20. Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Lance
The Five Stages of Grief.
I do not miss his stupid smile. Or his ridiculous laugh. Or his dumb little smirk. Or his annoying, clingy touches. Or, or, God forbid, that stuffy, dull apartment. I hum to myself as I dig through my drawers trying to find something cute to wear tonight.
I was so tired of being locked up like a fucking prisoner that I’m shocked I didn’t end things with Roman sooner. Yes, I see the irony in that. I know I live in a prison, but that’s not the point. My newfound freedom? It’s refreshing. I do not miss him. At all. This is good. Great, even.
I can go wherever I want, whenever I want.
I can eat anything I’m in the mood for instead of having to eat whatever he cooked.
I can go hangout with Olli, Wilder, or Jett and Everest whenever I feel like it.
I don’t have to lie to anyone about where I am or where I’m going.
The best part is that I can go out and make new friends now.
The shit that was going on between Roman and I, it was a complete farce.
It’s glaringly obvious now that neither of us actually cared about each other.
No one else can even tell that something’s wrong.
It’s like nothing ever happened. Which is exactly how I wanted it to be.
It’s cool. Perfect. Whatever. So now, Roman’s twisted version of foreplay, A.K.A camera stalking, should be a thing of the past, and I’m itching to get out and meet new people.
Hence the new fuckhot lingerie that’s about to be underneath a cute ass outfit. Whenever I actually find one. I knew I saved this lacey piece for a special occasion. I may or may not have planned to wear it for Roman when he finally decided that we could have sex, but this is great. Better.
“Okay… okay.” I chant to myself as I hold up a cropped shirt next to the shorts I plan on wearing. “This could totally work.”
I push to my feet as I start throwing on the outfit. I stop by the bathroom mirror to double check my outfit and hair. The hair is perfect, but the outfit is… meh. I try to rub out some of the wrinkles, but something still feels off.
“Lance!” Someone summons from the living room.
I guess the outfit will have to do, after all.
I grab my drink, keycard, and phone, which is almost always in a state of permanent silence thanks to a certain someone that won’t stop blowing it up, before hurrying out of my room.
I’m juggling everything in my hands, trying to get some of this shit in the tiny ass pockets on these shorts without spilling my drink.
“Whatever…” I huff in frustration.
The keycard manages to fit, at least, so fuck it. I toss my cell phone back on the dresser, before pulling the door closed behind me. When I finally look up there are three pair of eyes glued to me.
“Ummm… hi.” I squeak out bashfully.
Cain and Devlin are both peering over the back of the couch, and Wilder is just standing there gawking at me.
Cain and Dev turn to one another, doing that creepy brother stare they always do.
You know the one I’m talking about. It’s like they’re having a conversation with each other that they know no one else is privy to, but they don’t give a flying fuck if it makes everyone else in the room uncomfortable.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were twins, honestly.
The way they act… it’s fucking creepy. I just roll my eyes as I turn to Wilder.
“You look lovely. Ready to go?”
He scrunches his brows together as his eyes trail down my body.
“On a scale of one to ten, one being ‘you could rip it from my body and throw it in the trash and I wouldn’t care’ and ten being ‘if you so much as say something negative about it then I’ll cut you’, how attached to that shirt would you say you are? ”
I glance down at myself. “So, I’m not crazy. There’s definitely something missing, right?”
“One to ten, Lance?” He asks again as he rushes to the kitchen and starts digging through the junk drawer.
“I really don’t know,” I reply as I pull it away from my body and look down at it again. “I’ve never worn it before, so maybe like a three? Why?”
“Aha!” He declares excitedly as he holds up a pair of scissors, opening and closing them repeatedly.
Wilder with any kind of sharp object is mildly terrifying, but this is next level. He stalks over to me and tugs at the fabric across my chest.
“Sweet baby Jesus.” I curse aloud as I pinch my eyes closed. “Please be careful, Wilder.”
“Mmm… I think— perfect.” He says as he cuts through the fabric. “Wait… what the fuck?”
He yanks the fabric up just as I open an eye to peek at him, then he yanks it back down quickly. I can feel my face burning with embarassment.
“Okay, that makes this way better. Super-hot. I approve.“ He praises as he grabs at the fabric again to make another cut, this time lower. Then another, even lower.
“Oh yes, that’s perfect.” Cain agrees excitedly. I open my eyes to see that him and Devlin are both watching Wilder as he chops at my shirt. What am I? Everyone’s favorite form of entertainment?
“Alright, alright!” I say as I step back from Wilder. His eyes trace my chest mischievously as a sultry smirk rises on his lips. I glance down at myself, and… Well, shit. That does look pretty fucking good. Okay.
“Hey, you were just reading that shifter romance book, and now it looks like you’ve been hauled off and ravaged by some werewolf king.
That’s kind of perfect. That dark red lace, super-duper hot by the way, it kind of looks like blood underneath there.
” Cain explains as he raises a brow suggestively.
“Great. I look exactly how I feel… like I’ve been living in an imaginary world instead of the real one.
Just what I needed.“ I mumble to myself as I step around the island to put my cup by the sink.
Wilder tosses the scissors on the counter beside me and tugs on my arm.
“Great. We both look sexy as fuck. Now, it’s time to get wasted.
Byeeee.“ He says as he drags me toward the front door, throwing a wave over his shoulder.
Time to drink my way back to reality, one glass at a time.
Or maybe I just need a new reality altogether.
Yeah… I’m going with that one.