Love.

Such a complex emotion. It's a mixture of all the others combined; one-day things are fucking fantastic and other days, things were shit but aren't that the wonders of love? We can't experience the full scope without being thrown into a hectic swirl of unknown obstacles hidden in the distance.

Ever since Ambrose proposed, things have been amazing. However, the doubtful Davina within hadn't disappeared and was sending cautious thoughts every so often. Like the fact that besides every action Ambrose had shown, he never once said he loved me back. It could've been the excitement. Or pure forgetfulness, but even days later, he hasn't said it back.

His actions showed genuine feelings, but was it really that difficult to say I love you back? Especially for a skeptical overthinker like myself. It made it impossible to focus on the promotions Wesley and I had to suffer through for eight hours. Estefania got eliminated on yesterday's taping, leaving Wes and me fighting for the crown.

I rolled my head around my shoulders, hoping to loosen its tension. "I hope we get high rankings or this promo will not be worth the kink in my neck."

Suddenly, Wesley's hands grazed my neck, sending an oddball of shivers down my spine until it was reinstated with satisfaction from the massage he was giving me. "Does it feel better?"

"Fuck yeah, it does. Sleeping in Ambrose's bed might've been a big mistake. That shit isn't comfy at all," I groaned, my eyes closing as I consumed the pleasure from my released tension.

"Then why did you sleep there?" Wesley asked.

"Because Ambrose was there." A gigantic smile crawled up my face. "The bed might've sucked, but he didn't. And no, don't take it the wrong way. I just love the way his arms, chest, and whole body feel."

Wes stopped in his tracks, dipping his head forward, blinking awkwardly. "So, this is Davina in love? I think it's even cuter how you're blushing at the thought of him." He pinched my cheek, using his knuckle. "Ambrose has no right being this lucky."

I rolled my eyes. "You're so annoying!" I faced him, booping his nose. "Don't worry little grasshopper, soon enough you will meet an amazing girl and forget all about mauh! I see it in your future."

He pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Can I borrow those lenses because I'm feeling a bit lost here?"

As I stood up from the chair, I grasped onto his shoulders, squeezing them. "Wes, you're a fantastic dude, and soon a girl is going to see that. But you have other opportunities right in front of you, like winning the crown, getting your own cooking show, and even branching out into the entertainment business. You will find love. Maybe you just have to wait a bit longer."

Awkward steamed from the veins surrounding my heart as Wesley stroked my cheek, a bit too tenderly than I would've preferred. "I really hate Ambrose right now."

I laughed restlessly, detaching myself from the situation before he went ahead and did something absurd. "Anyway, I'm going to get going. I have a date with him."

His expression dropped. "Enjoy! I'm probably going to just play alone in our hotel room..."

Guilt spewed through my chest. "I mean... it's not exactly a date... Do you want to join us?"

Happiness flashed in his eyes. "Do you mind? It's been lonely lately. All my close friends have either been eliminated or in love."

Hopefully, Ambrose doesn't get upset. "Yeah, I doubt he'll mind."

Wesley spurted from his chair and scurried over to his side of the dressing room, collecting everything together. As I waited, a vibration from my purse caught my attention and I opened it to see it was a message from:

Bean Sprout - 124 Aventure lane. This is the address of Lana's house. They surprised us with a dinner feast. I'll be waiting for you.

To: Bean Sprout- Is it okay if Wesley comes along? He's been extra lonely lately..."

Another vibration chimed through with a simple 'yes' reply from Ambrose and instantly a wave of relief rushed over me. Hopefully, tension during the dinner would remain light since we haven't communicated since my fiance tried kissing his best friend. I don't blame Lana at all, but jealousy was a dangerous disease.

It gets underneath our skin until we rip shreds of flesh from our bodies like snakes. If the disease is rooted deep enough, we change into monsters. Demons that only provoked destruction and tore every brick to pieces. I didn't want to become like that in front of his friends, in front of mine, because of a guy I loved.

A vivid pink and white sign reading 'The Novak Residents' stood outside the black steel gates attached to ivory columns. Their house had a simple black and bleached white style, with at least five edges. A vast silver sculpture stood in their foundation in the middle of their walkway to their house.

This was fucking better than my house...

With an anxious knock, I tilted back and forth from my toes to my heels, waiting for any sign of life in the mansion. Either Declan or Lana had to be born wealthy because there was no way two students in college could afford this household. Unless they worked for a secret organization, no one knew about, but that's in the realm of impossible.

Upon the door opening, my mouth dropped instantly when it read the sign hanging up on the wall.

"Congratulations, Wesley and Davina, for making it to the finale!"  The handwriting was like chicken scratch, so it had to be Ambrose, but the colors and random graphics on the banner screamed Lana's energy. It went along with the theme perfectly, with the colorful streamers and balloons hanging down from the ceilings.

