I wake up to a voice in my house. At first, I tense, but I recognize the rambling shouts, and relax again. Just Violet.

“… Brought in this—hey, Joyce?” Her head pops around the corner of my dining room, where I dozed off with my head on the table, my laptop open beside me. I sit upright and wipe drool from my mouth. Ugh. My head swims. How much sleep did I get? What time is it?

I squint at the clock. 10 am on a Thursday. Crap.

“Shouldn’t you be in the office already?” Vi asks.

“I… I called in sick,” I lie, even as I reach for my cell phone and stand, rushing into the kitchen as I frantically type out an explanation to my boss. “What are you doing over here anyway?” I call back into the dining room as I put on some coffee and finish typing the email.

“You gave me your keys two years ago, remember?” Vi calls back, sarcasm in her tone.

“I know, but it’s an odd time,” I point out.

“I just came by to drop off the T-shirt you loaned me last weekend, chill. You haven’t been replying to my texts, so… Hey, what is this?”

I freeze in the middle of the kitchen, eyes widening. I hit send on the message to my boss and then dart back to the dining room. But it’s already too late. Violet is bent over my laptop, eyes on the screen, and I can already guess what she’s seeing.

The First Time for Sale website I left wide open, having spent last night chatting with Declan until at least 4 or 5 in the morning when I passed out where I sat.

“You went back on this?” Violet’s saying, already grabbing the computer maneuvering it through the site. “Oh my god, are people bidding on you?”

I make a grab for the laptop, but she dodges out of my way, scrolling through the inbox. Her eyes get wider and wider as she reads the bids, which I know have shot up to an insane amount. Something over $600k, last time I checked, though it’s probably higher by now.

“Vi, it’s just a stupid website–”

“Who’s Declan?” Violet casts a glance at me, eyebrow lifted.

“He’s just someone I’ve been talking to—”

“He’s sent you about a hundred messages in the last day, judging by this.”

“Don’t read them.” I finally manage to grab the computer, and slam it shut.

But it’s too late now. Damage done. Violet narrows her eyes. “Is that who you were meeting up with on Sunday? Is that why you didn’t want to tell me how the date went?”

“It was just coffee downtown, nothing weird.” Not giving him a blowjob or being eaten out on a table in the middle of the restaurant where we met. I grimace.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were meeting up with one of those creeps!” Violet tosses her arms up.

I step away from the table, laptop safely folded under my arm. “He’s not a creep. He’s actually a great guy.”

“Oh my god. Tell me you aren’t going to see him again. Joyce, he’s trying to buy your virginity on a stupid website–”

“A website you made me go on in the first place,” I point out.

“I didn’t think you’d be crazy enough to actually go out with some weirdo from it! It was a joke, Joyce.”

“It’s still a joke, okay? Declan isn’t—”

“Declan?” Violet snorts. “Whose actual name is Declan? What do you actually know about this guy, Joyce, besides that he’s got a lot of cash and a virgin fetish? Has it occurred to you he could be some total creepfest weirdo with like… a dungeon in his basement or something?”

The words hit a little too close to home. I scowl and slam my computer down on the table, facing her. Because yes, I have wondered how much I really know about Declan. Who the real man behind the screen is. But I trust him enough to not be a complete psycho, and besides, plenty of people meet online and go on dates. This is normal; it’s just the particular website we met on that’s weird.

“Why are you here, Vi?” I ask, my voice edged.

Violet’s eyes widen, and for a second, the anger falls away, replaced by shock. I feel guilty for a moment–she’s only worried about me, and I’d be worried about me too, in her shoes. But then she shakes her head and points at a box beside the door. “I told you, I came to drop off your shirt. Then I saw this on your doorstep. Thought I’d help you out and bring it in. Since when do you care about me popping by unexpectedly anyway?”

I heave a sigh and plop into a chair, deflating. “I’m sorry, Vi. I just…” I shake my head. “I really like Declan, okay? He’s not who you think he is.”

“And you know that for sure?” Violet counters, scowling. “He could just have been acting nice on that one date. He could still be a total nutjob–he probably is, if he has to pay girls to bang him. And why virgins, anyway?”

“Look, I don’t know—”

“You didn’t think to ask that?”

“He’s nice, that’s all.” I shake my head.

Vi sighs, then finally drops my shirt on the table and heads to the door. On her way out, she slides the box toward me. I watch her go, feeling guilty and a little worried. Maybe she’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t see him again. Maybe it’s weird how much we’ve been messaging, how often I think about him, this guy I’ve only just met and barely know. I mean, I missed work today because I was up all night talking to him. I’ve never done that before.

He warned me I’d get addicted to him, and now here I am. Falling straight into the trap.

Finally, I push myself out of my chair and cross the room, picking up the box. Its size is deceiving. It’s heavy. I carry it to the table, wondering what I forgot I ordered. Or maybe it’s from my dad? He sends presents sometimes, care packages with stuff from home he thinks I’ll miss.

I set it on the table and cut through the packing tape. Peel back the flaps to reveal a ton of packing material. And when I dig through the packing fluff…

My mouth drops open.

No way.

But of course, I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew money was no object to him.

I lift the cat vase sculpture out of the box, a smile growing on my face. It looks even more beautiful than it did in the gallery, when I dove onto the floor to catch it and protect it from that jerk that knocked it over.

I set the vase on the table, and sit down to study it. I take in the fine glass, follow the smoke curling up toward the ceiling. It’s exquisite.

Violet is wrong. I know exactly what kind of man Declan is.