Second Shift

The party was a hit.

Laughter bubbled from the kitchen. Music thumped just enough to make the floors vibrate. Strangers filtered in and out of rooms, the lights were low, and the smoke machine that one of the girls had brought gave the living room a faint nightclub haze.

Bianca didn't care.

She didn't know these people.

She recognized Madison, Aynsley, and Indira—the other girls Joey had collected, the other girls Bianca had begun to think of as sisters, women she felt connected to in deeper ways than she had ever thought possible. Eliza and Donna, her other two sisters, were upstairs in the master bedroom.

But the rest of the crowd? Background noise.

She was here for one reason.

Joey.

Why else would someone like Bianca come to a high school party? Bianca had never been a partier. She had worked a long shift earlier that day, and had another one the next. The only thing that would make putting on that dress and showing up to be ogled by a bunch of acne-ridden boys worth it was the fact that waiting tables wasn't her only job. Joey's pleasure was her responsibility. His gratification, her duty.

That's how she had begun to think of it. Her job. Not the kind of job that she could quit one day, not the kind that lead to promotions, advancement, more responsibility. God no. The last thing she wanted was to advance her relationship with Joey. No, taking care of his sexual needs was enough for her. She was still sore from their night together, a reminder of how thoroughly he'd used her. She could hardly imagine how difficult it would be if she suddenly had to take care of him emotionally, too.

That was the advantage of working as a team with the other girls. They were crazy about Joey, Bianca could tell. Personally, she couldn't see it. He was scrawny, young, unambitious. Sure, he was the only guy who was allowed to put his hands on her, but that didn't mean that Bianca could see a future for them together, outside of the physical stuff, that is.

Bianca's cinnamon skin glowed under the lights, her dark hair pulled into a high, voluminous ponytail that bounced with every step. Her dress, sheer panels and velvet stripes clinging to her curves, offering teasing glimpses of thigh, stomach, and the swell of her hips. Her legs stretched long and dangerous in her open toed heels. Bianca outclassed every girl at this party. She knew it, they knew it. It didn't matter. As long as Joey knew it.

Her eyes—sharp, lined in a catlike sweep—watched Joey like a hawk might watch its only prey.

He had gotten up from the couch and had made his way into the dining room, finding himself a perch against the wall. Bianca, of course, followed closely. By the time Joey was settled, his girls all found their place: Madison snuggled into his left arm, Aynsley tucked in on the right, Indira cross-legged on the floor by his knees, sipping something fizzy and green.

They were all so soft with him. So warm.

Bianca tilted her head.

It looked like love.

One day Bianca hoped to find the same thing. Sure, growing up with her mother's toxic boyfriends, how they'd treated her, how they'd used her, all had spoiled the idea of romance, but Bianca knew that there was something there. So many of her coworkers seemed so happy when they were with their partners. Maybe one day Bianca could be happy, too. Whoever it was that she ended up with would have to be okay with the fact that her body was exclusively Joey's domain, but other than that, there might be a guy out there for her.

Maybe.

The door slammed open.

Bianca turned toward the sound.

A girl stood in the doorway, brown hair slightly wind-tangled, a large duffel bag slung over one shoulder.

She looked maybe college-aged. Slim, athletic. Pretty, but in that cut-glass kind of way—high cheekbones, sharp voice. Her eyes were already burning holes into Joey.

"Joey! What the hell is all this?!"

The music didn't stop, but the room seemed to hold its breath.

Bianca took a step closer to him, an instinct she didn't examine.

The girl marched through the crowd like she owned the place, shoving and elbowing as she made her way over. She looked familiar. It took a moment, but Bianca realized that she was the spitting image of Donna, Joey's mother, only younger. Younger and angrier.

Which meant—

Sister, Bianca guessed.

Joey rose halfway, caught between standing and hiding. "Juniper?"

Juniper dropped her duffel on the floor with a thud.

"Where are Mom and Dad?"

"I, uh, don't know about Dad. I haven't seen him today."

"What about Mom, then?"

"She's, um, okay with this. She gave us... me... permission."