Around twenty individuals roamed around the house as opposed to the normal small crew. They were separated by the pool table or the food buffet, or the multi-colored dancefloor with flashing lights.

"My two favorite chefs made it to the finale!" Lana shouted with her hands in the air, earning a playful glare from Ambrose. "After this master chef, of course..."

Lana rocketed into my arms as if I was a tree bark and she was a koala bear attached to me. Her attack was so abrupt I stumbled onto Wesley's foot and almost slipped backward. A hug from Lana was an entirely different experience; it reeked of friendship and admiration until I wasn't able to breathe anymore.

"I can't breat-he." I forced out.

Lana's eyes widened. "Sorry! Also, I hope it isn't awkward that I invited my friends from the nursing program. We had a little issue when I lied to them about being married to Declan... But it's all better now."

I laughed. "Why did you lie?"

She awkwardly gritted her teeth. "Because they all had a crush on Declan and wished vengeance on whoever was married to him. So obviously, the only logical thing to do was to lie until Declan came to my class and exposed me."

Declan appeared from thin air as he dropped his hand gently on Lana's head. "She acted like I was supposed to read her mind and know she was hiding our marriage from them."

Lana sent him a death glare. "You should've! You're the genius here."

Even college girls are catty?

I stifled a giggle. "Well, if inviting them to this party gets them off your back, then I'm cool with it."

"I'm surprised she's comfortable enough to have a group of girls get to know me." Declan wore a playful smirk on his lips.

Her cheeks flustered pink. "Well, umm." Her moss mixed with honeydew eyes widened. "I didn't think of it like that..."

If Lana's hug wasn't insane enough, Ambrose bombarded me with his muscular arms, sending a whirl of butterflies to my stomach. "Did you like the surprise, D?" His lips melted against the crown of my head.

A perfect feeling.

Wesley cleared his throat. "So, no one is going to acknowledge me?"

Ambrose bursted into laughter, shifting his arm over to around Wesley's shoulders. "My bad. I'll introduce you to everyone." Tugging at Declan's arm, Ambrose dragged them over to the group of college students, trying to get Wesley to open up.

"Go little rockstar!" Lana sang as she fist-pumped.

"So, how's nursing school?" I asked, wandering over to the food bar.

Lana's smile dropped an inch. "It's complicated. I mean, I love the classes and friends I made, but I suck at everything. I can't take blood out without feeling sick. I can't check your blood pressure without hurting you, and Dara yells at me."

My eyebrows knotted together. "Who's Dara?"

A black-haired guy with blue eyes smiled and wiggled his eyebrows as he planted his arms over Lana's shoulders. The gesture almost seemed too romantic from the way his head rested over hers, and his arms holding her firmly in place.

"I'm Dara. I've unfortunately been paired with Lana for every single practical, and I'm losing brain cells because of her every day." His comment made Lana's shoulders hunch down. "I'm joking, Lana! We are usually the last group to leave, so Lana has enough time to perfect her technique."

I scooped a spoonful of pasta onto my plate. "If there's one thing Lana is good at, it's her determination."

"If only she spent two seconds without worrying about Declan." Dara gently knocked his knuckle on her head. "Then maybe she wouldn't screw up so often."

Lana narrowed her eyes. "I don't think about him during our exams."

Dara sent the 'are you kidding' scowl. "Oh really? So, you haven't been peeking in his direction the entire duration of this conversation. To make sure he isn't flirting with other girls."

Red splotches dotted her cheeks as she puffed them out like a chipmunk. "I-I'm not."

As if we were in our trance, our gaze drifted over to Declan, sandwiched between two attractive girls, and intently listening to one of them. Until an adorable guy with pink eyeshadow pushed the girl into Declan, causing him to grin at her pure shock. Honestly, if I was Lana right now, I'll be fuming with jealousy.

But maybe that's just me...

Or maybe not since Lana's eyes were twitching as her lips twisted into a grimace.

Dara dropped back a shot. "It looks like your husband forgot he was married."

Lana wore the dirtiest, rudest expression I've ever seen at Dara's disrespectful comment. "I-I need a drink."

Before I could go follow her, Dara beat me to it. "Wait, Lana!"

Concern clawed at my heart like nails on a chalkboard. Jealousy wasn't a lovely color on anyone, even Lana's sunshine self was fading to this villain in all of us. The way this single emotion had a chokehold on people was insane. Honestly, I don't think Dara was the best person to console her, since he almost seemed like he wanted to instigate something.

My thoughts were pushed aside as a pair of lips attacked my cheeks with love. "There's the love of my life looking as gorgeous as ever!" Ambrose's brown irises glowed with fondness. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I guess... I just feel bad for Lana. She stormed away pretty upset," I said, placing my plate down on the food bar.

