“By the exchange of money for goods,” I answered, giving him a funny look.
His eyebrows lifted. “Where did you get the money? You couldn’t have enough left over from the twenty I left you to have paid for an extra-large from Fultano’s.”
“I paid with my own money.”
Soren glanced at me. I could still hear whatever music he’d been rocking out to buzzing in the headphones draped around his neck. “Your own money ran out before you made it to the front door of my apartment. Nice try.”
My scrubbing became more vigorous thanks to him calling me out and also being right. “How do you know that?”
“Why are you trying to hide it?”
There were only a few more dishes in the sink, so I took my time washing them. “Because it’s humiliating.”
“Why’s it humiliating? We all know what it’s like to have empty pockets. Well, most of us do. Those silver-spooners who’ve never had to worry about money a day in their lives don’t come out nearly as well-adjusted as the rest of us. It’s the hard times that make us who we are. The rough stuff that shapes us.” He nudged me and took the cup that had been clean twenty swipes ago.
“I got an advance on my first paycheck from the modeling agency. So now I’ll be able to afford food, subway tickets, and rent.”
“That’s a sweet deal. I wish I could get the restaurant to pay me an advance on my checks.”
“I don’t think they normally do it, but my agent must have made a special exception when he realized I was so broke I didn’t have a cell phone. I don’t know what he would have said if I’d told him I didn’t even have a few dollars to pay for a subway ticket.”
Soren stopped drying the last glass. “He? Your agent’s a dude?”
Pulling the drain, I glanced at him. “I mean, I didn’t do any anatomy checks to confirm it, but yeah, pretty sure he’s a he.”
“And this ‘he’ gave you an advance on your paycheck?”
“Yeah,” I said, drawing it out a few moments longer than necessary.
“Was this a cash type of advance?” He tucked the glass away then turned toward me, crossing his arms.
“Considering I don’t have a bank account here to cash a check at yet, yeah, it was cash.” Why did I sound so defensive?
Soren’s brow cocked. “Did this cash advance come directly out of his wallet?”
“No,” I answered immediately. When his brow only went higher, I groaned. “It came out of his money clip. Not his wallet.”
He made a noise. One of those that didn’t suggest much, but made me feel like he was suggesting everything. He continued to stand there, leaning into the counter like he was waiting for an explanation or something.
He was my roommate. He wasn’t my dad, my brother, my boyfriend, or my spiritual leader. I didn’t have anything to explain to him. There was nothing to explain anyway. I needed money. I was going to be making money soon. My agent stepped in to help.
“I don’t like what you’re suggesting,” I stated, crossing my arms the way he was.
“I’m not suggesting anything.”
My finger tapped his elevated brow. “This is.”
“What do you think I’m suggesting then?”
“That he gave me money in exchange for sex.”
My bluntness seemed to take him by surprise. For all of one and a half seconds.
“That’s the way the modeling industry is, right?” I continued. “No one made it to the top without putting in the time on their back first?”
I’d taken him by surprise again. This time for two and a half seconds.
“Why would some guy you just met give a woman a couple hundred dollars, Hayden?” Soren followed me out of the kitchen. “You might be innocent, but you’re not naive.”
“Who said I was innocent?”
“That stamp you have stuck to your forehead.” When Soren’s finger came around to tap my temple, I pushed it away.
“It wasn’t a couple hundred dollars, by the way. It was a couple thousand.”
Then only my footsteps continued toward the table.
“Two grand? That guy fronted you two grand out of his own bankroll?” He let out a low whistle. “Please don’t tell me you took it.”
When I motioned at the pizza, I guess that answered his question.
“You really are that na?ve.”
“It’s fine, Soren. Let’s eat.” I pried open the pizza box.
“Not fine. He wants something from you.”
“Yeah, he’s my agent. He wants me to book jobs.”
“Something else.”
“Please.”
“No, you’ll thank me later when the creep proves me right.”
“So any guy who offers a girl he just met money has some expectation for sex in return?” I paused just long enough, giving him an accusatory look. “It’s not like I’m standing five feet away from someone like that.”
Soren shifted, jabbing his thumb into his chest. “I’m your roommate.”
My arms flew out at my sides. I was not eager to get into an argument over dinner again tonight. “And he’s my agent.”
His mouth opened to say something else, but he managed to catch himself before it came out. Swallowing, he cleared his throat and moved closer. “So what does it mean if some girl I just met brings me home free pizza?”
I fought a smile as I pulled him out a slice. “That she’s so expecting sex in exchange for all of this cheesy goodness.”
He took it and tore off a healthy-sized bite. “You get two grand, I get a few slices of pizza. Damn, I’m one cheap lay.”
We were both laughing, but the topic we were circling made me uncomfortable. Not sex by itself, but sex as it related to Soren. Because now I was thinking about it. Picturing him moving under a sheet, imagining the sounds he made, visualizing myself as the one he was with.
“You’re blushing.” Soren pointed his half-eaten pizza slice at my face.
“I’m hot.”
“It’s an icebox in here.”
Yeah, it was. Instead of confirming or denying that, I grabbed a piece of pizza to distract me.
“So, honey, how was your day?” Soren nudged me as he came around the table to sit in what must have been his favorite chair. It was the same one he always sat in, the one he’d been sleeping in this morning.
“Great, actually. I booked every single one of the clients I met with except for one.” I scooted into the chair across from him, the one that I guessed was becoming my favorite. “And I got my very own phone.”
“And two thousand dollars from some dude you just met,” he muttered between bites.
“A two thousand dollar advance on future earnings.”
Soren gave me that same look that suggested the money was given in exchange for something else. I ignored it.
“How was your day?” When he circled his hand, waiting, I tacked on, “Honey?”