~Joan~
“I think he’s going to ask me out,” Rhoda gushed, a blush creeping across her cheeks as I styled her hair. I raised an eyebrow, staring at her reflection in the mirror as I secured the last pin in place.
“Oh, really?” I asked, and she nodded excitedly. Lucas had asked her to go on a date, and I honestly wondered what they could possibly be doing during all those times they met.
“He was like, ‘Rhoda, I’ve been meaning to ask-would you like to go on a date with me?'” she mimicked, fanning herself with her hands.
I chuckled, shaking my head as I spun her chair so she was facing me.
She looked beautiful, with dark lashes framing her brown eyes and dark curls cascading over her shoulders. She was simply breathtaking, and Lucas apparently had good taste.
“Well, don’t get your hopes up. I wouldn’t want you coming home heartbroken,” I said, and she rolled her eyes.
“It’s going to happen. Just trust me,” she insisted.
I hummed as I walked toward the bed, picking up her dress. “Ready to shimmy into this beauty?” I teased. She laughed and got up, reaching forward to grab the dress. I let her.
I sat on the bed, watching her change, the excitement on her face palpable. I wondered what it would take for me to feel that way-giddy, bright-eyed, and full of anticipation.
Probably never. I shook my head. I was too broken inside.
I didn’t even have a sense of identity. I mentally groaned. Angelina’s words had been playing on a loop in my mind, and no matter how I tried, I couldn’t shake them. They had struck a tender nerve.
I wasn’t sure what upset me more: the fact that Aaron had told her I was an orphan and implied I was disposable, or that Angelina had outright said I had no sense of identity.
After some reflection, I realized the former was what stung the most. That probably explained why I hadn’t spoken a word to Aaron in days.
We crossed paths occasionally-in the sitting room, the kitchen, and sometimes the library, where I tried to gather my thoughts. He hadn’t spoken to me either, and we existed in silence. Sometimes, I caught him watching me a little too long, but I pretended not to notice.
His girlfriend, however, was sulking around the house in a foul mood, snapping at Rhoda, arguing with Aaron, and glaring at me. That was fine-if she dared say a word to me, I’d gladly put her in her place.
“Jo? Jo?” Rhoda called, pulling me from my thoughts. She was staring at me, concern written across her face.
“The dress looks perfect,” I said hastily, my eyes scanning her figure. “I mean, the glimmer, the slit, the-”
“Jo.” Her firm tone cut me off, and I pressed my lips together, meeting her gaze.
She cocked her head to the side, placing her hands on her hips.
“You zoned out again. That’s the thousandth time it’s happened. What’s going on?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but she shot me a glare.
“And don’t tell me ‘nothing,'” she added. I snapped my mouth shut; that’s exactly what I was about to say.
Her gaze softened as she perched beside me on the bed.
“Come on, tell me what’s going on. I feel like I’m missing something,” she said quietly. I stared down at my fingers.
“There’s so much you’re not telling me,” she continued, her voice soft and almost pleading. “I feel like I’m losing my best friend.”
My vision blurred. I blinked once, then twice. Were those tears?
What could I possibly tell her? How I’d slept with her brother? Let him fuck me with his fingers? How his girlfriend had insulted me because he told her I was an orphan? How I was struggling to write because he was, somehow, my muse?
What exactly did she want to know?
“I got into a little fight with Angelina,” I admitted, brushing my hair back with my fingers. “She called me an orphan and said I had no sense of identity.”
Rhoda gasped, immediately wrapping an arm around me. “What the hell? When did she say that?”
“A few days ago,” I muttered.
“And you didn’t tell me?” she sounded hurt.
I stayed silent. That was just one of many things I hadn’t told her.
“You’re nothing like that, okay? For Christ’s sake, look at you. You’re beautiful. You’re a writer-a popular one, working on her second book. And you’re my BEST FRIEND! If that doesn’t scream identity, I don’t know what does,” she said fiercely.
I gave her a small smile. I was her best friend-that was enough.
“You never asked who told her that,” I said after a moment.
She stilled, her body tensing. “No.”
“Yeah.”
“He didn’t!” she gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth. “That son of a b-”
“Considering you both share a mother, I don’t think he is,” I said dryly.
“In every sense of the word, he is,” she snapped, pacing angrily. Her relationship with Aaron wasn’t great lately-him freezing her accounts and all.
“That, I’ll agree with,” I said.
Her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, and her expression immediately brightened. Lucas.
“Oh yeah, come in. I’ll be out in a minute,” she said into the phone, slipping on her shoes and grabbing her bag.
“Lucas is outside,” she said. “I told him to wait inside.”
I stood as she glanced at me.
“We’ll talk about this when I’m back, okay? I’m not dropping it,” she said firmly before I could protest.
“How do I look?” she asked, spinning.
“Are you taken, miss? Because I’d love to take you,” I teased.
She chuckled, giving me a quick hug. “Walk me out?”
I followed her to the sitting room, where Lucas waited with a bouquet of red roses.
Aaron, of course, was there too, his gaze assessing Lucas. His chilling black eyes didn’t faze the younger man.
Rhoda flushed under Lucas’s gaze as he handed her the roses. “Thank you. That’s so thoughtful…”
Lucas gave a little smile, his gaze became heated. “You ready?” he asked and she glanced back at me, before walking towards me.
“Keep these safe, Jo. If anything happens to them, I’ll kill you.”
“No need to threaten me over roses,” I said. “You’re definitely getting a boyfriend tonight.”
Her face turned crimson. “You think so?”
“I know so. Go knock ’em dead, baby girl.”
I glanced at Aaron wondering if he was watching what was going on. Surprisingly, his eyes were fixed on me.
Dark, chilling and heated. I looked around. Where was his little girlfriend?
As Rhoda left, Aaron’s gaze remained on me. Footsteps followed mine as I retreated to the kitchen. I didn’t glance back.
Why was he following me?
As annoying as it was, my body heated. Random thoughts, rushed through my mind.
God, just when I wanted to hate him a little bit more, my body had a mind of it’s own.
I hated my body.