Chapter 3
LILA
It hasn’t been twenty-four hours and I’m already regretting this arrangement.
I can still hear him laughing occasionally in the shower and the thought of the grin he had when he saw me makes my face burn.
Which is ridiculous because I have nothing to be ashamed about in the first place.
So I make some extra money selling pictures of my feet, along with my worn underwear.
Lots of women do it. It’s more than extra money, actually.
I made my yearly salary in only a few months.
My friend, Cara, is a cam girl and while I’m not comfortable having sex on camera or showing my face, I found some lucrative alternatives. It’s hard to believe men will pay to watch videos of my feet and buy underwear or socks without ever seeing my face but they do.
The little troublemaker who pushed my door open is curled up beside me on the couch when I hear the shower shut off.
I press my cool hands against my cheeks, trying to kill the blush that won’t stop.
Most of the requests I get for pictures and videos are normal.
Washing my feet, putting on lotion, applying some pretty nail polish in their favorite color.
Of all things for him to catch me doing, it had to be one of the odd ones.
When Sutton emerges from the bathroom, I ignore him and focus on the game I’m playing on my laptop. He walks past me into the kitchen, peeks into the fridge, opens and closes a few cabinets, then returns to sit on the opposite end of the couch. He doesn’t speak, but his gaze on me is palpable.
With a sigh, I finally look up. “What?”
His innocent look isn’t fooling anybody. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Stop staring at me.”
“We need groceries. How do you want to do things when it comes to food? Separate shelves in the fridge? Or are we buying for everyone?”
A little relief sets in that he isn’t going to make a big deal of what he saw. “Communal is fine with me. Just don’t ever take my last Dr. Pepper.”
“Understood. Same goes for my last beef jerky.”
Gross. “No worries there. I hate it.”
He nods and pulls out his phone. “I’m going to go to the grocery store. Any requests?”
Good, he’s leaving. My feet are starting to itch. Marshmallow is surprisingly hard to get off, especially in a sink. I need a shower. “No, I’m good.”
“Are you sure?” Amusement leaks into his voice and I look up to see his lips twitching. “You don’t need any condiments or sauces or…toppings?” His grin is infuriating. He’s having so much fun with this.
“Are you trying to get your ass kicked?”
“That’s pretty big talk for a girl who almost got eaten by a puppy.”
My toe still throbs from that bite, though it didn’t break the skin. When I don’t rise to his taunting, he sits back, propping his foot on his knee. “I prefer my fluff on a peanut butter sandwich but to each their own. If that’s what your guy is into, I’m not judging.”
He thinks I was taking pictures for a boyfriend.
It’s probably better than him knowing the truth but it throws me off.
“I don’t—he’s not.” Ugh, nothing I say will be right and it pisses me off.
God, my feet are itching like crazy but there’s no way I’m scratching.
“What I do is none of your business. Just leave me alone. I’m trying to play my game. ”
He leans over to peek at my laptop screen. “You play Third Place? What’s your Small’s name?”
I shut my laptop to glare at him, and he holds his hands up while getting to his feet. “Fine, I know where I’m not wanted.”
My phone beeps with a text from Cara.
Cara
Girl’s night tonight?
Me
Absolutely. Didi borrowed my car but she should be back before long.
Cara
Come over anytime.
By the time I look up from my phone again, Sutton has left. Time for a nice, hot shower then an evening with my best friends. That’s what I need.
Thankfully, Sutton doesn’t return before I leave. Holly meets me outside, and throws a warning back to her sister. “No boys in the house. I have lots of neighborhood spies who will call me.”
“No penis wielding individuals will enter,” Fern replies, and her friends giggle.
“I left money on the table for you to order pizza. Be inside by ten, lock the door, and Freda will be home if there’s an emergency.”
“I’m fourteen not four. We’ll be fine. Go get a life,” Fern calls out.
Holly sighs as she settles back in my passenger seat. “Every time I leave her alone I think of the things I did at her age.”
“Do you really have a spy?” I ask, pulling out of my driveway.
“Donna promised to keep an eye out. You know she sits on her porch most evenings.”
Holly has done her best to raise her sister and her biggest fear is that she’ll get pregnant before she’s out of high school. It’s a fate Holly avoided and she’s determined not to let it happen to Fern either.
