Free I See You by Ker Dukey, D.H. Sidebottom

or phone sex, or whatever the hell she’s into now. How she can think about anything other than the house cooking us alive is beyond me. Because of my attack, anything sexual makes my stomach turn, so I press play on my iPod and turn the volume to low, just enough to disguise Tricia and co.
    Pulling the thin drapes back, I push the window open further, trying to tempt a little more air into the stifling heat of my room.
    My gaze goes straight to my neighbor’s house. I can’t help it; his main bedroom faces mine, the small gap between the houses doing nothing for the privacy between each house. And he is in his bedroom. He has the ceiling light on, illuminating the space. I know because of this, and my lack of lighting, he can’t see me watching him. I’m being a creeper but I can’t not watch him. It’s like gravity is pulling my eyes to him, forcing me to see. He’s laid on his bed, his back leaning against a large wooden headboard. He’s wearing shorts, his torso naked as his concentration is directed at an open laptop perched on the bed beside him.
    I study him for a moment, my curiosity making me feel strange, awakening slight desire mixed with pure inquisitiveness. After a year of being alone, his sudden presence feels peculiar but if I was honest with myself his presence was oddly welcome. I’m so used to being the only one out here in the hills. My nearest town and neighbor are at least two miles away. So now I have company, I can’t figure out how I honestly feel about it but for now I’m not running or scared of this new company.
    I still instantly and my heart rate increases when his hand moves to his shorts and he starts to rub himself over the top of the tight blue cotton, his erection clearly exposed when the outline of his cock is stroked by his own hand.
    “Shit,” I whisper to myself, my head turning to make sure I’m still alone and Tricia hasn’t suddenly appeared.
    When his fingers push down the waistband of his shorts, I know I should look away, pull the drapes and leave him to it, but oddly, I can’t. My throat starts to close in, my mouth drying when his cock springs free from the confines of his underwear.
    “Oh, crap!”
    Yet, still I can’t remove my eyes from his pleasuring, his caress mesmerizing as he curls his fingers around the thick shaft and his hand begins to glide up and down smoothly. My breath hitches as fluid suddenly coats my mouth. My lower belly throbs and I hate the way it feels when my nipples harden, pushing against the thin material of my tank and stimulating them further.
    What the hell is happening to me?

I WATCH HER TOSSING AND turning in bed. Her beauty, even in the dark confines of her bedroom is hypnotic. Her every move is displayed to me via my laptop. I’d been lucky the other night when she’d run to the store, giving me a quick chance to slip in and plant a couple of cameras. One in her bedroom and the other in her kitchen. The new wireless cameras that connect to my laptop via GPS were heaven sent, the fact that they didn’t need installing a godsend when it had taken me mere minutes to set them up rather than the usual few hours that wired ones do.
    I missed her more than I ever knew I could miss anyone. I’m so tethered to her that when that was cut, it was like choking on my own sin. I lived in two worlds; mine and Noah’s, and mine and Nina’s. I’d hoped to keep them apart, asked for him to let me keep her, but Noah doesn’t possess empathy. He doesn’t know love or compassion, and my own is more a weakness to him than it is to me.
    “This is the life we were born into, Devon. There is nothing else for us. You can’t have both.”
    And he was right. My worlds collided, causing mass destruction. Noah is a snowstorm; cold, isolating, and deadly. And I had to make a choice; I couldn’t be in both worlds so I’ll live in one. Hers.
    Seeing her today with her best friend made me feel disjointed. It’s tough learning to be me and stepping