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twenty-nine

Miles

I wrap my arm around Penelope’s shoulder, pulling her against my sweaty chest.

“Eww, stop,” she complains with a laugh.

I kiss her temple and lower my voice. “You like when I’m sweaty.”

She ducks her head and I imagine her pink cheeks. “Not like this.”

“Oh, only when you can be sweaty too?” I tease.

Her eyes meet mine. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You’re adorable.”

“You need a shower.”

I grin. “You should come home with me and make sure I don’t miss a spot.”

Her blue eyes flash with heat, and she plays with the silver medal around my neck. “Maybe I will. You are a podium winner, after all.”

We played really well today. Much better than we have all year. I was actually quite remarkable, if I do say so myself. It was almost like the team of last year, where we were in sync and all the plays just clicked.

“That I am. We almost had the gold too,” I remind her.

“You did very well.”

I kiss her softly, and then Kai rushes to us. “Can we go to Mr. Lachlan’s house today? Rose said that she can swim in the falls, and I want to swim in the falls, too.”

Penelope shakes her head. “Not this time, buddy. You have school tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure you still have homework to do.”

He grumbles a little but then sighs heavily. “Fine.”

I chuckle and watch as he runs off. “I have homework to do too,” I tell Penny.

“Oh?”

“I need to study some anatomy.”

She laughs. “You do, huh?”

“I do and I need a live model,” I tell her.

“Wow, I hope you can find one on such short notice.”

“I was thinking a redhead with blue eyes might be open to it.”

Penelope’s smile is slow. “I wonder where you plan to find one of those?”

I pull her back to my chest, her hands splayed there, and I grin down at her. “I think I already found her. What do you say? Will you let me strip you down and see if I remember what goes where?”

God, I really hope she says yes. The last few nights I’ve had to work late and haven’t been able to go to her house. I’ve missed her. So fucking much.

“What part of the body are you studying?”

“The lower half.”

She lifts up on her toes. “I think I could help with that.”

I pull her up so we’re eye to eye. “I can’t wait. Come on, I’ll drive us home.”

We make the thirty-minute trip back to Ember Falls. Kai asks a lot of questions about why we did certain things and the rules of Ultimate Frisbee. Afterward, we come up with a schedule for the week. Friday is our next home game, and Penelope and Kai will be there with me again.

“Did you like the game the last time?” I ask him.

“It was super cool!” Kai exclaims.

“This time, do you want to come on the field with the mascot? You can even hold the leash,” I offer up to him. Everett will really appreciate this. Brutus is an absolute menace, and watching Everett try to control him is priceless.

“I can?” Kai asks.

Penelope, seeming to know what I’m up to, cuts in. “No, you cannot hold the leash. You can stand with Mr. Everett—if he says it’s okay.”

Well, there goes my fun.

Kai is still smiling. “Okay, I’ll ask him!”

I grin at Penny. “Killjoy.”

“Troublemaker.”

I shrug. “You love it.”

We pull up to my house, and I feel a bit of nerves hit me. Penelope and I have been together for almost three months. We’ve been at her house, or on nights when Kai is with my sister, or when last week he went to stay with Quinn, we’re at my house.

Lately, I just want every night with her. A lot of it is that I’m constantly on alert, and when I’m not near her, I feel unsettled. I worry and find myself making every excuse to spend each night together. She’s safer when she’s close to me, where I can protect her and Kai.

This week I had a new security system installed in my house. I want one more barrier to entry. One more way that if someone tries to get to her, they have an obstacle, and it gives her time, which is what she needs to hide or run.

On top of that, I asked Eloise for some help to do something else for her and Kai.

Once we park, we get out and I let them in, putting in the code.

“You have an alarm system?”

“Yes, I had this put in for when you’re here.”

She smiles at me. “You’re sweet.”

“I’m prepared.”

I’m also sweet, but this isn’t about that. It’s about something else, and I have to ask her, but I have no fucking clue how it’s going to go over.

