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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE MORNING AFTER

ADELINE

The morning wakeup is entirely different than yesterday morning.

For one thing, we woke each other up all night long.

After we had sex the first time, we took a long shower, exploring each other slowly in there, and then we fell asleep talking about how fun the party was, how much we shocked everyone…

and I woke up to his mouth between my legs again.

The way this man makes me feel. I should’ve known he’d know what he was doing, but HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN THIS KIND OF MAN EVEN EXISTS?

I was thoroughly loved up last night after the first orgasm and then the second surpassed that.

The third one in the shower made my legs give out and he had to hold me up while he gave me a fourth.

Then the fifth one, I woke up with him between my legs, and the sixth one when he slipped inside me from the back, as his fingers did lazy circles over my center… it’s been the best kind of night.

I don’t even know what to think.

I expected to have a good time with Penn. I knew that I liked him too much, that I’m unbelievably attracted to him, that we just seem to mesh so well together, but I seriously did not see this coming.

Our bodies are like freaking porn stars together.

I sneak out of bed. We both fell back to sleep after that last time and he looks angelic lying on his side, facing where I was lying, his hand stretched out like he’s reaching for me.

I wash up and put on a cute, oversized sweatshirt and leggings, pile my hair in a messy bun, and go to the kitchen to make breakfast. It’s Sunday morning, and despite the night I just had, I feel energized and want to make sure Sam’s taken care of.

What Sam said last night, when he checked to make sure I was okay with this…

it endeared me to him even more. I don’t have a lot of experience with kids his age, but the few I’ve been around haven’t been so considerate of other people’s feelings.

That he could go through all he’s been through and still be concerned about me at all is just further proof of how special this boy is.

I didn’t bring all my clothes or any furniture yet, but I brought my juicer.

I get the ingredients together for a green juice I already know Penn likes.

It’s one of the players’ favorites. Then I fill a pan with spicy chicken sausage and turn it on low, beat eggs for a veggie and cheese scramble, and then work on smoothing out the pancake batter.

When I hear footsteps upstairs, I turn on the pan for the eggs and dollop out the perfect portion of batter on the griddle.

Then I turn the juicer on and have enough for all three of us by the time Sam walks into the kitchen.

He sees all the food going and his eyes widen. “Wow! What are you making?”

“A few things. I figured we’d all be ready for a nice Sunday brunch after sleeping in a little this morning.”

He comes over and checks it all out. “Yum. And pancakes too?” He rubs his stomach. “I can’t wait. How do you make all this?”

“I used to follow recipes to a T and now it just all kind of lives up here.” I tap my head.

“I can show you how to make whatever you’d like to cook, if you’re interested.

” I turn the eggs down before taking the pancakes off the griddle and putting a pat of butter on each one.

I pile them high and pour another batch on the griddle.

“Totally,” he says, excited. “I want to learn how to make all of it.”

“All right. It’s a deal. I’d love your help.” The microwave dings. “Oh, would you grab that? It’s our syrup.”

“You heat up the syrup?” he asks in wonder.

I grin, loving his enthusiasm so much. “I think it adds a nice touch and keeps the pancakes a little warmer, longer.”

“Yeah! I never thought of that.” When he gets it out, he takes it to the table and looks around, seeing what else he can do. “Should I set the table?”

“Yes, please. Kinda forgot to do that before I started all this.”

“I got it,” he says. He already knows where everything is more than I do.

Penn walks in as I’m turning off the eggs and have the last stack of pancakes to carry to the table. His hair is wet and he’s got sweats and a white T-shirt on…barefoot. I swoon a little inside and can’t wipe the goofy smile off of my face.

It helps that he can’t either.

He walks toward me, smiling at me and then over at Sam. “Mornin’, you two.”

“Mornin’,” I say, my shoulder lifting as he nuzzles into my neck, his scruff tickling my skin.

“Mornin’!” Sam calls. “You’re not gonna believe what all Addy made.” He runs down the list of food. “Come on. It’s all ready. You came just in time.”

“This looks amazing. Thank you for all this,” Penn says, brushing back hair that’s fallen in my eye.

“I think I’m going to really love feeding my boys,” I say shyly.

Penn stares at me for a long moment, as if he’s trying to discern whether I’m just playing a part in front of Sam or if I’m telling the truth.

“I mean it.” I lift up to whisper in his ear before I move past him.

He puts his hand on my lower back, following me, and sitting at the head of the table where Sam has the table all set.

