The girl on the other side remained quiet, but I knew she was still there.
“I didn’t want to move,” I confessed. “And she couldn’t take her eyes off me, either. She straddled him, fucking him, but her eyes were on me the whole time.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering the sight of her grinding on him. But it was all for me. Everything she did was to keep me watching. I controlled her.
“I could see her chest moving faster with her breathing, the sweat on her neck, her nervous eyes…. She didn’t know what I was going to do. She didn’t know if I liked what I was seeing or if I was going to pounce at any second. She was scared. And excited.”
She had no idea what I was thinking. How I liked what she was doing for me without laying a hand on me. I wasn’t communicating with my hands or my mouth, just my eyes all over her body, and it drove her crazy not knowing. God, she loved it.
“He fucked her,” I said, “but I was the one who made her come.”
I realized my pants felt tighter, and I reached down to adjust myself, grunting under my breath at the ache.
“Sordid, right?” I said. “Disgusting, sleazy, vile…”
“Yeah.” But I heard a smile in her voice. “So, what did you do about it?”
“What do you mean?”
Her fingertips pressed against the screen again. “You must’ve been turned on after that. What did you do?”
I held in my nervous laugh. She didn’t miss a beat, did she? “You’re skinning me alive right now, kid.”
A breathy laugh escaped her, and I could nearly make out her lips close to the screen.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Old enough to have seen and heard worse,” she replied. “Don’t worry. Now what did you do after that?”
“I can’t…” I breathed out. “I didn’t…. I didn’t do anything.”
But she waited. She knew I was lying.
I licked my dry lips, dropping my voice so low, I didn’t know if she could hear me. “I didn’t wait for my friends to get up and leave in the car to go get food,” I told her. “And I didn’t wait for the girl to trail down the hallway to the bathroom or for her to step into the shower. I didn’t follow her or turn off the lights, scaring her…”
The memory of her gasp rang in my ears, and the world tilted in front of me. The dark bathroom, the swaying shower curtain, the steam I could already smell…
“It’s okay,” Mystery Girl said when I remained quiet.
“I didn’t like frightening her or making her scream.” I clenched my teeth, dropping my head into my hand. “Or climbing into that shower and grabbing her and feeling her come apart in my hands…”
My fingers slid through my hair, shame burning my face but also a weight lifting off my shoulders. If this kid didn’t run, then maybe I wasn’t so bad, right?
Right?
“And I didn’t love every second inside of her tight body—”
“No, don’t,” she urged, stopping me. “Don’t say anymore. Please.”
I raised my head, my insides shrinking. “I’m scaring you.”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, you scare me. But I like it. I’m just…”
“Just what?”
“I’m just…” She paused, breathing erratically. “Just jealous.”
“Why?”
“Because you hunted her.” Her pale forehead leaned into the screen, and I caught a few strands of rich, dark hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you see me just yet. Maybe I should let you hunt me, too. Sounds like you’re good at it.”
I leaned back up, a smile tugging my lips. I was no longer embarrassed. Keeping my eyes on her, I pulled my keys out of my pocket and stuck the sharp one to my car into one of the holes of the wicker screen. Before she even had time to rear back, I tugged the key downward, ripped a slit in the screen, and pushed my hand through, catching her shirt in my fist just as she tried to escape. I pulled her forward and leaned in, smelling the wind on her skin and feeling how small and light she was. I barely flexed a muscle, holding her.
“What makes you think I haven’t been doing that this whole time?” I teased. “Do you think that little story is as naughty as I can get? Should I tell you about last summer and running into my former babysitter one night who was home from med school? She liked how I’d grown up.”
She breathed in hard, shallow breaths, and her hands came up, clasping mine. “Yes.”
I narrowed my eyes, releasing her sweatshirt and, instead, raising my hand to her face. At my touch, she shivered, but she didn’t back away.
The smooth skin felt like water as I grazed my fingertips over her sharp jaw and up her cheek. I drifted past her delicate ear lobe and into her hair, deciphering the softness and the length she hid. Fabric brushed against the back of my hand, and I realized she was wearing a hood.
Her hair was tucked behind her, and everything was chilled. Her face, her hands, her hair…even her ear felt like an icicle.
“You’re so cold,” I said.
But she turned her face into my hand, her hot breath falling into my palm. “I don’t feel cold.”
