𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔.

muse: cadence luhya, event planner, late twenties

" i can be serious. " his parents would disagree. his attending would disagree. every one of his exes would definitely disagree. but this wasn't about any of them. seizing a cocktail napkin from across the bar, declan grabs a pen from his breast pocket — purple ink, a cartoon cat with enormous eyes perched on the clicky end — and begin to write. " wants to be wanted. wait, wait! adored. no half-assed bullshit. what else? "

open to anyone. muse: malee tan. bisexual. she/her. personal shopper. uses the luxurious items she purchases for clients to act as though she lives a much more lavish lifestyle than what she really does. plot: someone she's seeing/newly dating/a newer friendship. she's been pretending as though she's pretty wealthy but oops she's just bumped into your muse outside her (shitty) apartment complex. they can be on the richer side or not, whatever works!

" malee? is that you? " sunglasses sliding down her nose, an astonished cleo appraises the woman on the pavement, shock and confusion written clear as day upon her face. what on earth was malee tan doing in this neck of the woods? then again, what was she? " meeting a friend. " her private investigator, to be exact. with the king's ransom she paid him each month, one would think he could afford a nicer office — or at least one in a better part of town. across the street, her driver sits behind the wheel of an idling town car, a knight in shining armor waiting to whisk her away from this horrible place. she yearns for the creature comforts of the upper east side, but concern wins out in the end. " darling, whose vehicle is this? " her gaze flicks from the woman, to the beat-up old hoopty at her side, and back again. after checking for prying eyes and ears, she lowers her voice, worry etched across her features. hadn't one of malee's exes lived around here? selfishly, cleo tried not to think about them. " are you following someone? "

she presses her lips together , gaze drifting out towards the villa where she's sure everyone is pretending not to watch. funny how privacy became a relative term here ... one minute you were having a conversation , the next there was an audience waiting to see if you were going to going to yell or make some grand declaration by the fire pit. " were you ? " she challenged , the corner of her lips twitching with a small smile. " oh , i'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for kissing someone else in soul ties for over an hour ... can't wait to hear that one out. "

following her line of sight, leo whips around in his seat and, sure enough, there are at least four sets of eyes peering their way. he does his best to ignore their overeager audience as he turns his gaze back on hollis, a cheery smile turning up the corners of his mouth. " don't sound so surprised. you know you're, like, one of my favorite people in here. " his features fall as he considers her words, a thoughtful expression playing on his face. " okay, soul ties is crazy, but hear me out. surely they weren't making out the whole time they were up there? dude doesn't have the stamina. "

Tina can only smirk. Others would have seen the signs around them, the club full of dangerous individuals, witnessed the way they deferred to Tina and run. But it takes a special person to not be intimidated by all of that. To either turn off the red lights that were undoubtedly flashing or simply pay them no mind. She readily accepts the hand, bringing it to her lips to press a kiss in upon the back of her palm. “Santina Scaletta, but please call me Tina.” She struggled out from behind the bar, reclaiming the hand the other had offered to her and guided her through the club. All patrons parting like the red sea upon her approach until eventually their destination was reached.

scarletta. the name sounds familiar, and though cleo can't recount where she's heard it, she can't shake the feeling that it's important. it prickles at the back of her mind as tina leads her through the throng and up a winding staircase. there was something afoot — a puzzle of sorts, and while she was still gathering the pieces, she'd uncovered enough of the picture to know it was worth the effort. now this is more like it, cleo thinks as they venture beyond the velvet ropes, feeling very important indeed as a pair of servers snap to attention like toy soldiers, ready to dote upon their queen. tina says a few words and they scatter to the wind, and cleo can't help but laugh as she watches them go.

" funny. i seem to remember you being the jealous one in the relationship. " he would remember it that way, what with the rose-colored glasses that paint him as the perfect boyfriend. the truth was, they'd been equally toxic — obsessed with each other to the point of delusion. it was the kind of relationship that made people swear off relationships, and rohan was nothing if not a man of his word. since kylie, he'd matured into someone he could almost respect. but every time their paths crossed, all of that personal growth went straight out the window. " jeremy, huh? so that's what he's going by these days. " in the pitch black of the broom closet, he doesn't bother to hide his disdain, though the edge to his voice significantly dulls as he asks, " is it serious? "

the home stretch. morgan always thought it would feel different when he got this far : triumphant, victorious, happier. he hadn't bargained for the hole in his chest and the empty ache every time he saw leo, somehow farther away the closer he got. there was no way he could admit that the very words leo uttered atop the counter earlier resonated too deeply with him ; his own very thoughts a traitor to the win he knew he came in here wanting more than anything. he hadn't thought there would be anything —anyone— that could make him feel otherwise ; not in such a short amount of time. even after they walked away from that fire pit hand in hand, he'd felt the doubts start to trickle in — making it to the end, winning had still been everything. maybe he'd needed the distance, needed to see the way leo and amy clicked so fast in the casa to realize the value of what they truly had — what maybe they still could. the surety of the thought shocks him, but all he knows is the proximity of leo's body, his skin warm under his hand, the sound of his sigh washing over him. the bitter jealousy that rose in him at leo's quick defending of his current couple, is just as quick to fade when their eyes meet. morgan never thought he would get this again, never thought his walls would crack again in this villa. there was only one person who ever could.

beneath the pads of his fingers, the stranger he's been living with these last two weeks transforms. leo watches in astonishment as morgan comes alive under his touch, the mask of indifference falling away to reveal the roller coaster of emotions underneath. just minutes ago, he'd poured his heart out to an imposter, a thief wearing morgan's features — the same thief that had been parading around villa without a care in the world, krista beaming on his arm like they'd already won. leo's thumb moves of its own volition, framing out the curve of his jaw. this is the face that haunts him, the face that keeps him up at night wondering what if? part of him had known it had been a ruse, just another trick for the cameras, but morgan had played his part well. no one had questioned it when he jumped ship, assuming his instant connection with krista was simply too powerful to deny. he had been miserable in casa, the longing lover desperate to get back to his girl. production catnip, leo had thought at the time, guaranteed to make the winner's edit. knowing firsthand what the guy looked like when he was really into someone, he'd never bought into them as couple. there was no doubt in his mind that had thrown himself into that connection out of convenience, that he would ride it to the end. but he had believed morgan was over him — until now.