by Ivy Smoak
“Nope. The guards that were outside his room were even dismissed. You could totally come visit now.”
“Tell V that.”
“I’ll tell V that if you describe oral to me.”
I choked on the Lo Mein I had just put in my mouth. “Excuse me?”
“Like what do you do? Hold that thought. I’m going to go grab a banana and you can give me a play-by-play.”
I put my hand on her shoulder to prevent her from standing up. “Liza, I’m not going to show you how to give a blowjob.”
“Please? If it gets physical with V I have to know what to do. I don’t want him to think that I’m a loser.”
“You’re not a loser. And it doesn’t matter what some stupid boy thinks anyway. Believe in yourself.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I don’t need a man to validate my self-worth. Oh let’s watch this part, I’m really excited about how much Ben vibes Kelly right now.” She gestured to the screen.
Vibes? I didn’t know Liza very well at all. I certainly never thought she’d use the term vibes. My eyes gravitated to the screen.
Chapter 22
Sunday
I was trying to think of the perfect lead in. Liza clearly didn’t want to talk about work. And the extent of what she wanted to share about Eli had already been divulged. Even though I had a million more questions.
She shoved another Mike’s Hard Lemonade into my hand. My stomach was full of booze and junk food already. But whenever she gave me something she’d give me a stern look until I started eating or drinking it.
I had drunk so much I couldn’t even think straight anymore. Screw waiting for the perfect moment. We were on the third episode of The Bachelor, and in my opinion, Ben wasn’t vibing anyone. And this horrible witch Jazmine needed to be sent home before I lost my shit.
“If he doesn’t send Jazmine home at the end of this episode, I’m going to kill everyone,” Liza said. “I swear I’ll do it, and I won’t regret it for a second.”
I slapped her arm. “I was literally thinking the same thing!”
“Yeah?”
“Um…yes. She’s the freaking worst. How can Ben not see that he’s being played by a she-devil?”
“I know! And she doesn’t get along well with anyone else in the house. How does he expect she’s going to be when the shows over? Suddenly nice?”
We both laughed.
For the first time all night I actually realized that I was having a good time. A great time really. This was fun.
We stared at the TV and screamed at the end when Jazmine got the last rose of the night.
“He’s going to regret his choice as soon as he sees this train wreck in these episodes.”
I nodded. “And I don’t see how whoever he chooses will forgive him either.”
“Word.” She tapped her bottle against mine.
I realized that it didn’t even matter if I brought up something that Liza didn’t want to talk about. She’d talk about it anyway because clearly we were best friends. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t realized it before. We even both hated Jazmine. And I was having the best time. If this night didn’t turn out to be a little progressive though, I’d wake up feeling bad. I need answers, damn it. “So I know you said that you liked V’s mask…”
“Oh, I really do. I love it. It’s so sexy, right?”
“Yeah.”
Liza laughed. “I knew you still had feelings for him.”
“What? No, I absolutely do not.” I didn’t say that. Had I just said that? God, how many of these stupid bottles had she made me drink?
“You just admitted that he’s sexy,” Liza said.
“Fine. Whatever. But who knows what he’s hiding under that mask. Let’s find out.”
“I’m sure he’ll reveal himself eventually.”
I kicked her under the blanket we were sharing.
“Ow! You’re such a slut!”
This time I did laugh at her not so nice nickname for me. “Liza, I’m serious. I don’t want to wait. Let’s unmask him tonight. It’ll be so much fun.”
She took a huge sip of her drink and her eyes grew round. “Like…tonight, tonight?”
I nodded.
“Oh my God, you’re right. Let’s do it!”
“Yeah?” I didn’t think she’d be that easy to convince. “Great. Well…do you have a plan?”
“Let’s drug him and then take off all his clothes. Including his mask of course. We can tie him up and everything.”
I laughed. “That’s a bad plan.”
“No, it’s a flawless plan. What could go wrong? We can use those little darts he uses to knock people out.” She stood up and stumbled slightly toward the faux wall. She lifted up the painting that covered the keypad and typed the code it. The wall slowly lifted and disappeared into the ceiling. “It’s a brilliant plan. We can use his own technology against him. And then I can finally kiss him!”
“When he’s passed out?”
“Mhm.” She lifted up a dart off one of the glass tables and came back over to the couch.
“Liza, you seem super devoted to this date rape plan, but there’s probably a better way.”
She laughed. “Date rape?” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, nearly stabbing herself with the dart. “That’s bad. You’re right, we should try something else first.”
I was a little concerned that date rape was still plan B. But that just meant we needed a really great plan A. Hmm.
“I got it!” Liza said way too loudly.
“Shh, be quiet, he’ll hear us. All I know for sure is that we’re going to need the element of surprise.”
“Absolutely. Okay,” she whispered, but it was much more like a speaking voice. “I have the perfect plan. We knock on his door and then we say that we’ll take off one item of our clothing in exchange for one of his. Eventually he'll only have his mask left and he’ll have to take it off. There won’t be any other choice.”
