7 | All The Right Places

♱Recommended song: Come and See Me By PARTYNEXTDOOR♱

"You didn't mention that you're a fucking ninja," Arya pointed out as I slipped my white heels on.

I smirked, adjusting the mesh white dress, "You didn't ask," I retorted.

Arya rolled her eyes as she stood from my bed, "Still not fair," she said, sipping the last of her iced coffee as she tugged her small black dress down.

I laughed slightly, "You were the one who claimed I wouldn't be making it to the event tonight," I reminded her as I flipped my long dark hair over to the other side of my head.

"Which would've been the perfect opportunity for you to say, hey, by the way, I have crazy ninja moves," Arya said, mocking my voice as we walked toward the door.

I laughed again, "That's not how I sound," I said, walking down the tall halls as our heels managed to click in sync.

Arya gave me a narrowed look, "That's exactly how you sound."

—

After going back and forth about how my voice claimed to sound, Arya and I finally made it down to the lower levels where we navigated to the event hall.

The decorations were nothing crazy—or maybe they were, and I was just used to it.

Everyone seemed to be completely into their own separate conversation over the light music, holding their champagne flutes as they conversed about very illegal concepts so lightly.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Arya said.

I furrowed my brows, "There are servers all around us with plenty of drinks," I pointed out.

Arya raised a sharp brow, "A real drink," she said, allowing her eyes to drift over to the bar.

I raised my brows in acknowledgment, "Oh I see—well, you know where I'll be."

Arya laughed, "Yeah when I go looking for you, I'll look for the finest woman in the room and find you on her arm," she joked.

I looked around the room at all the powerful women and men, realizing that Arya would have to do a lot of searching, "Well there's a lot of those, so good luck with that."

Arya shrugged, "Worst-case scenario—I'll text you," she said, backing away from me.

I dramatically parted my lips, "What an excellent idea! Why didn't I think of that?" I said sarcastically, earning a small laugh from Arya as she walked away.

Once the brunette was gone, I allowed my dark eyes to sweep around the large room, planning out my next moves.

However, when I spotted Vincent, and then Noa right beside him—I decided I'd start there.

As I walked toward the pair, I grabbed one of the champagne flutes, taking a small sip as their attention naturally diverted to me.

"Lundy," Vincent smiled, pulling me into a side hug.

I smiled back, "Missing your twin, I see."

Vincent rolled his eyes, "We're not twins," he retorted, hating that I liked to refer to him as that.

I really only did it just to annoy him.

"I think we look like twins—Noa, don't you think so?" I asked, diverting my attention to her.

Noa took a sip of her champagne, and it was clear something was bothering her. I don't know what it was, but hey—that's what she gets for how she behaved this morning.

Maybe karma is a bigger bitch than me.

Vincent narrowed his eyes when Noa shrugged, basically giving into the narrative, "I'm going to get a drink—and before either of you say anything—I mean a real drink," he said, which easily earned an amused smile from me.

He sounded just like Arya.

As soon as Vincent was gone, Noa's dark eyes fell on me, allowing a disapproving look to coat her face. I couldn't lie and say that she didn't look completely attractive—even if she was just in a white button-down and black pants.

"Aw someone seems mad," I joked, taking another sip of my champagne.

Noa only took a step toward me, allowing her expensive cologne to fill my nose, "You need to change," she said, and it suddenly dawned on me why she was irritated in the first place.

But who is she to say that I need to change?

Before I could argue with her insane demand, she subtly reached for the hem right above the slit of my dress, sending an overwhelming amount of heat through my body, "And pull this down," she lowered her voice, tugging the material down, so it covered more of my leg.

I narrowed my eyes at her. Didn't she just reject me this morning?

Why would I even listen to her right now?

I purposefully tugged the material back up, easily making Noa's expression harden, "No," I gritted through tight teeth, which earned a narrowed look from Noa.

I felt my body grow even hotter when Noa's dark eyes openly traced my body before meeting my stare again, "Your dress is completely see-through, Lunden," she said, her voice tightened and low.

I smirked, happy that she was irritated—now she can see how I felt this morning, "Only in all the right places," I said, allowing my smirk to grow.

Noa's inhaled an irritated breath, but before she could say anything else, I heard a sudden voice interject into our conversation.

"Noa," the smooth voice greeted, easily making my eyes divert to the woman.

The unfamiliar woman was wearing a black pantsuit with matching stilettos, while her black hair was slicked back into a low bun and her face remained bare.

Hmm, she's hot.

Noa forced her irritation to fade into a neutral expression, "Val," she greeted the woman back.

The woman named Val smiled, "The place looks amazing as usual," she said, earning a curt nod from Noa.

Jeez, she could at least smile.

"Thanks," Noa said, clearly not happy with Val's presence. Maybe it was due to the fact that she interrupted us, which I felt grateful for.

