Page 44 of Hide and Sneak
Curses fly out of Lila’s mouth when I flick the light on. The package isn’t beside the door anymore. Dusty trots out of the hallway with the shredded box in his mouth, leaving a trail of panties in his wake.
Wow, that is a lot of underwear. They’re scattered over the kitchen and living room floor like kinky confetti.
“Dusty! No.” Dusty knows that tone and couldn’t give one shit. He jumps around in front of her then darts off down the hall with the box while she chases him.
While she wrestles the box away, I start collecting the panties. They’re all different styles and materials, some sensible, some sexy, but all the same size. There must be at least sixty pairs, probably more.
Lila stops short at the end of the hall, holding the mangled box when she sees me with an armful of them.
“Tell me the truth, Lila. Do we have underwear gnomes? Is that what happened? They stole all your panties?”
“Just give them here,” she sighs.
The pieces start to fall into place. When I walked in on her taking feet pics, it wasn’t for anyone she was seeing. I haven’t seen her go on a date since she’s been here. “You have a Lonely Hands account. That’s your side hustle.”
“No, I’m not on Lonely Hands.” She holds out the box for me to put the underwear in it.
“It’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s hot as fuck.”
“I’m not…I don’t make porn. I sell feet pics. And underwear. Not that it’s any of your business.”
I deposit them into the box and hold up my hands. “I’m not judging. In fact, I think you should model the panties for me so I can help you pick the best ones. I’ll even take pictures for you.”
“Not happening.” She stalks back to her room and closes the door.
This weekend has taught me a lot about Lila. She isn’t anything like the stuffy good girl type I thought she was a few weeks ago. She might be responsible and reasonable—which isn’t a bad thing—but she’s also fun and sexy, and apparently not a stranger to some kinky stuff.
I can’t wait to get her under me again.
CHAPTER 16
LILA
I’mglad I still had another week before returning to work because it’s been a ridiculously busy, but productive one. All the utilities are switched into my name, a dumpster sits out back full to the brim already, and I arranged for two different women’s shelters to pick up the boxes of clothes left behind by the last owners. Row and his contracting company have officially been hired and have been working the last few days.
There’s still a lot I want to get to this weekend, and my hours after work next week will be spent getting the attached apartment into a livable condition. By Friday afternoon, my back is screaming at me to give it a rest so I leave Row and his crew to finish up. My plan is to soak in a nice, hot bath then get back to work early tomorrow.
I’m surprised to find Mandy in my living room along with Amos when I get home. “Hi,” she exclaims, smiling at me. “Wow, you haven’t changed since senior year.”
Mandy and I were never friends. We ran in different social circles but shared quite a few classes so we knew each other. “Neither have you. How have you been?”
“Good,” Mandy says to me. “I’m dragging Amos out into the wilderness for a few days to go camping with my friends.”
Amos strides in with a sleeping bag under his arm and interrupts. “I think I have everything.”
Sutton flashes a grin at me from the kitchen. Jerk. Standing there in his dirty work jeans and boots with his t-shirt stretched across his wide chest, outlining muscles my hands are now familiar with. I know what he’s thinking. We haven’t spent much time together since that night. I’m always getting in long after he’s asleep and not waking until he’s gone to work. Now we’re going to be alone all weekend. It doesn’t matter. He may want a repeat performance but I’m not going to let that happen.
“I’m not sure a campground at the lake counts as the wilderness,” Amos says to Mandy.
She beams at him. I know that look. She’s in deep. “Well, it’s as close to it as I’m going to get.”
My next remark dies on my tongue when I see a familiar polka dotted tumbler sitting on the counter. Sutton takes a sudden step back when I stalk over and pick it up. “Seriously? I swear I’m going to stuff this down your throat! How the hell…I put that in the neighbor’s trash can two streets over!”
“That’s our cue to go,” Amos announces with a laugh.
“No, wait.” I hand the cup to Mandy. “Do me a favor and throw this in the lake.”
“That’s littering,” Sutton says. “Shame on you.”
