Page 2 of Whatever Lola Wants (Odyssey #2)

Grant slid an arm around Anna’s waist and nuzzled her neck. “ True . It would take too much energy.”

Henry gave Lola’s knees a final snuffle, then collapsed on the floor with a heavy sigh.

Anna wiggled in Grant’s hold. “ Let me go. I have to prep dinner.”

Grant turned her in his arms and slid his hands down to her ass. “ What’s the hurry?”

“Our guests might be hungry,” she pointed out.

He gave her ass a hearty squeeze. “ They can wait,” he rumbled and kissed her

“Well, that’s just fine,” Simon griped, and Grant lifted his head. “ You invite us over for dinner and then leave us to starve while you disappear for a quick bang?”

Lola snickered, and Grant grinned, dimples flashing. “ Who said anything about disappearing?”

“Grant!”

“What? You like when people watch.”

Anna huffed out an annoyed breath, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. “ We need to maintain healthy boundaries with our friends.”

“Does that mean we’re not getting a show?” Lola wondered. “ Bummer .”

Grant snickered, Anna sighed, and Simon eyed her with interest.

“Nobody’s banging and nobody’s watching,” Anna said firmly.

“Selfish,” Lola accused.

“Just for that,” Anna informed Lola as she slipped out of Grant’s arms, “you get to chop the onions.”

Lola winced. “ Good thing my mascara is waterproof.”

Lips twitching, Anna handed over a chef’s knife and an onion. Resigned , Lola began to peel.

“Lola, did you fall down?”

“Hmm?” Lola glanced over her shoulder to see Grant frowning, his eyes on her backside.

She had a moment of confusion before she remembered.

“ Oh . Yeah .” She twisted to frown at the scuffs on the back of her skirt.

“ Big Dick Hastings here plowed into me on the sidewalk,” she said and had the pleasure of watching his face turn to stone.

“I bumped into her,” Simon growled. “ Lightly .”

Grant turned to his friend. “ You put her on her ass?”

Anna came around the counter to peer at Lola’s butt. “ Are you okay?”

“Sure,” Lola said easily, sliding the knife into the onion and quartering it. “ My skirt got the worst of it.”

“Maybe the stain will come out.” Anna turned away, then saw the fist-sized bruise coming up on Lola’s upper arm. “ Did you get that from falling?”

Lola glanced at it, then turned back to the onion. “ No , that’s from my workout. Marcello threw me around a bit today.”

Anna shook her head. “ I don’t know how you can do that.”

“Different strokes.” She swiped at her eyes as the onion went to work on her tear ducts. “ How big do you want these onion chunks?”

Anna gave Lola’s arm a last glance before walking back to her cutting board. “ An inch or so. I’m doing kababs.”

“I’m doing kababs,” Grant reminded her. “ Grilling is my job, remember?”

Anna didn’t roll her eyes, but she looked like she wanted to. “ Fine . Go make manly noises over your grill.”

Grant looked at Simon . “ Wanna go make manly noises?”

“What qualifies as a manly noise?”

“Grunting. Burping .”

Simon grunted. “ If I’m going to burp, I’ll need beer.”

“Got you covered.” Grant walked around the island to snag two long-necked bottles out of the fridge. Hooking them in one hand, he gave Anna a sharp smack on her ass on the way back.

“Hey!”

“That was for rolling your eyes,” he told her.

She narrowed the eyes in question. “ I didn’t roll my eyes.”

“You thought about it,” he countered and opened the French doors leading to the backyard. Simon followed, laughing into his beer.

“You can’t smack me for thinking!” she hollered at him as the door closed.

Grant stuck his head back in. “ I just did. C’mon on, Henry .”

Anna waited until the dog had followed Grant out before she stuck out her tongue, a sparkle in her eyes.

“I see the dominance and submission is still a thing,” Lola commented, sniffing back onion tears.

Anna tapped her phone, filling the room with music. “ Yeah .”

“It’s going well?” Lola asked as Billie Eilish rolled through the kitchen.

