simply, beautifully nice to be in Lola’s presence that she never wanted to be anywhere else. How Walk Away Renee was history.
As it was, she hadn’t had a real conversation with Kadijah in weeks, since before she realized she had feelings for Lola, after Corkscrew.
Am I looking at two people who *are* fucking each other or just really, really *want* to be fucking each other?
Renee chewed her lip. Obviously, she couldn’t answer Kadijah’s question, but she wasn’t sure what to say instead.
I can’t believe I’m hearing about your life from TikTok gossip
Are you seriously not going to reply?
From the front of the house, Renee heard the gate.
She’d worry about Kadijah later. She shoved the phone in her pocket and raced to the front hall.
She was beaming now, the excitement radiating off her and making her breath quick.
She must have looked a little silly, because when Lola opened the door, she seemed startled.
“So?” Renee said.
“So what?”
Renee grabbed Lola by the waist and pulled her in. “Don’t tease me, I can’t take it,” she growled.
But still, Lola didn’t answer. Her eyes were searching Renee’s, her full lips parted.
God, how Renee loved holding her, more than she’d ever loved holding anyone.
Renee tightened her arms around Lola and captured her mouth in a kiss.
As she drew Lola’s lower lip into her mouth, her nose pressed to Lola’s cheek, their eyelashes brushing.
Lola responded as quickly as she always did, arching her body against Renee—and Renee loved that too, how Lola always kissed her like she was clinging to life.
Lola plunged her hands into Renee’s hair, trapping them against each other.
Her tongue snaked into Renee’s mouth, and Renee ac cepted it, sucking on it with an eager groan.
She slid her hands to Lola’s ass and squeezed, making her own hips buck, then lifted Lola against her.
With Lola wrapped around her waist, Renee walked them forward until Lola’s weight pressed against the door.
Renee took her in for a moment—Lola’s flushed cheeks, her swollen lips, her serious eyes now clouded with lust. Renee could feel Lola’s heartbeat, and it had to be beating in time to hers.
“I love you.” Renee’s voice was soft.
Lola’s eyes went round, her mouth pulled into an O of surprise. “You do?” she whispered.
Something had broken open in Renee’s chest. She hadn’t expected to make that confession. She thought about how she loved Lola all the time, but that wasn’t the same as loving her, was it? Now that she’d said it aloud, the words felt inescapable and honest and true. Tears prickled in her eyes.
“I do. I really do. I love you, Lo.”
Lola cradled Renee’s face in her hands, then gently kissed the tears from her cheeks. “So why are you crying?”
“I never thought I’d say that to anyone,” she admitted.
Renee wanted to remember the look on Lola’s face for the rest of her life: the way she seemed to glow, her warmth and her softness. “I love you too,” Lola said.
They kissed again, deeply, until Renee’s mouth made its way to the sensitive spot on Lola’s ear that always made her gasp.
“Are you going to put me down?” Lola asked between breaths.
“No, never,” Renee mumbled into her neck. “I love you, Lo. I love you so fucking much. I’m never letting you go. Oh—how was the meeting?”
“The meeting?” Lola tightened her grip on Renee’s shoulders. “The meeting was good.”
“Really? You told her what you wanted?”
“Yeah, I did. We talked and … and everything’s good.”
Renee’s heart felt so full, she wasn’t sure her ribs could contain it. She was sure that she’d never been this happy in all her life, that she might never be this happy again.
“That’s my girl,” Renee said. She lifted Lola off the door and carried her to bed.