“Are you fucking kidding me?” I demand. “How am I going to get home?”
“Maybe you can take a run,” he says, a cruel smile twisting his lips. “Dogs need their exercise.”
“I don’t know where we are,” I point out. “In case you forgot, you drove me here in the trunk of your fucking car.”
“Not our problem,” Colt says with a wink.
“Dogs are good at finding their way home,” Devlin says, climbing into the car.
Colt hops in the car with Devlin, and they speed away into the night and disappear.
nineteen
Only when the guys are gone do I remember that Colt has my phone. Fucking asshole.
I stomp back inside. Everyone’s already seen me, so it’s not like I have anything to hide. But somehow, I still feel vulnerable walking in alone. When I was with Devlin, I was a prop, an oddity, a circus freak. The girl on a leash. I was a dog, but I washisdog. Now, I have no protection. No excuse for being here in my bra. Maybe some small part of me enjoyed the humiliation, or at least knew I deserved it. This is different. Instead of feeling like I’m being shown off, now I just feel like a loser.
I edge up the stairs, looking for a bedroom. I don’t care what I put on, I just want to cover myself. A stained old T-shirt would be more than welcome right now. Anything to cover up the amount of skin I’m showing. Guys leer at me as I climb the stairs, but I glare so fiercely that they don’t say anything. I’m almost to the top of the stairs when a tall guy grins at me. After a second, I recognize him as the guy Preston forced to eat dog food in the hall.
“Hey, dog,” he says. “I’m more of a cat person, but I’ll fuck a bitch on occasion.”
“Yeah?” I say. “Then go fuck yourself.”
I shove past him, but just as I go, I feel his fingers hook under the back of my bra. When I try to twist away, he unhooks it with his other hand. I grab it to my chest and run up the last few steps, my face burning as I listen to the laughter behind me.
After hooking my bra and taking a second to compose myself, I try the door to each room as I pass. The first few are locked. On the third try, the knob turns. I push open the door only to see Preston fucking a girl from behind while she goes down on another girl. Preston’s holding a phone, and for a second I think he’s scrolling, but when he turns it my way, I realize he’s recording it.
“Join the train, Manhattan,” he says with a grin. “I can add New York to my list.”
I slam the door and hurry to a door that’s standing open. I find a bathroom and duck inside. There’s not so much as a robe inside. I consider wearing a towel, but at this point, that might draw more attention than my bra. I root through the cabinets and drawers, and just as I’m about to give up, I spot a pack of bobby pins. Like any normal girl, I’ve picked my share of locks. I pocket a couple and go back into the hall. After listening at the first door, I slip the bobby pin into the lock, feel around until I find the locking mechanism, and pop it open. I slip inside.
The room is dark, but once my eyes adjust, I can see from the light shining in off the balcony that it’s also empty. Relief washes over me, and within seconds, I’m in an oversized T-shirt. I’ve never felt so safe and comforted. I may never wear anything else. The relief seems to weaken me, and I lock the door and then sink onto the edge of the bed. I’m tempted to pass out. I’m a little tipsy, and after the extreme emotional trial of this evening, I’m ready to collapse.
But I don’t know whose room this is. I don’t know when they’ll come in, and what they’d do to me if they found me here. I don’t want to think about it, so I drag myself up and step out onto the balcony. A jolt goes through me when I spot a shadow slumped in a patio chair. My mental checklist marks off all the guys I know are dangerous before the figure turns, and I see that it’s not a guy at all. It’s Dolly.
“Oh, hi,” I say, retreating a step.
Dolly’s eyes narrow, her fake lashes casting shadows on her cheeks. “Are you in there with Devlin?” Her voice is soft and breathy and sweetly southern.
“No.”
She sighs and leans back into her chair again. “Well, at least I won’t be stuck out here listenin’ to you two fuck all night.”
“What?”
“That’s Devlin’s room,” she says, like I should know this. “I was hopin’ he’d come in alone, and we could talk. But then I heard someone come in, and I thought, well shit. What if he came in with a girl, and I can’t tell them I’m out here without lookin’ like a stalker, so I’ll just have to listen to him fuckin’ her.”
“Um. Okay.”
“And I know Devlin,” she says. “He doesn’t do short and sweet. I’d be out here all night listening to you screaming his name like you’re trying out for the lead role in a porno flick. It’s pretty much my worst nightmare.”
“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing it didn’t happen.”
“You know where he’s at?”
“He left,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “I just came up here looking for clothes.”
“Oh yeah,” she says, glancing at my T-shirt. “He likes that shirt.”