“Kai, can you go into the game room for me? I got you something.”

His eyes widen. “You did? ”

“I did, but I also need to talk to your mom. You’re welcome to open and try it out, and we’ll come in as soon as we’re done, okay?”

“Okay!” He rushes out of the room, and I hear him scream when he sees the arcade game I bought. Every kid should get to play arcades.

“What did you do?” she asks.

“Don’t worry about it. Listen, I want to talk.”

Her body tenses just a little. “Okay, is there something wrong?”

“No, just the opposite. I want you to move in with me.”

Penelope steps back. “What?”

“Move in with me. Stay here. We’re together all the time anyway, and you’ll be safe here. I have the alarm system, put in a new door that’s reinforced and can’t be breached. Doug is installing cameras next week, and I did something else.”

Here it goes.

“What did you do?”

I take her hand and walk her to what used to be a guest room. I slowly push open the door and show her the transformation.

Gone is the neutral guest room with a queen bed and two nightstands, and there is a bunk bed with a full on the bottom. There’s a Lego table off to the right and a dresser with a television mounted on the wall. The room has lighting around the top that changes to every freaking color combination possible. My sister was adamant that I didn’t do a bedding with characters on it, and so I went with a blue-and-gray color scheme.

Penelope inhales, her hand on her chest. “This is ...”

“For Kai. If you don’t want to move in with me, that’s fine, but at least he has a place of his own. He and Ethan can use this room for sleepovers or?—”

Before I can say another word, Penelope has her arms wrapped around my neck and her mouth on mine. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her to me, and return her kiss.

Instead of letting this kiss get carried away, I pull back and lift her up so her legs are around my middle. “Are you happy?”

“I can’t believe you did this,” she says breathlessly.

“Why can’t you?”

“We’re so new. ”

“I love you. I want you both with me.”

She stares at me as though she can’t really believe what she sees. “I love you too.”

“Will you at least think about moving in? You’d save money on rent, and I make a pretty good bodyguard.”

Penelope’s hand moves to my face, and she brushes the stubble there. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.”

I hope the answer is yes.

“Where’s Penny?” Hazel asks as she finds me at the football game.

“She should be here any minute,” I reply, although she’s about fifteen minutes late.

This week I had a huge issue at the school with two students who got in a fight, and when I suspended them both, both of their parents wanted to have meetings with me. That meant that Tuesday night, when I was supposed to have dinner and watch a movie with Penny and Kai, I was here until nine, because no matter what I said, the family wasn’t hearing me. One day missed with Penny and Kai. Then on Wednesday it was the other family. I didn’t think it could be worse than the first, but I was proved incorrect.

Thursday is the day before game day, and I always have to stay late because home games in Ember Falls often get out of hand. I met with the sheriff and county police to establish whatever safety protocols they want. Tonight’s game is against our biggest rival, and last year the benches and the stands cleared.

It was absolute mayhem.

“How did the threats go?” Hazel asks with a smirk.

“You mean the entire school assembly, where I had to basically inform everyone that if they participated in any kind of altercation, they’d be expelled? It went over like a ton of bricks.”

I’ve been the cool principal since I started. I don’t hold that title anymore.

I’m now the asshole. As an Ember Falls alum, I should know better. We’re playing against Spring Hills. They’re the worst. They’re dumb. I’m supposed to support the anarchy.

“You are a traitor,” Hazel informs me.

I glare at her. “I’m trying to stop a riot.”

She laughs. “Oh, please, you were the one who led the fight when we were seniors.”

“I did not.”

One brow lifts. “No? I think you’re mistaken, friend.”

Okay, so I might have done that. They were worse back then. It was also a different time. We didn’t worry about them bringing weapons.

“Whatever.”

She nudges me. “So I heard you asked Penelope to move in?”

I try not to think about it all the time, because she still hasn’t given me an answer. We planned to discuss it again. I was hoping we could tonight, but between our schedules, we just haven’t had the time.

