Page 10 of The Dollhouse

And why couldn’t I stop thinking about him?

Rolling over, I tried to think of something else, but my mind kept replaying the intense expression Roman wore, how his dark eyes seemed to follow you no matter what moves you made.

And I wasn’t even the one on display; Crystal was. I can only imagine how powerful that gaze was when you were bent over before him, getting railed by his bodyguard—or whatever the hell Carter was to him.

God, it was hot. A man like that could make you want to do things, things which you never pictured yourself doing. I’d only been with that two-faced Bryan, but something about Roman made me want to throw in the towel, spread my legs, and let him have at me.

Did he ever go after the girls, or was it always Carter sticking his dick in them? The answer didn’t matter, not really, but just for right now, since I was alone and daydreaming, I’d let myself think that Roman always kept his hands off—and his cock. That he simply watched and got off from it.

That, maybe, he’d felt the bizarre connection between us last night and would make me his first and only.

But that was something out of a fairytale, and my life was nothing like those happy, stupid things.

My next shift at the Dollhouse wasn’t for a few days. They’d started me off slow, just in case I decided I didn’t like working there and quit. I could definitely see how some girls wouldn’t care for it, but I was at the point in my life where I literally couldn’t care less about what I did. I just needed the money, and to have men drooling over me, trying to inconspicuously stroke their boners over their pants because they couldn’t keep it together while watching me… it was nice.

Made me feel all powerful and stuff.

Pink hair up in a bun, I wore sweats as I made something in the oven. Just a cheap frozen pizza, nothing too extravagant. I literally only left my place when I had to either go to work or go to the store, and I still had some things in the freezer to make.

I wasn’t a cook; the very opposite, but I’d make do. I had to, unless I wanted to go crawling back to Mom and Dad, apologize for stressing them out and worrying them by running away. Yes, I’d be the one apologizing, even though they’d known about Bryan and Willow. It was a type of infuriating you could not understand unless you’d been in the same situation, and frankly it was a situation I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

Except Bryan and Willow, I mean.

With the pizza baking in the oven, I went back to my bed, sitting cross-legged as I watched whatever was on the TV. I hadn’t paid for cable; the apartment had a few channels for free I could hook up to, so that’s what I did. One channel was entirely in Spanish, which didn’t do me any good.

A knock on my door caused me to jerk my gaze away from the TV, glancing over my shoulder at the offending door. Holding in a groan, I got up and headed to it, peeking through the peephole before opening it. Thankfully, it wasn’t Lake. Don’t get me wrong, the guy was cute and he seemed really nice—I just wasn’t in the mood for nice. Not now. Not for a while. I’d been conned by a nice guy already and didn’t want to repeat it.

No, the person standing outside my door was, in fact, Crystal.

I opened the door, taking a step back to welcome her in. “Hey,” I said. “What’s up?”

Crystal walked in, leaning her backside on the small kitchen counter as she took in the smell of the pizza in the air. “You know you’re starving when a pizza in a box smells good,” she remarked, staring at the opened box beside her. She wore jeans, along with a thin tank top. Not her work outfit by any stretch. Today must be her day off.

“You could have some, if you want,” I offered. “It’ll be another ten minutes.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll let you handle that,” she spoke, grinning. She ran a hand through her blonde hair, looking a bit out of sorts. “I did want to talk to you, though.” When I said nothing, only stared at her with confusion on my face, she went on, “About what happened on your first night at the Dollhouse.”

I blinked. “Oh, Crystal, it’s fine.” I tried to wave it off, not really wanting to have this conversation, you know, ever.

“I shouldn’t have left you alone on your first night,” she said, shaking her head, not having any of it. “It’s just, my niece’s birthday is coming up, and there’s this gaming system she wants—” Trying to explain why she was so quick to go in the back with Roman and Carter, but really, she didn’t have to.

Even if money wasn’t involved, I understood. Both those men were fine as hell.

“It’s okay,” I said.

She looked at me with those blue eyes, their color a few shades darker than mine. “Good,” Crystal spoke with a smile.

I wasn’t one to kick people out of my place, but my pizza was almost done. “Is that all?”

Crystal blurted out, “He came looking for you, the next night.”

Inside my chest, my heart skipped a beat. “Who?” I shouldn’t have asked; it was obvious who she meant.

“Roman. He came to the Dollhouse looking for you, and when he found out you weren’t working, he left.” She let out a disbelieving chuckle. “He never just leaves. He always takes someone to the back—”

I honestly didn’t know what to make of that. “Why would he be looking for me?”

Crystal shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because you’re new? Maybe because he wanted to see if he could get you to go in the backroom with him and Carter? I really don’t know. I’ve never seen him so disappointed before.” She bit her bottom lip, hesitating before she admitted, “He came to me and asked me when you were working next. I hope it’s okay, but I told him.”

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