Page 5 of Whatever Lola Wants

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.”

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