She gives him her panties

Chloe’s fingers hovered in the air, her pulse thudding in her ears as Aaron held out the folded paper. The late sunlight filtered through the hedge, casting dappled shadows across his face. She took it reluctantly, unfolding the edges with trembling hands. It was a printed screenshot—blurry, low-resolution, but unmistakable. One of the photos she had sent him days earlier. Her own body, captured in black lace, legs spread, fingers between her thighs, face flushed and unmistakable. The image was cropped just enough to leave no doubt it was her, yet still explicit enough to make her stomach drop.

“Aaron…” Her voice came out thin. “Why do you have this printed?”

He shifted his weight, eyes flicking toward the path that led back to the wedding. “The guys… they still don’t fully believe it. They keep saying the pictures could be fake, or old, or something. I told them you’re here today. That you’re really my girlfriend. They want proof that doesn’t live on a phone.” His voice dropped lower, almost pleading. “They said if I could get something… real. Something physical. They’d finally shut up.”

Chloe’s cheeks burned. She refolded the paper quickly and shoved it back toward him. “I already gave you the photos. That was supposed to be the end of it.”

Aaron’s hand closed over the paper, but his gaze stayed locked on her. “I need more, Chloe. Just one more thing. Your panties.”

The words landed like a slap. She stared at him, certain she had misheard. “What?”

“Your panties,” he repeated, voice thick with a mix of nerves and something hungrier. “Right now. While you’re wearing that dress. So I can show them they’re still warm. Still… yours.”

Chloe took a half-step back, the heel of her dark green pump scraping against the stone. “No. Absolutely not. That’s—Aaron, that’s insane. I’m at a wedding. With Josh. Ten feet from a hundred people.”

He stepped closer, the navy blazer straining across his shoulders. “I can show them to my friends. Tell them you gave them to me because you couldn’t wait until later. That you pulled them off right here because you wanted me to have them. They’ll finally stop laughing. They’ll finally believe I’m not lying.” His eyes searched hers, desperate and shining behind the thick lenses. “Please. Just this once. You’re already helping me. Don’t stop now.”

The kindness that had always been her undoing twisted inside her chest. She thought of the bullying stories he had told her, the way his face had lit up after the first night, the grateful flood of messages after the photos. She thought of Josh, laughing with Ethan under the string lights, completely unaware. The satin of her dress suddenly felt too thin, the short hem too revealing.

“I can’t,” she whispered, but the refusal already sounded weaker than she intended.

Aaron’s voice softened. “Then describe them to me first. Tell me what you’re wearing under that dress. Exactly. So I know they’re real when I take them.”

Chloe’s throat tightened. She glanced toward the path, half-expecting Josh or someone else to appear. The distant music and laughter felt miles away. She swallowed hard, the words tasting like defeat even before she spoke them.

“They’re… black,” she began, voice barely above a whisper. “Lace. Matching the set I wore in the photos. The front is a tiny triangle, almost see-through. The back is a thong—thin straps that sit high on my hips. They’re… damp. A little. From walking around in this heat.” Her face flamed hotter with every detail. “The waistband has a small gold clasp on the side. They’re the only pair I brought today.”

Aaron’s breathing had gone uneven. His eyes dropped to the hem of her dress, lingering on the smooth stretch of thigh visible above the dark green pumps. “Take them off.”

“Aaron—”

“Please.” The single word carried the weight of every favor she had already granted him. “I’ll never ask again. Just this. Then it’s over. You can go back to Josh and forget I exist.”

The lie hung between them, fragile and obvious. Chloe closed her eyes for a second, feeling the familiar pull of her own soft heart. She had come this far. She had already crossed so many lines. One more, and maybe the bullying would stop for good. Maybe Aaron would finally leave her alone.

“Okay,” she breathed, the word tasting like surrender. “But hurry. And don’t… don’t look too hard.”

Aaron’s face lit with a mixture of relief and raw excitement. He stepped back just enough to give her space, though his eyes never left her.

Chloe’s hands trembled as she reached under the short hem of the satin dress. The fabric was cool against her palms. She hooked her thumbs into the thin lace waistband and began to ease the panties down. The movement was awkward in the confined space between the hedge and the shed. The lace clung to her skin for a moment, then slid lower, catching briefly on the soft curve of her hips before continuing down her thighs. She felt the air touch her bare skin immediately—cool, exposed, wrong. The dress was so short that the hem barely covered her now. Any sudden breeze, any wrong step, and she would be completely on display.

