I’m dead. My body is on fire and I swear to God, I can’t breathe again.
Holy shit.
“I…” Puffing out some air, I say at last, “I’m twenty.” I’m not truly lying—I’ll be twenty soon. I look over at him to see his thoughts.
Which is a mistake. He’s not happy. I can tell by his disappointed face. He’s not going to touch me. I feel him pull back. This should make me happy. Instead I have to bite my lower lip not to cry.
“That’s almost the same age as my sister, Antoinette. I’m thirty-three.” He sounds pissed, almost bitter.
“That’s why I lied and said twenty-five.” I stand again and start to pick up the mess from dinner.
“Perfect.” He grabs another cigarette. For a guy with a body like his, he sure does smoke and eat a lot.
“Why are you stripping?”
“I have no money.” I’m getting flustered. What does he think, that I’m making all this up?
“Look. I don’t like people asking me questions.” I keep shoving all the trash from dinner into the white-and-red In and Out bag.
“Why? What are you hiding?” he retorts.
“None of your business.” I straighten back up. “I told you my age. If that’s not good enough, then I guess I can sleep on the street tonight.” I look around for a garbage can.
The room is silent. I fight looking at him. If I do, I’m doomed.
He snorts. “I’m going to bed.” Then he stands, taking the bag from my hand and tosses it in the trashcan.
“Let’s go,” he demands and my stomach twists like I’m about to throw up.
“What?” I clear my throat and glance around his huge room.
“I’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t want to bother you. Sometimes I move around a lot.” My cheeks are on fire and I’m sure my chest is flushed.
“No, you’re coming with me.” He drops his cigarette in the sink and runs water over the tip.
“I can’t.” This is horrible. Besides the day my parents died, this is the second worst day of my life. The humiliation alone is enough to kill me.
“You can.” He states it like it’s a done deal.
Holy fuck.
“I’m gonna lose myself tonight in that cunt of yours. In the morning, I’ll get you a place to stay.”
“I can’t,” I whisper, backing away, but there’s nowhere to go as my back hits the wall. I don’t have time to think when he’s standing so close. The heat from his body seems to radiate into mine.
“What’s wrong with you?” He’s frowning and his eyes, oh God, his eyes are so blue and he’s looking at me with such… disappointment. I can take anything but that.
Before I can think, I say, “I’m a virgin. Okay? Are you happy?”AXEL“What?” I hiss. She did not just say she’s a virgin.
If this wasn’t so incredibly fucked up, so fucking insane, I would be laughing. This is like something out of a bad B movie, the ones that you scream and laugh at, threatening to turn them off, but you don’t because you have to see how they’re going to end.
She shakes her head yes. Her curls are coming loose, framing her face so that she looks like an angel. Instead, she might just be the antichrist, a siren sent to seduce then kill me.
“You want me to believe that you are a twenty-year-old virgin? Who happens to walk in off the streets begging to strip?”
She goes to open her mouth, but I put both hands up around her head caging her in and her mouth snaps shut.
“I told you before you’re a shitty liar.”
Whatever her game is, I don’t have the time or the patience to play. I push off and don’t look back as I enter my bedroom.
Stripping off my clothes and tossing them, I’m too tired to care if they’re on the floor. I turn off my light and tumble into bed, not caring where she sleeps. Tomorrow, I’ll get rid of her.
As I close my eyes and drift, my fucked-up day thankfully melting away, my fucking light bursts on.
“Axel. I told you something that I have never… oh my God, you’re naked.” She covers her eyes with her hands.
“Christ,” I yell.
“I can’t… oh God.” She peeks through her fingers and screams, “I think I should go. I…”
“Antoinette,” I growl at her. “Put your hands down.”
Biting her lip, she drops them as if she’s in a ballet and this is her dramatic finish. She focuses her big eyes on my face, yet they keep darting to my cock.
“I was coming in to tell you that I’m leav—Oh my God, you are huge.” Her breathy voice makes me grow harder.
“Sweetheart, I’m only human. Stop looking at him.”
“Oh dear,” she moans slightly.
I almost take pity on her. Almost. That would be the nice thing to do, reach over and cover him up. But I’m far from nice. Lacing both hands behind my head I watch at how she seems to have given up on trying not to look and is now full-on staring. She wrings her hands together. She’s a little freak who acts like a Goody Two-shoes.