Page 36 of The Toy Maker

I dug around the drawer in my vanity and offered her a piece of gum. She handed it back because chewing hurt too much.

“Who?” I tilted my head curiously.

She whimpered as she pulled down her hair. “A friend.”

I watched her try to act like a functioning adult who didn’t drink vodka out of a stranger’s navel and wondered whether I’d looked as miserable as her when I wandered in.

I took the thermos and cup off the redheaded Cherry’s vanity to fix Jade the same remedy I suffered through, handing her the tomato juice. “It’ll make you feel better.”

Jade started chugging the juice right before Sarah and Kitty walked in.

The first thing they heard from our side of the room was Jade calling me a liar and threatening to have me killed in Spanish. I only understood the basics of what she yelled, and it wasn’t friendly.

Kitty bounced over and practically jumped on my back. “Hey, stranger, where’d you go last night?” she beamed. How could she always be so peppy?

“I went out for some more tacos but somewhere along the way, I ended up at home.” The night remained blurry at best. Sarah leaned against the wall for support.

“Why do we always do this?” she whined. “I’ll pay someone to shoot me.”

Jade agreed, “I need something to do so I won’t get so fucked up every Friday.”

“Why don’t you justdoyour friend?” I suggested, waggling my eyebrows.

Kitty and Sarah snapped their attention to Jade. A series of invasive questions spewed from their mouths as they cornered Jade in her chair.

“You let him use the back door, didn’t you?” Kitty laughed.

Sarah’s eyes widened at Jade’s blank expression. “Oh my God, you did.”

I watched the dramatic scene unfold until Sarah and Kitty gave up on squeezing any more information from Jade. When they finished, I was certain they were considering waterboarding as a method of extracting details.

“While we’re on the topic of fucking,” Kitty steered the conversation, “Jason is releasing a new toy tonight.” Her eyes rolled. For someone who spent an awful amount of time with him, she always seemed rather annoyed by his antics.

“I heard about that!” Sarah started stripping out of her clothes and changing in front of us. I tried not to pay attention when her unnaturally perky breasts popped out over her shirt.

“What’s the big deal?” I asked. All eyes were suddenly on me.

Jade scoffed, “Jason is picking a Cherry to be the first one to test his creation.”

“One of our richest customers commissioned Jason to build this ultimate fuck machine,” Kitty explained wryly.

Sarah adjusted her light blonde hair into a loose bun. “Maybe your name will be drawn.”

I looked between them and fought down a sudden panic attack. “Doubt it,” I said, swallowing hard. “Jason doesn’t even pay attention to me.” And if my name was called, would he admit I was a toy tester in front of everyone?

“He does the whole thing Hunger Games style. Except for no volunteering,” Sarah said before she sprayed her freshly fixed hair into place.

Awesome, more of a reason to panic. The slim chance of being Jason’s showgirl of the century made me regret ever stepping foot inside Pink Cherrie. I forced myself to ignore the dull throbbing between my legs when I thought about the last time I was… helping him.

I glanced around the room and rationalized that the odds weren’t in my favor.

FIFTEEN

The dreaded hourarrived when Kitty marched back into the room. Her meetings with Jason almost always left her agitated and ready to rumble, unlike me who leaves naked, shaky, and covered in my own arousal.

“Showtime, bitches!” Kitty whipped her powder-puff pink hair behind her exposed ivory back and led us to the wolves with a skip in her step.

The opening number went off without a hitch. Every step, every movement, had been drilled into my body until it was second nature. Four hours of practice a day ensured that I could follow Kitty’s lead without thinking, letting muscle memory take over as the music pulsed through the speakers. The lights bathed us in sultry reds and deep blues, shadows flickering across the stage as we moved in perfect sync.