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“Yeah? With who?” he asked.

“Snowy!”

“No, you weren’t.”

Immy gasped. “I was so! Who are you to say that I wasn’t playing hide and seek? You don’t know that I wasn’t.”

“You’re doing the potty dance,” he pointed out.

“It is not the potty dance!” She glanced down at her body. “Unicorn poop.”

“Damn, you’re cute,” he told her.

“That’s a dollar.”

“Except when you’re telling me that I owe the swear jar money,” he added.

“Hey! I take grave offense to that!” It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, either. Which was doubly rude.

Hmm, now she recalled that she owed him an Immy-joke. Maybe some pretend poop in his bed would help.

“To what?” he asked.

“I’m cute all the time, darn it. All the time.” She stomped her foot down on the floor. “Oh no! Now I have to go pee. See what you made me do?”

“Sweetness, just think I should point out that you wouldn’t need to pee if you hadn’t been lying about why you were hiding in a pile of stuffed toys.”

Urgh.

“You are so insufferable!” she yelled through the bathroom door.

“Why? Because I’m right?”

She wasn’t going to answer that. Because to answer it the way she wanted to . . . well, she’d be lying.

And she was already peed out.

After cleaning up, she walked back into the room to find Tobias staring at the pile of toys.

“That’s a lot of toys.”

“I know. I’m beginning to worry that Abe might have a stuffed toy addiction. Well, to buying them.”

“No, he’s just got an Immy-addiction.”

“What? No, he doesn’t.”

“Hmm, maybe that’s the wrong word. He’s not addicted to you as in interested in you sexually. But he loves you and he wants to give you whatever you need. Like every other man in this household.”

Why did he sound put-out by that? Was he . . . was he jealous of her friends and her relationship with them?

She wasn’t quite sure.

“You were hiding from Jenner, weren’t you?” he said, turning to her.

Cupcakes.

She couldn’t answer without lying. Well, she could tell the truth. But she didn’t really want to.

“I don’t want to answer that on the basis that it might incriminate me.”

“You’re cute when you lawyer up,” was all he said as he walked out the door.

See? She really was cute all the time.

Immy glanced up as Jenner walked into the room. He’d just gotten home after being out all day.

She was watching a new TV series about a human who had just been accepted to a paranormal academy, filled with the most gorgeous, sexy beasts. There were wizards and werewolves, shapeshifters and vampires.

Tobias was sitting in an armchair next to her but he wasn’t really watching. Abe was down the other end of the sofa and had her feet on his thighs. Jenner walked right in front of her, blocking her view.

“Hey! I can’t see my show.”

“Where were you this morning?” Jenner asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked with fake innocence.

“I’m talking about when I was trying to find you so you could have your smoothie.”

“Those smoothies are revolting,” Sampson said as he walked into the room. Abe picked up the remote and paused her show.

“Yep. They totally are.” She nodded.

“I don’t care what they taste like, they’re good for you. And you need the extra vitamins now that it’s winter.”

“I don’t! I feel fine. Those smoothies make me feel sick.”

“You need to drink them,” Jenner told her firmly. “And where were you?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.

Tobias snorted. “Careful, or you’ll start doing the potty dance.”

She turned to glare at him. “It is not the potty dance!”

Oh, she owed him some payback. It was definitely time for an Immy-prank.

“She was hiding in the stuffy pile,” Tobias said.

Immy let out a loud and overly dramatic gasp. It was a really good one, definitely one of her best efforts yet.

For good reason, too.

Tobias had just betrayed her.

“Stuffy pile?” Abe asked. “The ones I bought you?”

“Yes. They make a great hiding spot,” she said. Then she sat up to glare at Tobias. “You just betrayed me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Betrayed you?”

“Yes, you betrayed the bodyguard oath.”

His other eyebrow rose as well. “There’s a bodyguard oath? No one told me about that.”

“First I’ve heard of it,” Sampson drawled as he sat on the other armchair.

“Well, there is one. And it clearly states that you will not be a tattletale! Something bad will happen now. Pretty sure your hair is going to all fall out. Or you’ll get warts on your nose or something.”

