Chapter 168: So Damn Ugly
For a second, Lola’s mind went black as her body turned rigid. She stared at the divinity before her in sheer horror.
As far as she could remember, she slept on her side and even tucked herself tightly into the thick blanket. But now, she was clinging to him like she wanted to be one. Her head was resting on his arm, her arm was curled around his body, and one leg was tangled between his thighs while the other was draped over his.
Panic slowly surged into her blank mind, and without thinking, she took immediate action. Lola pulled her arms and legs from him. But just as she began to pull away, Atlas’s grip around her frame tightened.
"What the—" she froze as he didn’t budge.
At the same time, Atlas partially opened his eyes. His gaze instantly locked with hers, the corners of his mouth curling up.
"Morning," came out in his coarse voice as he closed his eyes once more. "Slept well?"
Lola puffed her cheeks, keeping her mouth closed as tightly as she could.
"Breathe," he said, not feeling her breath on his skin. "It doesn’t smell bad."
I know!
But the answer only came into her head. All she could do was stare at him with wide, blank eyes while the warmth of their bodies pressed them into a tighter hug. When Atlas pulled her body closer, her already rigid body stiffened even more.
Her body felt even stiffer when she felt something hard poking her abdomen. Lola’s face paled in utter horror, not blinking even once.
"I’m..."
"I know," she blurted out to cut him off, watching him open his eyes. "Atlas, you don’t have to announce to me every time you’re hard. I know—it’s poking me."
He smiled. "Good."
Good? GOOD?!
"I thought it bothered you, but it seems it doesn’t," he added leisurely. "Sleep some more. You kept me up all night."
"..." Lola’s mind buzzed, locked in his arms while listening to this imaginary "boing" sound poking her abdomen. "Atlas," she called, her voice filled with dread. "Now it bothers me."
"Even better."
"!!!" Disbelief quickly dominated her face. However, before she could say anything else, Atlas suddenly spoke in a languid voice.
"Lola Young," he called, opening his eyes once more and holding her mortified gaze. "What do you think of being Mrs. Atlas Bennet so far? Having company at night is nice, don’t you think?"
This time, the horror on her face disappeared as her brows rose. His words echoed in her head as she thought about the past three times she had shared the bed with him. Sure, the time before sleeping was stressful as hell, and it was hard to sleep.
But aside from that, all her sleep was... quality sleep. Even with some dreams in between, it didn’t feel as horrible. If anything, she felt well-rested.
Lola’s mouth parted, but before any word could come out, two adorable voices echoed in their room.
"Mommy~!"
She turned her head to the door instantly, her mind quickly setting everything aside as she saw the twins running to the bed. This time, she pushed Atlas away, which thankfully succeeded as he had loosened his hold on her. She sat up, ignoring him completely.
"Mommy~!" The twins climbed on the bed, pouncing on Lola. "We miss you~!"
"Oh, babies," Lola chuckled as she welcomed their warm embrace while Atlas propped his elbow against the mattress.
*****
When the twins arrived in the bedroom and cuddled with Lola, the latter constantly shot Atlas a warning look. The man, after all, looked like he had some other plans to pull. Thankfully, he got the warning quickly and left for a shower while she and the twins cuddled on the bed.
Soon, they all went about their day, with the twins talking nonstop about their school. As for Slater, he kept snickering and whispering in his brother’s ears, warranting some death glares from Lola.
And just like that, they all separated, with them dropping off the twins, and then Atlas dropping off Lola at the apartment complex where the gym was, before he left for work.
But even with all that morning activity, Atlas’s words stuck in her mind.
"What do you think of being Mrs. Atlas Bennet so far?"
"Having a company at night is nice, don’t you think?"
Slowly, Lola covered her lips with both hands. Behind her palms, her lips pursed to stop a squeal. Her cheeks were red, her eyes obviously drifting elsewhere.
While Lola was busy, Silo and Haji bent over her, one on each side. Cedrick was standing near Silo, his eyes filled with curiosity as he stared at Lola.
"She’s at it again," Silo muttered, studying Lola and even daring to move his face closer. "Just look at her. How can she live day by day on autopilot?"
Haji clicked his tongue, looking at her as if she were a lost cause. "I don’t know about that, Silo, but just how does she do this? She’s so damn ugly."
Cedrick almost choked at Haji’s comment, giving them a conflicted look. The other two just studied Lola as if she were a different species. And yet, even with their comments, Lola’s eyes were glittering, and even the air around her was sparkling.
"Is she really mentally not here?" he whispered to himself.
"This pimple is ripe, right?" Haji poked the pimple on Lola’s cheek. "It’s been here for more than nine months. I’m afraid there’ll be some creatures forming inside."
"Lola, are you... there?" Ignoring Haji’s nonsense concern, Silo waved a hand in front of Lola. "Hello? Knock knock?"
This time, Lola blinked, and the reaction she was wearing instantly changed.
"Huh?" She blinked some more, catching Silo looking at her curiously. When she turned to the other side, Haji quickly straightened his back and cleared his throat.
Lola opened and closed her mouth, darting her eyes between the guys in the gym’s office.
"How long have you been here?" She asked, recalling she told them to join her once Cedrick finished his sparring with Haji.
"Uhh..." Haji and Cedrick hesitated to admit they had been there for the past ten minutes. But then, Silo answered.
"Just now!" Silo drew his head back from her. "Lola, I’m getting worried about you. Are you okay?"
"Or have you gone cray cray again?" Haji blurted out, only to earn a glare from her.
"I’m okay, just thinking about a lot of things." She waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, Cedrick, come here."
"Hmm?" Confusion quickly showed on Cedrick’s face, only to see her smirk.
"They’re announcing the cast," she said with a grin. "Even though we already know you got the role, let’s pretend we don’t and get shocked by the results, okay?"
Cedrick furrowed his brow briefly, but in the end, he smiled and nodded. Just as instructed, he went behind the desk and stood right next to Silo. Meanwhile, Lola typed on the computer and clicked the list of actors who got into the project.
Scrolling slowly, Lola’s finger stopped on the name Ryker. In the next column was Cedrick’s name. As instructed, they pretended to be shocked and cheered happily, though their excitement wasn’t entirely fake.
This was no longer just a verbal hiring. Today, Cedrick was officially Ryker.