“Next time,” I said.
“Alright. Go clean yourself up. I’ll take care of the kitchen.” I lingered and he swatted my butt. “Go.”
After stepping out of the shower, I sauntered into the kitchento pour myself a glass of water. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Nick had taken care of all the dishes, and the counters gleamed with a spotless sheen.
When I returned to my bedroom, Nick stood at my bed, picking up the underwear I’d laid out with the rest of my outfit.
I grinned at him. “What are you doing with those?”
“Um, what? What are you talking about?” Nick’s cheeks were red, his smile maniacal.
“Nick, those are the only underwear that work with that skirt.”
He mumbled something through tight lips.
“What was that?” I asked.
His voice was tiny. “Maybe it’s hot for me to think of you not wearing any?”
I couldn’t stop smiling. “Is this one of your fantasies?”
“Yeah. No. Maybe. I don’t know. I just like knowing that you’re . . . ya know . . . bare. Um.” He folded his hands over his crotch.
I let a beat pass between us, making him sweat a little. “Does this mean you’re in control tonight?”
His voice came out with a squeak. “Sure.”
“Alright, panty thief. Go sit on the couch. I need to get ready.”
“Yep. Sounds good.” He left, tucking the panties into his pocket. Before he was out of sight, he lowered his voice. “Good girl, Annie.”
Twenty minutes later, Nick and Greg were on my couch watching the dog show, Nick narrating stuff about the dogs to Greg. Frankly, the cutest shit I’d ever seen. I checked my reflection in the mirror over the mantel, putting in an earring. I caught Nick’s eyes in the mirror, his prior unabashed horniness having calmed. My anxiety around Thanksgiving was starting to resurface. I almost wished I hadn’t told Nick about missing my mom, and that Kitty didn’t know, and I could just sulk alone at home. But Nick’s voice broke my spiral.
“Wow. You look really pretty, Annie.”
“So do you,” I grinned back, running a pinky over the edge ofmy lips to tidy my lip gloss.
“Let me drive you? Doesn’t make sense for both of us to drive.”
I chewed my lip. “I don’t want anyone being suspicious.”
“Suspicious of what? We just baked pies.”
“They don’t know you were here. We have to keep it that way. I can’t—”
“Lose this job. I know. They’re our friends, Annie. They’re not going to tattle if they think we’re fucking around on the side.”
“We are fucking around on the side, Nick. It’s not a lie. Saying we’re not is a lie.”
I hated how whiny that sentence came out of my mouth, my voice catching at the end.
I didn’t expect to get emotional, but there I was. Because the truth was, I wished we could do more than what we were doing. I only let myself feel it when I was in his arms. I didn’t let myself feel it alone, because then it would be real. In his arms, I could pretend it was make-believe again, like we had over the summer.
As my lower lip wobbled, Nick stood, carrying Greg with him. He lifted Greg’s paws and made a little voice. “Don’t cry, Mommy. We can drive separately.”
I took Greg from Nick with a watery laugh, nuzzling into his little doggy neck. Nick made a show of looking at the top of my hair like something was wrong with it, then reached behind my ear . . .
And pulled out a quarter.