Her lips barely touched my hand, and I wanted to go the extra centimeter—reach closer and touch them, but I didn’t. She wasn’t getting away from me, and I wanted to drag this out. Sliding my hand around the back of her neck, I held her and grazed my thumb down the front of her throat, feeling her swallow.
She was so still, as if she were really afraid. A sound broke from somewhere in the church, and I briefly registered a basketball bouncing. After years on the court, I knew the sound like it was my mother’s voice.
“It’s Devil’s Night, and the night is young,” she finally spoke up. “Maybe you’ll find someone else to scare tonight.”
I tightened my grip. “And if I want to scare you?”
I felt her body shake with a laugh. “Then maybe I’ll be around,” she said playfully, pulling away. “Happy Hunting.”
And I heard a shuffle and saw light pour into her little room before the door slammed shut, making it dark again.
“Hey.” I pulled my hand back in. “Hey!”
I stood up and threw open the curtain, walking out and looking around before opening the door. The priest’s chamber was empty. I whipped around and scanned the church, noticing only a few people in the pews, none looking like a teenage girl. Walking over to the row of columns near the windows, I looked around them, not seeing anyone there, either.
“What the hell?” Where did she go?
The bouncing sound registered again, and I looked up, seeing Damon round the last row of pews and walk toward me. He must’ve just finished up with Beir.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked through the unlit cigarette in his mouth.
I straightened and closed my mouth, trying to breathe slower. “Nothing.”
I had no idea how to start explaining what just happened. Plus, it wasn’t wise to put a girl on his radar if you planned on keeping her to yourself. At least, at first.
Holding the ball at his side, he leaned down and lit his cigarette using one of the prayer candles.
“Come on, knock it off,” I scolded, still trying not to look around for the girl. I still felt her there.
Damon rose, the end of his cigarette burning orange and a puff of smoke drifting up into the air. “Like we give a shit.” He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out.
“But it’s insulting to people who do. No wonder you’re in confession every fucking week.” I walked around him, growing impatient and not knowing why.
Damon did everything he could to be an asshole, but that was him. He was always the same.
And suddenly, I didn’t want the same old shit tonight for some reason. I didn’t want him to be him or me to be me. I didn’t want to hide anything tonight.
It’s Devil’s Night, she’d said. She knew what we got up to. She knew me. If she didn’t find me, I’d find her.
“I didn’t want to move,” I confessed. “And she couldn’t take her eyes off me, either. She straddled him, fucking him, but her eyes were on me the whole time.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering the sight of her grinding on him. But it was all for me. Everything she did was to keep me watching. I controlled her.
“I could see her chest moving faster with her breathing, the sweat on her neck, her nervous eyes…. She didn’t know what I was going to do. She didn’t know if I liked what I was seeing or if I was going to pounce at any second. She was scared. And excited.”
She had no idea what I was thinking. How I liked what she was doing for me without laying a hand on me. I wasn’t communicating with my hands or my mouth, just my eyes all over her body, and it drove her crazy not knowing. God, she loved it.
“He fucked her,” I said, “but I was the one who made her come.”
I realized my pants felt tighter, and I reached down to adjust myself, grunting under my breath at the ache.
“Sordid, right?” I said. “Disgusting, sleazy, vile…”
“Yeah.” But I heard a smile in her voice. “So, what did you do about it?”
“What do you mean?”
Her fingertips pressed against the screen again. “You must’ve been turned on after that. What did you do?”
I held in my nervous laugh. She didn’t miss a beat, did she? “You’re skinning me alive right now, kid.”
A breathy laugh escaped her, and I could nearly make out her lips close to the screen.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Old enough to have seen and heard worse,” she replied. “Don’t worry. Now what did you do after that?”
“I can’t…” I breathed out. “I didn’t…. I didn’t do anything.”
But she waited. She knew I was lying.
I licked my dry lips, dropping my voice so low, I didn’t know if she could hear me. “I didn’t wait for my friends to get up and leave in the car to go get food,” I told her. “And I didn’t wait for the girl to trail down the hallway to the bathroom or for her to step into the shower. I didn’t follow her or turn off the lights, scaring her…”
The memory of her gasp rang in my ears, and the world tilted in front of me. The dark bathroom, the swaying shower curtain, the steam I could already smell…
“It’s okay,” Mystery Girl said when I remained quiet.
“I didn’t like frightening her or making her scream.” I clenched my teeth, dropping my head into my hand. “Or climbing into that shower and grabbing her and feeling her come apart in my hands…”
My fingers slid through my hair, shame burning my face but also a weight lifting off my shoulders. If this kid didn’t run, then maybe I wasn’t so bad, right?
