Page 64 of The Devils Melody
Just then, my phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Retta: Sorry, honey, I lost my voice and can’t talk on the phone. What did you need?
Honey? She’s never called me that before. Weird.
Me: Just wanted to check in on you and see if you were hungry and missing our bar food. Do you want anything? I can stop by on my way home.
Retta: No thanks. Don’t come here. I don’t want you to get sick.
Rereading Retta's texts over and over in my head, I get a sick feeling in my stomach. I’m too tired to go over there tonight, but I’ll see if one of the boys wouldn’t mind going with me to check on her tomorrow. Shoving my phone in my back pocket, I finish the rest of my shift in a blur.
I’ve been here for almost ten hours now, so when it’s time to leave I’m practically sprinting out the door. Half way through my shift, I thought I wasn’t going to make it and threw back two shots of whiskey behind the bar. We’re technically not supposed to be drinking while on the clock, however, everyone takes shots here and there. Even the owners do it with their favorite regulars, so I didn’t even hesitate.
But after staying up late last night at the club, gettingobliterated—both sexually and alcoholically—the hangover from this afternoon, and everything with Rich, my body wanted to crash out. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and baby I was well past desperate.
The chill from the night air kisses my skin as I make my way to my car. I lock the doors as soon as I’m inside, a habit I formed after watching a few tiktok videos, and start the car. Taking in a deep breath, the scent of mandarin and sandalwood invades my nose. What is that? Looking around my car, I try to find the source of the delicious scent and find a black suit jacket resting in the back, camouflaged by the dark interior of the seat.
This must be Lennox’s jacket.
I hold the jacket up to my nose and inhale, the delectable scent intoxicating me to the core, transporting me back to last night when I was laying in Lennox’s strong arms. I can feel my cheeks flush at the memory of everything that transpired after that. It’s the only thing I’ve been able to think about all day. There are so many thoughts swirling around my brain like a storm that I can barely make sense of them.
It’s crazy how safe the scent of his cologne lingering in the small space of my car makes me feel. Like a piece of him is here with me, watching and making sure I get home okay.
God I’m in deep, and I don’t even know how I got here in the first place. And with Lennox of all people. Kage I would understand more, with the way that he’s always flirting and saying all the right things. Then there’s Lennox…he’s such a fucking asshole, but he was so gentle with me last night. The way he caressed my cheek, careful not to hurt me further. The way he held me, like he didn’t want anyone to get too close. The look in his eyes when I told him I wanted to keep him, it seemed like he wanted it too.
Ugh, I need help.
Sending up a prayer that she’s still awake at this late hour, I quickly scroll to her contact and give Olive a call. What I need is a completely unbiased opinion on this whole situation and there's only one person I trust for the job. She can just sense when someone’s intentions are nefarious and has never steered me wrong in the past. She was there last night when everything went down, and even though she wasn’t around the guys for long, I just know she got a good read on them.
“Bitch, please tell me you're waking me up at three am to tell me those fine men from last night split you in half and you lived to tell the tale,” she yawns, her voice groggy from sleep.
I can’t help the snort that escapes my nose. I can always count on Olive to make me laugh when I’m in distress.
“I did not get split in half,” I pause, and for a moment I think she’s going to hang up on me until she finally says, “But?”
“But…we got really close.”
“Oh my god, Wren. You whore! Tell me everything right now or I’m getting out of bed and showing up at your apartment to force it out of you.”
A laugh bubbles up in my throat before I could stop it. “You would do something crazy like that.”
“You’re damn right I would. With snacks too. Now, start talking and don’t leave out a single vein or vein adjacent detail.”
I laugh again, and this time it actually feels good. I give her the rundown of everything that happened last night with the boys. Making out on the couch with Kage, beingcarried into the office by Lennox, and the best head of my life. I told her all about what the boys did together and listened to her gasp and interrupt to ask the most inappropriate questions every five minutes, most of which I didn’t even bother answering.
“Okay, but seriously,” she finally says when I pause for a breath. “When are you going to let them Eiffel Tower you?”
“Olive.”
“What? They’re hot, and they wanna be the bread to your Wren sandwich, so go get somecondom-ents and fuck!”
I choke on my own spit. “Oh my god, please stop.”
“Nope, you called me and woke my ass up. Now I’m building the fantasy in my mind and you’re not gonna rob me of the climax.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And you’re dodging. C’mon, tell me more. Who’s the freakier one?”
