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“No, you’re actually being really pushy.Why?”
Tessa sighs. “I just have a good feeling about Auggie. He’s got a genuine sweetness about him. A gentleness. Which makes perfect sense, now that I know what he’s planning to do for a living.”
“You haven’t seen him being a total dick, the way I have. He’s not all unicorns and rainbows.” I twist my mouth. “Although, to be fair, he wasmostlyreacting to what I was throwing down.”
Tessa audibly shrugs. “It’s not that I care about Auggie, specifically. It’s more that I’d love to see you venture beyondyour usual type for a change. I don’t think your type is all that good for you, babe.Carlowas your type. And look what happened there.”
She doesn’t know the half of it.
I didn’t always keep secrets from my best friend. The first time I kept one from her was two years ago—the day I found out what my then-boyfriend, Carlo, really did for a living. But since I couldn’t tell Tessa about that, truthfully, I lied and said I’d broken up with Carlo because he’d cheated on me—something Carlo would never do. Not a chance. And the lies have only piled on, ever since.
“Okay, point taken,” I say on a sigh. “I’ve got a defective picker. But even so, this conversation is pointless because I’ve already decided not to date while I’m here. I need to spend every spare minute getting that condo into shape, as soon as possible. That’s especially true, now that I’ve seen it. Which means, from this moment on, I’m going to wipe Auggie Vaughn from my hard drive and pretend he doesn’t even exist.”
8
CHARLOTTE
Four days later
Istep back from the wall I’ve just finished relieving of its peeling, faded, hideous wallpaper and exhale. It’s taken me all day, but I’ve finally stripped my entire living room of its godawful wallpaper. That was my only goal for today: to complete an entire room. But now that I’ve done that, I want to keep going. At least, I’ll start prepping the bedroom walls for stripping tomorrow. It turns out I’m a one-woman, home-improvement army, dude. Go, me.
Actually, no, that’s not true. I’m a two-woman army, backed by a full, kick-ass crew. I wouldn’t be here now, working so productively, if it weren’t for Tessa and the amazing guys she hired to help me. Those amazing men got this place cleared out in two short days, and then spent yesterday, the third day, deep-cleaning it with me. That’s the only reason I’ve been able to start my first improvement project on day four, instead of day fourteen, which, in turn, means it’s still possible, at least intheory, for me to get this place into shape and sold in time to pay back that money.Hallelujah.
I pick up my bucket and lug it into the kitchen for dumping and refilling. But before I turn on the faucet, I freeze at the sound of muffled footsteps in the hallway.Isthatone of Carlo’s colleagues taking matters into his own hands?Did Carlo lose control of the situation, despite his assurances?That’s the terrifying thought that’s been keeping me up at night for almost a month now, on top of the generalized anxiety I also feel about my layoff.
While I’m still frozen and listening carefully at the sink, a muffled, cheerful male voice says, “Are you hungry, buddy? Yeah, me, too. Let’s eat!”
Phew. It’s only my annoying next-door neighbor and his three-legged pooch. What a relief. I haven’t run into Auggie since that first time in front of the building, and I’m hoping the trend will continue. I don’t have time to spar with him again. And flirting is out of the question. I’ve got work to do.
Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I turn on the faucet, refill my bucket, and head into the bedroom. Thanks to Tessa’s crew, it’s empty now. I’ve set up an air mattress in here and that’s all there is, other than my big suitcase in a corner.
After setting down my bucket, tools, and a stepstool I had to go back into the living room to retrieve, I get to work, taking down all wall decorations—an amateurish oil painting, a funky, clunky oval-shaped mirror that’s covered in dust, and a framed movie poster for Hitchcock’s creepy thriller,Rear Window. After that, I grab a hammer and pull out every nail in every wall and then tape the baseboard and outlets in preparation for wiping down the walls.
Finally, I’m ready to get to the heart of my work. I drag the stepstool into position, climb up, and swipe with the sponge. But in short order, something in the wall a few inches below eye levelcatches my attention. Right where theRear Windowposter used to hang, there’s a small hole in the wall that doesn’t look like one of the nail holes I’ve just created. For one thing, it’s bigger than any of those holes; but more importantly, there’s a pinpoint of light flickering through it.
