by K. A. Linde
“You don’t even know what we’re doing.”
“Well, we’re not having sex. So…it’s definitely unexpected.”
He laughed and moved his hand to my leg. “There’s always time to turn around.”
“I’m way too intrigued now.”
“Good. Because I think you’ll enjoy this.”
We only drove a short distance before Penn pulled over and then marched us onto a dock. My eyes widened in surprise. This wasn’t the dock where Lewis had kept his enormous yacht that felt more like a cruise ship than the boats I was used to in Charleston. This dock felt much more familiar. Still wealthier than back home, but at least in a similar league.
“Have you ever sailed before?” Penn asked as he stopped us before a beautiful sailboat.
I shook my head. “Nope. But I’ve always wanted to try.”
“Today is that day.” He hopped onto the boat and offered me his hands. “Come on board.”
I reached for him as I stepped down into the sailboat. “Wow, this thing is gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” He tossed me a life jacket. “Put that on.”
“Super sexy.”
He glanced up at me from the front of the boat where he was checking the sails and grinned. “Orange is your color.”
“I feel ridiculous,” I told him.
“Better safe than sorry,” he said as he hopped back down and began to move us out of the dock.
He’d been right. It was a beautiful, windy day with a perfect, clear sky that I could only imagine made for good sailing weather. And Penn had obviously done this before…many, many times. He walked back and forth on the deck like an expert, pulling lines and hoisting sails and steering. It was hot as fuck to watch him.
I’d never cared much for boats or anything like that. It was Melanie who loved boats. She went out nearly every weekend with her friend Marina, whose family owned a boating company. I’d gone a few times, but I preferred the beach with a good book.
I thought, if I’d gone sailing with a guy as hot as Penn Kensington, I might have a different appreciation for boats.
“So…you sail,” I noted the obvious.
“Little bit,” he agreed, sinking back down to steer us.
“Did your dad teach you?”
His mouth tightened, and he glanced down. “Yeah, he did.”
I could tell that was a sore subject. I didn’t know why I kept bringing up his family. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it. And we were casual. We weren’t dating or anything. He didn’t need to talk to me about his parents. I just wanted to know, and I couldn’t help wanting to know.
I’d say it was the writer in me, trying to find out all his secrets and figure out how to piece him all together. But it was just something about the pain and anger that crossed his face when the parents were brought up that made me want to help put him back together. But…not today.
I changed tack. “So, how long have you been doing this?”
“Basically, my whole life.”
“That’s incredible.” I leaned back, tilting my head into the sun and smiling. “This is almost as good as the beach. I can see why you like it.”
“It’s relaxing. It usually keeps my mind off of things.”
“Like what?”
“Life. Everything. I don’t know,” he said. “It quiets everything that I have going on and that I have to deal with. So, it’s just this moment.”
“I get that.”
“Hey, come over here,” he said, gesturing to where he sat as he steered.
“Are you going to teach me?” I walked over to him.
“Do you want to learn?”
I shook my head. “Maybe another time. Right now, I like you in charge.”
He pulled me down onto his lap. “Just right now?”
“Are you fishing for compliments?”
“Do I need to fish for them?”
“Oh my god, are you going to answer every question with a question?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
I pushed at his shoulder, but he just laughed and pulled my lips down to his.
“Tell me more about yourself,” he instructed.
“Like what?”
“What’s your favorite food?”
I slid off of his lap and quirked my eyebrow at him. “That’s so generic. We went from your deepest, darkest secret in Paris to favorite food.”
He kissed my shoulder. “I know so many intimate things about you. I want to know the rest. The mundane things.”
“Why?” I couldn’t keep the word from leaving my mouth. I wanted to tell him the mundane things. But it was hardly casual-sex material. It was more…first-date fodder.
“Is it so hard to believe that I enjoy your company and want to know more about you?”
“No,” I said softly, “but…”
“Just answer the question and stop overanalyzing everything with your writer’s brain.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “I can’t help it.”
“Trust me. I know.”
“Fine. Pizza.”
“I should have guessed. You practically drooled when I told you I was ordering some a couple of weeks ago. Guess I know what we’re having for dinner. I know this place in East Hampton that’s sinful.”
That sounded like…a date.
No, it wasn’t a date. It was just…friends hanging out. Friends with some pretty incredible benefits eating food. Normal. Chill.
“What about you?”
“Spaghetti.”
“Yum. More importantly…favorite dessert?”
“You have a sweet tooth?”
I grinned. “I wouldn’t say no to a doughnut.”
“My favorite is probably the German chocolate cake my longtime cook, Tiffany, used to make for me. Nothing tastes like hers.”
“Of course you grew up with a cook.”
He stood to adjust something. “She taught me how to cook too. Told me it was the only way I was going to survive college. She was right.”
“Your parents didn’t send a cook to you for college?” I joked.
“They tried, but I wanted to get away, so I tried to distance myself from that lifestyle.”