Actually, she had a spell for that. But she didn’t really want him to get warts on his nose. His nose was one of the best parts of his face. Along with his eyes, his cheeks, his chin and forehead. So pretty much everything but his tattletale mouth!

“Hmm, I’m not worried,” Tobias said.

“Immy! Stop trying to deflect away from what you did. Did you hide in a pile of stuffies so you didn’t have to have your smoothie?” Jenner demanded.

Hmm. He seemed mad.

“I don’t know if I want to answer that.”

“Immy,” he warned in a low voice.

“Fine. Yes, I hid in the stuffies to avoid the grass smoothie.”

“It’s not a grass smoothie,” Jenner told her. “And you shouldn’t be hiding in order to avoid having it.”

She was starting to feel a bit guilty over her behavior. He had taken the time to make her the smoothie, she probably shouldn’t have hidden from him.

“And that’s not what you are supposed to use the stuffies for,” Abe told her.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I’m making you another smoothie,” Jenner told her, pointing at her with his finger. “With extra vitamins. And you’re to drink every last bit.”

She sighed. Well. This sucked.

Jenner walked off and she turned to glare at Tobias again. “This is your fault.”

Tobias raised his hands into the air. “This isn’t on me, Cherry. You’re the one who hid and didn’t have your grass smoothie. Which I’m sure is going to taste extra grassy with those extra vitamins in it.”

She groaned. Just awesome.

Forty minutes later, after her disgusting grass smoothie, Immy got up and stretched. “I’m going to bed.”

It was early for the guys, but not for her. After kissing Abe on the cheek, she gave them all a wave and snuck out. Straight into the kitchen.

Where she reached into the cupboard and pulled out the peanut butter jar.

Uh-huh!

Stifling a giggle, she snuck upstairs. Tobias had moved into the house in order to be closer for security a while ago.

She snuck into his room. His scent hit her first. Along with how tidy the room was. Immy crept over to the bed and carefully drew his bedding back.

Wow. His bed was so neat. She’d have to be careful about how she remade it. Using a knife, she smeared peanut butter on his white sheets.

More giggles threatened to escape, but she stifled them. After remaking his bed, she picked up the peanut butter and knife and snuck back out.

Shoot! Was that someone coming up the stairs? Immy rushed toward her bedroom, shutting the door behind her just in time. She moved over to the nightstand and put the jar and knife inside. She’d get rid of the evidence later.

Then she walked into the bathroom to have a shower.

Immy had just climbed into bed, when she heard the yell. And then pounding footsteps.

Ooh. Someone sounded mad.

Did she have time to hide? She quickly dove into the pile of stuffies.

Miss Pippa Porker, hide me!

“Immy! Where are you?” Tobias demanded.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Jenner asked.

“Why are you yelling?” Sampson snapped.

“Because Immy put peanut butter on my sheets,” Tobias said.

“I did not!” she cried.

“Immy,” Abe said. “Come out here.”

“No! I’m going to stay in my pile of stuffies. I live here now.”

A hand reached in and grabbed her arm gently. Then she was pulled out of the stuffy pile. She looked up with a big smile at Tobias.

“Hi, Tobias. I was just going to bed, so if all of you could leave . . .”

“Peanut butter? Really?” Tobias gave her a stern look.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said innocently.

“Right,” Sampson said. “You’re doing the potty dance.”

“I am not!”

She totally was.

“What’s this then?” Jenner held up the peanut butter and knife that she’d hidden in her bedside drawer.

“Hey! That’s private. It’s my late-night snack.”

“You hate peanut butter,” Abe pointed out.

“You’re all ganging up on me! And he deserved it. He ratted me out.”

Jenner pointed at the door. “Go take the sheets off Tobias’s bed, I’ll get him new ones. Sorry, man.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Tobias said. “And I’ll change the sheets on my bed.” But he leaned closer to her. “This will wait, Little girl. Until a time when I can properly punish you.”

Um. Yikes.