Page 17 of Baked

“Why not?”

“Because Carter isn’t stupid. Well—thatstupid. He knows what your room looks like and knows you’re not the kind of girl to just bring strange men back to the apartment. He will immediately suspect something is up.” Damn, he made a good point. “Nah, if you really want to get to him, we’ll need to take them somewhere he has never been. Somewhere you knowhe’ll question and that insanity of not knowing will eat away at his thoughts. You want him to sit there, scouring your social media for hours, cross-examining all your followers and friends profiles, trying to pinpoint where you are, who you are with, and how this all happened.” His grin grew. “You want him to spend every second obsessed with wanting to know more.”

What a sick and twisted little game.

I glanced around, thinking. “What about your room?” The look he gave me took me back. I knew he craved his privacy and didn’t let anyone in his room, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was curious about it. Or that I was a little excited at the idea of taking photos inside it.

“My room?”

“Yeah, I mean—” I picked at my nails. “Carter would never suspect it, and he’s never seen it, so.”

Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I needed to forget the whole thing and just be the good little girlfriend Carter wanted and?—

“Okay.”

I looked up at him in surprise. “What?”

Haze smiled. “I said, okay. Come on.” He reached his hand out to me and led me across the hall to the closed door of his room. Adrenaline flowed through my veins as he opened it. It wasn’t so much as the mystery of the room itself but the idea of being in Haze’s domain. This was his sanctuary, his space. A space he didn’t let anyone into—except me.

The room wasn’t anything too over the top or ridiculous, but it definitely matched Haze’s vibes and personality perfectly. The bedroom was very put together and clean, the total opposite of mine. He had dark walls and furniture, his large bed centered off the single exposed brick wall as LED lights lined the top of the room, casting it into a deep shade of blue. He had a few shelves of various and random things, but the one that I liked most wasthe large wall shelf lined with various colored and shaped bongs. Very Haze. The room overall was very mature, with the smallest hint of defiance, just like Haze.

I pointed to the lights along the ceiling. “So fancy.” I smirked. Haze smiled, stepping past me as he pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen. The lights slowly shifted colors from blue to green. “Really?” I teased.

Haze chuckled. “Listen, I don’t care how old we are, color changing lights are always cool.”

What a dork.

I felt my nerves shifting from comfortable to uneasy, unsure of what to say or do. Haze must’ve sensed it, because he carefully led me to his computer chair at the desk in the corner of his room. “Here.” He rolled it around for me to sit.

“Okay.” I said with an awkward smile. “Now what?” My body fidgeted in the chair.

“Okay, well, first off, don’t look so fucking weird.” Haze poked at me. “Relax. Remember, you’re out with someone else and purposely trying to piss off your boyfriend.”

“Right.” I looked around, trying to process my own thoughts. But nothing worked. I felt like my brain just shut down and froze and my body reflected that. “Oh my gosh, I have no idea what to do!” A nervous laugh fell from my mouth. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. “Like, do I just pose? Or should I?—”

“Indi,” he calmly said my name. “Just relax. Take a breath.” I inhaled slowly and exhaled. “Alright. Now, tell me. Why do you want to take these photos? What do you want them to do?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Haze kneeled before me, sighing softly as he looked up at me. I had to squeeze my legs together as if something had shocked me, buzzing in my veins. “What do you want these photos to do? Are you wanting to just hurt Carter? Make him jealous? Or areyou wanting to drive him fucking insane?” I simply nodded. “No, tell me.”

“I want to drive him crazy,” I whispered to him.

“And what would do that? What would drive Carter absolutely fucking insane?”

I already knew the answer. “Seeing another man with me.”

Haze nodded. “Okay. Now, tell me how? Would him seeing you stand or hug another man do the trick? Or is the thought of another man’s hands on your body, touching what he feels is his, do it?” I blinked at him, the idea of belonging to Carter making me sick to my stomach. It was laughable.

I’m not his.

“Touching. He hates even the idea of another man looking at me. He gets so worked up when he thinks someone’s eyes are on me. Even yours.” What an odd thing for me to say out loud.

“Ironic.” Haze smiled. I didn’t understand why he said it. He tilted his head with a flicked brow. “I have an idea, a few, but I need you to trust me, okay?”

“Of course.” Always.

Haze stood, focusing on his phone as he darkened the lights a little. He then connected his phone to a set of wireless speakers and played some music. “Now”—he raised the phone, telling me he had the camera ready— “pose. Not with your body. Pose with your intentions.”

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