“Jesus,” I muttered.
He sank back down next to me. “Favorite book?”
“Easy,” I said, reaching for his hand on instinct. “Pride and Prejudice.”
“Ah, and the romantic finally comes out.”
“Oh, shush. What about you?”
“The Great Gatsby.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tragedies. Right. I almost forgot.”
“Gatsby is classic.”
“You’re right. It’s genius but still so fitting.” I stood and turned my face into the wind. “My turn…favorite road-trip destination?”
“Never been on one.”
I gasped and whirled on him. “You’re joking!”
“No,” he said with a laugh at my reaction.
“Never?”
“I’ve driven to places before, but usually, it’s like between the Hamptons and the city.”
“That’s insane. I started road trips young. My parents loved them even though I could never figure out why they wanted to be in the car for that long. But part of it was just the journey rather than the destination. Then, Amy and I road-tripped to Los Angeles one summer.”
“Fuck! LA? Seriously? How long did that take you?”
“Two weeks. It’s about three days of actual driving, but we stopped along the way. Her cousin was going to UCLA and didn’t want to make the drive. Her parents offered to ship the car there, but Amy and I decided to drive it out.”
“That’s insane. Who would want to be in a car for three weeks?”
“It’s the basis for my book actually.”
“The one you won’t let me read?”
“I won’t let you read any of them,” I told him playfully. “But no, not the one that I just sent to Caroline. This was the one I was working on when I first go
t here. I’m going to go back to it when I finish the new one.”
“What’s the new one about?”
I looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. “A woman’s journey and love and finding the place she belongs.”
“Isn’t that like…half of all books?”
“Exactly.”
“All right. You’re not ready to tell,” he conceded. “How about Christmas plans? What are you doing for the holidays?”
“Oh,” I said in surprise. “It really depends on this job, I suppose. I’ll probably go back to Charleston for the holidays with my parents and Mel. But, otherwise, I haven’t thought about it. What about you?”
“Christmas is the best time to be in the city. But usually, I have an uncomfortable brunch with my family. Then I get together with the crew and exchange presents. Open a really expensive bottle of scotch and finish it.”
“Besides the uncomfortable brunch, it sounds nice. You’ve found family with your friends, and that’s important.”
“That’s a good way to think about it.” He nodded at me. “Your question.”
I chewed on my lip and tried to think of what to ask. I had a question I knew that I probably shouldn’t ask. But I was extremely curious.
“Any exes?” I asked to the wind.
Penn froze where he was seated, which answered my question well enough.
“Never mind. That’s awkward. You don’t have to answer that. We’re not dating or anything.”
“No one important enough to mention,” he said and then stood to grab me closer. “And I don’t want you to answer.”
“Really?”
He threaded his fingers up into my silver hair and brought our lips together in a sensual, intimate kiss that made my toes curl.
“I don’t want to think about you with anyone else.”
I melted into putty in his hands. Then I nodded. Not that I had anything to really say. Serial relationships or not…none of them had ever really mattered. It was hard to wonder what I’d seen in any of them when I was staring up into Penn’s clear blue eyes.
“Come on now,” he said. “I’m going to teach you how to sail.”
“Oh god, really?”
“Yeah, get your sweet ass over here, and I’ll show you how to handle a big stick.”
I rolled my eyes. “Pretty sure I’m already a pro at that.”
“Touché,” he said and then went into a lecture on terminology.
Thank god he was pretty.
Natalie
22
“If you ask me one more time which way is starboard or port, I will take my heel off and stab you with it,” I warned him.
Penn chuckled. He was leaning against the doorframe in his Upper East Side penthouse bathroom. Totle was curled up on the bed unhappy that we weren’t paying attention to him since we were getting ready for the Chloe Avana concert instead.
“You’re going to get it eventually.”
“I already have it! I just don’t test well,” I complained. Story of my life, honestly. Thank god Grimke University cared more for high school grades than standardized test scores.
“I’m going to make you sail next time, you know.”
“I have done it once! That’s not how it works.”
“That’s how I was taught,” he reasoned.
“Not happening.” I glared at him in the mirror as I pulled the straightener through my long hair one last time. It fell like a shiny sheet down nearly to my ass. “What do you think?”
“I’m thinking we’re going to be late.” He stepped forward and scooped me up into his arms.
“Oh my god!” I cried as he carried me into the bedroom and tossed me onto the bed next to Totle, who excitedly hopped up and licked my face.
“Aristotle, you’re ruining the moment, little man,” Penn said with a smile as he petted Totle’s head.
“We don’t have time anyway. We’re already running behind.” I pulled my hair over one shoulder.
“There’s always time,” he reasoned.
“The only thing we have time for is for you to tell me pink or red lipstick.”
“Trick question?” he asked. “Red obviously.”
“Why is that obvious?”
“Because later, when you’re sucking me off, you’ll leave a red ring behind, and I can think about that all night.”
