My fingers dragged across her shoulder blades and back again. “I remember.”
“He used to manipulate me, gaslight me to make me think I was crazy, which made me crazier. It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy. And even at that, I never left him.”
“Penny, you aren’t responsible for what he did to you. And plus, we were just kids then.”
She backed away and propped herself up on her elbow. “But see, it changed me. I looked at what happened with him and knew I didn’t want to feel that way anymore, ever again. And in my brain, that meant not letting myself care about anybody. So I conditioned myself over eight years. And everything went along shipshape, until I met you. You came along with your dimple and torpedo cock and sank my battleship.”
A laugh burst out of me, and she smiled.
“But then I was drowning. Clearly, I do not know how to swim. It was cruel really,” she teased.
“I’m not sorry I sank your battleship, and neither is my torpedo.” I propped my head on my hand.
Penny giggled, her cheeks rosy and smile warm. “I ain’t mad atcha. That ship was a bucket of bolts.” She paused, perking up. “Oh, I meant to ask you how your hand was.”
I showed her my knuckles, which were almost fully healed. “All better.”
She held hers up with a smirk— they were a little scraped up. “Mine too.”
My brow quirked, and I reached for her hand to inspect it. “What happened?”
“Well, I couldn’t let you be the only one to get licks in on Rodney.”
A surprised laugh shot out of me. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “He called you a loser, and I punched him in the eye.”
I laughed even more and kissed the back of her hand.
“And then he called me a psycho, and I kneed him in the balls.”
That one earned her a kiss on the lips.
“God, I wish I’d seen that.”
“There might be a YouTube video out there somewhere. Who knows?”
I chuckled. “Well, I have a confession to make since we’re confessing things.”
One of her brows rose. “Oh?”
“Mmhmm.” I watched her, smiling. “I knew from the jump that I wanted to be with you, and I knew I’d have my work cut out for me when it came to convincing you to let me stick around longer than a few dates.”
Her mouth opened in a red O that wasn’t at all serious. “You fucking sneak! Heart-ninja sneak, with your heart-ninja stars that make girls fall for you. I’ve been tricked.”
I chuckled and rested my hand on her hip under the blanket. “More like lion tamer than a ninja.”
She lit up. “Ooh, do you have a whip?”
“No, but I can get one.” I leaned forward to kiss her, laughing through my nose.
“I like it. I’m the lion. How are you gonna keep me from eating your face off?”
“Just gotta keep you well fed.” I pulled her hips into mine to show her just what I could feed her.
She laughed. “That’ll do.”
I smiled at her for a minute. “Scared?”
“Fucking terrified.”
“Trust me?”
And she leaned into me, cupping my jaw as she said against my lips, “Without a doubt.”
Donut You Know?
The sun broke in through Bodie’s window, shining a ray of light across his nose and lips, illuminating them from behind and casting them in shadows in the same feat of physics.
I didn’t know how long it had been since I’d woken — not overly long, I didn’t think — but I didn’t care to move. I didn’t care if my phone had a bazillion texts or if the world was on fire. All I wanted to do was lie there next to Bodie.
I watched him sleep with a smile on my face. His hand rode his chest up and down as he breathed slow and deep, and his hair was mussed, his face soft and young and beautiful. And in that moment, I swear I was the luckiest girl on the whole planet.
Somehow, he’d taken me back. Somehow, we were going to be together, and as scary as that was, I had no fight-or-flight urge at all. I had the love-and-snuggle urges instead, which was far preferable.
He pulled in a loud breath and shifted as he woke, and I lay there, practically bouncing as I waited for him to open his eyes.
When he did, they found mine, and he smiled.
“Hey,” he said sleepily.
“So, whatcha doing today?”
He chuckled and rolled over to grab me and pull me into him, nuzzling into my neck. “Hopefully, you.”
“That’s a guarantee. Wanna spend the day together?”
“Mmhmm.” He kissed my neck, slipping his thigh between my legs. “I wanna take you on a date.”
“Ooh, fancy.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and hitched my leg onto his hip.
“Fancy date for my shiny Penny.”
I smiled and pulled him even closer. “Can we go by my place and pick up some stuff?”