Page 9 of The Dollhouse

Carter was handsome, his jaw square and his eyes a vibrant, intense green. He had the kind of face I crushed on in high school, big and muscular with a body that could easily pin you down and have its way with you.

Still, even though he’d been a sight to see, all primal and raw as he took Crystal’s mouth and cunt, he was nothing compared to Roman.

Roman was… God, I didn’t even know how to describe him, but I totally understood why anyone and everyone would want to go in the back with him, money aside. In that suit, he was a type of attractive most men just weren’t nowadays. I never was a fan of man buns or long hair on men. A well-groomed man in a suit? My kryptonite, apparently.

Not only that, but he was dangerous. His stares could kill, nail you to your seat, his words dripping venom, even when he wasn’t being overly aggressive.

An assassin. Just, like, what? How was I supposed to take that information? Half of me thought he was kidding when he’d said that, but the more I thought about it, the more I remembered how he’d been in that room, the less I thought he was joking.

Roman killed people. How was anyone supposed to sit in the same room as him and be comfortable? And bysit, I meant a lot more.

I shouldn’t think about him. I should wipe my mind of him and hope that I never saw him again. My gut told me that I would, though, and the worst part was I wanted to be in his presence more. Maybe it was wrong, but I kind of wanted to be in Crystal’s place, the center of his attention, his dark stare trained on me.

The sun was on its early rise as I finally made it back to my apartment building. I was exhausted from staying up all night; soon enough my sleep schedule would adjust, but it wasn’t quite there yet. I planned on promptly passing out the moment I got home.

Home. I hated thinking the tiny studio apartment waiting for me in this dingy building was my home, but it was. I couldn’t be picky, though.

Being alone was such a strange thing for me. Growing up, I always had friends. Friends, crushes, family, but now I had no one except myself, and take it from me, I wasn’t fun company right now.

I got my keys out, punching the up button in front of the elevator, waiting for it to come down, too lost in my own head to realize someone else had come into the building behind me, carrying a large hot coffee and a rolled-up bag that probably held pastries.

“It’s Zoey, right?” The man who stood beside me, also waiting for the elevator, was a face I’d seen a few times since moving in. My neighbor, Lake. A cute guy who I think was going to the community college nearby, maybe a year or two older than me. We’d gotten a small introduction when I’d moved in and realized I had no toilet paper. He was nice enough to give me a roll to get me through my first night.

“Yeah,” I said. “Lake?” I made myself smile even though I really didn’t feel like it. Too tired.

He grinned back at me, boyish dimples on his cheeks. His hair was a light blonde, falling over his forehead, shaggy enough to hide the blueness of his eyes if he wasn’t careful. “You remember,” he said, sounding shocked, as if he didn’t think me capable of remembering his name.

“Of course.” As I spoke, the elevator doors opened, and I stepped in, Lake directly behind me.

The elevator was a small space, and I tried to avoid touching Lake’s arm. To do so, I had to push myself against the dirty wall, acting as nonchalant as I could to avoid suspicion. It wasn’t Lake, it was me. He was so nice, maybe even flirty, but I just couldn’t see myself getting into anything serious right now.

Having Carter bend me over in front of Roman wouldn’t be serious. That’d just be for the money, for the release.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Lake clearly couldn’t take the silence of the elevator ride, for he said, “You’re up early.”

I eyed him up. “So are you.”

“Ah, I’m usually up early,” he shrugged it off.

The elevator doors slid open on our floor, and I was the first to step out, hoping the conversation was over. With my key in hand, I went towards my door, working on unlocking it. Unfortunately, Lake didn’t get the hint, because he followed me, still watching me a bit too heavily.

“Just so you know, I’m always down for showing you around town,” he said. “Or getting food. You like food, right?”

Brows creasing, I met his blue-eyed stare. Their hue was much darker than mine, a deep, sapphire color that threatened to drown me. Set in such a cute, innocent face, it felt wrong to deny this guy anything.

But I was duped by Bryan. I couldn’t really judge Lake based on the small bits I’d seen of him around here, even if he seemed like a different sort of guy.

“No,” I deadpanned, “I try not to eat food as much as possible.”

He laughed, and even though I shouldn’t, my ears liked the sound. “Well,” Lake paused, “if you ever change your mind, let me know. Have a good one.” He said nothing else, moving past me to head to his own apartment.

I watched him, waiting until he disappeared inside before pushing into my own.

My place was small, the opposite of what I was used to growing up. My bedroom as a child was bigger than the entire studio apartment, including the tiny ass bathroom. I locked the door behind me, heaving a sigh as I kicked off my shoes and moved toward my bed. Just an air mattress on the floor near the small kitchenette area, a thirty-inch TV screen resting on the floor near it. I’d only bought what I’d needed, tried to be as cheap as possible about it since I didn’t know when or if I’d get a job. It wasn’t like I knew I’d work at the Dollhouse and bring in over a thousand dollars my first night, not including my actual paycheck.

I collapsed on my bed, thinking back to last night. No matter what I did, no matter what I tried to force myself to think about, my mind kept going back to Roman. Roman and Carter. How could a man like that exist?

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