Everyone else in the family had three working eyes, which meant they could read three different things at once.That hadn’t helped my brother’s grades.
“I’m almost done, then the kitchen is yours.”
“Don’t bother.I’m going out on a date.You might want to keep your door closed.”He winked his third eye, and I wanted to stick a knife in it.
There was no way that would look like an accident.
“Enjoy.Is this the same woman as last time?”
He grimaced.“Ew, no.I can’t believe I listened to you.Fur is gross.”
I opened my mouth to reply but didn’t bother as he headed for the bathroom.I’d had plenty of lovers—shes, hes and theys—all with different coverings.I didn’t mind fur, though I wasn’t too keen on plates, or slime, as it left a sticky residue on my skin and bedsheets.
I’d gripped Timothy’s arm, so I knew human skin was soft.Was human skin also more sensitive?
Where had that question come from?I was recording him, not fucking him.That was a deep dive into areas I did not want to explore.
I glanced at my paused crime show and listened to the water running.Without my show to distract me, I gave in to temptation and checkedScream and Steam.
I blinked at the total.
That was not breakfast money.
That was an entire shift.
Chapter10
Timothy
The next night,there were no weird noises and no banging.There was no sign of Farrow at all.Which left me more on edge than if he’d turned up for a chat.I don’t know why I expected to see him.I should be glad I didn’t.
On the second night, my underwear was returned, clean and folded, on the end of my bed.Which was great, except they’d been placed there while I was sleeping, so he must have been in my room being a creepy perv again.
By day three, I was starting to believe I’d imagined the entire thing.Monsters…as if.A monster pulling a phone out of his pocket and recording me…even less likely.It wasn’t as though I could talk to my friends about it, the way I might if I were seeing someone.So I got on with studying and working.
I was definitely not excited about what might happen on day five.It was fear making me jumpy.Yeah, that was all.
The semi that kept appearing every time Farrow popped into my head was only because there might be sex on the table.Not because I wanted sex with an actual monster.That’s not what we were doing, anyway.And I was only doing it to stop him from terrifying my sister and Bunny.Ihadto do it.Which, for some very wrong reason, only made me want it more.
I was messed up.
I wanted to blame the monster that had haunted my childhood.I’d had nightmares for years, even after the weirdness had stopped.My father certainly thought I was a fuck-up.While I waited for Farrow to appear, I studied, knowing that another failure wouldn’t be tolerated.
At the back of my mind was the worry that he wouldn’t show, and that I’d imagined it all, warred with the fear that he’d ask me to do something and that I’d end up enjoying it.I didn’t know which was worse.Either way, my stomach was a mass of twisty, anxious knots, and my attempt to study involved staring at the pages of the book in the hope of passing time.
I should’ve given up and played a game and relaxed.Maybe even gotten some sleep.
A shiver raced up my back, and I sensed that Farrow was in my room.My gaze flicked to the mirrored wardrobe door as he stepped out, like a horned, debauched shadow.My heart gave a solid thump, and so did my dick, as if his arrival was a good thing.
“You waited up,” Farrow said.“Yet you are clothed.”
I hit record on my laptop because if I was talking to myself, I wanted to know about it.“I’m studying, and I’m not doing that naked.That would be weird.”
Weirder than this?That was debatable.
He flicked off the bedroom light and checked to make sure the door was locked.How many times had he been in my room planning this, watching me in bed?Did he record me sleeping?
The words didn’t form as my tongue dried.
