Page 32 of Lyric Squared

I grabbed a towel from the basket of white washcloths and sat it inside the sink.

“Then, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“You asked,” I reminded her.

“Okay, and you could’ve declined comment, but we both know that’s why you wanted to know if I was awake.”

“I hate it when you’re right.”

Admittedly, she was hardly wrong. I dabbed a bit of soap on the rag before placing it against my bare skin. I cleansed my vulva and the surrounding skin carefully.

“Ummmm. Hmmmm. So, spill it.”

“He was so mean toward Collin. When I told them I was leaving, he basically made the guys aware that I had plans of going to Collin’s as if I’d told him that.”

“Did he overhear you guys perhaps?”

“No.”

I rinsed and repeated the same steps twice before allowing the water to wash away the soapiness of the towel. There wasn’t much. Because I loved to allow my vagina to cleanse itself, I didn’t interfere with its process often. I wiped with water, finally, and then hung the rag to dry. I hated putting wet rags in the clothes to be washed.

“He felt it,” Ever replied. “Oooooh. You’re in trouble, babe.”

“He asked the second it came out of my mouth that I was heading out. He wanted to know where. When I didn’t answer, he pulled Laike into his foolishness. Luca was planted in his phone, but made sure he put his two cents in.”

“What did he say?”

“That I was going home.”

I pulled the robe from behind my door and onto my body. The drinks were still in my system, slowing me down tremendously. Nevertheless, I began removing my makeup with the wipes from my makeup drawer. Laying down without applying my skincare was something I tried to never do, no matter how many drinks I’d had or how tired I was.

“Well, hey. To their credit, they want to make sure you’re safe before you just start having sleepovers and stuffs.”

“Are you on my side or theirs?”

“I’m team Keanu, babe, and that means I’m on the guys’ side tonight.”

“I should’ve ignored this call.”

I tossed the two wipes I’d used to the side and grabbed another fresh white towel to follow up with. Once it was wet enough, I applied the hot rag to my face and began to scrub away at my skin.

“But you didn’t.”

Ding. Dong. My doorbell sounded, pulling me from my thoughts and halting the words I had for Ever.

“Was that your doorbell that I just heard?” she asked.

“I– uh. Yeah,” stuttering, I responded.

“I can bet you Laike is coming to make sure you actually went home.” Ever chuckled.

“What am I going to do with these two? I won’t be surprised if Luca in tow.”

“Luca is already on his way home. He just texted me.”

“Of course… the only mature one out of the bunch,” I hissed, marching down the stairs, slightly in a rush to be sure that Laike didn’t wear down the doorbell. He had a key but for the sake of my privacy, he rarely used it. But on a night like tonight, I wouldn’t put it past him.

When I reached the bottom step, the oxygen I’d collected on the way down exited my body and left me searching for more. My blood followed it, draining from me and leaving me clinging to life. As much as I wanted to blink, I couldn’t, too afraid that I’d miss even the tiniest of movements that the man before me would make.