It’s only been 16 hours, I think, as I unlock my door and step across the threshold. Less than a whole day, and yet, it feels as though I’ve changed completely.

Declan woke me up this morning with his tongue, and we carried on, fucking in bed, then again in the shower, with me pinned against the wall, the hot water coursing over our skin. I can’t get enough of sex now, especially not sex with him.

16 hours, and I’m a different person. My whole life is different.

But before we could sit down and have breakfast–both of us starving since we skipped dinner the night before–Declan’s phone went off. Work. He rushed me out into a cab he called, saying he’d call me later. That’s fine. I could use another shower–we didn’t exactly get clean in our last one.

My nerves sing, and I hum under my breath as I dance through the house. My phone goes off, and I check it, sighing under my breath. Violet, again. She’d been texting nonstop all morning, even though I texted her last night to let her know I was fine.

How are you? says the most recent text, when I open it.

I’m fine, I type back, hitting send. Then I shake my head, and type another one, correcting myself. Better than fine.

What do you mean? comes the reply, almost immediately. I ignore it and set a pot of coffee on. My phone dings again a minute later.

Did you have sex? With him??

Ugh. Talk about a buzz kill. I close my messages, set the phone aside, and pour a cup of coffee. Coffee, then shower, then TV and chill. That’s what I need right now.

I make it a few hours. All the way to TV and chilling. Then I think to message Declan. He did rush me out kind of quickly this morning. I hope everything is okay.

I open my laptop and navigate to my now most frequently visited site, First Time for Sale. I click open my inbox, then freeze.

User has been deleted.

That’s all it says in the “From” box under Declan’s last message. I scowl, clicking it open. This can’t be right.

But sure enough, there’s no link to his profile. When I navigate to the search box and type in his username, there are no results. When I look at my bid page, someone else has overtaken him in the bidding, and there’s no counter-bid. The auction ends in less than 12 hours, and Declan?

He’s gone.

I don’t know what else to do. I call Violet.

Somewhere between my sobs, she gets the message, hangs up, and comes over.

After all that. After everything he said. He just up and bolted the moment he got what he wanted. He fucked me, got to claim a virgin for free, and left the site. Left me.

I have no other way to reach him. No email, no phone number. Hell, not even a last name. Just the way he must have wanted it. Easy escape for him.

“How could I have been so stupid?” I sob into Violet’s shoulder as she rubs my back in slow circles.

“It happens to all of us, hun,” she murmurs. “Sex makes us dumb. Blind.”

“But he said…” I groan and shake my head. It doesn’t matter what he said. Doesn’t matter what I read into the situation. This was about sex for him, about claiming an untouched virgin. Nothing more.

“C’mere.” Vi slaps my back and stands. “I know what you need.”

She pulls me onto the couch, and I wrap myself in the couch blanket as she pads into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she’s back with a bottle of wine and a jar of ice cream. She hands me a spoon, and we take turns eating straight out of the container while she pours us both hefty glasses.

“Just like old times, huh?” She rubs my shoulder again, passing me the glass of wine. But I just stare into it, remembering the way we drank this just a little over a week ago. Right before Violet signed me up for this stupid website. Right before my life changed–or so I thought.

Maybe nothing changed after all. Except for the fact that I’m no longer a virgin, and now I know what heartache feels like.

“I can’t believe he would do that to me,” I groan for what feels like the hundredth time. “After everything he said…”

“What did he say?” Violet presses. “I mean, besides that, he wanted to bone you because you’re a virgin.”

I groan and roll my eyes. “That’s not why. I mean… Not the only reason. He said he wanted to keep things going. To have fun as long as we wanted… I guess that wasn’t very long for him.” I shake my head. “Maybe I was just bad at it.”

“I’m sure you were great.” Violet scowls. “He’s the creep, okay? I mean, he shouldn’t have even been sleeping with you, not yet.”

I frown. Turn to stare at her. “What do you mean?”

“I read the rules on that stupid site. It says you aren’t supposed to sleep with your match before the auction ends. That if you do, the virgin won’t get paid, and the bidder will get banned from the site.”

Banned.

My eyes widen. “Oh my god. Violet.”

No way. She wouldn’t.

But I know my best friend. And I recognize that expression she’s wearing now. Defensive.

“He was a total creep, Joyce! He was using you. Why else would he bid that much and then sleep with you before it was over? He was probably just trying to get the milk for free. I bet he’s not even rich.”

“Violet. You got him banned from the website?! You reported us?”

“You were acting crazy!” She throws her arms up in the air. “You missed work because you were on that damn site messaging him all the time. I know you don’t have a lot of experience dating yet, so let me just say, it’s fucking weird to try and hook up with a virgin on a pay-to-play website. I didn’t want you to get hurt. This way it’s a clean break. You can just walk away, smarter for it, and find a nice normal guy to date.”

I toss the ice cream container onto the table, spilling it everywhere. I don’t care. I storm to my feet and point at the door. “Get out of my house.”

Violet’s on her feet in a heartbeat, eyes wide, incredulous. “Are you kidding me right now?”

“Get out.”

“This was for your own good, Joyce!”

“You don’t get to tell me what’s for my own good! I’m a grown woman; I can make my own mistakes.” I’m so furious I’m seeing red. I grab the spilled ice cream container. Storm across the living room to toss it onto the dining room table instead.

But I’m not aiming. It flies straight to the middle of the table and hits the sculpture resting there.

I watch it in slow-motion, mouth dropping open. I’m not quick enough this time. Behind me, Violet races forward, but she’s too slow too. The vase hits the dining room floor a moment later, shattering into a dozen pieces.

Just like me.

I can’t help it, then. I start sobbing. I fold to my knees, drop my head into my hands.

Violet is picking up the pieces, saying she’ll get some glue.

I shake my head and shove to my feet. “If you won’t get out, I will,” I growl. Along the way, I grab my still-full glass of wine, chug the whole thing, and throw on my coat.

“Joyce, wait,” Violet’s saying. “Where are you going?”

“Why do you care?” I toss over my shoulder. Then I slam the door behind me and

storm out into the night, tears drying on my face in the cold night air.