Page 12

twelve

Miles

W e spent about six hours working on cleaning up her property. It was hit hard, and then she suggested we stop and check on Mr. Kipland. It was a good thing we did. While he has power thanks to his generator, there were a lot of downed branches and trees we were able to clear for him.

Both of us were sweaty, tired, and in need of clean clothes and a hot shower.

Penny comes out into the living room, hair still damp from her shower, of which I spent the entire time she was in there imagining the water floating down her body while she was soapy and ... wet.

Which led to me needing to take a cold shower myself and then jacking off because not even the cool water could stop my thoughts.

She sighs as she sits on the couch. “Eloise said the boys are fine with her tonight.”

I really love my sister right now.

“Ethan and Kai get along so well. I’m sure it helps her.”

Penelope smiles. “It means a lot to me that he has a friend like him. I got a text from Hazel saying the power is still out in the center of town.”

“Yeah, I think the amount of trees down is the issue. Which is why I’m hoping Justin can make it tomorrow for you.”

Most of that statement is true, except that I hope he fixes it. I wouldn’t mind this little bit of forced proximity happening. It gives me time to win her over.

“Yeah, fingers crossed.”

“Although you still won’t have power ...” I remind her.

“That is true, but thankfully Eloise mentioned that she has a portable generator that we could borrow.”

I forgot about that. More like I was hoping Penelope would.

“Whenever you want to grab it, just let me know.”

“Thanks, Miles.”

“No thanks needed. Is pasta okay for dinner?” I ask.

“Pasta is great.”

“Do you like Italian food?”

She nods. “I do. I used to get great food when I lived in Chicago. I think that’s the one thing I miss more than anything. Pizza, pasta, amazing food options that most small towns don’t offer.”

I recline, my arm resting on the back of the couch. “I didn’t know you lived in Chicago.”

The sound that comes from her throat is a mix of a cough and almost choking. “Yeah, when I was ... in college. I lived there.”

“Really? Where did you go?” I ask.

“University of Chicago.”

“Awesome, I went to Loyola.”

She smiles and scooches forward a little. “That’s so funny that we were probably there around the same time. Do you miss the city?”

I shrug a little. “Not much. I usually go back each summer. The only time off I really get is the month of July. Already my email is starting to fill back up with teacher issues, student scheduling conflicts, and coaches who want to know if I submitted things since the teams come back next week.”

“I don’t know how you do it. I hated school. Truly hated it. I’m not ... academic, I guess. I tried and did the college route because that’s what I was told I needed to do. I made it through somehow.”

“What did you study?”

Penelope pauses as though she has to remember. “Advertising. Which gets you nowhere these days since anyone with a camera and the internet can do it.” She claps her hands and gets to her feet. “ However, to answer your original question, yes, I love Italian food. Did you need help cooking?”

I feel as though I just got whiplash. I’m a pretty intuitive guy. I can sense evasion like a hawk; it’s why I was good at my job in the military and why I’m a great principal. Sniffing out when someone doesn’t want to tell me something is a superpower, and my senses are tingling.

If this was a student, I would push or at least try to get them to tell me, but the way that Penelope is looking at me, almost pleadingly, has me pulling back.

Instead of badgering anything out of her, I want her to choose to tell me. To trust me because she knows I won’t hurt her.

So I let this drop and don’t push any more about Chicago.

“Help would be great,” I say, getting to my feet.

We head into the kitchen, and I start getting things out to make my gran’s famous baked ziti.

To be honest, I’m not a great cook.

I can hold my own, but it’s not gourmet in my house. I cook what I know I can make and time my visits to Gran and Eloise’s for dinners at least three times a week. Regardless of what they say, I think they like my stopping by.

“How did you learn to cook?” Penny asks.

“Gran is one of those who thought kids learn best by doing, so Eloise and I were always hands-on in the kitchen.”

She grins. “I love that. I taught myself off the internet. My mother was the opposite and wouldn’t let us in the kitchen if she was working.”

