Hunter didn’t reply because the door opened a moment later. Luther, with his receding hairline, ambled inside and flipped the switch next to the door, flooding the apartment with light. Charlotte, an escort we recognized, entered behind him. She wore a cropped purple metallic puffy coat, a mini skirt, and five-inch red heels. Her blonde wig was lifting, but neither one of them cared as they made small talk. Luther headed into the small galley kitchen while Charlotte lit a cigarette. She’d probably need a whole pack in order to fuck that troll. Luther didn’t offer Charlotte a drink as he pulled a beer for himself from the kitchen and popped the top on the edge of the counter.
I could feel Hunter behind me as I waited for an opening to escape. The window was only a few feet away, but the open-space apartment didn’t allow for much coverage.
Finally, after haggling over the price because the creepy piece of shit thought thirty bucks for a blow job was too high, the twomoved into the bedroom. I didn’t dare move from my spot until the door shut firmly behind them.
Sighing, I rose from the filthy floor, ignoring my crawling skin as I tried not to think about the last time it was cleaned. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Not without our rent money.”
“What the fuck—Hunter!” But she was already disappearing down the hallway toward the bedroom.
I didn’t think twice about following her, but then she held her hand up for me to wait before opening Luther’s bedroom door a crack and disappearing inside. The sounds that briefly escaped before the door shut once more made me more than happy to oblige.
Regardless, I was giving Hunter exactly sixty seconds before I came in after her.
It only took forty-nine before the door opened again and Hunter slipped out.
“What happened? Did you get it?” I asked as we moved swiftly and quietly away from the bedroom. Luther and Charlotte were full-on fucking now, the sounds following us down the hall.
Hunter opened her gloved hand with a smirk and showed me the key ring. “Got it.”
“Okay, good. Let’s get the money and go then.”
We reached the front room, and Hunter tried to stick a key into the lock box, but it didn’t fit, so she tried another and another. There were over thirty on the large silver ring.
Suddenly, the sounds of sex ceased, and I felt my heart kick into gear as my ears picked up Charlotte and Luther moving around.
“Hunter, hurry!”
“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” She stuck two more keys into the lock, but none of them worked.
“Wait, those are all apartment keys,” I told her. And then I plucked a square key with green rubber around the head from the loop. “Try this one.” Hunter stuck it into the lock and turned it just as the bedroom door opened down the hall. As soon as we heard the lock disengage, Hunter snatched open the box, and I grabbed the envelope full of cash on top with our apartment number on it. As soon as my hand was clear, Hunter started to close the box, but I stopped her. “Wait!” I whisper-yelled. “We can’t just take ours. Luther will know we did it.”
“I don’t give a fuck what he knows,” Hunter replied coldly. “I care about what he can prove.”
She closed the lock box just as we heard two sets of footsteps coming down the hall. “Go! Go! Go!” Hunter and I made a mad dash for the door, no longer caring if we were heard as long as we weren’t seen.
“Hey!” I heard Luther shout just as Hunter threw open the front door. “Who’s there?”
Hunter ran out of the apartment first with me on her heels, but I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder once we were free. Charlotte entered the front room, and our eyes met briefly before Hunter grabbed my hand and tugged me from my view.
Together, we flew up the stairs and didn’t stop until we reached the fourth floor. Once we were behind the safety of our locked apartment, we collapsed on the ground. For a minute, there was only the sound of our heavy breathing before Hunter started laughing, triggering my own.
Snatching off my ski mask, I wheezed out, “I can’t believe I let you talk me into that. Bitch, we’re going to jail.”
Hunter removed her ski mask, revealing dark brown skin, a round face, upturned eyes, and full lips. She had a small scar along her jaw that her bitch-ass father gave her when she was younger, but other than that…flawless. Hunter was stunning and at times, so much so that it hurt to look at her. “Maybe. But atleast we got bail money now.” Hunter held up the envelope with our rent money crumpled in her fist.
“Good,” I said as I sat up. “Let’s call JD and get our fucking heat fixed.”
“You call him,” Hunter said with a groan as she rose to her feet and stretched. “I need to shower. I got a shift tonight.” Her shirt rose a little from the movement, and my gaze got stuck on her belly button before I forced myself to look away. Hunter’s thick hourglass figure squeezed inside those leggings made me feel like I was no better than a man, especially when I was the opposite of her in almost every way. I was short, skinny, and pale, but Hunter never hesitated to tell me how pretty I am. Sometimes, I’d even catch her staring, but she’d brush it off by telling me something stupid like my eyelashes were crooked, or I had a booger in my nose. I rose to my feet while Hunter finished her stretch, and then she looked at me hopefully. “Are you coming?”
Our codependence meant that whenever one of us was scheduled to work a separate shift, the other would tag along and hang around until it was over.
“Not tonight,” I answered. “If I miss another Pilates class, Sheema’s going to give my spot away, and you know no one else in the city is as cheap as her.”
“Fine.” Hunter feigned a wounded look. “You’d rather torture yourself than spend time with your bestie. I see how it is.”
Rolling my eyes at Hunter’s dramatics, I freed my phone from my pocket while Hunter went to her room to get ready. After arranging an appointment with the handyman, I retreated to my own room and lay down since I had a couple of hours before class started.
