Page 107 of Slap Shot
Nope. Emmy isn’t feeling well, and I’m staying home with her.
Me
Count me out too. My shoulder is finally back to 100%, but now my legs are sore as hell from those drills we ran the other day. Y’all have fun. Call if you need a DD. I’ll pick you up.
Easy E
Aye aye, Huddy Boy. You’re a real one. Mitchy? What are you doing?
Mitchy
There’s an art class I’ve been wanting to try. They finally had an opening tonight, so I’m on my way there.
Easy E
Damn, G. Guess it’s just us.
Sully
I’ll be shocked if the city doesn’t burn down.
G-Money
Aw! That’s his way of saying he loves us!
Sully
In your dreams.
I setmy book on my nightstand and turn off the light. After dinner with Madeline and Lucy, a hot shower, and a twenty-minute stretching session, I’m ready for sleep.
The room plunges into darkness, and I turn on my side. I stare at the wall and wonder what Madeline is doing on the other side, glad she’s not hiding from me anymore.
I bet she’s watching TV. She told me about the reality shows she puts on to decompress at night. There’s one in particular she likes where people get married after only knowing each other for ninety days. The idea sounds so fucking bonkers, I’m kind of intrigued.
She’s normally so quiet I sometimes forget we share the wall behind my headboard. I can’t hear any muted noise tonight, and I figure she must’ve gone to bed. She looked exhausted after dinner with heavy shoulders and a slowness to her step. There was a delayed reaction to everything I said to her, and I cleaned up the dishes before she could protest so it was one less thing she had to do.
I hope she’s getting enough sleep. I hope the dogs aren’t bothering her, and I really hopeI’mnot bothering her.
I yawn and close my eyes, heading to the brink of unconsciousness myself until the sound of a low buzz fills my room. I prop myself up on an elbow and glance around.
The noise isn’t my phone, and it’s not the dogs out in the living room. It can’t be the smoke detector—I changed the batteries last week.
I don’t know what the hell is going on.
And that’s when I hear it.
A long, drawn-out moan from the other side of the wall.
It sounds like…
Fuck.
It’s Madeline getting off with some sort of toy.
A vibrator, I’m guessing, judging by the noises, and my heart pounds. I stare at the barrier between us like it’s going to crumble if I glare at it, and I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do.
Cover my ears so I can’t hear her?