“After being in the education system for as long as I have, I think Gran had the right idea.”

“I’d agree. It’s why I have Kai in the kitchen with me a lot.”

“Kai and Ethan both loved helping with breakfast,” I say, after setting the pot on the stove to boil the water for the pasta.

“Kai just likes to help with anything. He really likes you.”

“He’s a great kid,” I tell her. “He’s kind and polite. I’m glad he and Ethan formed a friendship. I know Eloise thinks Ethan is a handful, and he can be, but he’s a good kid. I know that my life is infinitely better since he came around.”

Penelope pulls her lower lip between her teeth. “You really like kids.”

It’s partially a question and yet it feels like a statement. “This is going to make me sound stupid, but ... I do. I think that kids are the most important humans on this planet. We have a responsibility to them in so many ways. They’ll be the ones to take care of us and this earth as we grow older. They’re going to be the ones who will come up with cures to diseases and fix problems we haven’t even thought of. They’re smart, and their naivety feeds curiosity that adults often tamp down. I think that kids are underrated, and while some days I’d like to walk out of my job and never see another kid again, most days I just want to be around them because they make me a better adult.”

“I—I don’t even”—she stutters—“wow. That was probably the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard.”

I shrug because it’s all true. “Kids are pretty amazing.”

“Well, not everyone agrees with you.”

“It’s their loss.”

Penelope comes around the island closer to where I am. “I guess it is. What can I help with?”

I have something I need help with, but I’m pretty sure she’s not talking about the desire to lay her on the counter and kiss every inch of her.

So I go with the appropriate answer. “Can you grate the cheese?”

“Of course.”

The two of us fall into a comfortable working environment. We talk about my job and what it’s like to be a younger principal. The challenges I face with being both cool and also being respected. I tell her some stories about former kids, and she laughs at the one about the kid who tried to convince me that the drugs we found weren’t really drugs, they were herbs.

She’s sitting on top of the counter, long legs swaying as we eat the rest of the cheese we didn’t use. “Did he think that was some new tactic?” she asks through her laughter.

“Apparently. When I said that I didn’t believe it was oregano, he said I clearly didn’t know my weed from a weed.”

Penelope snorts, and I swear it’s the cutest sound I’ve heard. “Pathetic. ”

“Agreed. I honestly didn’t want to suspend him because I worried missing school would be more of a crime.”

“Clearly he needs to be taught better.”

“And what about you?” I ask, reaching around her for a slice of cheese, not minding that I brush her bare legs.

She clears her throat. “What about me?”

“Tell me some story about you in high school.”

“Hmm.” Penelope looks around before grinning. “Okay, so this one time, my best friend, Teresa, convinced me that there was this group of cannibals who lived on this road in our town. The legend had it that if we went there before midnight, we’d see them sacrifice their next person. Of course, the smart people didn’t go because if this was true, you didn’t want to be the sacrifice, right?”

“I’m guessing you were not the smart people.”

She laughs once. “We were not.”

“Of course, proceed.”

“So we go at eleven thirty and park on a different street, because why would you want your escape vehicle close? Much better to have to traipse through the woods when running from the cannibals who kill people.”

“Yes, much better,” I say with a chuckle.

“So, Teresa and I are out there, on this dark-ass road where I’m pretty sure we had a better chance of being killed by a driver than these people, and we wait there, standing in someone’s yard, hoping to see—I don’t even know what, because if we actually saw what we were there for, I’m pretty sure we would’ve shit our pants. However, we waited, and the only thing we saw was the police car when he rolled up because the person’s lawn we were on called them.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Kids.”

“We were all stupid.”

“Agreed.”

Penelope hops off the counter and stands next to me, bumping me with her hip. “Okay, now you go.”

“Go where?”

She rolls her eyes. “I heard your students’ dumb stories, but now I want one of yours.”

I raise my brows. “Me? I don’t have any. ”

“Yeah, right.”

“I was a saintly teenager.”