"As if, dickweed. Where is she?"

She poked him in the chest, causing his face to wince. Bianca wondered if she should intervene. She was the grown-up in the room, after all, so maybe she should step in. Besides, if this Juniper hurt Joey, taking care of his sexual needs would be significantly more difficult.

"Ouch. Back off. I told you I don't know."

Juniper's jaw clenched. Bianca narrowed her eyes. Even she didn't believe that one. In her defense, Joey was a terrible liar.

Juniper stepped closer and got in his face, poking him again.

"You lied to them. You betrayed their trust. What even is this party? And who the fuck are these girls?"

Her eyes scanned Bianca, Madison, Aynsley, and Indira with the kind of sneer Bianca had seen rich women use at the restaurant when they thought the wine list was too short.

"Did you pay them?" Juniper's face was close to Joey's now, spittle hitting him in the face. Bianca took a step closer so she could hear the exchange, ready to intervene, "Seriously, Joey, you're hiring prostitutes now? Fucking pervert. There's no way girls like them want a guy like you."

Bianca blinked.

Okay, rude.

Joey's face flushed. "Back off the girls."

"No fucking way," Juniper shot back. "I'm not going to sit around and let my loser brother pay a bunch of sluts to fuck him while our parents' backs are turned."

Bianca's jaw tensed.

She was ready to swing when Joey's voice dropped low, just low enough so that Bianca could just barely hear him.

"Um, actually… I would never pay for sex. The girls here are head-over-heels for me."

And something changed. It was subtle at first. A twinge in her stomach. A moment of slight disorientation.

Bianca looked at him, the words ringing in her ears.

"I would never pay for sex."

It wasn't a boast. It was the truth.

Joey Granger would never pay for sex. Of course he wouldn't. That wasn't who Joey was. Anyone who thought so obviously didn't know anything about him.

He had principles.

He had integrity.

"The girls here are head-over-heels for me."

Bianca's hand slipped from her hip and settled on his arm. She looked at his profile—stronger than she remembered. His chin was tighter, his eyes clearer. He had stuck up for his girlfriends. For her. Had she judged him too quickly?

Joey wasn't like the other guys in her life. He was different. Images of men flashed in her memory. Coworkers. Friends. Her mother's boyfriends. They all seemed so distant, so empty, like there was nothing there for her.

But Joey.

Her Joey.

She thought back to their night together in her apartment, her heart fluttering. He had looked at her, not with lust, but with love. Bianca knew that she was attractive, desirable. So many men had wanted her, but the way they'd looked at her was transactional. She was something to win, to control.

Not her Joey.

Joey loved her.

She was seeing him clearly for the first time. A man who respected himself. Who didn't use people. Who deserved the attention he got. And he had stood up for her. Defended her.

Bianca felt a sharp ache in her chest.

Desire?

No.

Love.

Joey Granger, the boy she'd thought of as her second job, was anything but. He was the centre of her universe. How had she gotten so lucky, so blessed, to have a man like him in her life? He was right. She was head-over-heels in love with him.

She smiled, her hand drifting to his chest, between Joey and his sister. Bianca longed to lean against him, to feel the warmth of his body. By the looks of the other girls pressing into him, though, she'd have to be patient.

Still mine, though, she thought.

That was when she noticed that the accusations had stopped. Looking over to Joey's sister, she saw something strange.

Juniper seemed frozen in place. Eyes fixed on Joey, all trace of anger seemed to have vanished. But there was something there, something deep and profound in her eyes. Something Bianca had seen countless times at the restaurant as couples sat across from each other, holding hands, eager to pay their bill and leave.

Desire.

Bianca didn't care. Juniper was a bitch. Sure, maybe she figured out that Joey was incredible, but let her drown in her need. She felt no loyalty to the girl. Besides, she was far too busy sliding her fingers under Joey's shirt, tracing the skin above his waistband, feeling connected to him in a way she never had before.

Yes, she was here to make him feel good. That was still true.

But now—

Now, she loved him. Now their future together was beginning to unfold. And she couldn't wait to see where he took her.