I turned my phone off and tossed it on the bedside table before crawling into the bed. It was so warm under the covers. The bed felt so nice. Much better than my decade-old, creaky bed back home. the sheets smelled like… Well, I didn’t know what they smelled like, but it sure smelled nice. Nice enough that I fell asleep within minutes of my head touching the pillow.

I didn’t know how long I slept, but I woke feeling like I had hibernated. It was one of those kinds of rests that made you wonder if you had slept through the year. I stretched and sat up, combed my fingers through my frizzy bed hair, and squinted at the bright room that was bathed in the rays of the sun from the window.

With my memories from the night coming back to me I looked around for my phone. When I found it, I turned it on and groaned as the notifications started coming in. There was only one I was interested in, but Peter hadn’t sent me anything. What was I supposed to do all day? Thankfully, I didn’t have school, or I’d have to show up without my things.

I yawned and stretched again, surveying the room. On the sofa by the doors that led out to the balcony was a pile of folded clothes with an envelope on top. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they were the ones I had taken off. I didn’t know if I should change into them and get going now or wait until I saw one of the men again.

I was both annoyed yet grateful that I didn’t have to screw anyone. To be honest, I wouldn’t have minded getting screwed by Mr A, but doing his laundry instead and still making some cash was better than I thought the night was going to go.

My phone started to ring just as I was thinking of testing to see if Mr A had unlocked the door yet, and I answered it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Zed, where are you?”

Fucking Jeff. “None of your damn business.”

“You are my damn business! Now, where are you? Stop being a child and get your ass here. I know Peter kicked you out again. Every time he does, he calls me to rant.”

My free hand clenched into a fist in my lap. “Have you already forgotten what you said to me last night when I told you that Peter kicked me out again? You told me to fuck off. Do you remember that? Do you know what that means? I had to find somewhere to sleep. And I did.”

“I was angry, alright?” Jeff sighed. “Look, come to my place. If you had shown up anyways, I would have let you in. This is why I want you to live with me. You could have just come back here.”

I groaned. “Not this again.”

“Live with me. It’s a sure-fire way to always have a roof over your head until you get on your feet and want to move out. Can we talk when you get here? I don’t like doing this over the phone.”

“I’m not coming over,” I told him.

“I’ll pick you up,” he offered.

“I don’t want to see you.”

Jeff sighed and I could hear a thump in the background as if he had kicked or hit something. “I care about you, Zed.”

Then be more reliable, I wanted to scream. Maybe I had been taking advantage of the fact that he cared about me, but I liked that he cared. He was the only person aside from Rikki that I knew gave a shit about me, but sometimes he didn’t act like it. Maybe it was my fault for constantly pushing his buttons, but if he was so unstable for me now, how could I move in with him? Who’s to say he wouldn’t kick me out whenever he got annoyed with me?

“You don’t act like it sometimes,” I said to him, leaning my head back against the headboard.

“Because I’m an idiot. Will you come over today? Please. You can stay until Peter calls you back to the house.”

Movement out of the corner of my eye called my attention to the bedroom door. There stood Mr S looking at me. I gestured to my phone so he would know I was on a call, but he only leaned against the doorjamb, a clear sign he wasn’t going anywhere. It didn’t matter, I was wrapping up the conversation anyways.

“What do you want in return?” I decided to ask even though I already knew the answer. He’d always want something.

“What I always want. You.”

I felt tired just thinking about it, but I had nowhere else to go for the day. If Peter was still in a bad mood tonight, then I’d be out for another night and at least Jeff was predictable. He wanted sex. That was it.

I pulled my knees up to my chest. “I’ll be there later,” I muttered. I didn’t wait for him to reply before ending the call. “You could’ve given me a little privacy, you know.”

“Good morning to you too.”

Gosh, his voice was downright heavenly, even deeper than Mr A’s voice. I turned off my phone to conserve battery and got out of the bed. He was probably here to tell me I needed to get going. “Where is Mr A?” I asked, going over to my folded clothes. I picked up the envelope on top and looked inside. It was the money I’d earned.

“Wondering if you died in your sleep. You slept for nearly twelve hours.”

I hadn’t ever slept for that long. These days, I got a solid four hours of sleep the most. “He could have woken me up.”

“That would have been rude. Are you planning on leaving right now?”

“Yup.” I tugged off the shirt I had slept in and put on the shirt I’d worn the day before. I paused at taking off the pants I’d slept in. “Can I get some privacy, or do I need to go to the bathroom?” I asked.

