Page 128 of The Dollhouse

I said nothing, and that caused Willow to scoff and say, “Unless that man isn’t a boyfriend. Unless he’s some kind of pimp—”

“Yeah,” I spoke, sarcastic as hell, “I came back to Hillcrest with mypimp.” I could not roll my eyes hard enough at that thought.

My parents must’ve told her nothing about Roman, otherwise I doubted she’d act so smug about what she’d discovered at the house. “Well, he did seem older than you by a lot. If he’s not a pimp or your boyfriend, I don’t know what he could be. I’m sure you had to do some things you aren’t proud of to live while you were gone.”

Okay, that pissed me off, and I let my anger show, “Actually, I’m proud of everything I did. And, just in case you have any ideas, Wyatt already knows I have a boyfriend, so don’t bother trying to use that against me.” I shrugged. “At this point, he knows more about me than you, Mom, and Dad do. But that’ll change this weekend. Sunday’s the dinner party, right? Please tell me you’re going to be there.”

Willow narrowed her blue eyes at me, suspicious. “Oh, trust me, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And then she spun on her heel and walked away, her hips swaying as if she had something to prove. She didn’t; it was me she was walking away from, the dumb bitch.

God, I hated her. I hated her so much. It was like every time I saw her, each time we spoke, as rare as those times were, I was reminded of how much I disliked her. How much I wanted to make her hurt.

And she would. I would embarrass her so fucking hard, she wouldn’t see it coming, and I’d make it a public fucking spectacle… or as public as it could be during the dinner with our parents and my boyfriends. My parents didn’t know I was bringing company, let alone more than one guy, so that should be interesting. And then, when I showed my sister just how badly Wyatt had fallen for me, well, she’d give up on him because he’d be tainted.

Oh, that dinner would be a giant shit show. I just had to buckle down and do what I’d wavered on doing.

Thursday rolled around, and I once again had lunch with Wyatt. I was in a much better mood today than I’d been earlier in the week, and I let it show, practically beaming when Wyatt and I sat down together.

It was such a night and day difference, Wyatt had to comment on it: “I’m glad you’re doing better today.” His reddish hair was getting a little long; he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who let his hair grow out too often, and I wondered how short he got it when he went to a barber. Right now, it was maybe two or three inches long, long enough to hang over his forehead and ears, but not long enough to hide his clear green eyes.

“Me too,” I said. “I’m going to have dinner with my parents and sister on Sunday. Should be interesting.”

He blinked. Between us, the pizza we were sharing was untouched on his half. “Are you sure you’re ready for that? I just mean, I don’t know if you should push it. Only meet with them if you’re sure about it.”

I knew he had my best interests at heart, and that’s why I reached over the table and took his hand in mine. That, and because I was pretty sure I saw my sister snooping around the outside of the union, peering in the windows like a creep. The cafeteria area was large, surrounded by the eateries on one side and a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows on the other, so there was plenty of space for Willow to creep around like a jealous ex-girlfriend.

Except, you know, she wasn’t an ex, because they never dated. She was just that psycho.

“I’m ready,” I told him, squeezing his hand gently before letting it go. “I kind of just want to rip the Band-Aid off as quickly as I can.” I watched him nod, and then I plowed on, “There is something else I wanted to talk to you about.” I had refrained from doing it over the phone when we texted, mostly because I figured it was something that was better asked in person.

It wasn’t something I was used to asking, mostly because I only put on shows for my boyfriends now. But with Wyatt… let’s just say things had to be a little different. Lake had told me to do what I thought I needed to do, that he’d stand by me no matter what, but to try not to take things too far. And while I agreed with him, that I didn’t want to hurt Wyatt any more than I had to, some things needed to be done.

And that was why Roman and Carter were here. Two men who refused to take no for an answer. It was also why it had been so difficult to get Roman to agree to let me do this, but, like him, I wouldn’t back down. This was my plan, even though Carter’s words had inspired it. I would do this my way.

Wyatt had taken a slice, finally starting to eat, but when I said that last part, he hurried to swallow and say, “What is it?” He came off so eager, so ready to listen to me. It was as if the rest of the world didn’t matter. Probably a good thing he had blinders on when he was with me, otherwise he might see my sister doing a little stalking.

Like I’d said before: Willow was a sore loser. She wasn’t going to sit back and take this with a grain of salt. She’d try to retaliate, somehow, though I had no idea what she’d do, since it was clear Wyatt had chosen me over her. She had nothing to take from me this time.

“Do you have plans Friday?” I asked, a smile growing on my lips, which he noticed immediately. To say I laid on my charms would be an understatement; I was giving him all I had, batting my eyelashes extra hard and even leaning my ankle against his beneath the table.

“I don’t,” he said. “Didn’t I tell you I hardly ever have plans? I’m really lame, if you haven’t already noticed.” Wyatt chuckled out a nervous laugh, as if he thought I would suddenly find him too lame and decide to walk away from him. As if. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to another party—not that I wouldn’t go to another, but big crowds of people and alcohol are not really my thing.”

“No, not exactly…” I trailed off.

“Do you want me to drag it out of you?” he offered. “I mean, I can try, but I don’t think I’ll be very good at it, so it’s probably best if you just say whatever it is.” He flashed me a white smile, and if I wouldn’t have had three other boyfriends, that smile might’ve made me swoon a bit.

“I was thinking, maybe, if you wanted, you could come over my place.”

His reddish eyebrows lifted, and he gave me a look that came off as shocked. “What about—” Wyatt stopped himself from mentioning my other boyfriends, but not before I picked up on what he meant.

“They’ll be there. Well, two of them. I totally understand if it’s too soon, but…” I paused, biting my bottom lip, giving him a sheepish, coy look. “But I was kind of hoping you’d want to. There’s something I want to show you.”

Wyatt spoke, “What?” The word came out rushed, and it was clear he had no idea where I was going with this. The poor guy. The poor, innocent, naive guy. Caught between two warring sisters, and he still acted like he had no clue.

“My tattoo,” I purred out the word. “But, in order to show you, I’d have to be pretty much naked.” I dropped my voice to a whisper before saying that last part, but it was loud enough he heard me.

And he nearly choked on the bite of pizza in his mouth.

“Now, it’s probably not what you’re thinking, but I thought, maybe, if you wanted to come and see it, I could put on a little show.” I weaved my fingers through my hair, breathing in deeply and puffing out my chest as I did so, drawing Wyatt’s gaze to my tits, if only for a split second. Such a gentleman. “I’m good at shows. Roman and Carter love them.”

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