Page 87 of Lust

ROWENA

“Kill me now.”

Juliette looks up from her breakfast as I take the seat opposite her. “Can it wait until after breakfast? I don’t want to get blood on my pancakes.”

I shake my head and my brain rattles around in my skull. “I don’t know how you can eat that shit.” I turn to the waiter who’s just appeared at my side. “Can I have something that doesn’t taste like it’s been boiled in pure sugar? I miss salt. I’ll have scrambled eggs and toast and bring us a bottle of champagne so I can make mimosas.”

Juliette raises her eyebrows in confusion. “Are we celebrating your impending death?”

“No. just want to get drunk, but I thought asking for a bottle of vodka for breakfast would raise too many questions.”

She puts down her fork. “What’s going on? Is this to do with Dade?”

Dade? I screw up my eyes. “What?”

“I saw the alert this morning. I messaged Quinn to ask what’s going on, but she hasn’t answered. I figured seeing as you are acting weird, you might have seen him.”

“There was an alert?” I’ve not looked at my portal all morning, terrified it might contain a message from Felix.

“Did I hear my name being mentioned?” I turn as Quinn squeezes into the seat next to me. Her hair is a mess and her eyes are red as though she’s been crying.

“There’s an alert out for Dade and Rowena is planning on drinking herself to death for breakfast.” Juliettes eyes roam between the pair of us. “You both look like shit. Are either of you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I slept with Felix.”

“I slept with Dade.”

Juliette’s face registers a second of complete shock at our twin admissions, but is stopped from saying anything by the arrival of the waiter.

“We’re gonna need two of these,” she says to him as she pulls the bottle of champagne from his hand.

He puts the scrambled eggs, which are inexplicably covered in pink syrup, in front of me.

“Bring me anything with lots of carbs,” Quinn moans.

The second he leaves, Juliette pops the cork and hands the bottle to me.

“Babe…Babe… Jesus.”

I pour the champagne into the two glasses the waiter brought and push them to Quinn and Juliette before taking a swig right from the bottle.

“Dade I can understand, but Felix? Fucking hell. I miss all the fun.”

“You’ve been having your own fun.” I point out. “It’s not escaped either of our notice that you’ve been secretly running around this place, coming down to breakfast in the same clothes you wore the night before. I’m guessing Orlin is some kind of superpower in bed and you just don’t want to tell us.”

Juliette’s face curls in disgust. “I sincerely doubt it, but you don’t get to turn this on me. Girl, what were you thinking? Felix fucking Barclay!”

I slump down in my seat. “Please don’t speak so loudly. It’s bad enough as it is. I don’t want anyone else to know.”

The waiter arrives back with a plate of pink muffins for Quinn and another bottle of champagne.

Juliette reaches over the table and grabs one of the muffins.

“Why focus on me?” I complain. I gesture to Quinn, who looks as miserable as I feel. “She slept with Dade.”

“I do want to know all about that, but it was kinda inevitable. You sleeping with Felix is as fucked up as me sleeping with… well, Orlin.”

“Which I’m not convinced you’re not doing.”

---