Not that she had anyone to tell, besides Dinah and Maddie. Dinah didn’t care, and Maddie would reduce it all to hormones and endorphins before declaring her sister insane and having her committed. Or calling the police. Or insisting Alice move back in with the responsible Maddie and stop her work as a freelance writer, a profession that barely kept Dinah in Meow Mix and Alice in Lean Cuisines, but one that Alice couldn’t give up. For her, imagination was everything. To Maddie, it was practically the root of all evil. Even Maddie had wondered aloud how two such different souls had managed to come from the same DNA. For Alice, it proved that the world was bigger than scientific explanation.

“So what do you think?”

Was she finally done? Alice stifled a yawn, searching for a truth to tell her sister.

“I think you’re awesome, Maddie.” She couldn’t tell if the silence on the other end of the phone was pleased-Maddie or mad-Maddie, but then her other line rang and when she saw Wade’s name on the Caller ID and heard the “Closer to God” Nine-Inch-Nails ringtone she’d assigned to him, all thoughts of her sister fled her brain.

“My other line,” Alice said, already breathless. It was almost midnight. If Wade was calling this late, it could only mean one thing. “I have to go.” She didn’t even wait for Maddie to protest before switching over. “Hello?”

“Are you ready?” His voice was smooth, like butter, and it melted her immediately.

She played coy. “I’m always ready for you.”

“The blue one, backless. No panties.” He wasn’t playing around tonight. She was fully awake and squirming already.

“No stockings. No bra.”

“But-” The dress was impossible to keep on, just a wisp of fabric really, and without anything underneath…