Page 38 of Breaking You Open

“Scary hot?” Lilith says with a smirk, and when I don’t reply, she scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Told you he was a jerk.”

“How about your new boyfriend—”

“Asher.”

“—doesn’t he ever make you scared?”

“We’re not talking about me now, Sparrow dear, we’re talking about you and that big oaf of yours.”

“Stop calling him that. And he’s not mine.” I lean into her, shielding us from the students flowing through the corridor. “You’re going to help me make him mine,” I add with a sweeter tone to my voice.

Lilith stares at me for a few seconds before she throws her head back and laughs. “I knew you had some fun in you after all. Very well. I know just what you need. Let’s go to the Love Loft.”

“The Love Loft? What kind of place is that?”

“You’ll see,” she says with a wink.

I wring my hands, suddenly even more uncertain about this idea. “How about you just tell me what to do?”

“No way, this is way more fun. You’ll see.”

At least she seems happier than she was earlier. The issue is she now seemstoohappy, and happy Lilith somehow unsettles me more than broody Lilith.

As it turns out, the Love Loft is a sex shop.

A full-on dildos-in-your-face sex shop.

“Ooh, I like this one,” Lilith purrs, pointing to a clear dildo with two ends. “Used something like it during my first threesome. Or how about this,” she says, something wicked in her voice as she holds up the biggest monstrosity I’ve ever seen.

Monstrousliterally. It’s huge and dark purple, with a set of bulges by the base. It looks obscene.

“Not that one,” I say, in awe at how she can be so casual about this.

“Obviously not,” she says, cackling. “This thing would split you in two. No, we need something to make you irresistible.” She takes a look at me and clicks her tongue. “Now, that might be hard, but maybe Louis is into wet puppy-dog-looking guys.”

“I look like a dog?” I ask, puzzled.

She rolls her eyes. “You don’t get it.”

No surprise. Lilith says a lot of things I don’t understand. Not for the first time, I wish I was as experienced and confident as her and not a nervous wreck with a desperate streak.

“So you really like this guy, huh?” she asks me as we browse the lube section.

“Yeah.”

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t know,” I say with a frown. “What does that feel like?” I was in love with Aaron, I think, but what I feel for Louis holds no resemblance to the nervous dread I used to feel around my foster brother.

“Well, for me, it’s when I don’t mind their company and want to fuck them twenty-four seven.”

I hum, fiddling with the buttons on my parka. “All I know is that I want to be around him all the time. I want him to take care of me.”

Lilith walks off, ignoring what I just said. “Fuck it. Let’s just get you a butt plug.”

“Awhat?”

“How about this?” With a leer, she holds up an absurdly big contraption with a bulbous tip tapering to a sharp point. “How big is he?” she asks casually. “You should know—you’ve sucked his dick, haven’t you? Or did you lie about that?”

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