Page 133 of Lessons in Cruelty

Join me for dinner tonight.

@lee.haven

Can’t. I’m working.

@rooke.bastian

You have a job?

@lee.haven

I’m living out of my car. What do you think?

@rooke.bastian

Get someone to cover your shift.

I should tell him to go fuck himself. And while I’m pondering which emojis will lessen the sting, he sends another text.

@rooke.bastian

This is important, Haven.

Oof, is it getting hot in here? Yes, Daddy.

What the hell’s gotten into me?

Maybe it’s the fact that Bastian is the only person in Agony Hollow who’s treating me like a real person with real feelings, and not a punching bag or a chess piece.

I’m looking at you, Melissa Parker.

My foot taps furiously on the floor as I stare down at my phone, still trying to figure out how to reply. It’s been a quiet night, so I know Teagan will let me off without an issue…but do I want to enter Bastian’s domain again so soon?

It’s like he knows me already, though. Because fuck am I curious about why he wants to see me so badly.

Maybe he’s going to interrogate me about the missing ice cream. With whips and stuff.

I’d like that.

I’d like that very much.

@lee.haven

K

What should I bring?

@rooke.bastian

Your appetite.

Chapter 34

Haven

It takes a while to get a layer of mascara on my lashes that doesn’t look like spider legs. Old makeup sucks. But after washing my pits in the diner restroom, running a brush through my hair, and applying more foundation to my throat, I’m ready.

Teagan spots me on my way out. “Haven?”