Taken by You (Taken by You Book One) by M.L. Young Page B

afford this place any longer. There was too much at stake.
    I had told her that he and I were just friends and that he was recommending me for an internship at another firm because Sharon had already promised the position to that squirrely Asian guy who I’d sat next to. She was incredibly bummed, but also happy that Blake wasn’t cutting off all communication with me. I guessed it was a win-win.
    As I lay back on the couch with nothing to do but think, I started to wonder what my parents or family would think if they knew what I was up to. They weren’t all that thrilled when I came out here to go to school, and I knew they didn’t like Nicolette and me living on our own. They wanted me to stay in some type of dorm or on-campus apartments, but I flat-out refused to do it again after my freshman year disaster with Joanie the amazing moaning girl who slept with more men than a hotel mattress. Being matched up with random girls wasn’t my idea of a fun time, and all it ever did was leave me in trouble. Living with Nicolette was the best thing to happen to me, aside from the whole Blake thing.
    Still, I knew my dad would be furious and my mom would cry, because they would immediately think what I thought when Blake first brought this up, that I was some kind of expensive prostitute. I wasn’t, and knew I wasn’t, but their minds would jump to it just like mine did when Blake first gave me the proposition. It isn’t every day you hear your daughter is fucking a guy and going out with him and he’s paying all her bills without her having to go to a job.
    As I lay there contemplating it all, my phone buzzed against the dark wood coffee table that was chipped and scratched from when Nicolette offered to watch her friend’s cat for the weekend six months ago. I was still tending those wounds.
    “ Are you free tonight? ” Blake asked.
    “ I don’t have any plans, why?” I replied.
    “ I’m in the mood and need to see you,” Blake replied.
    I smiled a little bit, not exactly at what he was saying, but because I kind of liked the thought of a guy telling me he wanted to be with me, even if it was in a sexual way. I’d never been the traditionally pretty girl, or the girl who had men clamoring over her, so it was nice to have my beauty seen in other ways.
    “ When would you like me? ” I replied.
    “ Every day and every night, but I’m afraid my dick would fall off. I’ll send Gustav at nine. Prepare to spend the night and bring clothes for tomorrow. I have something set up for you ,” he said.
    “ Hint? ” I asked.
    “ You’ll see ,” he replied.

    “ How come you’re all dressed up?” Nicolette asked.
    “ Oh, I’m going out,” I said, wishing she hadn’t seen me.
    “ With who?” she asked, before shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.
    “ A guy I met,” I said nonchalantly.
    “ I think I would’ve heard of some random guy, Penny,” she said.
    “ I met him on RandomMeetX, you know, the place you work,” I said.
    “ I didn’t think you used that app,” she said.
    “ Well, I do now. I was thinking about it and figured it would be a nice way to meet a guy, even if most of them are only looking for one thing,” I said.
    “ Yeah, the app is known for hookups. But I guess you’re going against the twenty-two-year-old grain and not into that, for whatever reason,” she said as she turned on the television.
    “ Yeah, not for me,” I said, turning around and feeling sweat start to bead along my hairline.
    “ So, where are you going?” she asked.
    “ Oh, um, I think it’s the Trufflehead Bar and Grill,” I said, making up the name on the spot.
    “ I’ve never heard of that,” she said as she took out her phone.
    “ Yeah, it’s new,” I said.
    “ They don’t even show up on a search,” she said.
    “ Yeah, it’s brand new. Probably too hip to be on there,” I said, as I tried to cover my tracks.
    “ What’s his name?” she asked.
    “ Jeffrey,” I blurted out.
    She was