Chapter Twenty-One
Lily
? “Bad at Love” – Halsey ?
"Okay, spill the tea.”
My eyes are barely open, and I can feel the slimy morning breath lingering in my mouth. I grab ahold of my blankets, throwing them over my head. It is too early in the morning for Celeste to come wandering into my room asking questions.
“Oh, c’mon Lily.” She grabs the blankets, pulling them down. “I heard you yelling last night outside the door. I saw the huge box on the couch and the expensive dress draped on the floor. I want the tea and in exchange, I bought you a coffee.”
I whip my body to see Celeste sitting on my bed, holding two cups in her hands.
I sit up and snatch one away from her. I take a sip, tasting a shit-ton of sugary caramel with whipped cream.
I choke on it, handing it back to her, and grab the other coffee.
I take a cautionary slurp and smile when I feel the warm black coffee kiss my tongue.
“Men are shit,” I say, setting my coffee down on my nightstand and leaning against my headboard.
“Yes, we all know this, but what is new?” She climbs onto my bed, sitting crisscross.
“Jace is a stalker.”
“Again... What is new?” Celeste hides her smile behind her coffee.
“Ugh,” is the only word that I can form.
What can I say? My life is corrupt. Recently, the only time my vagina works is when Jace is breathing the same air as me.
Mateo must have some type of mental illness, because who the fuck decides to crash out on someone like he did to me last night and then apologize right after?
“And Mateo? I caught the look you gave me when he grabbed your arm.”
Hearing his name out loud makes me want to vomit.
Actually, no.
It’s not his name. It’s the two empty wine bottles I see lying on the side of my bed. I remember the first bottle. The second, not so much.
“Oh, he is finished. Toasted like a strudel. And I no longer work at the firm. Back to the club I go.” I jiggle my hands in the air with fake enthusiasm.
Celeste puts her drink down, laying her head next to me. “What do we want to do? Trash his house? Burn down the law firm? Crash his car?”
“Oh god.” I shake my head. “You’re hanging around Rowan too much.” Her reaction is to laugh and pat me on top of my head, which is a little concerning.
“Well, remember when I was a sob lying in bed after Rowan and you came and told me to get my ass up?” she reminds me while rolling off the bed.
“That is because your room’s stench started making its way to the whole house,” I say, scrunching my nose. It took me weeks to get that smell out of my nostrils.
“Well, now it’s my turn.” She grabs one of my pillows, throwing it at my face. “Get your ass up, we don’t sob over boys.”
“Says the one running back to one!”
She gives me a nice finger gesture before heading out of my room. “Get your ass up!”
“And do what?!”
She slams my door shut without responding.
I guess Celeste yelling at me worked, because I did get my ass up.
I called Marge and told her to put me on the schedule for the rest of the week.
I cleaned my room, which took over four hours due to me finding random items and reminiscing over them.
For example, I found an old pair of shoes I made.
I don’t know how I did it, but they were constructed using cut-up pieces of other shoes and random cloth.
They were ugly, but I ended up trying them on and did a little dance while my playlist skimmed through all my favorite songs.
I also took a well-deserved—not needed—break and drew up another design I had in mind.
Then I didn’t like that design and drew another, and another.
The voices in my head just kept talking and talking, telling me what to draw.
I ended with a cheetah print leotard with fringe diamond bulbs at the ends.
Then I had a snack, because I couldn’t remember the last time I ate.
By the time I finished, I realized I had to leave for work.
I took the subway and walked a couple miles before finally stepping into hell.
And by hell, I mean staring at the ugly red carpet and walls of Club Opal.
Marge gave me a big hug when she saw me, kissing me on the cheeks and letting me know how much she missed me.
Rebecca told me to fuck off, and the other tenders...
Well, they didn’t care, and I don’t expect them too.
Except there is a new girl, Jessica, who looks way too young to be here.
After I put on my shoes, she introduces herself to me. She has long pink hair and she definitely got her boobs done. I try not to look at them while she tells me her background. The only thought in my head is asking her who her surgeon is and if I can get their number ASAP.
Marge calls out everyone’s section, including mine. I smile as I get ready, finally feeling like my life is somewhat getting back to its regularly scheduled program.
When I reach my section, all the men start hollering. They ask where I have been, and I tell them that a girl has a life outside of the club. They laugh and I take a seat next to one of my regulars. He pulls money out of his wallet, shoving it into my hand, and tells me to never leave again.