“That is literally the best plan I’ve ever heard. Especially because there’s two of us and only one of him. There’s no way that together we aren’t wearing more clothes than him.”
“It’s foolproof.” Liza clapped her hands together.
“Absolutely.” I stood up, accidentally spilling the remnants of Lo Mein on the floor. “Oops.”
Liza giggled.
“Oh, we can make it so that it’s even more impossible to fail.”
She stared at me, completely perplexed. “How is that even possible?”
“We can put on more layers of clothes. Like a lot of layers. All the layers.”
“You’re a genius,” Liza said. She stood up, linked her arm through mine, and we skipped down the hall in drunken bliss.
We stopped at the coat rack and started pulling on gloves, hats, and winter coats. When we both looked like huge barefooted winter monsters, we stumbled toward V’s door.
“Do you think he’ll take my flower when he gets me naked?” Liza didn’t whisper it, she practically yelled the words.
“How could he not? You’ll be naked. It’s the logical next step.” I was about to knock on the door, but stopped. “And I promise I’ll back away as soon as I see his face. He’s all yours, I promise.”
She nodded. “I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be nervous.”
That didn’t seem to help at all. I grabbed her arm and turned her toward me. “Liza, I’ve had so much fun with you tonight.”
“Best night ever!” she screamed.
“Shh!” But I started laughing hysterically too.
“We need to do this every week,” she said. “Or every night for the rest of our lives.”
“That one. Definitely that one.”
“Best friends forever!” Liza screamed at the top of your lungs and started laughing even harder.
Our laughter died when V’s door opened.
Liza made a small peeping noise.
“What are you ladies up to?” V asked and put his hand on the
doorjamb to block our view of his room.
“Girls’ night,” Liza said. “Now get naked or else.”
I laughed.
But V did not laugh. He just stared at us. “Excuse me?”
I elbowed Liza in the side and she laughed. “What Liza meant to say was that we want to play a game.”
He smiled. “What kind of game did you have in mind?”
“This is how it works,” I said. “For every article of clothing you take off, one of us will take off an article of clothing too.”
“It’s going to be so much fun,” Liza added.
“But you’re dressed like Eskimos.” There was a twinkle in his eye. “That hardly seems fair.”
I looked back and forth between Liza and me. We were wearing a lot of clothes. Plenty, really. “Okay, for every one article of clothing you take off, we’ll each take one off. Se we’ll go twice as fast as you. It’s your lucky night.”
“Um…no you’ll be going at the same pace as me.”
“No, I think Summer has done the math correctly on this one,” Liza said. “There’s two of us. And only one of you.”
“No, I get that…” his voice trailed off.
Clearly he had realized his blunder. Our math was flawless.
“Okay, I’ll humor you. What’s this game with very realistic rules called?”
“Strip,” Liza said.
“Naked game,” I said at the exact same time.
We both laughed.
“That definitely sounds legit,” he said.
“Mhm. It’s the strip naked game,” Liza said with a very straight face. “And it’s real. You first.”
“You’re both very drunk.”
“How dare you, sir,” Liza said. “We haven’t had anything to drink tonight at all. Right, Summer?”
“Correct. We just had some lemonade.” I winked at her.
“You’re up first,” Liza said. “Go.”
“I think you should both sleep this off. After you take off the winter jackets so you don’t sweat to death.”
“Only after you take off some of your layers,” I said. “The rules are…rules.”
“I’m not playing this game with you,” V said.
“Wrong answer,” Liza said. She threw the dart that was in her hand as hard as she could. It missed him by a whole foot, hit the wall, bounced off, and fell directly onto her bare foot.
“Oh shit,” Liza said. “Plan C! Initiate plan C!”
“I don’t know what plan C is! Liza?”
She teetered to the side and V caught her.
“What the hell were you two trying to do?”
“See your face,” Liza said and reach up and touched his mask. “Your beautiful, perfect face you lovely man, you.” And then she immediately fell asleep and started snoring.
“Is she dead?” I asked. “Liza, wake up!”
V looked up at me. “No, she just passed out.”
“Don’t date rape her.”
“I’m not going to," said V. "Seriously, are you high or something?”
“Lemonade.” I pointed down the hall at the mess we had left in the family room.
“I see.” He lifted Liza in his arms and carried her to her bedroom.
I followed close behind to make sure he didn’t do anything unlawful. When he set her down on the bed, he pulled off her hat and gloves. He went to unzip her jacket and I caught his hand.
“You’re breaking the rules. You owe me three articles of clothing.”
He brushed my hand aside and pulled off Liza’s coat. “I’m not playing your game.” He pulled her blanket on top of her.
For a moment I remembered my father tucking me into bed. I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. V was so caring and sweet. Just like Liza had said.
He went to leave the room, but I stayed where I was. I felt bad for trying to trick him into taking his mask off. And I didn’t want to be alone with him. Because all these feelings were swirling around in my stomach and I made Liza a promise. A best friend promise. V was completely off limits. Besides, I loved Eli.