“And even my favorite green juice?” Penn says, his eyebrows lifting. “Sam, this is the juice I was telling you about. I think you’re going to love it.”

“It’s very green,” Sam says, sounding somewhat nervous.

“Trust me. It’s way better than it looks.” Penn lifts his glass and then downs it in five seconds.

“ Whoa ,” Sam says. He lifts his glass and so do I, tapping our glasses together, and we both drink it. When we come up for air, Sam’s grinning. “Wait until I tell Cassidy I did that. She’s gonna be so impressed.” He leans in. “She’s a little pickier than I am.”

I lean in, matching his excitement with my own. “Tell me more. Is Cassidy someone you like? Just friends? She’s really pretty.”

He takes a huge bite of pancakes and smirks over at Penn as he tries to chew with his mouth closed. When he finally finishes, he clears his throat and holds up his finger, pausing another second to take a big drink of water.

“The suspense!” I moan.

He laughs and Penn looks at us, amused.

“I’ve liked Cassidy for a long time, but she’s so like—” he holds up his hand— “up here and I’m so—” he lowers his hand— “down here.”

Penn growls. “Not true.”

“I know you say that, but it is true. She’s just like,” he shakes his head in wonder, “she’s amazing. There was this other girl at school that was all about me and I thought she was nice. We kissed.” He lifts his shoulder up. “But I just always go back to wishing it was Cassidy.”

“She is a few years older than him,” Penn tells me.

“Maybe she’s your Elle though,” Penn says, pointing his fork at Sam.

“If you still feel that way when you’re eighteen or nineteen, you better be letting her know.

” He frowns. “Or maybe when you’re twenty or twenty-one…

whatever you do, just don’t wait until you’re thirty-one. ”

We all laugh.

“Is that what Rhodes did with Elle?” I ask.

“Yes,” they both groan.

“I don’t know anything about love, but even I could see that they belonged together!” Sam says. “Just like you and Penn.” His eyes are bright as he looks between the two of us.

Penn glances at me and smiles. “You think so?” he asks Sam, but his eyes quickly find mine again.

“I know so,” Sam says. “Every single time we’ve ever gone out, like to a restaurant or to Top Golf…

anywhere…girls will come up to Penn and he used to flirt and get all these numbers thrown at him.

” He rolls his eyes when Penn tries to protest. “You know it’s true.

” He leans in and grins at me. “But then, when he came back from the Bahamas, he told me about you.”

I perk up. “Did he really?”

Penn slides his hand down his face and gives me the side-eye. “I told you—you were on my mind.”

“He’s never talked to me about any girl. Not a single one. And then when I saw you together, it was like, oh yeah,” Sam says, nodding and giving us a cheesy grin.

We both laugh.

“You’re killing my intrigue, dude,” Penn says.

Sam’s hand flies out toward me. “You gotta let her know. She’s your wife now. You’re telling me all the time that I should tell Cassidy she’s pretty, or tell her how I like her hair or something like that…” His head tilts and he looks over at me. “Did he tell you that you look pretty this morning?”

You’re so fucking beautiful. Those were the words he chanted as he rode me hard in the wee hours of the morning. I press my cold glass of green juice up to my cheek to cool off.

“He did,” I say, somewhat raspy.

Penn nods, his lips tipping up in a closed smile, his eyes dancing with mischief. “I did, didn’t I? I’ll say it again though, to set a good example. You look really pretty this morning.”

My God, these guys are too much. “Thank you. You look really great too. You too, Sam,” I throw in there, and Sam eases the tension when he sits up straighter and pushes his hair back.

“Thanks,” he says. “I’m trying to get some of Penn’s swagger. What do you think?” He runs his hand through his hair and then does an expression that Penn makes when he’s about to say something funny or sexy, and it’s so fitting, we all crack up.

“I see what it’s like. There’s going to be a lot of ganging up on me around here, isn’t there?” Penn says, when we finally quiet down.

“You are really fun to tease,” I tell him.

He sends me a look that sends desire pulsing through me. “I don’t mind you teasing me one bit.”

I exhale a shaky breath. It’s going to be a constant challenge not to kiss his face off.

Somehow, this marriage, for Sam’s sake, feels more self-serving than I expected it to. The lines got blurred last night, and I like it that way. I’ll just have to stay on top of my feelings a little bit…not let myself get too carried away if we’re not on the same page here.

But damn, it’s hard to do when he looks at me like he can’t wait to get me back in bed.