Page 131 of On the Double

Yes, it was creepy as hell, but I had no other ideas right now. They were giving me a way out, and I was damn well gonna take it. “It’s a tradition,” I smiled. “Maybe you want to give us a few minutes alone.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at me in horror. “You want to be alone? Rubbing each other’s feet?”

“Just for a few minutes. It’s sort of a…personal thing.”

She stumbled back a step. “I had no idea.” She looked at Brock and Lock, then lowered her voice. “Do…the other wives know about this?”

“Oh, yeah,” Brock nodded. “They’re totally cool with it.”

“Um…Edu, I’m not sure I’m okay with this. It’s a little creepy.”

“Creepy?” I laughed. “What’s so creepy about—” And then I realized that she thought we were taking a few minutes to do other things than…massage each other’s feet. I cleared my throat, and that’s when I got caught.

“Is—is that makeup on your face?”

My eyes widened and I took a step back, tripping over my own feet. “What?”

“Are you wearing makeup?”

The nervous chuckle that left my lips was almost my undoing. “Why would I wear makeup?”

“Why would you massage another man’s feet?” she retorted.

I licked my lips nervously. There was no way out of this. I was going down with the ship, and it was going to be an icy cold death. “Look, it’s not what it looks like.”

“I certainly hope not,” she snapped.

“Uh…I think that’s our cue to leave,” Lock said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

“Don’t you go anywhere,” Harper ordered.

I felt my own balls crawl up inside my body. I was pretty sure they felt the same way. “Pookie.”

“Don’t you dare call me Pookie. What’s really going on?”

“I—” I had no excuse. No good way to break it to her. “Before you get upset, just hear me out.”

She gave a swift nod.

“I may have broken my word to you.”

She exploded in anger. “You fucked another woman?”

“What? No! I…” I lifted my shirt, showing her the bandage covering my wound.

Silence filled the house and I glanced at Lock. He shot me an unknowing look, shrugging slightly. There was no telling how hard she would cry or how long it would last. All I knew was that whatever happened, I had to be sensitive to her feelings. After all, this was all new to her.

“What happened?” she whispered.

“It’s a long story, but…basically, I was stabbed.”

She covered her mouth, staring at me in horror. “Stabbed?”

“Pookie, I’ll be okay with a couple of days of rest.”

The silence was unbearable. I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her as she wept, but there was something odd about her face. There were no tears.

“Pookie?”