I toss the sponge into the bucket below me, step down a rung on the stepstool, and lean my face into the hole—and that’s when I behold my annoying next-door neighbor, Augustus Vaughn, naked on his bed and jerking off in front of a laptop. To be fair, he’s wearing a Deadpool mask on his head, so I can’t see his face. But that fit body most definitely looks like Auggie’s. And those are absolutely his large hands. Not to mention, the fit man with big hands is beating off inAuggie’sbed, so who else could he be?
I jerk my head away from the wall, shocked by what I’ve seen. There’s a fuckingpeepholein my wall?And it’s aimed directly at Auggie’s bed?
My breathing turns erratic. Labored. My pulse is skyrocketing. This is a truly shocking discovery. Also, damn, Auggie’s got a big dick.
I realize that last thing shouldn’t be a top concern at the moment, but, damn, that was quite a dick.I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dick quite that impressive before, as a matter of fact, other than in porn. Auggie’s cock is not only long, but thick and girthy, too. I bet the sensation of a dick that big, stretching you out and then filling you up, feels insanely pleasurable. My clit is suddenly pulsing, just thinking about it. Or maybe my body’s simply reacting to the sight of Auggie’s naked body, in general. It was absolutely stunning. Perfect. Athletic and fit, without being too bulky. Most of my lovers have had dad bods, which is great with me. But I must admit . . .Damn.
Stop it, Charlotte. You can’t think about boning the man at a time like this! For fuck’s sake, there’s a fuckingpeepholein your bedroom wall. Now, pull it together!
Okay, I’ve gotten control of myself now. I’m focused on what matters. The peephole. What should I do about it? Go straight next door now and tell Auggie what I’ve discovered, or let him finish masturbating first? Based on that opened laptop and the Deadpool mask, I don’t think Auggie was getting himself off, privately, all by his lonesome. I suppose he could have been watching porn on that laptop. But then why the mask? That’d be kinky. Or maybe he’s over there having video-chat sex with a special someone who’s got a thing for Deadpool? No, neither of those scenarios feels right. The mask doesn’t make sense if that was a private, intimate moment. I think the most logical conclusion is that my darling next-door neighbor wishes to hide his identity from whoever’s watching him jerk off. Is Auggie jerking off for some kind of online audience? He must be. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
I bring my palm to my mouth. Oh my gosh. I think squeaky-clean, veterinarian student Augustus Vaughn has a secret life . . . as an online sex worker/porn star! If I’m right about that, did the former owner of this place catch wind of it, and then drill a hole in the wall to be able to watch Auggie’s show, free of charge? Holy shit. This is a mindboggling discovery.
I can’t resist. I have to take another quick peek. A teeny-tiny one. If Auggie’s putting on a show for a bunch of strangers on the internet, as I strongly suspect, then it doesn’t seem like such a horrible, unforgiveable crime to do that. If my eyeballs join a slew of other eyeballs, and only briefly at that, would thatreallybe a mortal sin?
I climb the ladder a rung and peer through the hole again, and this time, Auggie, hard as a rock, is grabbing something off the floor next to his bed. When he returns to his prostrate position, he places a three-sided, squared-off, U-shaped metal contraption across his pelvis on either side of his hips. There’s a red curtain hanging down from the top bar. As the fabric fallsdown and hangs, its obscures Auggie’s dick from the laptop, the same way curtain contraptions like this one might hide puppets from an audience during a puppet show. Ha! Come to think of it, this entire set-up totally reminds me of a kiddie puppet show—
Oh my god.
I’ve no sooner had the thought than Auggie’s hard cock, wrapped in tin foil, pokes out a gap in the middle of the red curtain. Holy fuck!Is this an X-rated puppet show?
Auggie’s head is moving like he’s talking under his mask, so I strain to hear. But dang it, I can’t make out anything but distant, muffled sounds.
