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“Coming up.” Elodie gave a little curtsy. “Lola?”
“I'll be in to help in a second. I just want to get out of these wet clothes.” There it was again, that beautiful, sweet smile that charmed everyone around her. “I need to warm up, I feel like a snowman,” she gigged softly
Eagerly, I took her hand. If she needed to warm up, then I was more than willing to help her. In fact, I would have her hot and sweating within minutes.
“Sit your ass down, Dion.” Erik pointed to the spot on the sofa that I'd just vacated. “You ain't going anywhere until this is done.”
LOLA
“Lola.” Elodie called out to me as I hesitated in the doorway to the kitchen. Behind me I could hear the band rehearsing, and even listening for a few seconds I could tell that the song had come on a lot since I had left earlier. I wanted to go back into the living room so I could listen to it properly. There was something hauntingly beautiful about it. Even without Dion's husky tones, it would be a beautiful song, but he took it to the next level.
So full of heartache, heartache and hope.
A round of applause erupted behind me, and I smiled before I could help myself. The others thought so as well. It wasn't just me.
“Lo,” Elodie called again, and with a sigh, I turned my full attention back to my roommate. The boys didn't need me to disturb them, and even if I was quiet, I knew Dion would notice my presence straight away. Smiling softly to myself, I made my way into the kitchen and found a woman I had never seen before. My eyes narrowed. She was pretty in a totally alternative way. With short, golden curly hair and a nose ring, there was something kind of punky about her. I noticed tattoos peeking out from beneath her jumper and felt an instant flame of jealousy.
Pretty didn't cover it. This girl was rock’n’roll chic, different from Isla’s sexiness, but she still looked every inch the girlfriend of a rockstar. I searched my brain for anything I had read that told me one of Dionysus Rising was dating and came back blank. Not that it was surprising. After what had happened with Dion, I had purposely not gone searching for gossip about the band. Anything I knew about their antics was purely due to Elodie filling me in.
Still, if she was here and as friendly with Elodie as she was, then she must be someone important to the band.
My brother maybe? She definitely looked like Louis’ type. Which, if I was honest with myself, was anything with a pussy. I shook the thought away. If Louis was dating someone, he would have told me.
“Come and meet Celia.” Elodie eyed me thoughtfully and her smile told me she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Hey.” The blonde's blue eyes twinkled as she raised a can of spray cream to her mouth and pressed hard on the nozzle, filling her mouth with frothy whipped cream.
My smile slipped an inch. “Hello?” Raising an eyebrow at my housemate, I waited for Elodie to carry on the introductions. Celia looked so at home, so confident, that she was definitely sleeping with one of them in the living room. But who?
My brother or Tate? That was the question.
“Celia is Erik's personal assistant.”
I did a double take. Personal assistant? Out of all the things Elodie might have said, that would have been my last guess.
“You work with Erik?” I didn't even try to keep the scepticism out of my voice. “Erik?”
Slowly, Celia dropped the canister back onto the countertop, her face puzzled. “Yep.” She eyed me. “You seem shocked.”
The argumentative tone in her voice made me bristle. She was in my home, eating food straight from the container with no regards to anyone else or basic hygiene, and she had the audacity to look offended at me?
“It might have something to do with the cream on your chin, chick.” Laughing, Elodie wiped the offending white off her friend's face. “Lola, Celia won a scholarship with Erik's company. She's now his right hand–woman.”
“And by that she means general dogsbody.” The young girl, and she was young, I’d have placed her not far out of her teens, shrugged her thin shoulders under the oversized sweatshirt that fell to her knees. “I fetch his coffee and…” Another shrug.
“Celia is a genius.” Elodie continued to stir the cups in front of her.
I raised an eyebrow. “Well, it's nice to meet you, Celia.” I meant it genuinely. If Elodie liked her, then I could try to as well. “I thought you and Jax were meant to be going away for a few days?” Turning my attention back to Elodie, I reached for the nearest mug of hot chocolate, smiling my thanks as Celia offered me the can of cream.
Elodie's face fell for a second. “In the morning and then only for a few days. They have studio time booked for next week now.”
I studied her. Elodie had been my housemate for almost as long as she had been dating Dionysus Rising’s lead guitarist. I had seen firsthand how totally in love with him she was, but I had seen the stress as well, and the disappointment when he had to cancel their plans for work.
It was disappointment I was seeing on her face now. She was trying to hide it, but I knew her well enough to see through the smile that might have fooled everyone else.
Reaching across, I slipped my fingers into hers. “I'm sorry.”
“It's ok, we can try again in the new year.” She smiled weakly. “Believe me, a few days is better than nothing. And that means…” She raised twinkling eyes at me. “You get Dion to yourself for a little while as well.” Mischief tinged her voice. “I know he’s looking forward to that.”