His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes darted around the room. "Do you want to go talk to her? She's giggling with some guy."

I sighed. "If she's having fun, I guess we shouldn't worry, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think he's entertaining her just fine, so let me entertain you."

I arched a brow. "What do you have in mind?"

His full lips quirked to the side with a small smirk. "Right now... Something naughty, especially with the way you're biting your lips. But we can't do anything like that.

Stepping closer, I placed my hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Why not? We could always go in the car or the bathroom."

His body shivered as I gave his ear a tiny nibble. "Fucking Christ. You have taken any grain of sanity I had left."

I wiggled my brows. "Good. I like my men weak, especially if it's over me."

A needy groan slipped from his lips. "If you keep teasing me. I'm going to quit resisting myself and fuck you in the bathroom, hard enough to make you squirm and suffer in silence."

Heat pooled through my core. "What if that's exactly what I want?"

He shook his head, laughing. "I'm going to fuck that innocent look off your face."

"Do it." I tilted my head innocently. "I want to see you try."

Our hands interlaced like shoelaces being tied together, collecting tight and firm with one another. Fireworks erupted across my skin as his other hand slithered its way around my neck, brought my face closer to his, and crashed our lips together. Passion aroused through my body as our lips moved in sync, ignoring the party around us.

We could be in front of the whole world, but in each other's arms, we were the only ones that existed. That mattered. The way his fingers rubbed tenderly on my cheek sent an array of shivers down my back. It was insane how a single touch from Ambrose had me collapsing to my knees, something I never thought I would do for a man.

Suddenly, the music blared louder, severing us from our passionate make-out fest to the growing group on the dance floor. The smaller group of guys fist-pumped to the music, shaking the house with every jump along with the booming system. Another group of girls formed a circle and kept alternating in the middle of it, dancing their hearts out.

With a tongue-in-cheek grin, he yanked me to the dancefloor as the music changed over to a slow song. "I'm trying to make up for that night when my girlfriend wanted to dance, and I said no. Then I had to suffer all night watching her with another guy. Never making that mistake again."

A giggle croaked from my throat. "You mean, Angel? That was so long ago... You liked me since then?"

One of his hands snaked around my waist as the other kept our fingers laced together. Not only did our feet move in sync, but our hearts did as well. Tonight had turned out better than I expected. No jealousy. No green monster.

Just my sexy, handsome, fiance twirling us around the dance floor. We got so invested in the movements that we kept bumping into the other pairs boogieing on the floor. Laugh rippled from us as we both glanced over at Meadow spinning under Catalina's arm, who was resting in a couch chair with her six-month baby bump.

However, it's incredible how one action constituted a domino effect even if we hadn't realized it yet.

The sounds of glass smashed onto the floor battled against the blaring music, stealing the spotlight from Britney Spears. My eyes extended at the sight of two dark-haired guys fist fighting until I made out one of the silhouettes to be Declan.

Ambrose must've had made the link at the same time I had, and we both rushed over them. Raged was rooted in Declan's face as his clenched fist collided with the dark-haired guy's face. Ambrose jumped in, grabbing onto a fuming Declan and prying him off the other guy. That's when I got a good look at who it was.

Dara.

"You're just mad because I called you out on your shit. You don't even care about her! Just go back to your harem and I'll bring her upstairs," Dara shouted, wiping the blood oozing from his mouth. "She doesn't deserve to suffer while you're free to do whatever you want. You have no interest in her, so why are you with her?"

"Shut up," Declan stated, low and stern, not raising his voice as opposed to Dara. "Whether I'm interested in her or not is none of your concern. Stay out of it." His eyes pierced through Dara's sharp ones, and if looks could kill, Declan's glance would diminish everyone.

"Shot!" Lana shouted, her head jolting from the table with her eyes droopy, glossed over. "Why are shots so hard? Who cares about stupid shots? I'll master it right away, just you wait."

Declan's strained expression lightened up by an inch at Lana's random input. "Are you up?"

With squinted eyes, her cheeks grew pink, and she cooed. "Declan!"

"Are you ready for bed?"

"Mmm!" Lana hummed, opening her arms wide for Declan to carry her.

He sighed. "You're such a baby." But even with his complaint, he lowered onto his knees with a sly grin as Lana wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms went around her lower back and under her knees as he began walking towards the stairs.

"Oh, Dara." Declan swung around. "Don't talk about Lana as if she's yours. Touch her again, and I'll break more than just your nose."

Welll... Dara is back!!! 👀lmao and jealous Declan is on the high!! Possessive Declan is kinda hot... Do you guys their relationship could come into Davina's and Ambrose and hurt them? Let me know your thoughts.

Love you guys!! Can't wait to read your comments❤️💜❤️