Page 40 of The Dollhouse

Since I knew he would ramble on and on, try to fix what he’d said to make it sound less strange, I blurted out the reason I was there: “Do you want to go out with me?” I actually said the question without stumbling over my words, which surprised me.

“Do I… do I want to go out with you?” Lake repeated, his blonde brows coming together, as if he didn’t hear me quite right. “You mean, like a date? Or—”

“Yes,” I spoke with a nod, “like a date.”

“Sure,” he could not get the word out fast enough. “I mean, of course. I’ll go anywhere with you. Just let me grab a—” He stopped when I giggled.

“Not right now,” I said. “Tomorrow.” I cocked my head at him, sticking out a hip and drawing his gaze down my body. Right now, I wore sweatpants and a loose shirt. Not really date apparel. My pink hair was in a bun, and I looked like I was either about to crawl into bed or that I’d just gotten out of it. “I try not to look homeless on dates, you know.”

Lake swallowed, his gaze snapping up to mine as he quickly said, “I don’t care what you wear. You always look beautiful, Zoey.”

His honest, heartfelt words caught me off-guard. I stood there for a moment, blinking at him, wondering how the hell he could say something like that and actually sound genuine. Guys didn’t talk like that nowadays, not unless they were in movies—and as far as I knew, my shitty life was not a movie. It’d make a terrible one, really.

But he was earnest, and as he stood there, staring right back at me, I felt my cheeks heating up, like I was in third grade with my first crush all over again.

How could Lake affect me so much? How was he real and not already snatched up by another girl?

I shouldn’t ask myself that question. I should just accept it and move on, plan out our date for tomorrow. I couldn’t, though, for in the next moment, I found myself whispering, “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

As sad as it was, it was true. Bryan hated when I didn’t get all dolled up for him, and going to school without wearing makeup was like missing your face, people always asking you if you were tired or sick. The reality of being a woman or even a girl meant you were always judged on your appearance, no matter how old you were or what you were doing, whether you were going to the country club or just the grocery store.

“Well, for what it’s worth,” Lake spoke, his voice dropping to a bare whisper that, in spite of myself, caused a chill to sweep down my spine, “it’s true.” A soft, gentle smile graced his lips, and I had to force myself to tell him goodbye, that I’d see him tomorrow afternoon, lest I linger there and lose myself completely in his dimples—which was quite possible.

I headed back to my apartment, knowing Lake still stood there, watching me go. We met eyes the moment I opened my apartment door, and I couldn’t say what passed between us right then, but it was definitely something. My heart sped up in my chest, a longing deep within me.

I wanted this. I wanted to relax again, to live my life like it was normal, and that wasn’t something I could do while sitting around and waiting to hear from Roman or Carter. No, I was a person, and I would not wait forever.

Chapter Twelve – Lake

Was it a stupid thing to admit I didn’t get much sleep that night? Probably, but it was true. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so excited about something. Lately my life had just been about school and work. When Zoey moved in next door, it was like something was struck inside of me, like a bolt of lightning had hit me.

A bolt of pink lightning.

Honestly? I’d been dying to take her out since she moved in. I never wanted to go overboard, so I tried to cool myself off, play it cool, you know, act normal and not all jittery and nervous like I really was around her.

Zoey was gorgeous. She was probably the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Not many could rock a pink head, but she totally did. Maybe it was her confidence, or maybe it was something else. Either way, I’d been smitten on her since day one, I was not afraid to admit.

Since Zoey was the one who’d technically asked and initiated the date, I didn’t know if she would be planning it out or if she expected me to have stuff all laid out, so just in case, I spent the morning looking up movie times, searching Google for nice restaurants, and all that fun stuff. I knew the area since I’d been going to school here for two years now, but there was always something new and exciting to see or learn about.

If she didn’t have a plan, I had a backup plan.

After I figured out a backup plan, it was time to shower and shave, make sure I was presentable. I did not want to admit to anybody how long it took me to decide what to wear. You’d think I was a girl or something, with how finicky I was being. It was ridiculous, but I wanted to impress her.

Zoey obviously came from money. I didn’t, and frankly I didn’t have much money to begin with now, but I didn’t want her to know that. I wanted to put on my best front, impress her, say all the right things and be the perfect gentleman, show her that there were still some good guys out there in the world, that not every guy with a dick was like her ex.

I still couldn’t believe someone had cheated on her. Who in their right mind would screw up like that when they had her? Zoey was… well, let me just say that if she was my girlfriend, I wouldn’t even look at other girls. I wouldn’t need to. I would have everything I needed right beside me.

Was that too cheesy? It probably was.

I eventually decided on going with a nice, dark blue polo shirt, along with some clean jeans. I’d probably look like a noob, but I figured I’d look like a noob regardless of what I wore anytime I stood beside Zoey. Everyone’s eyes would be on her, not me; I’d be the awkward idiot beside her, the guy everyone wondered how the hell I landed someone as hot as her.

It was true, you know, what they said. Nice guys finished last. The jerks, the overcompensating idiots always seemed to win, to get whoever they wanted whenever they wanted, like they owned the world, or were owed something. That didn’t mean I’d go and change myself, though, and I knew not every girl would fall for a douchebag’s lies. I hoped it was only a matter of time until I found someone.

My mom had already mentioned online dating to me, which I really didn’t want to do. Hopefully this date with Zoey would lead to more dates, and then… then maybe a relationship.

Was I a fool for thinking that far ahead? Probably. I needed to take a chill pill, press on the breaks, do whatever the heck I could do to slow myself down. This was just a date. Just a single date. It wasn’t like I was getting down on my knee and proposing to her—

Not that I’d thought about that, because that would be gettingwayahead of myself.

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