Page 121 of The Dollhouse

After texting Zoey that I was here, I got out of the car. Hands in my pockets, I made my way to the front door, trying not to stare at the house too much. It was like going to New York City and ogling the skyscrapers, like you’d never seen one before. A surefire way to make it obvious you didn’t belong.

By the time I reached the front door, it was already swinging open for me, a perky, pink-haired girl standing on its other side. I saw she wore a tiny tank top and shorts that left nothing to the imagination. They looked like her pajamas, but I didn’t have much time to study her outfit, for the moment she saw me, she squealed and ran towards me, jumping up into my arms so quickly I hardly had time to react and catch her.

“Lake,” she whispered, lips against my ear, her arms around my neck as she hugged me close, her legs wrapping around my midsection. “You’re here.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Zoey’s lips found mine, kissing me long and hard, telling me just how badly she’d missed me all this time. Gosh, I’d forgotten how soft her lips were, how nice they felt when they pressed against mine. Like sunshine, like life, like everything that was good and warm and welcoming. I could never tire of those lips.

When the kiss was done, she dropped her legs, her feet finding the ground, and she grinned at me, running a hand along my cheek. “Am I going to get to say anything, or do you want to kiss me again?” I joked, although it wasn’t too much of a joke, because I’d gladly take a million kisses from those supple lips.

Zoey’s smile remained on her lips, even as she kissed me again—although this time, it wasn’t a long embrace. This time, it was only a peck. A little dessert to the make-out session of a few moments ago.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside the house. She shut the door behind us, and then she gave me a tour.

The place was just as nice inside as it was outside, and I was shocked at how anyone could live in a house this huge. I mean, I was aware I currently lived in a studio apartment, so extra space wasn’t something I was used to, but still. All these rooms seemed like a waste. Like, what the hell could you do with them? You could only have so many spare bedrooms laying around. What was the point?

Roman was on the phone with someone, and he didn’t even wave or acknowledge my presence when Zoey brought me to him. Carter, on the other hand, was in the kitchen, and when Zoey and I appeared, he scowled, those green eyes of his glaring at me as hard as they could. If looks could kill, I would’ve been a goner a long time ago.

“Oh, great,” Carter mumbled. “If it isn’t my most favorite fucking person in the entire fucking world.” To say his tone was sarcastic would be like saying the Dead Sea was a little salty. There was a whole lot more to it than that. Keyword:more.

“Carter,” I spoke, my lips curling into a grin. “I missed you too, big guy.” Now, I had the facetious tone down pat, and I would’ve gone over to him and given him a playful shoulder bump if I didn’t think he’d snap and try to choke me after.

The dislike kind of went both ways. Sort of. It really depended on the day. Most days I tried not to think about Carter or Roman or what they got up to with Zoey. Roman might like to watch, but I wasn’t a huge fan.

Let’s just ignore what happened the last time Zoey had gotten me to agree to put on a show for Roman.

“Fuck you,” Carter grumbled out, his mouth frowning at me. Only it felt like his heart wasn’t really in it, like it was all some kind of show. Like this was the status quo we’d made for ourselves, and we would stick to it.

I mean, how weird would it be if all of Zoey’s boyfriends started getting along like we were best friends? Brothers from another mother. All that fun stuff. I don’t know about you, but it’d be weird to suddenly start joking and getting along with the two men who’d kidnapped me in an attempt to teach me a lesson to stay away from Zoey.

Didn’t think I’d ever get kidnapped, let alone twice, but you know what they said: there’s a first time for everything.

Zoey spoke up, a sly grin on her face, “I’d be down for that.” Her reply to Carter made my cheeks burn, and now it was my turn to gape at the girl, although I did notice Carter also stared at her like she’d grown a second head. When she realized both of us were staring at her, she shrugged, as if what she’d said had been no big deal.

Maybe not for her, but for me—no. God, I could not emphasize this enough,no.

As if to get the attention off her, Zoey went on, “Carter could not stop talking about you after we left.” As she said that, I had to look over my shoulder just to make sure there weren’t any other people in the room.

She was talking about me? It didn’t seem right.

“What? Bullshit,” Carter grunted, his glare turning toward me again. “Don’t believe a single word she says. She’s a liar.” He must’ve sensed the same thing I did: Zoey was about to flip a lid on him, for he added, “Well, fine, she’s not aliar, but—”

“So, you didn’t talk about me?” I asked, a grin slow to spread on my face.

Carter spat out, “Oh yeah? Well, I fucked her while you were talking to her on the phone one night, so—so there.” His frowning face turned away from me, giving me his back, and all I could do was blink in shock.

“Uh…” was about all I could say.

Zoey let out an annoyed sigh. “Can’t you two just get along already? Sheesh.” She grabbed my hand, and before Carter could say anything else, she took me away. We headed up the stairwell, and we didn’t stop until we reached her bedroom, where we could be safe from her other boyfriends, namely that Carter.

After she released her hold on my hand, my eyebrows furrowed, and I thought about the many calls we’d had together. There was one particular night where she’d seemed a little awkward and out of it, flustered, but I didn’t think—I mean, of course my mind didn’t automatically go tothatplace.

But now that I was thinking about it, her skin had been flushed, she had a hard time keeping eye contact with me, and she’d sounded breathless. Why the heck didn’t I think of that? My cheeks burned even more, and I hated that I still grew so flustered, even after all this time.

You’d think I would be used to it, but nope.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have egged him on like that,” Zoey said, still smiling at me. Her back leaned against the bedroom wall, her pretty blue eyes taking me in. “But what he said wasn’t wrong. We did—”

“You don’t have to say it,” I told her. “You really don’t. I get it.” I went to sit on her bed, taking in the room. It didn’t have much of a personality, because this wasn’t really her room, just like it wasn’t her house. These things weren’t hers; they belonged to whoever owned the house.

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