Page 152 of Hide and Keep

The lower my arms go, the higher my cock rises, until—

Okay, where the fuck is she?

Only cool sheets beneath my arms, I open my eyes, instantly finding both sides of the bed empty. Trying to shake that disappointment away all over again, I stare at the ceiling, my hand rubbing my stomach. And cock. Just a little.

That was stupid. The fake-ass stretch. The anticipation. All of it. Ever Munreaux is not the type of girl to crawl into bed witha guy like me. She was only in here to terrorize me for some unknown reason.

She could still be in here.

Catapulting up to sitting, I scan the rest of my empty room. Over on the desk, right next to the mannequin head, are my sneakers, and since that’s not where I left them, I know Ever’s responsible. I go over and pick both up, turning them over. On the sides are doodles of birds, or maybe even bats, flying over the words PROPERTY OF EVER MUNREAUX.

My lips quirk. After I broke her shoes last night, she took it upon herself to replace them with a pair of mine. It’s undoubtedly the cheapest outcome, so if she wants them, she can have them. They won’t fit her but she can add them to the rest of her collection of shoes she doesn’t wear.

They’re much cleaner than they were, too, basically brand new even though I’ve had them for over three years now. I try to picture Ever going through the trouble of scrubbing my three-year-old kicks and grin ear to ear.

All at once, the smile withers up and dies.What did she use?

As soon as I enter my bathroom, I have my answer—my toothbrush. Its bristles now brown and mangled, it’s completely useless to me.

She also left me a sticky note on the mirror with I BELONG TO EVER MUNREAUX written on it—an affirmation she’d probably love me to repeat each day because that bitch wasn’t talking about the shoes. She was talking about their owner—me.

I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. This is what happens when she’s left to her own devices.

Speaking of devices…

I check my phone for when she left but find nothing. No notifications whatsoever. Just like when she showed up.

The sensorisfaulty.

Goddamn it. It’s always something in this job.

I’m banging on Ever’s door, yelling her name, notifications lighting up my phone’s screen like fireworks on the Fourth of July. What the hell? It’s only faulty some of the time?

“What?” I hear from the other side and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Are you awake?” Stupid. Obviously, she is.

“Now I am. Why?”

“Nothing. Just, uh…seeing if we’re gonna try more stunts today.”

Shit. Fuck. Goddamn. That’s not how I wanted to spend my Sunday. I wasn’t going to stunt again unless she wanted to.

Why does my mouth suggest things without my brain in full agreement?

“Sure?”

“Um, okay. See you when you’re, uh, you know, ready. Or not. You don’t have to get ready…for me.” I fucking frown. This morning just keeps getting worse.Ijust keep getting worse.

I’m half a step away from the door when she calls, “Crue?”

I lean back the other way, my ear near the wood. “Yeah?”

“You’re welcome.”

With a shake of my head, I return to my room without acknowledging that, especially not with a thank-you. At least when I said it, I actually gave her something—an orgasm. All she did was destroy something. Two somethings—my sneakersandmy toothbrush. I didn’t take a good enough look at the mannequin but it wouldn’t surprise me if she did something to that, too. It’s not hard to guess why the head was on the floor when I walked in last night. Like Ever’s energy, her jealousy is inexhaustible.

I’d love to know why she was in my room at all. Or why she didn’t seem to want to leave it. It wasn’t to fuck. Unfortunately.

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