Page 44 of The Dollhouse

I pulled my mouth off hers, aware that I’d basically just kissed her without knowing whether or not she was even feeling it, so I started to ramble, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to—” My inane rambling halted the moment Zoey gave me the biggest grin I’d ever seen on her face before, the type of grin that instantly told me how much of an idiot I was.

“I like spending time with you too, Lake,” she whispered, using her free hand to grip the back of my neck and pull me back down, crashing her lips against mine a lot harder, a lot rougher than I’d been mere moments ago.

Every single thought in my head vanished the moment those soft lips pressed against mine, my whole body heating up when she started to kiss me with a passion that threatened to drown me.

This girl… God, I really liked this girl. I wanted to have more dates with her, countless of dates. I wanted to do everything with her, to have her at my side every night. Was that too much, too fast? Probably, but I didn’t care. I felt what I felt, and right now I felt absolutely enamored with Zoey.

The kiss ended both far too soon and not quickly enough. Firstly, I might’ve forgotten to breathe during it, so I was practically gasping for breath the moment it ended. Second, it meant we were one step closer to the end of tonight’s date, and that was something to be sad about, certainly.

We headed out of the theater, to my car. I opened her door for her before slowly making my way around the vehicle, my heart racing in my chest after that kiss. Her lips were even softer than they looked, and they looked insanely soft. The softest thing I’d ever felt, I think.

I got in the car and drove us home.

We didn’t hold hands when we arrived back at the apartment building, but I figured that was because our date was over and she didn’t want things to be weird. Like, I was trying to be realistic here. Just because we’d kissed didn’t mean anything. She might’ve said she enjoyed spending time with me, that she wanted to see me more, but she could just be being nice—

When we got onto the elevator, I tried to shut my mind off. There was no room for such negative thoughts, not after tonight. Tonight was a date I’d remember forever, even if, in the end, Zoey decided she didn’t want to pursue anything with me.

Zoey’s eyes were on me during the ride to our floor, and I couldn’t say what was on her mind just by reading her expression. She looked like she wanted to say something, but I had no idea what that something was.

And then, of course, it came to me. We’d just had a date. We were neighbors. Surely she didn’t think I expected anything right now, did she? I wasn’t one of those guys who offered to pay for everything on the date in order to cash it in later that night—that wasn’t who I was, and I always thought those guys were douches.

“You know,” Zoey broke the silence as the elevator doors opened. She was the first one to step out, spinning to stare at me with those big baby blues. “Tonight doesn’t have to end just yet. You could come over.” It was amazing how innocent she sounded, even though she had to know that inviting me over would lead me to think about other things.

Other naked things, which I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about. Nope. Not at all.

Crap. I needed to be the gentleman here. I needed to show her that I was perfectly fine with ending tonight on a chaste note, maybe another kiss. I didn’t need to go to her place and have a nightcap, or whatever the heck people called it.

Clearly, I was not part of the hookup culture, because I had no idea about any of this.

“I…” Even though I knew I should respond in the negative, tell her that I had a nice time but there was no need to rush things, my mouth would not cooperate. No other words came from me as I stared down at her.

Zoey’s mouth quirked into a smirk, and I felt her hand reach for mine. “Come on,” she purred out, dragging me away from the elevator, towards her room.

I knew if I didn’t stop us now, I might not be able to later, so I threw out a last-ditch effort: “I’m fine with taking things slow.” Did that sound dorky? Probably, but then again, half the things that came out of my mouth sounded dorky, so it was something she should be used to by now.

She released my hand to grab the keys out of her pocket, unlocking her door as she tossed me a look. “And if I want to do the opposite?” she posed the question, startling me by her blatant response.

How the hell was I supposed to deny her when she put it like that?

It might be something I’d come to regret, but what could I say? If there was one person around I was weak to, it was clearly Zoey.

When I said nothing to that, she hummed as she pushed her door open, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside. Once I was in, she shut and locked the door behind us, and I gazed at her apartment, at the furniture her parents had sent her. Even though it wasn’t the first time I was seeing all this, it was like I was seeing it anew, like I was aware that tonight everything was going to change between me and this girl.

She had me hooked. She had me hooked so deeply I couldn’t even say a word as she grabbed my wrist and led me to the sofa. Zoey pushed me down, straddling me. Her hands found their way to my face, cupping my cheeks, and I gazed into her eyes, needing to see that she wanted me. That this wasn’t about what she was running from, her stupid, cheating ex and her lying sister.

That what we were about to do would be about us and no one else.

Honestly? I wasn’t sure what I saw in her eyes. A desperation, a lust, a deeply rooted desire that made my body react accordingly… but even then, I knew we probably shouldn’t.

I reached up, gripping her tiny wrists and pulling those soft, tempting hands off my face. “Zoey,” I spoke her name gently, tenderly, willing her to realize that I meant well, that I’d never want to hurt her or take advantage of her. “We don’t have to do this.”

She leaned into me, pressing her forehead against mine as her eyelids fell. I could feel her hot breath on my face. Zoey did not yank her wrists from my hands; I held them off to the side, feeling her pulse through her wrists. “I want to,” she murmured. Her eyes peeked open, nothing but slits as she asked, “Do you?”

How the hell could she ask me that? What man in their right mind would tell her that theydidn’twant to be with her? I might be awkward sometimes, but I was a guy. I had a dick, and if I was completely honest here, there were a few nights when I’d thought about being with Zoey intimately while jerking off.

I would never admit that out loud. Felt weird thinking it to myself just now, but it was true.

Of course I wanted to sleep with Zoey, wanted to see her without her clothes on and get to know every smooth curve of her body. I wanted to know what she felt like, the sounds she made while lost in ecstasy. I wanted all that and more, but the one thing I didn’t want was for this to become something we’d both forget in the morning.

---