She stepped out of one side, then the other, careful not to let the fabric drag on the ground. The black lace dangled from her fingers, still warm from her body, the crotch faintly darkened. She had to lift one foot, then the other, to pull the panties free over the pointed toes of her dark green pumps. The motion forced her to balance carefully, the short dress riding up even higher for a dangerous second. She felt the cool air kiss the bare lips between her legs and a fresh wave of shame rolled through her.

She held the panties out to him, arm extended, refusing to meet his eyes. “Here. Take them and go.”

Aaron’s hand closed around the lace. The moment the fabric left her fingers, he brought it straight to his face. He pressed the crotch against his nose and inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering shut. A low, almost reverent sound escaped him. He sniffed again, longer this time, then a third, his free hand curling into a fist at his side as if the scent alone was enough to undo him.

“Fuck… Chloe…” His voice was thick, almost trembling. “They’re still warm. They smell like you. Like… everything. The guys are going to lose their minds.” He sniffed a fourth time, harder, practically burying his face in the thin black lace. His excitement was obvious—his breathing ragged, his cheeks flushed dark, the front of his trousers visibly strained.

Chloe’s stomach turned. She watched him with a mixture of disgust and reluctant pity, arms crossed tightly over her chest as if she could somehow cover the sudden emptiness between her legs. The absence of the panties felt enormous. Every shift of her weight reminded her she was bare under the short satin. The hem brushed the tops of her thighs with every tiny movement, and she kept one hand hovering near the fabric, ready to tug it down if it rode up even a fraction more.

“That’s enough,” she said, voice sharper than she intended. “You have them. Now let me go back before someone notices I’m gone.”

Aaron finally lowered the panties, though he kept them clutched tightly in his fist, the black lace disappearing into his large palm. His eyes were glassy, almost dazed. “Thank you. Really. You have no idea what this means.”

Chloe didn’t answer. She simply turned, the gold clutch still pressed against her side, and walked back toward the path with careful, measured steps. Every movement felt precarious. The satin dress whispered against her bare skin. She was hyper-aware of the cool air circulating between her thighs, of the way the short hem flirted with exposure every time she took a longer stride. She kept her knees closer together than usual, posture rigid, praying no sudden gust of wind would lift the fabric.

The string lights and distant music grew louder as she rounded the corner. Guests still milled about, champagne flutes glinting, laughter rising in soft waves. Josh stood near the bar where she had left him, now talking with Ethan and a couple of older relatives. His eyes found her the moment she reappeared, and the easy smile that spread across his face made the guilt cut deeper.

She forced her own smile into place and crossed the remaining distance, the dark green pumps clicking softly on the stone. When she reached him, Josh’s arm slid around her waist again, warm and familiar. The pressure of his hand against the satin made her acutely aware of how little separated his fingers from her bare skin.

“There you are,” he said, leaning down to brush a kiss against her temple. “Everything okay? You were gone a while.”

“Just helping him find the restrooms and then he wanted to show me some pictures of Mark,” Chloe lied, the words sliding out with practiced brightness. “You know how he gets. Awkward and talkative.”

Josh chuckled, clearly buying it. “Poor kid. At least he’s trying to be social.” His hand rested more firmly against her lower back, fingers splaying across the satin. “You look a little flushed. Want me to grab you some water?”

“I’m fine,” she managed, leaning into him just enough to hide the way her free hand still hovered near the hem of her dress. The absence of her panties felt like a secret burning between her legs. Every shift of her weight reminded her she was completely bare under the short green satin, the cool evening air a constant, intimate reminder of what she had just given away.

Ethan cracked a joke about the speeches starting soon, and the group shifted closer to the main seating area. Chloe moved with them, careful and deliberate, the gold jewelry at her throat and wrists catching the string lights. She laughed at the right moments, smiled when Josh looked at her, and kept her thighs pressed together beneath the dress.

But inside, the shame sat heavy and hot. She could still picture Aaron’s face as he inhaled the scent of her, the way his eyes had glazed over with pure, unfiltered excitement. She could still feel the lace sliding down her legs, the moment the cool air had touched her bare skin. And she could feel the empty space where her panties should have been—exposed, vulnerable, and only a short hem of dark green satin away from the rest of the world finding out just how far her naïve kindness had taken her this time.

Josh’s fingers traced idle circles against her back as the first speech began. Chloe stared straight ahead, the taste of guilt metallic on her tongue, already wondering how much longer she could keep walking through her own life without the ground finally giving way beneath her.