It was a little late for me — I had to get home to work, the impending meeting looming over me like a dark cloud — but still I’d crawled out of Penny’s bed, wishing I could stay there all day.
There were a lot of things from the last eighteen hours I’d never forget, but Penny curled up in bed, swathed in fluffy white bedding in the morning sunshine, her tattoos and purple hair bright against the crispness of her sheets — that was almost at the top of the list. Dancing with her to The Cure and pushing her on the swing were up there too. But the very top? The number one?
Her eyes locked on mine when she’d given herself to me.
A jolt of happiness and pleasure and anxiety shot from my stomach to my throat at the thought. As much as I wanted to talk to her, that moment had been enough for me. She didn’t need to say anything.
I just knew. I knew how she felt and what she wanted. That line of communication was so much deeper than words could ever express.
At the same time, I had to let her lead. So I’d tried to tell myself to go like I knew she always needed me too. And when she’d asked me to stay, it was all I could do not to confess my feelings on the spot. Instead, I’d slipped into bed with her and told her in all the other ways I could that I needed her.
I slid the spatula under the flapjack and flipped it just as her door opened.
She shuffled out, yawning, her hair in a purple bun on top of her head. And she was wearing my dress shirt, the hem cutting her mid thigh and only the tips of her fingers visible past the sleeve cuffs.
I could have died a happy man.
She smiled at me, her eyes blinking slowly as she sidled up next to me and wrapped her arms around my bare waist.
“You cook,” she said in wonder.
I laughed and picked up the box of Bisquick. “No, I follow directions.”
She laughed. “If I’d known I’d wake up to you making pancakes in dress pants and no shirt, I would have asked you to stay over a long time ago.”
I wrapped an arm around her back. “If I’d have known you’d wear my button-down like a nightgown, I would have begged you to let me stay.”
She nuzzled into me, but I felt the wall crumble a little, felt her uncertainty behind it in the small sigh that left her.
So I kissed her crown and changed the subject. “There’s coffee.”
She kissed my chest and slipped away. “You are just too good to be true.”
The words held double meaning, and I knew it. But I kept my eyes on the task at hand, moving the pancake onto the stack I’d been building and poured another.
She poured her coffee in silence and took a seat at the table. When I snuck a glance at her, she was cradling her mug with both hands, bottom lip between her teeth and her brows together, sending my heart off a bridge.
I set down the spatula and strode over to the table. The worry in her eyes was so clear when she met mine, and I knelt next to her chair, grabbing the seat to turn her to me.
“Get out of your head, Pen.”
She didn’t say anything, only watched me with the question Why? shifting in her irises.
“Hey.” I cupped her face with my heart hammering a warning. “It’s okay. This can be easy,” I soothed, smoothing my face, smiling gently with a handful of oats and Penny stamping her hooves in front of me. “Nothing has to change, okay? I … I feel it too, but we don’t have to name it or label it. Let’s just do what we feel like doing, just like we have been. Call me when you want. I’ll do the same. It can be easy, Penny.”
She took a breath and touched my cheek. “Promise?”
And I sighed, the easy smile on my face now one hundred percent genuine from relief. “I promise.” And I sealed the lie with a kiss.
She melted into me, winding her arms around my neck and squeezing to bring our bodies flush, her legs parting to make room for my waist. My hands traveled from her cheeks to her breasts to her ribs to her hips, and then I grabbed her ass and held her to me, using every muscle in my core and thighs to stand.
She wrapped her legs around me and hummed into my mouth as I turned for the bedroom.
Penny broke away, lips swollen. “What about the pancakes?”
“Fuck the pancakes,” I whispered before pressing my lips to hers again.
* * *
Penny
I watched Bodie washing dishes in his white button-down and dress slacks as I sat at my kitchen table with my chin propped on my hand and a dippy smile on my face.
I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
Bodie had spent the night, and I’d slept better than I had in my whole life. He’d made me pancakes and fucked me senseless and danced with me and made me laugh and made me happy. And as freaked out as I was, I kept telling myself that it was going to be okay, just like he’d said.
He’d promised. And I believed him, which was probably naive. In the moment, I couldn’t have cared less.
He turned with a smile, drying his hands on a dishtowel before striding over to kiss me gently.
My eyes were still closed for a second when he broke away, and he chuckled.
I sighed and pried my lids open, chin still on my hand. “I hate that you have to go. How much work do you have?”
His smile fell, and he looked a little tired at the thought. “A lot. Too much. I’m not even sure how we’re going to get it done in time.”
“You will. You’re a mathmagician.”
“Ha. If only I had a magic wand.”
I waggled my brows. “Oh, but you do.”
He leaned down to kiss me again before backing away, his blue eyes searching mine. “Hit me up, Pen.” The words were soft and edgeless but with a hidden request in the shadows.
So I smiled, having heard him and understood, and said, “I will.”
He pressed another small kiss to my temple and walked away, and I watched him until the door was closed.
The second it clicked shut, Veronica threw open her door with her eyes like a couple of fried eggs and her hair a mess, striding into the room.
She pointed at the door. “Oh my fucking God. Did Bodie spend the night?”
I smiled with my lips closed and nodded, making the bun on top of my head bob.
She squealed and did a little Flashdance before swooping into the chair next to me. “I thought I heard him, but I was afraid it was someone else. And if it was someone else, I was prepared to brain you with a frying pan.”
I frowned, offended. “You thought I might have come home from the wedding with someone besides Bodie?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “You’ve done it before.”
“Not true. I always go home with my dates, asshole. But yes, that was definitely Bodie. And he definitely spent the night. And he definitely made me pancakes this morning.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she giggled. “God, he’s such a fucking catch, Pen.”
I eyed her. “Why are you so happy?” I scanned her face and body and lit up. “You got laid!”
Her blush deepened. “No, I didn’t.”
This time, I pointed. “Oh my God, you did! You got nailed! Finally. I was worried your junk was gonna dry up. All dust bunnies and mothballs and shit,” I said, wagging my hand at her nethers.