I blushed unexpectedly. “You have a filthy mind.”
He gave me a hard kiss. “You’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg, Nat.”
If this was just the beginning of how his mind worked, I was both terrified and excited to see what else there was to come.
I quickly applied a layer of cherry-red lipstick, and then we left for the concert. As easy as it was to be with Penn, I didn’t know how I was supposed to act tonight. I wasn’t part of his crew, but we weren’t together either. We were somewhere in this in-between place. Casual…yet not. Friends with benefits…yet not. Not exactly at least.
Were we just supposed to be friends at this concert? Were we supposed to be nothing? Should I not be worrying about this at all? He was honest with his friends. Maybe they already knew what was going on between us, and I was second-guessing our arrangement for no reason. I didn’t know how to bring it up either. So, I decided I would just follow his lead. If it was clear that they knew we were sleeping together, then it’d be no big deal. But if he hid it, then I could do that, too. Maybe…
We met Katherine and Lewis outside of Madison Square Garden. She looked stunning with her dark hair in her signature supermodel waves. I was sure that Emmanuel had spent hours on her appearance to make her looks natural and flawless. Lewis was more casual in jeans and a button-up. He still had a bit of stubble on his cheeks, and it looked good on him. His face lit up when he saw me and Penn walking toward them.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me off of my feet.
I laughed and hugged him back. “It’s good to see you.”
“Lewis, please,” Katherine said.
He set me on my feet and shook hands with Penn. “Bro.”
Penn smiled back in that easy way he always did around his friends. I didn’t always understand their dynamic or the way they all seemed to not be entirely themselves. But I could tell that there was love there. Born of long years spent together, going through the same chaotic times of their lives.
Katherine reached for my hand and veered me away from the boys. “Here’s your pass.”
In awe, I took the lanyard VIP pass from her hand. I’d hardly been to any concerts, growing up. And in college, Amy had dated the bouncer at one of the venues, so we usually just snuck into crappy shows. First row tickets to Chloe Avana at Madison Square Garden had to have cost a fortune.
“I don’t know how I’ll be able to pay you back,” I told her.
“Oh, don’t be gauche. It’s a gift. No repayment needed. It’s the least I can do, considering how bad I felt after the gala.”
I was still not certain about Katherine. I liked her. I liked being around her and being in her circle of friends. But she seemed like the kind of person whose bad side you never, ever wanted to be on. That having her as a friend was a sincere privilege, and if you ever lost her favor, you would be better left to the dogs.
Her kindness made me uncomfortable. Especially because I knew there was no way that I could repay her. And I thought she liked that.
“I really didn’t mean project like that,” Katherine said carefully as we scanned our passes. The guys filed in after us. “I was just dealing with Camden. You can understand.”
“He’s awful.”
“The worst,” she agreed.
“Why are you marrying him?”
Katherine shrugged her petite shoulders and waved at a girl who was staring at her with round eyes. “It’s a society thing.”
“I couldn’t imagine not marrying for love.”
“Happens all the time,” she said, fluttering her fingers at a group of girls in a corner. “And any
way, it’s not like love matches have a perfect success rate. Love equals divorce a lot.”
“True,” I conceded. “My parents are still together.”
“What a miracle. I suppose you could say that mine are too.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Right through here.”
We moved into the arena and to our seats, which were nearly dead center in the very first row. I could practically reach out and touch the stage, which was lit up before me.
“These seats are amazing,” I groaned in amazement.
“Totally. And I have six of them. But Lark had to work, and Rowe backed out last minute.”
“Why?”
“He said—and I quote—‘Because I don’t want to go.’”
“Classic Rowe.”
“Tell me about it.”
I pulled my phone out. “I’m going to need to take a video and put this up on Crew. My sister is going to kill me.”
“Oh yeah, I heard that your sister came into town, and you all went out without me.”
I hadn’t even thought to invite Katherine that night. I’d been too busy with Amy and Melanie. I was sure that Katherine and Amy would clash. They were a match made in hell.
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“No matter. I would have loved to meet your friends. Maybe next time.”
“For sure,” I said because I knew it wouldn’t happen again.
“God, I need a drink,” Katherine said. “Penn, darling, let’s go get drinks.”
“You want to go get drinks?” he asked in a perplexed voice.
My eyes shot to his, and I realized that I could read his discomfort in a way I certainly hadn’t been able to before. And it wasn’t just because he had no interest in being at a Chloe Avana concert.
“Go on ahead,” Lewis said. “I’ll chill here with Natalie.”
“Be right back,” Katherine said, latching on to Penn’s arm and walking back out the way we’d just come.
“I can’t believe she got us these tickets,” I observed.
“Chloe gave them to her,” he said, stretching out in his seat. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Wait, what? She knows Chloe Avana?”
“Katherine is a socialite. It’s part of her job to know people who matter. And to be seen at events like this.”