Right?
“And I didn’t love every second inside of her tight body—”
“No, don’t,” she urged, stopping me. “Don’t say anymore. Please.”
I raised my head, my insides shrinking. “I’m scaring you.”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, you scare me. But I like it. I’m just…”
“Just what?”
“I’m just…” She paused, breathing erratically. “Just jealous.”
“Why?”
“Because you hunted her.” Her pale forehead leaned into the screen, and I caught a few strands of rich, dark hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you see me just yet. Maybe I should let you hunt me, too. Sounds like you’re good at it.”
I leaned back up, a smile tugging my lips. I was no longer embarrassed. Keeping my eyes on her, I pulled my keys out of my pocket and stuck the sharp one to my car into one of the holes of the wicker screen. Before she even had time to rear back, I tugged the key downward, ripped a slit in the screen, and pushed my hand through, catching her shirt in my fist just as she tried to escape. I pulled her forward and leaned in, smelling the wind on her skin and feeling how small and light she was. I barely flexed a muscle, holding her.
“What makes you think I haven’t been doing that this whole time?” I teased. “Do you think that little story is as naughty as I can get? Should I tell you about last summer and running into my former babysitter one night who was home from med school? She liked how I’d grown up.”
She breathed in hard, shallow breaths, and her hands came up, clasping mine. “Yes.”
I narrowed my eyes, releasing her sweatshirt and, instead, raising my hand to her face. At my touch, she shivered, but she didn’t back away.
The smooth skin felt like water as I grazed my fingertips over her sharp jaw and up her cheek. I drifted past her delicate ear lobe and into her hair, deciphering the softness and the length she hid. Fabric brushed against the back of my hand, and I realized she was wearing a hood.
Her hair was tucked behind her, and everything was chilled. Her face, her hands, her hair…even her ear felt like an icicle.
“You’re so cold,” I said.
But she turned her face into my hand, her hot breath falling into my palm. “I don’t feel cold.”
Her lips barely touched my hand, and I wanted to go the extra centimeter—reach closer and touch them, but I didn’t. She wasn’t getting away from me, and I wanted to drag this out. Sliding my hand around the back of her neck, I held her and grazed my thumb down the front of her throat, feeling her swallow.
She was so still, as if she were really afraid. A sound broke from somewhere in the church, and I briefly registered a basketball bouncing. After years on the court, I knew the sound like it was my mother’s voice.
“It’s Devil’s Night, and the night is young,” she finally spoke up. “Maybe you’ll find someone else to scare tonight.”
I tightened my grip. “And if I want to scare you?”
I felt her body shake with a laugh. “Then maybe I’ll be around,” she said playfully, pulling away. “Happy Hunting.”
And I heard a shuffle and saw light pour into her little room before the door slammed shut, making it dark again.
“Hey.” I pulled my hand back in. “Hey!”
I stood up and threw open the curtain, walking out and looking around before opening the door. The priest’s chamber was empty. I whipped around and scanned the church, noticing only a few people in the pews, none looking like a teenage girl. Walking over to the row of columns near the windows, I looked around them, not seeing anyone there, either.
“What the hell?” Where did she go?
The bouncing sound registered again, and I looked up, seeing Damon round the last row of pews and walk toward me. He must’ve just finished up with Beir.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked through the unlit cigarette in his mouth.
I straightened and closed my mouth, trying to breathe slower. “Nothing.”
I had no idea how to start explaining what just happened. Plus, it wasn’t wise to put a girl on his radar if you planned on keeping her to yourself. At least, at first.
Holding the ball at his side, he leaned down and lit his cigarette using one of the prayer candles.
“Come on, knock it off,” I scolded, still trying not to look around for the girl. I still felt her there.
Damon rose, the end of his cigarette burning orange and a puff of smoke drifting up into the air. “Like we give a shit.” He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out.
“But it’s insulting to people who do. No wonder you’re in confession every fucking week.” I walked around him, growing impatient and not knowing why.
Damon did everything he could to be an asshole, but that was him. He was always the same.
And suddenly, I didn’t want the same old shit tonight for some reason. I didn’t want him to be him or me to be me. I didn’t want to hide anything tonight.
It’s Devil’s Night, she’d said. She knew what we got up to. She knew me. If she didn’t find me, I’d find her.