“Saintly?” the disbelief is clear in her voice. “If I called Eloise right now, what would she say?”

“You can’t believe a word that comes out of her mouth. She was the second twin, and we think she had a lack of oxygen. Messes with the memories.”

Penelope bursts out laughing. “I think you did some really dumb shit.”

“I’m pretty sure you would think that.”

She turns, moving so quickly she almost falls, but I catch her arms and steady her. There’s an instant shift in the atmosphere. A charge that fills the room as I have her in my hands.

Her lips part and she stares at me for a beat.

The urge to kiss her is stronger than ever. Being around her, just talking like this as we made dinner, is everything I’ve wanted.

I know I don’t really know her.

I know this is just chemistry at this point.

But I’m really fucking good at science.

Penelope lifts her hands, resting them on my chest. “Sorry,” she says softly.

“For what?”

Her big blue eyes are locked on mine, and then, as if she realizes what’s about to happen, she steps back, tucking her hair behind her ear. “For falling ...”

When she starts to turn, I gently grab her wrist and she faces me again. “I’ll catch you. Anytime I’m near.” She glances down at her wrist and then back up to me. I can feel her pulse racing, and then she steps to me. Her hands go back to my chest, and I take her face in mine. “I want to kiss you,” I tell her.

“Good, I want that, too, but ... we can’t be more than friends.”

I brush my thumb against her cheek. “I think we already are.”

Her lids lower slowly and then lift again. “We can’t.”

“Whatever you say.”

I incline my head to hers, moving slowly, tasting the moment and savoring it. She’s clearly hell-bent on keeping me at a distance, and that’s fine. I have plenty of patience.

Penelope lifts up on her toes as I move in to kiss her. I take a breath, resting our foreheads together, allowing her the time to back away if she wants to, but hoping she doesn’t. “Did you know that what we’re doing right now would be kissing if we were turtles?”

She lets out a soft laugh. “I didn’t.”

“If we were otters, we’d hold hands, and that would be their way of kissing,” I tell her, wanting her to be at ease.

Thankfully Penelope doesn’t move away. Again I move my thumb softly against her cheek. “I like the way humans do it best, though.”

She lifts her head, eyes meeting mine. “You do?”

I nod. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

Her head moves just the slightest amount. Penelope lifts up again, her eyes closed, hands on my chest, and she digs her fingers in just a touch, gripping my shirt. I pull her tight against me and press my lips to hers.

I stay still, absorbing the feel of her, drinking in the soft inhale she makes, and then her fingers loosen and she wraps her arms around my neck, molding her body against mine. I move deeper, kissing her just a little harder.

Her lips part and I take the cue, kissing her and sliding my tongue into her mouth. The wet heat is intoxicating. There’s a hint of tomato from when she licked her finger after tasting the sauce.

Each swipe of our tongues makes the kiss more intense. Penelope’s fingers move to my hair and she wraps them around the strands.

Moving us both, I anchor her against the island, and my hands move down to her back, pressing her tight against me.

I could kiss her forever. Do nothing for the rest of my life than this, and while I want nothing more than to strip her down right here and take her, I can’t.

I also need to stop before I do exactly that and fuck up any progress I’ve made.

Slowly, I temper the kiss, bringing it back down in intensity. Not wanting to break away from her completely, I go back to resting my forehead against hers. Her breathing is labored, and once she’s a little calmer, I lift my head to gaze at her .

She’s fucking gorgeous. Her eyes are lust filled and her lips a little swollen. I brush my thumb against them, wiping away some of the moisture. There’s a storm starting to brew in her gaze. I can see the regret or fear hovering over the desire.

I need to break the tension and make her laugh again. “I’m glad we’re not otters.”

Penelope giggles softly. “Me too.”

“But as a friend, I’m happy to hold your hand too.” I step back, releasing her, and wink. “Or any kind of kissing that you’d like to test.”

She shakes her head, laughing, and then lets out a long sigh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I hope she does.