There’s an unwanted guest in my space.
“What are you doing here?” I bite, the chill to my tone audible even to me as the woman in question sits perched on the sofa, hands laced together in her lap as her eyes narrow.
Tonight of all nights. Of course she’s here.
“We need to talk,” she says calmly with an attempt at a seductive smile.
“I don't have anything to say to you, Laurie,” I reply with a clipped tone. “I thought I made that quite clear already.”
She hums, waving me off like what I have to say doesn't matter. Tilting her head, she taps her chin. “I assumed you'd be over it by now. I feel it's time. You need to be brought back to your senses, since you can't seem to do it alone.”
I splutter in disbelief at the state of this woman and her ability to continuously get under my skin. I should have known the quiet had gone on too long. “I don't know how else to spell this out for you, Laurie. I. Never. Want. To. See. You. Again.” Her face scrunches with frustration as I punctuate each word, but it only spurs me on. “You are not my guardian. You are not anything to me.” It’s freeing saying it out loud, but I’m already over it. She needs to realize it too.
“You can't say it, can you?” she muses, pushing up off the sofa with her nose held high as she assesses me.
“Say what?” I ask sharply, irritated that she lures me in with her stupid questions.
“Lover,” she purrs, the click of her heels echoing around the room as she inches closer to me. “That's what I was, wasn't it? Your lover? Say it,” she pushes, pressing her fingertip against my chest.
My heart races, not from desire, like I'm sure she hopes, but from contained rage, as I understand the difference between what I had with this woman and what I have with Elodie. It's not the same anymore.
It was never the same.
I part my lips, ready to break it down for her as simply as I can, when a snarl rings from behind me. “What the fuck isshedoing here?”
I can't decide if I've ever been happier or more concerned to hear my Petal’s voice than in this moment.
“She was just leaving,” I grunt, taking a step back, more than happy to clear a path for the woman in question so she can getthe fuck out of my space. But just because I move, doesn't mean Elodie does.
She fills the doorway despite her slim frame, her gaze narrowed as her nostrils flare, with her hands perched on her hips with purpose.
“I thought you would have gotten the message last time,” Elodie huffs, glaring at Laurie, who huffs in return.
“Don't speak to me, little girl,” she retorts, but Elodie simply chuckles.
“Thislittle girlknows just how to listen to this man, handle this man, andtakethis man, because that's whathewants. It’s also what I want. And what both of us want is for you to not be here.”
Laurie’s throat bobs as her eyebrows twitch with unspoken rage. “Go back to your room. This is official business,” she insists, attempting to wrangle the power into her hands, but Elodie cackles.
“See, the funny thing is, I was across the hall helping my friend because that's what she needs right now, but it seems all of my belongings have somehow gone missing. So I'm going to take a wild guess that I'm going to step into Rion's room and find everything that I'm looking for because that’s whereheput them. Have you ever been able to say the same?” she taunts, tilting her head accusingly as she blinks at her.
Without waiting for an answer, Elodie saunters between the two of us with a massive grin on her face, fully aware that she has captured the attention of both of us.
My heart wallops in my chest. I did indeed bring more than a single outfit over this morning while she was in the shower. I hijacked her whole wardrobe and brought it here, but I’d forgotten about it in the midst of everything else that's happened in the past twenty-four hours.
But she's right, and the glee that dances across her face as she walks back out of my room with the smallest silk nightie in hand says it all.
“Oh, you're still here,” she says sweetly before the smile vanishes from her face and she glowers at Professor Drayker. “Get the fuck out before I let everybody know what a worthless piece of shit you are,” she snarls, her deadly tone worthy of challenging mine.
To my surprise, Laurie bites back a snort as she storms from the room, her high heels stomping in a fit of temper as the door slams shut behind her. I assume she's on the other side of it, but I don't turn to look. My gaze is transfixed on my girl, my Petal, my delicate, little fucking queen.
Clearing my throat, I smile at her. “I’m sorry, I?—”
My apology is cut off as Elodie storms toward me, slamming her lips against mine in a possessive kiss that I would have been certain was for an audience just moments ago, but now that it’s just the two of us, I know it's raw need, just like I feel inside.
All too quickly, she moves back, putting far too much distance between us as she tears her lips from mine. “I thought you were only grabbing an outfit before…” she says, amusement dancing in her eyes, and I shrug.
“I don't recall stipulating any kind of limitations,” I murmur back, the tip of my nose brushing against hers as my fingers flex at her waist, and she grins.