“She needs to sleep,” he said and grabbed my arm, steering me back into the hall.
My body betrayed me. I melted into his side.
“You’re burning up,” he said and pulled the hat off my head.
I stood there in the hall as he took off each of my gloves. My heart fluttered as he unzipped my winter jacket. His fingers traced down my arms as he pushed my coat off.
“You owe me so many articles of clothing,” I said.
He laughed.
I wanted to beg him to let me see his face. Instead, I said, “Are you sure she’s okay? Maybe I should stay in there with her.”
“You need sleep too.”
I nodded. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll go to sleep.” But I didn’t move.
His hands didn’t leave my arms.
We both just stood there, staring at each other.
Until he stepped closer.
Until I lifted my face to his.
Until his lips were a fraction of an inch from mine.
I turned my cheek at the last moment and his lips brushed against my skin instead.
“Sadie.” He inhaled deeply and it felt like he was inhaling all of me. “I meant what I said the other day. I do love you.”
His words were a knife to my heart. “Stop.” I stepped away from him. “Liza really likes you.”
“I know.”
“So…you should try and work things out with her.” I took another step away from him.
“There’s nothing to work out with her. We’re just friends. It’s you. It’s always been you. I told you that.”
“And you also told me that you didn’t love me just a few months ago. Remember that?”
“I’m asking you to believe me now.”
“Then take off your mask. Show me who you are.”
“I need you to love me before I take off my mask. It’s the only way to know if this is real. It’s the only way.”
He was hiding something big from me. Something monumental. And scary. I took another step away from him. He’s Don. The realization slammed into me hard and it was suddenly hard to breathe. He had to be Don. Why else wouldn’t he want me to see his face?
“Stay away from me,” I said when he took a step closer.
“Can we please just talk for a few minutes? If you would just give me a chance to explain.”
I ran into Eli’s room.
“Sadie, don’t…
I slammed the door in his face and locked it. V had laid Liza down in bed like he truly cared. He treated her tenderly. He was kind and sweet.
It was the opposite of how Don would have behaved. He would never treat another human that way. He would have left her to sweat it out in the hall.
But not V.
So who was he? I couldn’t deny the fact that my stomach had butterflies when he'd leaned in to kiss me. But I hated that it did. I felt gross. I looked around Eli’s room. I didn’t deserve to sleep in here tonight.
I pressed my ear against the door. There wasn’t any noise. Hopefully V was gone. I slowly opened it. The coast was clear. I tiptoed down the hall to my room and quietly opened the door and walked in.
I saw the form in my bed. Before I screamed, I realized that I knew who it was. The shape of his broad shoulders. The familiar hood. It was V. He was facing away from the door, but it was definitely him.
The room hadn’t felt stale earlier. My bed had magically been made. Had V been sleeping in here for a while?
I slept in Eli’s room because I missed him and I loved him. Was that why V slept in my bed?
It felt like my heart was shattered in a million different pieces, just like V had said. I wasn’t sure if that was what made me close the door and walk to the bed. Or if it was how alone I felt. Or guilty. Or lost.
I pushed back the covers and climbed in beside him.
He immediately rolled over, wrapping his arms around me. It was like he knew I would come
. Like he had been waiting for me. How many nights had he hoped I would come?
Neither one of us said anything because there was nothing to say. This wasn’t some momentous occasion. Right?
I was just drunk. And I wasn’t thinking straight. But God, it really felt like home in his arms.
Chapter 23
Monday
I slept soundlessly. It was like I was transported back in time to when I had first slept over at V’s place. I had never felt so safe.
I didn’t want to open my eyes. It was too soon for the moment to end, but I could feel the sunlight streaming through the window, hitting my face. I needed to sneak out of the room before he woke up. Maybe he’d forget about the whole thing. Hopefully I would too.
But when my eyes opened, I couldn’t move. For the first time, it seemed like there was something familiar about him. Something about the small crinkles around his eyes.
My train of thought quickly derailed. What had I done? Hadn’t I learned anything from my past mistakes? I could still picture Kins’ face when she saw me almost kiss Miles. Apparently I had no girl code. This was going to make Liza hate me. And I was not about to lose my only friend. I had to go.
But were those freckles under his eyes? And those long eyelashes really did seem familiar. Or was it just because it had been awhile since I was so close to him? If I could just get a little closer…
Stop.
In the grand scheme of things, V's identity didn’t matter. At all. Our paths were only aligned until I got vengeance against Don. That was it. Yet, I still leaned forward.
It was like V could sense my proximity. His eyes opened and I froze.
Oh God, it probably looks like I was leaning in to kiss him.
A smile spread across his lips.
I needed to do something that would change the mood in the room. Because right now it felt like electricity was running through my veins. Like something amazing was about to happen. Which it absolutely could not.
“What were the 80s like?” I asked. It was the first thing I could remember from my research about Dr. Miller. He was born in 1981, which meant he’d remember that decade.
V propped himself up on his elbow. “How would I know?”