There was no way in Hell that I would be changing.

The woman's dark eyes slowly diverted to me, "And I assume this is your girlfriend?" she asked, which easily made my brows shoot up.

Girlfriend?

Before Noa had a chance to say anything, I said, "No, not at all—actually..." I looked past Val, who easily followed my line of sight, but when I couldn't find Aliza, I turned back to Noa, "Where's Aliza?"

I never thought in a million years that those words would leave my mouth, but here we are.

Noa shrugged, "She couldn't make it," she said.

I furrowed my brows—Aliza has never skipped an event before, she'd actually cancel her own plans before she passed up an opportunity to accompany Noa anywhere.

Something isn't right.

I turned back to Val, deciding to drop the topic, "Well, Aliza isn't here, but that's as close to a girlfriend that Noa has," I explained to her.

Val looked down at me, allowing her dark eyes to peer down into mine completely, "You're not claimed at all?" she asked, clearly stunned that I wasn't on someone's arm.

I smirked slightly when I noticed Noa's jaw tighten just the slightest bit. Yeah, I take back what I said...

I'm definitely a bigger bitch than karma.

"I can explain how not claimed I am over a drink at the bar," I said, tilting my head slightly at the woman.

Val raised a slight brow, clearly impressed with how easily I shifted the dynamic, "If you'll excuse us," she said, looking back to a nonchalant Noa.

Well, she appeared to be nonchalant—but I could tell by the tick in her jaw that what I just pulled bothered her.

Soon Val and I were at the bar, making small conversation as we drank our own separate drinks. It felt like our mouths were saying one thing, but our bodies were doing another.

Like how my leg casually brushed hers every couple of minutes—or how she subtly tucked my hair back out of my face, allowing her hand to linger on my cheek.

I genuinely felt like I could take her right here in front of everyone, especially Noa—whose dark eyes met mine every once in a while as she conversed with some random woman.

It seemed like the closer I got to Val, the more irritated Noa seemed to look.

At some point, Noa began fighting fire with fire, shifting the mood between her and the woman beside her as she purposefully stood closer to her—or even how she draped her arm around her lower waist.

I hated that it managed to make something within me boil. It wasn't necessarily the contact, instead, it was the game that we were playing, which seemed entirely dangerous.

When Noa pressed a subtle kiss to the woman's  jaw, I knew I had to step up my game, especially with the look Noa gave me after doing so.

I could practically hear her say, Your turn.

I smirked as I leaned into Val's ear, causing the woman's arm to instinctively slide around my waist, "Black is definitely your color," I murmured, pulling back slowly as her dark eyes held mine completely.

And before Val could say anything as a rebuttal, I felt my attention divert over to Noa, who was suddenly exiting the room.

Where is she going?

Without even thinking it through, I stood from my chair, which easily earned a confused look from Val, "Sorry, I just really need to use the restroom," I said.

Val nodded, "No need to apologize love," she said, and deep down I questioned whether I should leave to follow Noa at all.

Val seemed like an excellent candidate to go home with tonight.

But the curiosity surrounding Noa just seemed entirely too irresistible, and I knew that if this led to a dead end, I wouldn't be able to blame anyone else but myself for willingly chasing after her.

"I'll be back," I said, sending Val one last smile before I turned on my heel and exited the large room.

Upon making it out into the main hallway, I looked around, and as soon as I saw the tall door down the hall slowly closing on its own, I determined that Noa had gone there.

As I walked toward the door, my heart managed to thump in my chest, knowing that Noa was most likely irritated with me, and the feelings definitely mutual for me.

The outcome seemed entirely unpredictable, especially after Noa rejected me.

Knowing us, we'd probably end up full-on fighting.

I stopped at the door, hesitantly placing my hand on the knob before turning it.

And before I had even a second to glance around the dim room, my back was pressed to the cold door, which easily earned a low gasp from me.

However, I couldn't help but smirk as I looked up at Noa, who held an expressionless look on her face.

"Hmm," I hummed out, allowing my hands to run over hers which were placed on my waist, and pressing me into the door, "I thought no meant no?" I mocked her words.

Noa's eyes narrowed down at me, seamlessly hooking my exposed leg around her torso, "You're such a brat—you do know that right?" she asked, clearly bordering past irritated.

I felt my smirk grow, "Don't fuck me then," I challenged back.

Noa chuckled slightly, easily prickling my warm body with goosebumps, "After how you've behaved?" she questioned carefully, allowing her hands to toy with the hem of my lacy white underwear, "Yeah, I'm about to fuck you until you're begging for forgiveness," she said.

My amused smirk grew, "Begging is a bit of a rea—"

I gasped when she ripped my underwear completely.

Okay, I'll admit that I wasn't expecting that.

Noa grabbed my wrists, "Look's like you finally got your way—but I'm about to get mine," she said, tying my wrists together with the white lacy material.