Page 156 of The Dollhouse

The more he spoke, the more I wished I could shrivel up and hide. It was one thing to think all these things to myself, but another thing entirely to hear Wyatt himself state it all so matter-of-factly.

“I don’t hate you,” Wyatt whispered. “I… I can’t. Maybe it’s stupid, but I just can’t.” He let out a bitter chuckle. “It was probably stupid to come here at all, because you already have three boyfriends, but… but I wanted to know if, maybe, we could start over again. Forget everything that happened. Forget your family and Willow and all of that drama.”

I blinked, not understanding what he was saying. “Forget?”

Wyatt nodded once more, adding, “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy for me, but I’d like it if we could be friends.”

I told him the truth, “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be here in Hillcrest. After tonight, there’s one more thing I have to do, and I don’t know how long it will take. I might be here another week, might be longer. But I have no idea. After that, then… then I’m going back home with the guys.”

It was a while before he said, “I get that. If I were you, I wouldn’t want to stick around here, either. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. Unless your number’s changing.” At that, he cracked a tiny smile, and that tiny, disarming grin made me smile in return.

“It’s not.” At least, I didn’t think it was. Unless my family found out about the new number, tried to rope me into something, I wouldn’t change my number, which meant Wyatt could contact me anytime he wanted.

Would he? Would we stay in contact, even after I left Hillcrest for good? Why would he want to… I didn’t get it, but I supposed there were a lot of things in this life I couldn’t pretend to understand. And that, that was why this felt almost too good to be true.

I didn’t deserve his friendship. I didn’t deserve this talk. In fact, I didn’t deserve anything from Wyatt.

“Good,” Wyatt spoke, the grin still on his lips. “Good. That… that makes me happy.” The grin widened, and he full out beamed at me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was just like old times. Wyatt and me, bonding. He threw a look around. “So, clearly you’re having some kind of party tonight. I should go.” He got up, wiping his hands on his knees.

Was he nervous? He shouldn’t have been. I was the one who should be all nerves here, because I was the one who’d hurt him and not vice versa. He was a better person than me, just like Lake.

Lake, my loveable boyfriend who went behind my back and talked to Wyatt without telling me. Yeah, he and I would have a little chat, but not tonight. Tonight, there was already too much to do.

I got up with him, moving to his side as he went towards the door. Lake stood just inside, watching us both. I lightly touched Wyatt’s arm when he opened the door, stopping him. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want,” I said, glancing at Lake, who tossed a look between us both. “You could stay.”

Sensing that I wanted Wyatt to stay, Lake said, “Yeah, man. Stay. Please. Don’t leave me alone with all these crazy people. And, yes, before you ask, I am including Zoey in that number.” He flashed a dimpled grin, and I could feel the uneasiness leaving Wyatt’s body just like that. Lake had a way of soothing you, his mere presence disarming. It’s one of the reasons why I loved him.

“Uh, if I have to wear a mask…” Wyatt muttered. “I don’t know if I really want to.”

“Why don’t you and I stay out here for a while?” Lake offered, slipping off his mask. “Out here, no masks required.” He shot a glance at me. “Right?”

I laughed. “Right.”

“Besides,” Lake went on, moving toward Wyatt and setting an arm over his shoulders, guiding him away from me and back to the table where we’d just been sitting, “Zoey’s about to put on a show for her parents, and I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty dang sure it’s going to be really, really uncomfortable.”

Again, I laughed. Lake wasn’t wrong, but Wyatt wasn’t fighting him on it, either. They both sat down, and Lake decided to break the ice by asking Wyatt what his favorite animal was. Right. That was sure to launch them into what would be a very stimulating, deep conversation.

I gave Lake a wink before disappearing inside the house. I did grab one of the waiters and told them to send some food and drinks outside for the two guys. Couldn’t have either of them starving out there and withering away.

Time passed quickly after that. Or that’s what it felt like, anyway. The ones from Hillcrest we’d invited, the higher-ups in this community that dictated who was in and who was out, the ones in charge of everything, basically, arrived in droves. They all wore expensive clothes, the women in their long cocktail dresses, diamonds on their fingers, and the men in suits that cost more than some people make in an entire month.

And, what’s more, they all came in masks. People from Hillcrest needed no convincing to don certain clothing items for parties. Masks for a masquerade, white gloves for high-end dinner parties; any excuse they could use, they did, and they did it any time they could.

I took to greeting them with the set of hostesses near the front door, mostly to make sure I was there once my parents showed up. I ushered the guests into the large family-slash-stage room and let them mingle. The waiters took care of them after that, offering drinks and small finger foods.

All in all, so far this night was going exactly as planned.

During a stretch of no new arrivals, I went back into the main room, where the stage sat behind thick curtains, and what I saw made me grin ear to ear. The people from Hillcrest were mixed in with our people, with Markus’s people. I could only imagine what they were talking about. Lola, surrounded by a ground of shocked older women, seemed quite animated in whatever it was she was saying. I hoped she wasn’t going full-out crazy to them. Not yet, anyway. She could save that for later, after I got up on that stage and embarrassed the fuck out of my parents.

Oh, there’d be no coming back from tonight. The Marbella name would be a laughingstock, an embarrassment. My parents could try to salvage their reputation, but combine what was going to happen tonight with what already had happened at that dinner with the Oakes, the opposite of what they would be was respected.

I spotted Roman and Carter with the mayor and his wife. Yes, we’d actually invited the freaking mayor. I didn’t think he’d come, but even the higher ups in this city could never pass along the chance to be in on the gossip. Once upon a time, my family was well-known and well-respected here, but I’d started their downfall after I’d run away all that time ago. God, it felt like another lifetime.

How I wished I could be a fly on the wall for each of the conversations happening in this room. I’d bet anything, for most of the Hillcrest people, they were already shocked at the type of guests at this party. I’d bet the wheels already spun in their heads. I probably didn’t even need to get up on that stage. Sending Lola and her guys out there, along with mine—not to mention that Stella chick—was enough of a bomb to fuck shit up around here.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I spun to look at one of the waitresses. She gestured toward the hall, saying lowly, “I think your parents are here, Miss.” She ducked her head and walked around me, leaving me alone to square up and prepare myself.

My parents were here. Let the good times roll.

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