Page 154 of Tangled Like Us
That and more are here. Undisturbed.
We exit.
Maximoff stares off in deeper thought.
“What is it, old chap?”
His powerful forest-green eyes rise to me. “We aren’t sure this was a burglary.”
It sickens me a little. To think that maybe someone entered with other motives in mind.
To hurt one of us?
To take pictures of themselves? On our beds? I shift my weight. “Right, and if it’s not a burglary then…perhaps they just wanted to tour our house.”
“Because there’s so much to see.” He motions towards the third-floor attic. “Let me show you my awesome dresser and my even more awesomebedwhere I rest my awesome head on an earth-shattering, revolutionarypillow.”
I nearly smile. “You sleep in that awesome bed with your future husband,” I remind him. “It’s what people care about.”
He nods, knowing this too, and then he goes rigid in sudden thought. “Jesus fucking Christ—if they raided our hampers and took Farrow’s underwear, someone is alligator bait, honest to God, Janie.”
I put my hands on his stiff shoulders. “Farrow won’t care. Just like you don’t care about your underwear being stolen. Just like I think that’s positively theleastworst thing they could’ve taken.”
Dirty underwear.
Hair from our brushes.
Both are much better than anything meaningful to us.
He nods, exhaling a tense breath.
And as we climb the stairs to the attic, Maximoff says, “I keep thinking the timing of the break-in is bad with Sulli and Luna living here, but there is one good thing.” The stairs creak under our weight. “You’re on a sex hiatus, and Farrow and I don’t use condoms anymore. Which means no one could’ve stolen used condoms from the trash and taken sperm.”
Oh God.
Thatcher and I haveprotectedsex.
He came in multiple condoms just last night, but I did check my trash bins. I even counted. I’m thorough.
None were taken.
More so, I am sweating at the thought of lying to my best friend right now. Who is so assured that I’m not having sex with anyone. Because he trusts that I would’ve told him.
I try to maintain total composure. “Good observation.” My heart is beating out of my chest.
He’s about to turn around and look at me, but Walrus and Carpenter scamper past our heels. Distracting him enough that the topic is dropped.
The lie sits heavy on top of my unease from the intruder, and I’m not sure staying quiet is the right thing to do.
But tonight is hard enough on us. I’m not going to make it harder.
* * *
The police just left,and the four of us stand tensely in the living room. I warm my hands around a mug of coffee.
Suspect:one male, identity unconfirmed.
He broke the kitchen window and crawled inside the house. He concealed his face with a baseball cap, and so his age and features are nondescript.
