Page 40 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

The apartment Az wanted to give me was clean and bright and new, not to mention massive. All I needed to do was rearrange my entire life around him, on his terms and at his say-so, just like a good sugar baby.

My stomach clenched. I would have done it in a second if this was a real relationship and he wanted to move in together. But that was my problem, wasn’t it? Leaping into shit and damn the consequences.

Fuck, one of those dings had probably been him dumping me.

That was a good thing, right? But when I imagined it, my breaths became short and sharp and my eyes swam.

Fuck, this whole situation had me so messed up.

I took a breath and steeled myself to look at my phone. I had a dozen messages from Az’zael.

Do you not like the apartment?

I’ll find you a better one.

Do you need one with a bigger library?

Christ. I’d rejected an enormous gift, and he thought it was because it wasinadequate? Gut tightening with guilt, I plopped onto my couch.

Why did he care so much? He’d made it painfully clear I was nothing but an employee to him, someone to be bought. I didn’t blame him for it. How could I when I’d named my price? But employees were replaceable.

Just tell me what you want.

Followed by a list of apartment links.

I took a deep breath. He wasn’t my boyfriend, which should have made it easier to not kowtow to his demands. And however casually he phrased it, however much he gilded his demands, he’d just demanded I move into an apartment of his choosing,afterI’d told him I didn’t want the damn thing.

I told you I didn’t want the apartment

I don’t understand. I thought you had fun today.

I did.

Funwas right there, tangled up in all the other feelings.

Then why won’t you take it?

I can’t stand to think of you spending another night in that place.

My skin flushed.That place.My apartment. The one I’d scrimped and saved and worked my ass off to afford. And his first words upon seeing it were to question why I’d even want to live here.

So he was embarrassed of me, at least a little bit. I inhaled, blew out the breath, then did it again. Of course he was. He likely had just as little experience with run-down apartments as I had with luxury ones.

This was on me. I should have insisted on meeting him elsewhere. Then he’d never have known what a dump my place was in comparison to his.

That wasn’t fair. Az hadn’t actually insulted my place. Hell, even if he had, I said way worse about my apartment than anyone else would.

Given that the new apartment was right below his, he probably wanted nothing more complicated than a more convenient fuck. Every night, like he’d asked for in the first place.

Images from the dressing room flashed before my eyes. He’d never had a blow job before because dragon women, with their sharp dragon teeth, couldn’t give them. Had he gone after me because he thought I, as a human, would do things a dragon wouldn’t?

Shame squirmed through my gut and turned my mouth dry as dust. Why hadn’t I asked more questions during our first meeting?

If I accepted that apartment, I’d have nowhere to go to readjust, to remember who I was when I wasn’t servicing Az.

It’s mine, and I’m staying here

He could end our agreement over my refusal, but after seeing our end date written out in black and white…I didn’t care. The knowledge that it would be over soon, no matter what, was the only thing pounding through my head.

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