“I did.”

“And?” Hazel asks.

“I don’t know.”

Her eyes go soft. “It’s a big step. She’s got a kid to think about too.”

“I’m aware. I would never do anything I wasn’t sure about.”

I’m sure about her. About us. About the fact that she is the only person I can see myself with.

“As someone who has known you almost my entire life, I know this, but it’s still new. I can imagine that I wouldn’t be rushing to move in with a guy after just a few months. Give her some time.”

“Did she say something?” I ask, knowing Hazel and her penchant for pulling information out of people.

She shakes her head. “No, we didn’t talk. I mean, we kind of did. She told me you made a room for Kai and asked her to move in.” Hazel places her hand on my arm. “If you want my opinion, and this isn’t based on anything that Penny said, just from what I know about her from working for me, it was probably a little scary. She’s skittish in some way. I assume there’s a good reason for it, but I don’t know. She sent me a text yesterday morning, saying Kai wasn’t feeling well and she’d be out of work for a bit.”

“He’s sick?” I ask.

I figured she would’ve at least said something.

“I guess. I told her it was no big deal, and that I would cover the store. She’s off the next two days after that for her normal schedule.”

Why wouldn’t she tell me? I know I’ve been busy, but even just a text message would have been fine.

I grab my phone, wondering if maybe I missed it, but the last text was last night, when she said she was really tired and asked if I could just see her at the game today instead of coming by.

“Maybe she’s sick too,” I say, relaying part of the text to Hazel. “Maybe that’s why she didn’t want me to come there last night.”

“Could be if she was feeling sick or Kai was.”

I shoot off a text.

Hey, are you okay?

I wait, but nothing.

“Mr. Anderson? It’s time for the coin toss.”

I turn to Hazel with a sigh. “I’ll be back in twenty. Keep an eye out for her and sit over in that section there. I saved us a row.”

“Sure thing.”

I head out onto the field to help keep the peace. The principal of Spring Hills and I agreed to come out together and do the coin toss to avoid the kids talking any kind of shit while standing there. While I may have grown up hating Spring Hills, bunch of assholes, Damon is a great guy, and we have no issues.

We get to the center and shake hands.

“Miles.”

“Damon, good to see you.”

He smiles. “You as well. I’ve given the best warnings I can.”

I chuckle. “Me too. Let’s hope this one goes better than last year.”

“Seriously. ”

The referee nods to both of us, and Damon calls heads.

Dude, tails never fails is a saying for a reason.

It lands on tails, and I was told by the head coach that under no circumstances were we to defer.

I let the ref know of our choice, and Damon and I shake hands again. “Good luck.”

“You too, Miles.”

The teams all line up, and the national anthem is played. We continue to stand in the middle with the referees, again to show that we can be civilized, and then it’s time to kick off.

I check my phone to find still no response from Penelope and go up to my seats.

“Did you hear from her?” I ask.

“No, nothing,” Hazel says.

“I’m going to call,” I say, having this unsettled feeling in my stomach. I get around the side of the snack stand, where I can get a little privacy, but it just rings and goes to voicemail.

Maybe they’re napping or ... I don’t know.

Still, I can’t help but worry a little.

I send a text off to Doug.

Me: Hey, can you swing by Penelope’s house and just check and make sure she’s okay? I’m at the game and I can’t leave, but she’s not answering her phone.

Doug

We’re pulling in now, but I’ll drop Eloise and the kids off then go by if you want.

Thanks.

Doug

You’re so going to owe me.

Put it on my tab .

Eloise, Ethan, and Cora make their way to where we’re all sitting.

“No fights yet?” my sister asks.

“It’s only been two minutes.”

She shakes her head. “Slackers.”

I keep my phone in my hand, in case Penelope or Doug calls.

I wait.

And wait longer.

Finally it rings and it’s Doug. “Hey,” I answer on the first ring. “Did you check on her?”

“Miles . . . she’s gone.”