Page 57 of Toy No More

With a sigh, I roll the cigarette between my fingers, tasting a promise of the comfort it could give me if I only let it. Instead, I put it back into the half-empty pack.

I’ll have some chewing gum in the car.

I’m about to hop off the loading bay and head for the car when I hear incoming steps. Before the creaky metal door even opens, I can somehow already smell him, that sweet scent radiating out around him like a honeytrap.

Pausing, I lock in with Apollo’s eyes as soon as he enters. He widens them in surprise. “Oh!” I’m not sure if his face really lights up as much as it does, or if I am just imagining things. His long, pretty lashes flutter at me.

“Are you following me?” I ask with a cocked brow.

He takes a moment to realize I’m joking. Rolling his eyes, he leans against the wall next to the door. “How was I supposed to know you’d be here?” I sense a bit of distance between us, like he is measuring up what the vibe is after not talking for a while.

I don’t feel that rage I did before when I look at him. In fact, that curious sense of interest and fascination frombeforeis back. Apollo notices me staring at him, but must think I’m studying that latex bodysuit he has on. The cocky, playful smirk that pops up on his lips says as much. I wasn’t, but now I definitely am.

It suits him. Shows off everything nicely. Very…nicely. Makes him look even more like a perfectly sculpted statue.

“Funny thing is, I was going to message you,” he says, raising his hand with his phone. Our text thread is open on his screen, with a few words already written in a reply box on the bottom. “I had a client cancel on me just now. Had me booked for the next hour and a half in the Pink Room. He got shot,” Apollo clarifies like it’s important information.

I don’t hold back my chuckle. “Really?”

“Yeah. He’ll live,unfortunately,” he mutters with an eye roll. “I’m glad he got shot, though. I don’t like him. And, well, I heard Jasper shooed a bunch of you away to do whatever, so I was hoping…”

I ignore his suggestive tone for a moment. “How do you know about that so quickly?”

“One of the boys came down to get a blowjob from Betsy,” he says matter-of-factly.

Chuckling to myself, I now understand where Antony was rushing. When I blink, I realize Apollo has stepped closer to me. His expression is weirdly insecure, even if it’s partially hidden. I think he doesn’t like the way I skipped over his previous flirtation attempt. It makes me pleased in a very amused, sadistic way.

“And you were hoping…?”

“I was hoping we could use the room since it’s gonna be vacant. It’s very private. Thought it would be a great opportunity for me to…make stuff up to you,” he says, prolonging the syllables softly. His pretty eyes dart up and down, before steadying on my lips. “If you want, that is. If you haven’t changed your mind.” He finally meets my gaze, setting that flirty little attitude aside for a moment as his words take a more serious tone.

I almost want to laugh in his face, though I don’t think that would help the situation. But it’s ridiculous. The way I can’t tell him no. I don’t want to. Maybe I should keep him at arm’s length for just a little longer, to really make sure he won’t lie to me again.

The only problem is that Apollo stands in front of me right now, batting those eyes and biting at the inside of his lip nervously. I wonder if he does that unintentionally.

Like this, I can’t refuse him. Even if Iwasstill angry.

That stupid, base part of me wants to cling to his lovely aroma and to get more. All I wanted moments ago was some peace, but the idea of spending time with Apollo again fills me with the same sort of satisfaction.

“I’m not sure how long we’ll have,” I say while I touch the baby hairs waving down his cheekbone and tuck them behind his ear. I meet his gaze and see him flaring his nostrils at the scent of my pheromones inevitably coming out.

Something in his eyes shifts and comes into focus.

“Then we’ll need to be efficient,” he says, gently grabbing at my hand. Feeling the saliva pooling at the bottom of my mouth, I nod and let him lead me to this Pink Room.

Of course, Apollo lets go of me as we pass through the main area. No one seems to pay attention to us, but I stay alert anyway. Somehow, it feels wrong to do this right in front of Jasper’s nose. In his house. “He won’t mind?” I ask, my words coming out a little stiff.

Apollo glances back at me with a smirk as we’re turning a corner.

“He said anything goes. This is my time off, and yours,” he assures me, his tone airy and confident like he worries about nothing.

He opens one of the four doors in the dead end hall to the side of the main room I never went to. Walking in, I quickly understand why it’s called the Pink Room, and figure that there must be a similar theme to the other ones as well.

Almost everything in sight is pink and fluffy. Not bright pink, but a cooler pink tone, much easier on the eyes. In the center of the wall facing the door stands a massive bed with shiny satin sheets and a giant heart-shaped headboard. It’s covered in plush material, and so are the two retro loveseats on the sides of the bed. The room smells faintly of strawberry milkshake. Even the dim lights on the night tables are pink, but a slightly deeper shade.

“This…is a room,” I say, still tilting my head up and down and left and right in sheer awe at it. There must have been some porn movies filmed here, right? It looks like a set. Over the top and grand.

“Hey.” Apollo steps in front of me with a disgruntled frown. “The room is a backdrop,” he says, sounding nearly annoyed.

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