Page 21 of Their Obsession

Throwing my arm over her shoulder, I pull her in for a little side hug. I’m not a big hugger, so that’s the most she’s getting out of me. “Love you, Em.”

“Right back at you, babe.” She winks as we separate.

She says something else but I’m not really listening. My eyes are glued to the window of a shop ahead. In the display, a mannequin is wearing the prettiest, daintiest little blue lace lingerie set. The bra is a demi, leaving the top exposed but the bottom covered in an intricate pattern of swirling roses in a delicate fabric. The matching underwear are attached to some type of garters that wrap around the thighs. But it’s the color that really calls to me—it’s not just any shade of blue, it’s the same teal blue of the Storm’s logo. Just thinking about Noah seeing me in just his jersey with this underneath has my pulse skyrocketing. I’m not really the type of woman who’s ever felt sexy. Pretty, in good shape, cute—sure. But sexy? No.

But with Noah, everything feels different somehow. And something about this set has me feeling adventurous. Like it was made for me.

“Earth to Lil.” Emily’s voice pulls me from my spiraling thoughts.

“What?” I mumble as I hesitantly drag my eyes from the window display.

“Are you looking at lingerie?” Emily’s eyebrows are nearly lost in her hair with how high they have flown.

My cheeks burn with embarrassment, and I take a swig of my drink to avoid the question, but my best friend sees right through me.

“I have been waiting for this for like two decades! Yes!” she shrieks as she grabs me by the hand and pulls me to the pink explosion shop full of tiny scraps of overpriced fabric. “I am going to help you find something that will totally blow him away.”

The sickening scent of perfume assaults me as soon as we walk through the door. Inside, the lights are dimmed, bathing everything in a soft glow. It’s so very feminine in here. I’m not opposed to it. It’s just that I spend so much of my time surrounded by sweaty, smelly, cursing males that this is…jarring.

“Welcome in, ladies. Do you need to be measured today?” a stick-figure looking sales associate in a black pantsuit asks us.

“Yes,” Emily declares at the same time I decline. The employee’s eyes flit between the two of us while I glare at my best friend. “She wants to try on that one.” Emily points to the window display, and I swear I turn the color of a beet. “But we will need a dressing room to try on several sets.”

“Several? Oh my god, Emily, no. This was a terrible idea,” I grumble as I head towards the door.

My friend’s grasp on my arm pulls me back away from my escape. “Relax, Lil. This will be good for you. It’ll be fun. And then you’ll get to knock the socks off your little hockey player.”

“He’s certainly not little, Em,” I quip as I relent and turn back around.

Emily’s eyes have gone wide and the poor sales lady is desperately trying not to laugh at my poor choice of words. “I didn’t mean it like that,” I sigh. “But also, yeah, he’s not little anywhere.”

We both burst into a fit of laughter as the smiling sales lady walks us through the shop. Emily picks out various things while we walk. Pale tables are filled with rows of undergarments that are all carefully arranged by color and size. It’s dizzyinglyoverwhelming. I’m used to buying basic cotton underwear online. Scraps of satin and lace that all seem way too fancy for someone like me adorn Emily’s arms as we make our way through the shop. When we finally make it back to the fitting room, the employee, who introduced herself as Michelle, pulls back the curtain and ushers us in.

“I’ll be out front if you ladies need anything,” she says before closing the pink velvet curtain and enclosing us in the small confines of a fitting room.

“Alright, what’s first?” Emily asks as she takes a sip of her coffee. I place my paper cup in the corner and hang my bag on a hook. “What do you think he’d like?”

What do I think he’d like?

“He generally seems to prefer me naked. Ideally riding his cock,” I snark because, honestly, I have no idea.

“Oh, he’s a bottom, huh? Interesting,” Emily purrs as if my sassy comment has unlocked all the keys to the mystery of tiny fabric scraps in front of her.

“Try this then.” She holds up some strappy red contraption.

“Absolutely not,” I rear back. “That thing looks suffocating.”

“Okay, maybe something softer,” she concedes as she rifles through the other pieces hung on the hook to our side. “Okay, yup. What about this?”

She turns around holding a pale blue babydoll. It’s soft and flowy and not at all something I’d ever think of wearing but it’s really pretty.

“Yeah, I’ll try it on,” I agree while swallowing down the small lump in my throat.

“I’ll wait outside. Holler if you need help,” she calls over her shoulder as she wanders off behind the heavy curtain.

Letting out a long sigh, I begin to undress. Peeling off my jeans and top, I start to remove the pretty blue babydoll from the hanger. It’s a periwinkle color with a floral patterned bust anda long tulle bodice. There’s a set of matching floral blue panties with it. Slipping it on over my current undergarments, I savor the feel of the soft fabric on my skin. I usually just wear basic cotton. This feels so much more feminine. It’s kind of nice.

I turn to assess myself in the mirror and am met with a pair of black, empty, unseeing eyes reflected back at me.

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