Anna sliced into a bell pepper with quick, practiced movements. “ We’re still kind of figuring out what it looks like outside of the bedroom, but in the bedroom…”

Anna trailed off, a dreamy look on her face, and Lola laughed. “ You look happy.”

“I’m so happy it’s like I’m in a Hallmark movie,” Anna said. “ Except with lots of kinky sex.”

“Thank God you added that last bit,” Lola said. “ I’m too busy to stage an intervention.”

Anna snorted, her blade flashing as she worked. “ Speaking of kinky, we’re going to Odyssey tomorrow night if you want to tag along.”

Mulling the question, Lola used her knife to nudge the onion to one side of the cutting board. “ If we’re going to talk about this, I need wine.”

Anna tapped her knife on the open bottle breathing on the counter. “ Way ahead of you.”

“Excellent. Glasses ?”

“Left of the fridge.” Anna continued to slice vegetables as Lola got down two glasses. “ Should I not have asked?”

“No, it’s fine.” Lola poured the wine, set Anna’s down in front of her, then circled the island to perch on a stool. “ It’s not like I haven’t been thinking about it.”

“And?” Anna prompted.

Lola sipped her wine. “ I’m still thinking about it.”

“What’s holding you up?”

“I’ve been out of the scene for a long time,” Lola explained. “ I’m a different person than I was when I left.”

“And you’re not sure what to expect.”

“That’s part of it,” Lola allowed. “ More , I guess I just want to make sure I know what I want out of it at this stage of my life.”

Anna set down her knife and picked up her wine. “ What did you want out of it before?”

“Sex and blood.”

Anna grimaced. “ Gross , Lo .”

Lola chuckled, then took a closer look. Anna was a little green around the gills. “ Not a fan of blood play?”

“Really not.”

“Sorry, sweetie.”

“It’s fine.” Anna gulped her wine, waved a hand. “ You were saying?”

“I still want those things,” Lola continued, avoiding the b-word. “ But it doesn’t feel like enough anymore.”

“I get that.” Anna set down her glass and resumed chopping. “ Are you worried you won’t be able to find anyone to play with?”

“It’s not like that’s my only interest,” Lola said. “ I do other stuff, too.”

“Like what?”

“I like restraints, impact play. Sensual pain.”

“As a top or as a bottom?”

Lola’s smile was wicked. “ Both .”

“You know, I’ve been to the club a lot in the last several months, and I don’t think I’ve ever met another switch there.”

“Well, that’s another thing. BDSM clubs can be pretty segregated into subs and Doms . Switches can throw off the balance, make people uncomfortable.”

“I’d say that kind of thing wouldn’t fly at Odyssey , but the truth is I don’t really know.” Anna looked up, her gaze thoughtful. “ You should talk to Michael .”

“I plan to.”

“For what it’s worth, I hope you join. I’d love to have my best friend to hang out with there.”

Lola let her lips curl into a smirk. “ Even though I might see you having sex?”

Anna cleared her throat and started chopping again.

“You put her on her ass.”

Simon sipped his beer and watched Henry shuffle over to the edge of the patio to sniff at the grass. “ Shut up. It was an accident.”

Grant chuckled and strode to the grill built in to the outdoor kitchen on his back deck. “ How does that happen?”

“I was looking up at the house numbers and didn’t see her.”

The grill lid slipped out of Grant’s hand, slamming shut with a bang as he stared at his friend. “ You see everything.”

“Yeah, well. I didn’t see her.” Simon sipped his beer again, hoping it would wet his dry throat. “ She’s so fucking little. Five -foot nothing and maybe a buck ten soaking wet.”

Grant grabbed the lid again. “ Probably a bit more than that. I get the impression there’s a lot of muscle in that tiny package.”

Simon frowned at his beer. The arms he’d grasped to help her to her feet had been firm, toned.

And soft. He loved soft skin on a woman, and hers had felt like silk.

Dammit . To distract himself, he turned his attention to where Grant was fiddling with the dials on the grill.

“ Are you sure you know what you’re doing with that thing? ”

Grant shot him a scowl. “ I’ve got it.”

“I was just asking.”

