Page 39 of Hide From Me

I study him as I lean back into the couch, trying to get comfortable.

Vague. Avoidant. Typical. I pry anyway. “What even is your family’s business?”

“Oh, we're playing twenty questions again? I liked where that ended last time.”He wiggles his eyebrows, shifting back against the wall and draping his arms over his knees.

“We help the world,”he adds after a pause.

“Help the world,” I echo. “By taxing everything you sell?”

He laughs, but it sounds different through the phone. Thinner. It makes me miss the weight of it in person.

“No,”he says, smile fading into something more contemplative.“It’s hard to explain. We manage… private affairs. Mostly about helping people do good. Does that make sense?”

“Helping how? Like rehab programs? World hunger initiatives?”I tease. “You’re not exactly feeding my imagination here, monster.”

He rubs a hand down his chest, hesitating like he’s trying to say the right thing.

“Is preventing mass chaos a good enough answer?”

It’s not but it’s just enough to quiet the storm Laura stirred in my head.

“Oh wow. Didn’t know the world would go insane without their Pringles or iPhones.”

He laughs again, clearer this time, and leans closer.“We don’t make crisps, and it’s not electronics either. Good try, though. One day I’ll explain more. But for now, just let me look at you, yeah? I’m going fucking insane over here.”

“One more question,” I say softly.

Something in my tone changes the air. His eyes darken, a slow smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. It's cruel and manipulative of me, I know, but I need more, and luckily, this is the space I feel safest to get it.

With him, I can take and give the power any time I want. It heals something in me, something I didn't know I needed healing until that night on the hill when I felt everything he was feeling without saying a word.

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew Laura?” And just like that it’s as if his trance is gone.

He scrubs a hand through his hair and lets out a sigh, leaning back against the wall again.“Must’ve slipped my mind… or something.”

“Or something?” I arch a brow, propping my phone up on the table so he can see me full-on. I tug at the hem of my oversized shirt, not-so-accidentally exposing more thigh.

His thumb drags across his lip, eyes roaming down my body.

“She’s a colleague. Nothing more, nothing less,”Moe mutters.

I keep playing with the edge of my shirt. “Was that so hard?”

“Watch it, sunshine, you’re playing a dangerous game.”He leans back, spreading his legs wider on the bed, sweatpants tenting with every shift of his hips.

“What are you gonna do about it?” I taunt, switching the TV to a rom-com to muffle the eerie soundtrack. I miss the title, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not watching it.

“I’ll hang up.”

I arch a brow. Bluff. If he hangs up, I’ll be pissed and he knows it.

“Do it.”

He doesn’t. Instead, he laughs under his breath, the tension in his jaw releasing.“Touche..”

I swallow a breath of relief, hiding it with a glance toward the staircase. I thought I heard something, but it’s probably just the old house creaking.

“Where are you right now?”Moe asks. His hand drops to his lap, fingers flexing around his cock through the soft fabric.