Park Avenue Player(34)

“Elodie!”

I jumped, hearing Hailey’s voice.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

I quickly dropped the pillow and pulled the comforter back over it before bolting to the bedroom door. My heart raced in my chest as I walked down the hall toward the bathroom. “Hailey?”

“Can you get me a bottle of conditioner out of the hall closet?” she yelled from behind the bathroom door. I pressed my hand to my chest, relieved at not having been caught. “I forgot to bring it in with me, and there’s none left in here.”

“Yes. Sure. Hang on a second.”

I grabbed a bottle of conditioner from the closet and knocked on the bathroom door. “Coming in, kiddo.”

I set it on top of the toilet. “I’ll just leave it right here.”

“Thanks.”

I walked back out of the bathroom and pulled the door shut. God, that was close.

Now I knew I had a few minutes before Hailey would be finished in the shower, and I could fix the comforter and figure out what the hell I was going to do.

With my heart still beating out of control, I walked back into Hollis’s bedroom. I stayed in the doorway for a long moment, staring at the bed and trying to figure out how to handle this situation. Then it hit me—seriously, like a lightning bolt. I knew exactly how to handle it.

I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, making sure to lock it. Walking over to the bed, I pulled back the comforter and snatched my clean black thong from underneath the pillow. Then I unbuttoned my pants, shimmied them down my legs and stepped out. I slipped off the hot pink silky thong I had on today and put on the black lace one Hollis had stolen. Smiling, I left my pink one under the pillow.

I bet you enjoy these more, perv.

***

Hollis was in a mood when he came home that night. I tried to act like it was business as usual, despite not being able to stop thinking about the panty situation.

He didn’t even acknowledge me as he headed straight for the cabinet, took out a glass, and poured himself wine.

“Lasagna is warming in the oven,” I said.

Hollis took a long sip then simply grunted to acknowledge he’d heard me say something.

He still wasn’t making eye contact with me.

Was he feeling guilty, perhaps? I started to second-guess what I’d done to mess with him—for a millisecond. Then I snapped back to reality, reminding myself that he’d stolen my damn panties in the first place and had therefore asked for it. He started this.

He loosened his tie. His hair was a bit unkempt. One thing about Hollis, he was even sexier when he was mad.

He took another sip of his wine and finally asked, “Any reason you’re sticking around? Something you need to tell me about Hailey?”

“No. Not at all. Hailey’s great. She’s cleaning up her room. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about what we did today.” After a few more seconds of awkward silence, I said, “Have a good night.”

“You too,” he said, massaging the tension in the back of his neck.

Awkward. Awkward. Awkward.

As I walked out the door, I realized I was sort of jealous of my own undies and the fun they might be having tonight without me.





Chapter 16




* * *





Hollis




Ever wish you could go back and change something you’ve done? A stupid mistake made on impulse that had lasting repercussions?

I have many regrets in life. But if I could change only one thing, it would be the moment I ever thought it was a good idea to slip Elodie Atlier’s thong into my back pocket.

Apparently, I believed I could get away with murder that night. Instead, I opened a huge can of worms I wouldn’t be able to get myself out of. I certainly never thought she’d taunt me about touching them the second I walked out of her bathroom. Perceptive thing, she is.

At this point, I suspected she knew I did more than touch her lingerie. Was there a chance I might have gotten lucky and the theft had gone unnoticed? I suppose. But the not knowing was driving me crazy. The uncertainty kept me agitated all day and unable to focus on my job. Basically, I was now paranoid, as if I’d committed a crime and knew the police were going to show up at my door any minute.

But as the evening wore on, I calmed down somewhat. Hailey told me all about their day at the museum over dinner. Elodie’s lasagna was phenomenal. After a couple of glasses of wine and a full belly, I felt a bit less on edge.

I decided to assume that even if Elodie suspected I’d taken the thong, there was no way she could prove it. That seed of doubt would always exist. Eventually, this whole situation would blow over.

Later that night, as I lay in bed, though, I realized how depraved I really was. Because as much as I regretted taking her thong, I kept thinking about the fact that it was under my pillow. I wanted nothing more than to take it out again and use it for inspiration as I jerked off. What’s one more time?

Yes, I’d in fact masturbated with her panties over my face last night and was now considering an encore.

I’d convinced myself that if the opportunity arose and I could get back into her house, I could return them—maybe slip them behind a radiator in the bathroom or something. It would be like this whole thing never happened. So, taking them out one more time would harm no one. Right? No one would ever know.