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We stare at each other silently until a smirk splits her lips.
“Here comes Cia now,” she says.
Cia rounds the corner, the same one Lenox came from, and beams when she sees us.
Me. She beams when she sees me.
Fuck.
But…
“How did you know she was coming?” I ask Promise because she’s not even facing that direction.
Dropping the smirk, Promise deadpans, “None of your business,” then hands me the key to five Lost, asking how much time I need Cia for.
I pay her for five minutes, long enough for one song.
“Wanna be found?”
“No.”
“Phone,” she says with her hand out, and I place it in her palm because if you want to go in a room, you have to do it without your phone. It’s not for privacy. It’s so footage can’t end up on some website where Cyrus isn’t earning a direct profit.
Only halfway down the hall, I hear Promise mutter, “Knew his dick wasn’t shit,” and I don’t have to guess who she’s talking about. Fuck her and fuck whoever said that about my dick. My dick works fine. And lasts longer than five minutes.
“Want me to clean up first?” Cia asks.
I’m quick to shake my head and guide her inside the room.
“Just a dance.”
“Oh. Got it.” Her face falls. “Do you have a song in mind?” she asks, recovering with a forced perk to her tone.
“You pick.”
While she takes care of the music, I drop down onto the loveseat, all the way to one side so she can’t straddle me.
In a pink strappy bralette, a G-string, and garters that attach to lace thigh-high stockings, Cia’s a sexy sight any guy would be lucky to have all to himself. She’s too nice for this place, but like a lot of us foxes, she was dealt a shitty hand, and now at only twenty-one years old, she’s stuck here at The Playground, working off whatever debt she owes Cyrus.
“Don’t Save Me” by Chxrlotte comes on, then Cia starts moving, never once meeting my eyes as she watches the clock.
My face hardens listening to the lyrics, my chest tight thinking about what Cyrus makes her do, what he makes all of us do. I can’t save Cia. I did what I could the other night for Lenox, but that was a mistake. One I could lose my life for.
When the song ends, Cia gives me her back as she hides a sniffle. I don’t move for her and I don’t offer any words of encouragement. I just sit here with her until a knock on the door exactly a minute later spurs us into motion.
I spring from the loveseat, telling her, “I’ll let Promise know you’re not feeling well.”
Cia shakes her head and wipes under her eyes, the chunky mascara coating her fingers. “She’ll come to check on me. Or worse, she’ll send Cyrus to.”
“I’ll pay for more time. Is thirty minutes enough?” I wait for her to nod, then tell her to stay put.
Back out in the hall, Promise instantly says, “Cyrus wants to see you,” making me stop to glance around.
How the fuck did she… She didn’t even look up from her book.
“He’s not here anymore though. You just missed him.”
Anymore. Just missed him.
