“Excuse me?”
“If you’re here, hoping for something to happen between us, you’re wasting your time. I don’t do girlfriends.” How very cliché.
“And you’re telling me this, because…”
“Because this…thing with us, whatever it is. It ends here.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat, trying not to show how much his words sting. I snort out a laugh that sounds fake to my own ears. “I think I can handle that.”
“As long as we’re on the same page.”
“Anything else?” I ask, arching a brow. “Maybe a curfew? Chores? Wouldn’t want to break any rules.”
“I’ll make a list and get back to you,” he deadpans. “For now, just keep yourself occupied and try to stay out of trouble.” He stands and starts for his bunk, I assume, when I speak.
“Yes, Daddy.” I meant for it to sound mocking, but the way Sebastian pauses to look back at me and smirks tells me he took it another way entirely.
“Glad that’s settled.”
Sebastian toes off his beat-up black boots, kicking them under his bunk before he slides in, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Thoughts like what the hell did I get myself into? and this is crazy. But it beats spending the summer in New York.
Snores fill the trailer, because they’re apparently vampires who sleep during the day, and I try to calm my racing thoughts by curling up on the leather couch. It’s ripped and spliced, scratching against my bare legs, but my only other alternatives are the table and the floor.
I turn my phone over in my palm, scrolling through my contacts. This moment feels monumental. Thrilling, but somehow depressing. I just made the biggest decision of my life, and I don’t have a single person to talk to about it. The only person whom I’d consider just dropped me off. Plus, he’s with Savannah now. And if he’s happy, then I guess I can be happy for him. Eventually.
This will either be the adventure of a lifetime or the biggest mistake. Let’s hope for the former.
“GOT ANY SKILLS?” ROY JESSUP asks, giving me an appraising look from behind the desk inside his trailer. Dark hair, dark eyes, and intimidating as hell. His build suggests he’s relatively young—maybe mid-thirties, but his skin looks weathered. Tan. Like he’s spent the majority of his life under the sun. He’s wearing a suit, but instead of looking dapper, it makes him look more like a used car salesman.
“I can dance,” I answer, not knowing what else I have to offer. After a boring five hours, Sebastian woke up and I immediately asked him to put me to work. I couldn’t sit around the bunkhouse all summer. Plus, I might as well make some money while I’m here.
“I can see if the Vixens need another body for their act.” The burlesque show. I remember seeing the tent when I was with Chloe and Savannah last year.
“I don’t think that’s quite what she had in mind,” Sebastian chimes in from behind me, arms folded across his chest.
Roy runs a hand down his well-groomed mustache and beard, assessing. “What are you, her keeper? Why don’t you let her decide for herself, huh?”
“Is there nudity?” I ask dumbly, causing Roy to chuckle.
“Yeah, sweetheart. There’s nudity.”
“Then I’ll have to pass.”
“Suit yourself. How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Good. Give me a day or so and I’ll find somewhere to put you.” He turns to Sebastian. “Surprised you haven’t tried to incorporate her into your guys’ act.”
“It was a one-time thing. Too many variables lead to mistakes. Too unpredictable.”
“Ah. Come see me tomorrow then, Evan.” He extends an arm, and I lean over his desk to shake his hand, ignoring the way his eyes roam my neckline that gapes at this angle.
By the time we exit the trailer, the sun has already set, and the California fairgrounds are lit up under the night sky.
“I’ve gotta go get ready for the show,” Sebastian says. His mood has once again shifted, leaving me to only guess at what’s bothering him. I follow him into the trailer. He shrugs on his leather jacket and walks over to his bunk, retrieving the rosary that hangs from a hook over his bed. It must be some kind of pre-show tradition, though he doesn’t strike me as the religious type.
“Aren’t you hot in that?”