Page 54 of High Roller

I sigh and drag a hand through my curls. They seem extra unruly today. “No. I realize it sounds ridiculous, I’m just suspicious.”

Victor squeezes my shoulder. “Suspicious is good. But don’t be so suspicious that you turn it down.”

“It’s money I need so I can cut my hours here. I’m not turning it down. But I will keep an eye out for whatever the catch is until the day I graduate.”

He pats my arm again. “Atta girl. I should let you get back to your lunch.”

When he’s gone, I can’t even think about my lunch, so I go through the email and acceptance form one more time. It still seems too good to be true, but hopefully it will be OK.

After I’m done with my lunch, I take a sandwich to Lili. This time, she doesn’t make much conversation, and I don’t either, because I have to get back on the clock. I wonder if Victor said something to her about being too friendly with me.

The rest of the day flies by, and soon I’m closing the shop. It’s rare for me to work open to close this way, but I offered to take the shift for someone else who needed the time off unexpectedly, and I don’t mind pulling doubles. The more I can add to my savings account, the better.

As I’m locking the door and preparing to check on Lili one more time, Victor steps into the room from the back. Has he been here all day? Victor is the one who oversees most of the day-to-day operations of the club, but I don’t usually see him here this much.

“I was about to see if Lili needed anything else,” I say as he stares at me.

“Good. After you’re done, get your purse and come with me.”

I frown. “Where are we going?”

“Dinner. I need to talk to you.”

“What about?”

Victor shoos me out of the room. “We’ll talk in the car.”

There’s no point standing here arguing with him, so I finish up my work and make my way to Lili’s room. When I open the door, she is kneeling on the floor, bent at the waist with her hands in front of her. It looks like a yoga pose.

“I’m almost done here,” she says, not moving from her position. I wait quietly until she finishes stretching, fascinated by the way she moves through the routine with grace and ease. When she sits up, I smile.

“I really need to do that,” I say.

“It clears my mind, does wonders for my energy levels, and keeps my joints limber. I highly recommend it.”

I clear my throat, unsure of what to say next. “It’s time for me to leave, but I wanted to come check on you first.”

“Are you doing anything fun tonight?”

I drop my head and lift my shoulder in a half-shrug. “I’m not sure. Victor just asked if he could take me to dinner because he needs to talk to me.”

Lili raises an eyebrow. “That sounds exciting. Perhaps the two of you can quit lying to each other now.”

I scowl. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Lili laughs. “I mean it’s clear that both of you like each other. You make a cute couple.”

I wave my hand at her dismissively. “You are crazy.” But inside, I’m hoping she’s right. We admitted our attraction to each other after our needle scene, but we haven’t talked about it since, and I’ve been feeling a little lost.

Lili points at the door. “Get out of here. I don’t need anything. Have a wonderful dinner with Victor. Come back and tell me all about it tomorrow.”

I open the door and wave at her. “I’m supposed to be off tomorrow, but maybe that’s what Victor wants to talk to me about.”

Lili rolls her eyes. “Yes, because he needs to take you to dinner to ask you to work an extra day. That makes so much sense.”

It’s weird to talk to Lili like she’s a girlfriend, someone I can confide in. I know she’s the exact opposite. Still, I smile and promise to give her the details as soon as I can. I stop in one of the restrooms, touch up my lipstick, and run a brush through my hair before I head back to the front of the sandwich shop where Victor is waiting.

“What the fuck took you so long?” he snaps.

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