“You’re right,” I agree, standing back to my feet. “You can make a decision because it’s your group, but just know that for me, I’m not bothered.”
After warming up, we slip into an easy routine, dancing between each other and laughing. I genuinely enjoy Perse as a person. She’s easy to be around, so before we know it, we’ve been dancing for two hours.
“I need to practice on my fire bending.” I take a long swig of water, sweat dripping down my chest.
“Your act is by far my favorite out of all.” Perse chuckles, swiping her face with a towel.
“It’s not easy but it’s not hard.” I start walking toward the back room to find all of my equipment. A few people are training now too, with the Six Demons and Angels. I’m sliding the box out with all of my things when I hear the bikes start up at the back.
I freeze. Counting to ten, I force my panic to chill out. We have to share this same floor, so I need to get used to it.
Once the box is at the front of the center ring—a safe distance away from the wheels of death—I grab my phone out of my hoodie pocket and take my AirPods out with them, connecting to Bluetooth. I plug in the pods, shuffling through the song list and continue with my training until the sun is setting in the night. It isn’t until the soft neon lights are blaring from above me that I take out my pods and turn around to see if they’re ready for me to train in the wheel.
But they’re all gone.
Guess I get to skip out on one of my routines tonight.
I’ve just scrubbed up in the shower when a text comes through.
Perse: Come over to King’s. We’re having drinks and a cookout tonight.
Flicking back a text to Perse. I’ll be there in 30.
Val bursts through my door just as I’m getting ready.
“We have to look hot.” She hurries through my closet. “Have to.”
“Val?” I ask, squeezing my towel. “What are you doing here?”
She’s shuffling through my clothes in my suitcases when she finally stands to face me. “We have to make Maya and Killian feel pain.”
I laugh, making my way to my lingerie suitcase. So many damn suitcases.
“This is a sweet house. I’ve always loved it.”
There’s an awkward pause, but I shove it aside.
I find a black and white lace set. “Yeah, I like it. It’s something I would’ve built myself.”
Turning to face Val I watch as she pulls out a black sequin dress that only barely covers my ass, let alone hers. She’s so much taller than me. I ask the question I’ve been wanting to ask for a while. “Did you know who it was that lived here before?” I don’t remember Val as a kid, but that’s no surprise. We ran in completely different circles. No one knew me.
Val shrugs. “The last people that were in here left when I joined Midnight Mayhem at thirteen. They were the oldest Dragavei to live. Must have been your great grandparents.”
It’s strange, because my mother and father lived a very modest life within the community. Actually, modest is probably being generous.
“It’s just weird,” I whisper, making my way to where she’s slipping into my dress. Sure enough, it barely covers her upper thigh.
“How so?” she calls out from the bathroom.
“Well, I was a Royal, not a Dragavei. Delila isn’t telling me much and I don’t really know who to ask.”
My fingers flex over a white crop top that dips deep into my cleavage and straps around me like a bra. I pair it with black wide leg pants that are tight around my waist but loose around my legs.
“You’re wearing the genie pants? Good choice with that crop,” Val says, coming back to rummage through my shoes. “And if you want to ask anything, I’d go to Jessie, aka Lucifer. He’s almost forty-years-old and knows about as much as Delila’s old ass.”
“Jessie’s forty?” I ask, shocked. He doesn’t look it. He looks old, but I originally pegged him as early to mid-thirties.
“Yeah.” Val smirks. “Wears it well, huh?”
“He does,” I agree, finding the black heels I want to pair with my outfit. “I’ll do my makeup and then we can leave. Can you go downstairs and find us some liquid courage?”
Val flashes me a wide grin. “Oh, I’d be honored.” She flicks her long blonde hair over her shoulder, disappearing out of my room like a tornado of destruction. I’ve come to warm up a lot to Val. I’ve found her easy to talk to, and aside from Ken, she’s always there for me. I know Perse would be too, but I also know that she’s King’s lady, which means I can’t talk to her about everything because there’s a high chance that she will go back and tell King.