Page 122 of The Dollhouse

Zoey went to sit beside me, leaning her head against my shoulder. “I did miss you, Lake. I missed you so much.” We sat there for a while, simply basking in each other’s presence, but eventually we lay back, and I wrapped an arm around her, holding her against my side, where she cuddled into me.

“You never told me how the party went,” I said, staring at the ceiling, running my fingers up and down Zoey’s arm. She rested her head on the side of my chest, and I could feel her steady breathing. It was comforting just knowing she was so close to me, feeling her breath, her body heat, everything that encompassed her.

“Yeah,” she started, angling her head at me. “I actually wanted to tell you once you got here.” Something in her tone I didn’t particularly like, and a sense of ill foreboding took over. But I didn’t say anything, waiting for her to continue.

And then Zoey told me. She told me everything that happened at the party, how she’d met up with Wyatt there, how her sister had popped up out of the blue and tried to get him to turn against her, and how that attempt had failed spectacularly and only cemented Wyatt on Zoey’s side. She told me how Carter had followed her there, and then she made some off-handed comment that I probably wouldn’t want to hear about what she and Carter had done at the party together—which meant I imagined plenty.

But at the end, at the end Zoey told me something that caught me off-guard and made me speechless, at least for a few seconds.

Wyatt had kissed her. Just a peck, Zoey assured me, but still, my mind echoed that lone word:kissed. Wyatt had kissed her, which meant he was seriously developing feelings for her. I’d known from the beginning she planned on using him and dumping him, but listening to her story, it just felt wrong.

I’d mentioned to Zoey before how she should be careful not to go too far with Wyatt, but I feared that time had already passed. Though it had only been two weeks, it was more than enough time for someone to develop a longing for someone else. I knew as well as anyone how quickly true feelings could develop. I’d fallen for Zoey fast and unbelievably hard, and it sounded like Wyatt was taking the same path I did.

“Zoey,” I spoke, trying not to sound like I was judging.

“I know, I know. I didn’t see that happening. I… I just need to keep him close for a little while longer, until I really hammer it into my sister’s head. She isn’t going to give up, not after this. What I need to do… you’re not going to like it.”

“More than I already don’t like this plan of yours?” I questioned, heaving a quiet sigh, mostly to myself. I knew I couldn’t control Zoey, but I also felt like maybe she wouldn’t be going this far—maybe she wouldn’t be toying with another person’s emotions so easily—if I was here with her.

Because, let’s face it: Roman and Carter were not good influences.

“I’m going to need to cross a few lines, and I know it’s a lot to ask, but I want you to be okay with it.” She moved her head so that it hovered above mine, her body draped over my chest as she gazed down at me, her pink hair creating curtains of a sort, blocking out the room from my vision.

“More lines than you’ve already crossed?” I asked. With another sigh, I lifted a hand to her cheek, running my thumb over her skin, down to the corner of her mouth. “Your family, your sister… they deserve what they’ll get, but Wyatt doesn’t. He’s innocent to all this. Surely you see that.”

Her eyes closed. “I know.” As she spoke, her lips brushed against my thumb, and I moved my hand away from her mouth, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “And I want to let him down easy after, but I need to use him a little more.”

Knowing nothing I could say would sway her against the path she’d already chosen for herself, I dropped my hand to my chest and said, “Okay, lay it on me. What do you have in mind now?”

She didn’t hesitate in telling me what her plan was, and to be honest, I hated it. I hated this whole thing. I wished with all of my heart my love could be enough for her to turn her back from this place and these people right here, right now, and never look back.

But life wasn’t a fairytale. Things didn’t work like that. Sometimes life was messy, and the type of closure Zoey needed wasn’t the clean kind. They’d done her dirty, so she felt as though she had to do them dirty in return. I understood that. I wasn’t the kind of person who’d do that to someone else, let alone family, but then again, my family wasn’t half as bad as Zoey’s, so could I really compare?

“How the heck are Roman and Carter okay with this plan of yours?” I asked once she was done explaining. I couldn’t see either of them enjoying it or even letting Zoey do it; they were possessive and obsessive. All that and more.

“Oh, they’re pissed. They don’t want me to do it. I think the only way I got them to agree was because I said they could be there, watching. I’d invite you, but I know you’re working.” Zoey sighed, moving so that she now lay on top of me, her cheek on my collarbone, just above my shirt. Her body fit so perfectly on mine. Having her lay on me was the opposite of a burden.

I let out a dramatic sigh. “As long as you don’t decide you want another boyfriend…” I chuckled when her head whipped up, and I weaved my fingers into her hair, bringing her face to mine. This time, it was me kissing her, me telling her I would stand behind her, beside her, wherever she wanted me, even if I personally wouldn’t do the same thing she was doing.

I loved Zoey, and when you loved someone, you supported them, even if you didn’t agree with them one hundred percent of the time.

She sighed out into the kiss, and I ate up the sound, my body stirring, parts of me growing hot and desperate. It was like I hadn’t felt her touch in years, as if I’d gone through the worst drought of my life, and I’d finally found the sweet, beautiful relief I’d been seeking this entire time.

“I love you,” I murmured into the kiss, feeling her lips curl into a smile against mine. My arms circled her, holding her close, and for a while, we were simply lost in each other’s mouths. She was the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted, and I never wanted to know the feel of another girl’s lips on mine ever again.

Zoey might have other boyfriends, but she was the only girl for me. I couldn’t imagine my life without her, and if I had a say in it, I’d never know a day without her.

I didn’t know what Zoey’s plan for the day was, but I was more than okay with spending the entire time in bed with her. It wasn’t like I knew anyone else around here, besides her two other grumpy boyfriends.

But, apparently, she wanted to show me around, and I didn’t just mean the house. After we settled down, after our make-out ended and we weren’t so worked up, she took me around the city. And by took, I meant I drove us. She showed me all the places, including her parents’ house and the country club where she spent a lot of her time growing up. We drove through campus, and she pointed out the buildings and dormitories for me. In a way, I think she wanted to show me the places where she’d grown up, show me her past.

And it was glittering, to say the least. Glittering and rich and everything I personally would not have been able to stand. I mean, a country club? A country club where your shirts had to have collars if you were a guy and you had to wear either a skirt or a dress if you were a woman? Wasn’t that more than old-fashioned? It was archaic, or maybe that was just me.

I saw not a single pothole in the streets, no construction anywhere to be seen. Hillcrest was definitely the kind of place you saw in the movies, where not a single thing was out of order, where all its people were perfectly put together.

Of course, that didn’t mean all the people here were without their flaws. Just look at Zoey’s family.

We stopped somewhere for a late lunch, a little restaurant on the border of Midpark and Hillcrest, two cities that were pretty much alike. Hillcrest didn’t have its own elementary school or high school, so all Hillcrest kids had to go to Midpark’s schools, at least until college. Anyway, it was a quaint little diner, done up in a fifties style.

---