I rubbed my arms and nodded. Yeah, that was it. Please, let that be it.
“No. I would never do that to anyone. I’m just looking to leave. My brother trapped me in here in what feels like forever ago, and all I want to do is get out.”
Now I felt terrible. His own brother killed him. He probably starved to death in here. Forgotten by the world. That was horrific. Thank goodness Laura wasn’t here, or she’d start blubbering.
“I’m so sorry. Just know that you aren’t alone. Do you see a light? If you see a light, walk toward it.”
“Do you see a light?”
What? Why would I see a light?
“No, of course not. I’m not dead.”
Perhaps if I told him the truth, he’d be more willing to cross over. That might be the best move here.
“I would hope not. I didn’t think dead people could open doors,” he said with a chuckle.
I liked his laugh. It was warm and deep and rumbled across my chest, hardening my nipples.
Ewww. Was I getting turned on by a ghost? Maybe I should see a therapist, like many of my exes had suggested.
“No, but living people can, like me.”
I heard movement, and then his voice grew louder, like he was right in front of me. “You can get us out of here?”
“No, what? I meant that I am alive, and you are—” The words died on my lips as I gasped.
I had reached out, and my fingers touched something. It was warm, a little smooth, but felt like hair on skin. Then it moved.
“That’s my nipple.”
I jumped and stumbled back, landing on some boxes. “Holy moly, you’re alive!”
Chapter 3
Monty
“YES, I’M ALIVE. WAIT . . . did you think I was dead? Like a ghost?” I asked as I placed my hand on my now hardening nipple.
“Uh, nope. Totally knew you were alive this whole time,” she said with a grunt. I heard some things move and wondered if she had walked into the boxes like I had earlier.
“Watch out for the boxes. There’s a lot of them in here.”
“I gathered. So, if you aren’t a ghost, which I will deny to my grave that I ever thought you were, then why are you in here?”
Rubbing my forehead, I knew I couldn’t tell her everything about me being in this storage room. Especially not the whole naked part. She would freak out if she knew she was trapped in here with a naked man.
James would find it even more hilarious than his ridiculous plan for me to streak the Jingle Ball. As much as he would taunt me, he wouldn’t leave a stranger stuck in here. He was happy to mess with me, but not anyone outside the family.
“When my brother comes back, he’ll let us out. Once he knows you’re here, he’ll open the door.”
There was silence. It was weird being in a room with someone I couldn’t see, knowing I was naked, but they didn’t. It made the silence unnerving.
“You never answered my question.”
No, I didn’t. I was hoping thoughts of my brother rescuing us would distract her. I was wrong.
“Oh, you know . . .thought this place looked interesting and walked inside. Now I can’t get out.”
She hummed but never said a word.
“Like I said, once my brother gets back, he’ll get us out, and all will be good. In fact, I’ll let you out first. You don’t even have to look at me if you don’t want to. Just leave and pretend this never happened.”
Did James leave more ribbon? Maybe I could fashion a dick and ball cozy. If she looked once we got out, I’d say it was part of the costume I was changing into.
That would be a weird costume. God, nothing about the situation was right. I couldn’t even cover my junk without it appearing creepy.
“Why hasn’t he let you out already? You said he trapped you in here. Why?”
I laughed. A huge, guttural, nervous laugh. No matter how I put it, there wasn’t an answer that didn’t appear strange and pervy.
“Now you’re making me nervous.”
That’s not what I wanted to do.
“Look, it’s complicated. And strange. And if you knew my brother, it would make sense, but you don’t. At least, I don’t think you do. Anyway, he thought it would be funny to trap me in here.”
I left the naked part out for obvious reasons.
“Seems a little juvenile to me. I’d never do that to my sister. Sure, I replaced her perfume with apple cider vinegar mixed with pickle juice once, but that was when we were teenagers.”
“Where’s your sister? Does she live around here?”
“Yes. She lives in D.C. with her sleezy boyfriend. She’s here tonight, but she works in the kitchen. She won’t be back until this is over. No chance of her rescuing me. I hope she doesn’t think I flaked on the job . . . again.”
“You don’t live in D.C.?”
“No. I, uh . . . live outside it. Not much of a city girl.”
That’s different. At least from the women I had met. Most of them couldn’t fathom living away from a city.
“Most of the women I’ve met love the city. I wonder if some of them ever stepped foot off the concrete and onto grass. I once asked a girlfriend to go camping with me, and she wondered if it was like glamping.”
“Glamping. What’s that?”
“That’s what I asked, too. You bring all the luxuries of home to the great outdoors. She wanted me to construct a bed in the woods, mattress and all.”
I heard a snort followed by laughter. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory.
“We never went camping together.”
“You mean glamping.”
We both burst into laughter. It took a minute and me wiping at my tears, but I finally caught my breath.
“Yeah, we didn’t last long.”
“Does your brother work here? That’s why I’m here. My sister got me the job of a coat check person. It’s not glamorous like glamping, but it helps pay the bills.”
My eyes shifted to where I thought the door was, praying James would choose that moment to open it. But nothing happened.
I didn’t want to tell her anything about me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. She seemed to have a sense of humor, and her willingness to keep asking me questions meant she was sharp. Someone I’d like to know outside of a dark closet, which was exactly why I couldn’t tell her my name.
If she, no . . . when she discovered I was naked with her the whole time, she’d never want anything to do with Monty Diaz.
“Yeah, I’m working it too. I’m playing Santa. That’s why I was in here to change, but then my brother thought it’d be funny to lock me in.” I cringed as I gave her a blatant lie.
“I thought I read on the brochure it wasn’t a Santa but a non-denominational-festive-season person. The picture they had looked like if Santa had sex with one of his reindeer and Glinda the Good Witch got in on the action.”
I chuckled. “You’re right. I just didn’t want to have to say all that, so I shortened it to Santa.”
There was silence again, and something about it felt uneasy. Like I had to watch my back.
That’s when I felt her hand. It was on my cock.
She yelled, and the hand moved away as quickly as it landed.