Page 46 of Under My Skin

As long as Lizzie and I stay on the same page, it sounds like the best idea yet.

After we get home from Francine’s, the girls do some coloring while I catch up on finances and updates on the renovations that Mikey emailed me about. Everything is going smoothly, and I can’t wait for it all to be done, which Mikey assures me will be by the end of summer. My life is chaotic right now, but I hope everything will feel a little more settled once that’s checked off my list.

Around lunchtime and realizing I’ve been thinking about it all morning, I decide to pull the trigger and finally invite Lizzie tonight. I figure seeing her in person is better than texting her, so I run in search of the girls to let them know I’ll be going next door for a minute.

Except, after searching the entire house, they are nowhere to be found.

Forget about Lizzie killing me. My own daughters are definitely going to be the death of me.

22

LIZZIE

I’m still runningon the biggest high from last night that I have so much energy and not enough ways to expel it. If only I had a hot neighbor who stars in all my fantasies to work it out on.

Soon, Lizzie.

Hopefully.

I definitely think Cameron and I are on the same page now. Last night, he proved that he wants me and that he trusts me enough to be friends with benefits. Right now, that is more than good enough for me.

Will it turn into something more? Maybe. Maybe not.

Do I care? Not right now. I’ll take what I can get and worry about the rest later. It will probably come back to bite me in the ass, but, again, that’s a problem for another day.

Today, Lizzie Montgomery is perfectly happy being fuck buddies with Cameron Dylan. And if last night was any indication of what it would be like to have actual sex with him, wild horses couldn’t keep me away from signing up for that.

I peek out my window and see them playing in the same mud that waged a war on my clumsy body weeks ago. I look around a little more and see no sign of their dad, which means they got bored and went in search of some entertainment again.

Me: Hey! Just letting you know Addy and Mackenzie are in the yard making mud sculptures again. I’m heading over now to keep an eye on them.

Me: Just so you don’t worry. They’re fine.

I don’t wait for a response. I head over immediately, and I’m greeted by hellos and muddy hugs. I don’t care if they get me dirty—these girls are a joy to hang out with.

“Does your dad know that you two are out here?”

“No. He’s busy so we came out on our own,” Addy declares, shrugging like it’s no big deal that she left the house alone with her sister. It’s only the yard, but still…

“Our dad is having a party tonight and we told him he should invite you,” Mackenzie says, changing the subject.

I happen to agree with her wholeheartedly. I very much think her dad should invite me too.

“He said he would think about it because he wasn’t sure. We think you should go with him, though,” Addy throws in.

What? He said he wasn’t sure? After everything that happened last night?

What the hell is there to be sure or unsure about? It’s not like he has to take me as his date. We could just go as friends. No one will know about the benefits part. It would just be nice to know that he wants me there.

I take back what I was thinking. We clearly arenoton the same page.

“Oh…well, okay,” I stutter out. “Well, thank you, girls, for being so nice and thinking about me. You’re the best!” They grin up at me, and I grin back. How else was I supposed to respond to that? He seemed pretty sure last night.

I keep getting hot and cold Cameron, and it’s getting hard to know where I stand. When I thought his mixed signals were giving me whiplash before, I had no idea it would be this bad.

It’s probably best that we move on to a safer topic before they reveal something else their dad might have said that I’m not ready to hear, so I ask the girls about their creations and what I can help them do.

Of course that gets them all riled up, and they go on and on about mud creatures for the next few minutes before we are all interrupted by the sound of the back door flying open. He runs out into the yard, and I can see the moment he lets out a relieved sigh once he spots Addy and Mackenzie.

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