“You were willing to have sex with me last night, were you not? Would I have not gotten to see you naked? Don’t tell me you are shy now,” Mr S said gesturing for me to continue. When I only stared, a million thoughts going through my head like maybe I shouldn’t have gone home with fantasy-model-looking, non-human men, he shook his head. “I’m kidding. Hurry up and get dressed. You must be hungry.” With that, he turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

I stared after him. Did he have to freak me out like that? I knew going home with random strangers was dangerous. Not every time did I make it out of their place without a scratch on me. There were some really crazy people out there. At some of the places I had to sleep, I’d be welcomed in with a smile and open arms, and then they’d turn straight-up psycho. So, even though my stay with the weird non-humans was going well so far, I had to keep my guard up.

I stripped and then redressed in my own clothes quickly and made sure to grab all my things before anyone else came in to check on me again. It wasn’t like Mr S had knocked when he came along. I left the room and found my way to the living room where Mr A was sitting on the couch with a tablet in his hands. The younger boy was sprawled across his lap with his eyes closed.

“Good morning,” I greeted, glancing at the clock. It was almost noon. I really had slept for a long time. I approached Mr A and waved my hand to get his attention. He only briefly glanced at me in acknowledgement. “Thanks for letting me spend the night.”

“You are welcome,” he responded.

“I’m gonna get going.”

“You have not eaten,” he pointed out, lowering the tablet he had been focused on to look at me. “You should eat, it is already past the time for breakfast.”

“I kind of have somewhere to be,” I said.

“Where?” he asked.

Nosy. “A friend’s place. I need to get going… right now.”

That was the simplest way to put it even though Jeff wasn’t exactly my friend. But I did need to get going because the last thing I wanted was for him to call me again. My phone was off to conserve battery since I didn’t have a charger on me, but it would only make him pissed if he was redirected to voicemail.

Mr A looked sceptical. “I am sure that friend would not mind you having a meal before meeting them.”

“I can’t-”

“Please sit and eat,” he said slowly.

I didn’t know what it was with him, but when he said things, especially in that tone of voice, it made me feel uneasy trying to put up an argument. I was just planning on leaving, but now, even taking a step towards the door felt like a stupid and dangerous decision. So, I did what he said and went to find a seat at the table.

Moments later, a plate of two fancily topped open-faced sandwiches was placed in front of me with an empty mug. I followed the arm holding the plate to Mr S who was busy looking over at the couch when he set the plate down. “Baby, please eat something.”

I had thought the boy was sleeping, but he got up, rubbed his eyes, and came over to sit in the seat across from me. Another plate, similar to mine but with only one sandwich topped with avocado, was placed in front of him.

“Can I leave after this?” I asked no one in particular. One of them had to have an answer. For all I knew, I’d end up like ‘Baby’, becoming their human pet.

I didn’t plan on being locked in with these people for much longer. As nice as it was being in a fancy hotel for the first time, I didn’t want to become a prisoner. I needed to go back to reality. Mr A had already locked me in his room for the night and then prevented me from leaving when I wanted to.

“Yes,” Mr A answered from the couch.

So said, so done. I ate my food, poured myself some coffee, and even washed the dishes afterwards free of charge. The boy seemed more into staring at me than his food and only picked at it until I had gotten up. I thanked them again for letting me stay with them, then headed out. My heart nearly sank when Mr A called me back, but it was just to give me his card.

“For whenever you need a roof over your head for the night,” Mr A said.

The card didn’t even have English on it, but there was a phone number written on it for me to call. I doubted I’d ever need to contact him, but I took the card anyways.

I left the hotel and boarded a bus about a mile away. Peter knew a lot of different people. The last thing I wanted was for a bus driver he knew to pick me up in front of a hotel, then turn around and tell him. Peter would get the wrong idea as always, and then it would be another week before I got to sleep in my own bed.

I took my chances and went home first. If Peter didn’t immediately turn me away at the door, then I’d have no reason to go see Jeff. Peter was home, but he didn’t even acknowledge me as I went to my room, seemingly too hungover to care.

I needed to put away the money. I had a sock I usually shoved money into until I got a chance to go to the bank. I tried not to keep too much money in it in case it was ever found. Peter had a habit of tossing my room as if he were looking for something I might be hiding every now and then. When I was nineteen, he found my stash of sex toys. By then I had admitted I might have a slight addiction to sex, so the best way to prevent myself from sleeping with strangers, was to get myself off when I needed to. Needless to say, it didn’t work, but it was fun collecting and trying out the toys anyway.

Once I plugged in my phone to charge, I turned it on. Contacting Jeff was at the top of my list. I didn’t need to go see him anymore seeing as Peter hadn’t turned me away, so I had to tell him I wasn’t coming. I had typed out the message and was about to hit send when I paused. Just in case Peter got pissy, shouldn’t I leave my options open?