Grant gave a grunt, and apparently satisfied with his fiddling, flipped a switch and closed the lid. “ It’s got to warm up,” he said and gestured to the chairs grouped around the portable fire pit nearby. “ Have a seat.”

Simon settled into a fat, cushioned chair. “ You seem happy, Grant . Content .”

Grant propped his bare feet on the edge of the empty fire pit and scratched his dog behind the ears. “ Weirdly enough, I am. I never thought I’d be here.”

“Here?”

Grant gestured with his beer. “ Here . House with a yard, woman cooking dinner. Domestic bliss.”

“It looks good on you.”

“It feels good. Of course, it helps that the house has a basement I can turn into a play space, and that the woman a is sassy, mouthy submissive who likes pain.”

Simon laughed. “ Truer words.”

“I haven’t seen you at the club much lately.”

Simon propped his feet beside Grant’s . “ Work’s been keeping me busy.”

“It’s been busy, but not that busy,” Grant said. “ You forget I work there too?”

Simon shrugged. “ I guess I just haven’t been too interested lately.”

“No one there you like to play with?”

“Plenty of pretty ladies to beat on.” He drained his beer and set the bottle aside. “ Just none I want to spend any time with outside the dungeon. Which is your fault.”

Grant choked on his beer. “ Me ?”

“I find I envy your domestic bliss.”

Grant chuckled. “ I can give you the name of our real estate broker.”

Simon glanced over his shoulder at the house. “ Not the part I’m envying, pal.”

“So, come back to the club. Maybe you’ll meet someone new.”

The image of a five-foot-nothing platinum blonde popped into his mind. He shook his head to dispel it. “ Maybe .”

The patio doors opened, and both men turned to watch Anna walk out with a covered platter in her hands. Lola followed close behind with a tray full of drinks.

Anna set the platter on the counter beside the grill. “ Is this thing ready or what?”

“Woman, are you questioning my grilling prowess?”

Simon didn’t bother to hide his chuckle at Grant’s mock growl. Anna’s eyes widened, innocence shining in their velvet depths. “ No , Sir . I would never do such a thing, Sir . You are the Master of grilling, Sir .”

Lola snickered, then folded her lips when Anna hissed a warning.

“Sorry.” Lola cleared her throat dramatically and carried the tray of drinks over to the fire pit as Grant stood and stalked to the grill.

Simon forced himself to stay relaxed as she slid into the chair next to him.

Her sleeveless shirt was open at the throat, displaying a shadowy hint of cleavage, and the glint of gold nestled in the hollow of her throat when she bent to set the drinks down.

She settled back in the chair with her wine, tipping her face up to the setting sun, and he took advantage of her inattention to study her.

Her face was all angles, blade-like cheekbones and a sharply angled jaw and an equally sharp nose but for the tip.

It turned up, just a bit, as though whoever had sculpted her features had given it a gentle, affectionate tap. But that wasn’t what drew the eye.

Amid all the sharp planes and angles of her face, her mouth was a lush, plump oasis. She’d painted it red, bold and bright against the white of her skin, and with thoughts of what he could do with that mouth running through his mind, she opened her eyes and caught him staring.

Those pouty lips curled into a smirk. “ Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m trying not to stare at them.” He picked up a fresh beer from the tray and gestured with it to the other side of the patio, where Anna and Grant were still locked together. “ It’s like animals at the zoo. They won’t mate if they know we’re watching.”

A choked gasp sounded from the grill, and he turned to see Anna glaring at him. Grant had his face pressed to her neck, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

Lola snickered into her wine. “ Want to lay odds on when the engagement announcement comes?”

Simon nearly choked on his beer. “ They’re engaged?”

“No, but it’s only a matter of time. My money’s on six months or less.”

He glanced back at Grant and Anna , at the quiet joy on his friend’s face as he gazed at the woman held tightly in his arms. “ That's a sucker bet.”

Lola snuck a glance over her shoulder. Her smile when she turned back was wistful. “ To our friends,” she said and raised her glass.

He watched her for a moment, wondering why the slight hint of sadness in her eyes should be so compelling, before tapping her glass with his beer bottle. “ To our friends.”

They drank and settled back in their chairs and very carefully looked anywhere but at each other.