Ben appeared in the doorway, and I faltered to a stop. He was wearing a t-shirt that hung loose from his shoulders. “Juliet,” he said. I’d told him everyone called me Jules and he could too, but for some reason, he hadn’t. Now, he looked down at me. He was almost a foot taller than me. “I see you’ve moved in. And you’re in my room.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said in a rush. “I was looking for the TV remote and couldn’t find it anywhere. I figured you wouldn’t mind if I had a quick glance, but that was stupid. I’m so sorry,” I said again.
He didn’t reply for a moment, and it was kind of scary. His brown eyes looked darker than usual. My heart pounded. I felt like I’d been caught doing something illicit. I kind of had.
Then his face cracked, revealing a small smile. “Don’t worry about it. I have nothing to hide. The TV remote’s over here.”
He led me to over to the TV console and opened one of the cupboards, revealing the remote.
“Oh,” I said, feeling like a world-class idiot, my face burning.
“Let me know if you have any other questions,” Ben said. “I’m gonna take a shower, okay?”
“Yep,” I said weakly, nodding fast.
Since I had the remote now, I felt like I had to watch TV, even though all I wanted to do was hide in my bedroom. Well, at least he hadn’t been angry. If I found him poking around in my bedroom, I would’ve been annoyed at the very least. It was a relief that he was so chill.
I sat on the couch and turned on the TV, deciding to watch some random reality show. My heart was still racing though.
So when Ben stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a loose cotton shirt and flannel pants, his hair still wet, and my heart skipped a beat, it was because I was still freaked out about being caught. Not because the sight of drops of water running down his neck made my stomach do weird things.
Ben wasnotcute. He was shy and nerdy. But I couldn’t stop staring at him, wondering how he looked underneath those clothes.
Classes started and life continued as normal. Living with Ben was easy. He never accidentally ate my food or left his clothes inthe washing machine or forgot to wash his dishes. It was really comfortable, sharing an apartment, though I was careful to get changed in the bathroom after a shower and always chose to wear my modest pajamas in the evenings.
One night, I’d left my bedroom door slightly ajar. I was about to meet my friends for a night out, but had decided to change into a dress at the last minute, because the weather was warmer than I thought.
I’d just slipped the floral pink-and-white dress over my head when Ben walked in. “Juliet, I —” he cut himself off as his eyes met mine and he quickly turned away. “S-sorry,” he stammered, eyes on the floor, the tips of his ears turning pink. “I should’ve knocked. The door was open so I thought…” he trailed off.
See, this is what I meant. Harmless. I wasn’t even indecent — the dress was covering all the important parts. But he was still stammering like he’d never seen a girl’s shoulders before.
“It’s okay,” I said. “It was my bad. I decided to change outfits last minute.” I turned around. “Do you mind zipping me up?”
I couldn’t see his face. “Sure,” he said after a long moment, his voice slightly strained. He walked up behind me and slowly zipped up the dress, careful not to let his fingers touch my skin. I appreciated the fact he didn’t want to cross a line. “Pretty lingerie,” he murmured.
Had I heard him right? “What?” I asked.
“Sorry,” he said quickly. “I just meant…your bra matches the dress.”
My bra would’ve been visible as he zipped me up, and my bra straps did peek out from the sleeves of the dress. I didn’t care because I thought the bra was pretty with its lace detailing. And Ben was right. It matched the light pink color of my dress.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Going on a date?” he asked, then let go of me like I was on fire.
I turned around, and was secretly amused to see he was blushing hard. “Nah,” I said with a little laugh. “Just going out with some friends. I’ll be out late, so I’ll try to be quiet when I come in. Don’t want to wake you up.”
He nodded, still looking anywhere but me. “Have fun,” he said, then walked out of my room so quickly, I had to fight back a laugh.
Like I said.Harmless.
About a week later, I was folding up my laundry, which had been sitting in the dryer for the past few days. I should’ve gotten to it sooner, but I’d been so busy with classes, friends and family. My younger sister, Willow, had just started her freshman year at Lacewood U, so I was catching up with her whenever I could, and last weekend, I’d visited my older sister, Ella, who lived in the city. I’d had lunch with her and her boyfriend, Jordan, who’d given me some career advice.
Now, I’d almost finished folding up all of my laundry when I noticed something that made my heart stop. I had my pink lacy bra, but not the matching panties.
I’d definitely put both in the washing machine. So where did my panties go?
CHAPTER TWO
