Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbia #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,57

not exactly like this. I rarely knifed my belongings.

But I didn't need to fix it. I was leaving soon anyway. And someone who was skipping town didn't care about the possessions they were leaving behind. I slid the knife down the length of the comforter. The fabric slit beautifully, stuffing pouring out. There was something oddly satisfying about it. Was that how it would feel to slice Noah open? I stabbed Noah's pillow all the way through and the knife only stopped because it hit a spring in the mattress. Would that be what Noah's bones felt like? A little resistance? I twisted the knife.

Snuggle Muffins whimpered.

I stared at the knife in the pillow. What the hell was I doing? I turned back to my dog, ignoring the fact that I'd just been fantasizing about cutting flesh. "I was practicing. Don't look at me like that." I yanked the knife out of the pillow.

He cocked his head to the side, judging me.

I wasn't sure what his problem was. I was protecting him too. It's not like I'd ever use the knife on his cute little body. We were a team. What was I even thinking about? I still needed to finish my search. "Go check the bathroom, boy."

Instead of listening to me, Snuggle Muffins lay back down.

Laziness. That was the only excuse. I made my way over to the bathroom. Snuggle Muffins was in a particularly unhelpful mood tonight. But he’d growled at my drug dealer neighbor earlier. He'd been snippy with Charlotte. He usually had my back. At least as much as a dog could. So I felt fairly safe as I turned on the lights in the master bath. Besides, the bathroom was small for a master and I could tell Noah wasn't in there.

But he had been. I reached down and lifted the damp towel off the floor. Had he taken a freaking shower? There were splashes of water all over the tiled floor. And the rest of his clothes were strewn about. Oh God, was he naked? I should have been terrified that he was definitely somewhere in the house. But I was a little excited at the thought of him running around hiding from me in his birthday suit. His body was more delicious than the candy canes in my Christmas stocking. Stop it. I didn't want to see Noah naked. I'd seen it before, but him being gorgeous didn't mean his personality matched. He was hideous on the inside. If his outside matched his inners, he'd be wrinkly with a wonky eye, a crooked nose, and missing front teeth. A monster.

I threw the towel back down on the floor. When I found him, I'd make him hang it up like a normal human instead of the Neanderthal he was. He was so freaking annoying. I was a housewife, not a maid paid to clean up his shit. I shifted the knife in my hand and walked back out into the bedroom. Where the hell could his naked ass be?

Snuggle Muffins started barking again.

"Please stop it." I lifted him into my arms. "You keep freaking me out." He quieted down as soon as he was in my arms. I'd gotten the most needy dog in the world. But I was pretty sure he comforted me as much as I comforted him. And I was never letting him go again.

A siren sounded in the distance. My first thought was that someone had called 9-1-1 when they spotted a butt naked Noah streaking the snowy neighborhood. That would be enough to call the police. It was possible that he was also brandishing one of my knives though. Maybe even yelling things about his crazy wife kidnapping him.

But then the vehicle started honking. By the sound I knew what was actually going on and it had nothing to do with Noah. I threw open the curtains, not caring that my knife sliced through the fabric. The fire truck was still far away. I could just make out its lights a few streets over. But I was positive that Santa Claus would be sitting atop it, waving. The fire department had one of the firefighters dress up like Santa and drive by before Christmas every year. They all tossed candy to the children and spread Christmas cheer. I always loved the spectacle.

A part of me wanted to stay by the window and wait for the truck to reach my street. But I couldn't do that right now. I let