Page 93 of The Dollhouse

He let out a shaky breath, nodding once. “You’re right. You’re right, of course you’re right. I just… I get a little worried about you, especially now that I know they’re going with you. I don’t trust them.”

“You don’t have to trust them. Trust me. If they ever crossed the line with me, I’d be the first one to drop them. I’m a new woman, Lake, and I know what I want. Going back to Hillcrest is just filling the grave of the old me. I need to do it.”

“I get it. I hope when you’re gone you’ll call and text me all the time. I’ll answer any time I can, unless I’m in the middle of an exam or something.” Lake smiled, his dimples returning. “I love you, Zoey, and I trust you. You’ll do what you need to, and then you’ll come home to me.” There was no doubt in his voice, none at all, and his confidence in me was refreshing.

We ate breakfast together, and after that, we took it to the bed, where I got all hot and sweaty all over again. Being with Lake… it was so different than being with Roman or Carter. As much as I was the new Zoey and not the old one, I also craved the normalcy Lake brought with him into my life. His sweetness, his tenderness, the soft moans he made when I rode him until he came. I wouldn’t trade him for the world. I needed him, needed him so badly it was insane, and that would never change.

Well, it was official.

Hillcrest, here I come.

Chapter Two – Roman

I told Zoey not to pack anything; I’d buy her a new wardrobe when we arrived in Hillcrest. I was not exactly the most excited person to go to Hillcrest, but it would be interesting to see where she grew up, her family, and her sister who I’d heard many terrible things about.

Zoey had done a little digging into her family online and found out her sister was enrolled in Hillcrest University. The semester was starting in a week. We’d missed orientation, but that was how Zoey had found out her sister was indeed going there; she’d seen the pictures plastered all over her sister’s social media.

I was not looking forward to being away for a while, but it might be a good thing. Let Zoey spread her wings a bit, let her do what she needed to do to permanently put Hillcrest behind her. Let her finally close that book so she could focus on me. On Carter.

Eh, on Lake too, I guess. That idiot made her happy, and I was so lost in that girl I no longer cared that I didn’t ever share with anyone who wasn’t Carter.That had been in the past; Zoey had made her own rules.

It was time to go. I’d gotten everything ready, found a nice house to rent out for a while. But of course, before we got settled in there, we had a little meeting with someone, not in Hillcrest, but in a neighboring city.

Carter was already in the car, waiting for Zoey and me to come down. I stood in the hall, just outside the door that led to Lake’s apartment, and though it should’ve been a private goodbye, the door was open, which let me see and hear everything. The hugging, the kissing. So touching, really. So fucking adorable.Fucking disgusting.

“I’m going to miss you, Lake,” Zoey was busy saying, her head on his shoulder. They’d already kissed, already hugged, but they still stood together, almost refusing to let each other go.

“Me, too—except, you know, you and not me.” Lake was as awkward as ever, and I rolled my eyes when I listened to him, wondering not for the first time what Zoey saw in him. He was such a… a boy. There were countless of his kind all around; there really wasn’t anything special about him.

Nothing that I could see, anyway.

Knowing their little exchange would go on forever and ever, I decided to step in. Walking into the apartment—which was disgustingly filled with portraits and other objects from various television shows and movies—I said, “I think it’s time to go. Come on, Zoey. Carter’s waiting downstairs.” I offered a hand toward her, and she locked eyes with Lake, begrudgingly moving away from him.

Lake followed us into the hall, leaving his door hanging open as he trailed after us, to the elevator. Zoey hit the button, and though I knew I probably shouldn’t, I grabbed Lake’s arm and pulled him away from her, taking him back to his apartment and whispering, “If you want to come to Hillcrest, let me know, and I’ll cover the cost.” As I let his arm go, I added hastily, “For Zoey, of course.”

“Right, of course,” Lake said, nodding along with me, his yellow eyebrows coming together as if he couldn’t understand why I’d make such an offer.

I would not be happy with seeing Zoey all wistful about Lake not being there with her, so… there you have it. I’d grown fucking soft for the girl, and I was willing to go so far as to offer to pay her other boyfriend’s expenses. Not as though I expected he would take me up on the offer, but you never knew. He might just miss her that much, too. It would probably be miserable here without her.

“Thanks for the offer,” Lake said, “but I think I can handle it on my own.” He glanced past me, at Zoey near the elevator, who currently stared at us both, wondering what the hell we were doing. “Good luck out there. Don’t let her do stupid stuff. When it comes to her family, she doesn’t really think straight.” His blue gaze rose to mine as he added, “But she needs to do this. Just… keep her safe, please.”

For a few seconds, I couldn’t believe my own ears. Lake had really just said the wordpleaseto me. It didn’t sound right. No one ever said that word to me, not unless they were begging for their life. But, even then, it didn’t happen that often since more frequently than not, our marks didn’t see Carter and me coming.

“You know I will,” I said, and with that, I left Lake standing at his apartment door and returned to Zoey’s side.

The girl with bright pink hair stared at me, eyebrows arched. “What was that about?”

I supposed I could’ve told her, but I decided to keep it to myself, simply saying, “Nothing. You sure you’re ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she muttered, hooking her arm through mine the moment the elevator doors opened before us. Together, we stepped on. “I never imagined I’d be going back,” Zoey said as we rode the elevator downstairs, to the lobby. “It feels weird. I can’t tell if I’m nervous or excited or… both.”

I think we knew it was probably both, but I said nothing. Leaving town was not something I looked forward to doing, but after everything, Zoey earned the right to go back to Hillcrest and give everybody the middle finger, metaphorically and literally. I would never forget the fact that she was shot because of her connection to me, because the Bloody Princess had thought her a weakness of mine.

The bitch had been right, and it was why I would’ve killed her, had Lola not done the deed herself and taken up her mantle shortly after. It did help me sleep better at night knowing the men who’d stormed the Dollhouse were now long dead. Those fuckers didn’t deserve to keep their lives after doing what they did. I would’ve ended them a thousand times if I could’ve.

But, alas, you could only kill someone once, unless you drowned them and resuscitated them, but honestly, that was far too much work.

So, in the end, taking Zoey to Hillcrest to let her do what she felt she had to was the least I could do for her. I did not like feeling responsible for her pain, and this way, perhaps we could put it all behind us: Hillcrest, her family, her past, getting shot at, all of it. Such was my hope. I only prayed I would not have to listen to her whining about missing Lake much. That would drive me absolutely nuts.

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