The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 28

Lola jumped when she heard her phone buzz for the fifth time that night. Things had gone awry when Nalini spotted someone watching them from across the street. Lola had gazed at the car for over an hour until it finally drove off, disappearing into the night.

It was a plain dark Toyota, with tinted windows that hid its occupants from her prying eyes. Such a common car, there was no telling who it belonged to. She felt sick, literally sick to her stomach that someone knew where she lived and had been here on the exact night Julian was supposed to come over. 

She grabbed her phone and saw the text from Nalini, stating that they were coming back from wherever they drove off to. 

Lola sat down on her bed and fiddled with her phone after replying that the coast was now clear. 

She couldn't understand what this meant. Was that person idling on the street some random coincidence? 

Or was it someone interested in Julian's whereabouts? 

But how could they have known that she was helping him out? All her years in school had been spent under the radar, safe for the times Nalini fought with Eva. Lola raked her brain for a reason someone could be spying on her but she couldn't come up with one. 

She had been so careful, hadn't she? 

She spotted Damien's familiar jeep approaching the shadowed area, hidden by the huge tree across from her house. Lola's heart leaped to her chest as she quietly made her way down the stairs and crept out of her house to meet Julian and the others. 

Nalini stepped out first, her eyes large and worried. She hugged Lola tightly, her fingernails digging into her friend's back. 

"Lola, I'm so worried," She whispered and Lola rubbed her hand down her back to calm her. 

"We should do this quickly." The usually chirpy Damien was dead serious in the quiet of the night. He cast cautious glances down both sides of the street before opening the back door to his car. 

Lola heard the sound of someone groaning softly and then she spotted a tuft of familiar black hair that shone under the streetlights. Julian straightened up and his eyes immediately fell on her. 

Lola couldn't explain the way his gaze enveloped her in the most distractive way, like a lens that focused solely on her, blocking out everything else until the dark ocean blue became her entire world. She gulped as he rushed to her. 

His fingers wrapped around her wrist gently and she felt a million tingles of electricity travel up her spine.

"We should head inside." His was a voice of reason while she only nodded in response. She caught Nalini staring at her with narrowed eyes but ignored her. 

She ignored it all, focusing on heading inside safely before casting a small wave in her friend's direction as they drove off into the night. They snuck up the stairs quietly and Lola released a breath once the door was shut, leaving the two of them in the darkness of her room.

She was about to speak when Julian did the most unexpected thing. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and she could feel the toned muscles of his chest pressed up against her and the sound of his heart beating frantically against hers.

Lola froze, she didn't know what to say or do but the warmth from his body comforted her in a way she had never felt before. It wasn't the kind of warmth she'd received from the sun or from something hot and comforting like hot cocoa. 

No, this was the kind of warmth that seeped into her blood, burying itself in her bones. It came entirely from him and in that moment she knew, Tyler would have never made her feel this way.