A couple of hours pass by, and I get tired of listening to their work.
I scan the club until my eyes stop at room five, seeing the curtain open and Jace sitting there with pink-haired bimbo Jessica.
She is so close to him that her breasts could suffocate his face if she leaned any closer.
Rowan is also there but not paying any attention to the sexual tension happening between those two. My eyes roam back to Jace and Jessica.
He leans into her neck, whispering something to make her laugh—with her chest, not her mouth. Her breasts are like water bags, jiggling, yet her mouth stays closed.
My breathing becomes erratic. I move my hair over to one side of my shoulder, feeling the club becoming too hot.
My fingers start shaking and I try to pry my eyes away, but I can’t.
I don’t want to. They keep making googly eyes at each other and now I want to rip the new girl out of the room by her hair and mop her on this floor.
Jace looks up and spots me right away. His eyes glow in the light and he curls his lips upward, giving me a devilish grin.
Jessica notices his focus is no longer on her and turns her eyes toward me.
I whip my head away, bring my attention back to my clients.
My ears start to ring, muffling out the voices around me.
I can’t find a way to calm my breathing down and when I look at my fingers, I can’t force them to stop shaking.
I quickly excuse myself, running to the locker room.
As soon as Lily leaves her section, I throw Jessie— Jamie?
Juliet?—whatever-the-fuck-her-name-is—off me and follow her to the locker room.
I open the door, finding her bent over, holding onto the benches.
I slam the door behind me, scaring her. She jumps up, turning around, and I see she has tears streaming down her face and bloodshot eyes that clash against her beautiful green irises.
Before I can move or even open my mouth, she marches to me, swinging her arms at my chest and screaming words I can’t understand in another language.
I grab ahold of her wrists with one hand, pinning them behind her back and lifting her up by her ass.
Her legs wrap around me—which I don’t think she noticed—as she continues to try and wriggle out of my grip.
I take us out of the locker room, making my way toward the stairs.
I give Roxxie a nod before she unclicks the red rope and lets me walk up to the second floor.
“Where the fuck are you taking me?! Put me down!”
I walk us into one of the rooms, throwing her onto the couch and locking the door behind us.
She turns around with wide eyes, looking around the space.
I have been attending Club Opal long enough to know she has never been back here.
There’s a pole in the middle of the room and an all-black sectional couch that wraps around the stage.
The walls are covered in windows, with a single light that highlights only the center of the floor.
I head toward the window and pull on the string to close the curtains. I watch Lily run to the door, her tall heels stopping her from running fast enough, which gives me the opportunity to reach her before she makes it out. I wrap my arm around her stomach, stopping her.
“Jace, please!” she cries.
“Just listen to me, álainn.” I press my face into her hair, smelling her strawberry perfume. I walk backward till I hit the couch. She falls into my lap with her back against my chest, feeling my cock twitch as her ass sits right on top of it.
“Why are we in here?” She brings her knees to her chest, curling herself into a little ball on top of me.
“Would you rather this be more public? I can open the curtains if you like,” I ask while swiping her hair off her back to reveal her skin.
She is wearing a tiny little shirt that cuts low down her back, paired with a tight black leather skirt.
I start leaving small kisses, feeling the goosebumps rise on her skin.
I can’t get too ahead of myself, feeling my dick grow by the second.
I lift her off me, setting her back down while I sit on the stage in front of her.
She curls back into a ball, laying her head on her knees while looking at me.
I run my hands through my hair, not knowing how to tell her—ask her.
This is something Rowan, Noah, and I have been planning for days.
This was the only day I could ask her before time starts to run out, before it is too late.
She stares at me. Her eyebrows crinkle as she lifts her head. “Jace, are you okay?”
Am I okay? A snicker comes out of my mouth. I am about to tell the girl of my dreams to do something so fucked that I can barely comprehend it. Yet, she still finds the heart to ask me if I am okay. When I am about to ruin her life.
I take a deep breath, feeling like I’m about to throw up all the alcohol that is sitting in my stomach.
“Jace... you’re paler than normal.” She reaches her hand out, grabbing my clenched fist.
“Lily.” I look up at her.
She falls back into the sofa, her eyes bulging from their sockets. “Oh god, you used my real name... What is going on?”
I smile a little, shaking my head. This is so fucked. “Mateo is going to ask you to marry him in a couple of
days and I need you to say yes.”