We make a stop on the way to Cara’s house to get some snacks and a margarita mix. Maren and Cara wave at us from her porch, all smiles when we park in front of her house. It’s been a while since all four of us could get together and it’s clear I’m not the only one who needs a girl’s night.
I let Dusty loose in her fenced yard, making sure to close the gate behind me as he runs off with their hyper golden retriever, Twist. Dusty was one of the puppies dumped on their doorstep thanks to Twist getting loose and knocking up a neighborhood chocolate lab.
Cara’s boyfriend, Row, steps out on the porch along with Maren’s new husband, Cooper. “I thought it was girls only tonight. You two don’t look very girly,” I tease.
“I’m completely in touch with my feminine side,” Row replies, pretending to flick back his hair. “But we’re leaving soon.”
“Come inside! It’s too hot out here,” Cara invites, and we move inside to sit around her kitchen table. She makes a pitcher of margarita, and I fill our glasses while she grabs Holly a soft drink since she doesn’t drink alcohol.
“How was your trip?” I ask Maren.
“Good. Cooper’s mom is such a sweetheart. I love visiting her. Did I miss anything here?” She glances at Holly before adding, “Everything okay at the office?”
“All good,” Holly assures her.
“Great, I’ll be in tomorrow to help with some stuff.” A smile bursts across her face. “Cooper and I found a house nearby and we can move immediately. So, I’ll be in to show you the process of renting our trailer to a new tenant.”
I’ve known for a while that Maren would be moving and it’s my goal as well, but a wave of sadness still washes over me. The years we all spent hopping between each other’s trailers is coming to an end.
“I’m so happy for you!” I exclaim, forcing a smile.
The others agree, and she pulls up pictures of the new house to show us. It’s a beautiful place on the opposite side of town. We spend some time admiring the pictures and discussing possible decorating ideas.
My first margarita goes down too easily and Cara grins at me as I pour another. “Hard week at work?”
“Not exactly. Amos moved in yesterday and he brought a friend.”
“It’s not enough you’re giving him a place to stay?
He brought a girlfriend?” Maren asks. She and Cara are familiar with the way my brother takes advantage and aren’t big fans of me helping him.
Cara, Maren, and I have been friends since we were children.
We went to school together and they know exactly who I’m talking about when I announce, “Not a girlfriend. Sutton.”
All eyes are on me. Cara’s glass knocks against the table, spilling a few drips, and she wipes it absently with a napkin as Maren exclaims, “Sutton? Sutton Yates is living at your place?”
“Who is Sutton and why did you say his name like Forrest Gump?” Cooper interrupts, entering the kitchen.
“He was a guy a couple years ahead of us in school,” Maren replies.
Cara chuckles, refilling her glass. “Are we supposed to pretend his name wasn’t written in hearts in all our eighth grade notebooks?”
“He was so mysterious in high school,” Maren adds. “Every girl wanted him but no one knew where he lived or anything about him.”
“I didn’t want him.” At least, not after my brother started getting into trouble with him.
“Is he still hot?” Cara asks. Row walks up behind her chair, tugs her head back gently by her hair and raises an eyebrow at her. She grins up at him. “I’m just curious. I mean, if Lila’s living with him…”
“I’m not living with him. Not like that. They’re both staying for three months at the most, and I’m not happy about it.”
A truck horn blows, summoning the guys. After they’ve gone, Cara grins at me. “Well, is he still hot or not?”
It pains me to admit it. “Hotter. He has new tattoos and he’s bulked up a lot. But it doesn’t matter. I didn’t like him then and I can’t stand him now. It’s already been a nightmare.”
“Did something happen?” Maren asks, her face pinching with concern.
If you can’t share your embarrassing stories with your friends, then who can you share them with?
All of them know about my little side hustle anyway.
Smiles grow on their faces while I recount my afternoon, and Cara can’t suppress a giggle, but when I get to the part where Dusty tried to eat my foot, they all burst into laughter.
It only takes a second or two for me to join them. “Then the asshole got in the shower so I couldn’t even wash it off well. I’m never putting any of my body parts in marshmallow again.”
“That’s not a statement I ever thought I’d hear someone say,” Holly snorts.
Monday morning comes around too fast, the way it always does.
It’s a shame I feel that way. I used to love my job until the business was sold to a larger chain of daycare providers.
Now, it seems like management looks for reasons to hassle the staff or make our job harder.
I’ve always said that the kids make it all worth it, but lately, I’m not so sure.