by Rye Hart
“We need to talk about last night,” I said. “I’m sorry for—”
Penny held up a hand as she closed her computer to set it on the couch next to her. “We don’t need to talk about it,” she said, rising up from the couch to face me. “It’s honestly okay. It was a one-time thing, right? We were both pretty drunk.”
Something about that last sentence settled hard in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t like the sound of it. I stood in front of her on the cusp of doing the right thing by walking away, but also wanting to cave in to that desire spreading through me again. I could see the same conflict flickering in Penny’s eyes as she swallowed visibly.
“Just a one-time thing?” I asked.
She blinked in surprise. I surged forward to clasp the side of Penny’s neck and tilt her head upwards. I kissed her long and hard, relishing in her sweet lips underneath mine. She kissed me back with a soft moan of relief while her arms wrapped around my shoulders.
CHATPER EIGHT - PENNY
I couldn’t shake the feeling of Gabriel’s lips on mine. Even if every fiber of my being was yelling to get away, that this wasn’t right, and yet it felt so perfect at the same time. He tasted delicious, of winter air and coffee. His strong hands were cupping the sides of my neck tenderly as he kissed me passionately.
The intensity of it all shook me to the core. I had been imagining this since coming home from the club last night. I couldn’t get rid of the memory of Gabriel’s lips pushing up against mine, or how his hands felt on my body as he had given me the best orgasm of my life with just his fingers. I had to try very hard not to think about what his cock could do to me.
Nerves had crashed over me all morning, though, when Alyssa told me that her father had gone to stay at a friend’s house for the night. She had no idea what had happened, and I planned to keep it that way. I didn’t want to let this ruin our friendship after gaining it back after all these years, but at the same time, I couldn’t tear my lips away from Gabriel’s as he continued to kiss me as if he was thirsty for something.
He kissed me with expertise that left me completely helpless in his hands. My lungs burned for air, but it was the confusion blossoming in my chest that forced me to push myself away from him. I gasped for breath as I took a few step backs to put some distance between us.
“We-we can’t do this,” I said, alarmed by how easy it had been for Gabriel to unhinge me. “You’re right, we can’t. God, Penny, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You are just doing damn beautiful. But no, we can’t do this. I promise you, it won’t happen again,” Gabriel said, standing to walk over to the wall of windows and stare over the city.
I nodded mutely at him right as the front doors to the condo opened, followed by the sound of Alyssa’s heels clicking on the tiled floor.
“Penny? So, I stopped by Victoria’s Secret again and—” Alyssa stopped short when she realized that her father was standing in the living room. “Oh, Dad. I thought you were at the office. You just called me nearly thirty minutes ago.”
I glanced over at Gabriel with a pounding heart. He had called to see if I was alone. I could read the expression on his face before it went blank when he looked over at Alyssa.
“I had to come home for the afternoon,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion. “There was something at work that I needed to talk to you about.”
Alyssa blinked a few times in surprise. “Talk to me about? Like what?”
“Like your mother.”
Those three little words brought a thick and awkward silence. I quickly gathered my laptop from the couch to give them privacy to talk. I knew from Alyssa that her biological mother was a painful subject that she rarely talked about with her father. They normally pretended that she didn’t exist, just like the way she’d done with them for a majority of Alyssa’s life.
“I’ll give you both some privacy,” I said, passing by Alyssa who set a few shopping bags down on the floor. “I’ll be in the guest room.”
“You can stay here,” Alyssa said. “You don’t have to leave us alone.”
I caught Gabriel’s troubled stare over the top of Alyssa’s head. “It’s okay. Your dad wants to talk to you.”
A frown tugged at Alyssa’s mouth as she took in my full lips and flushed cheeks. She glanced over at Gabriel, who turned around to gaze out the windows again.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “What’s wrong with the both of you?”
“Nothing is wrong,” I said hurriedly. “Come find me after you’re done talking to your dad. We can go get some coffee later.”
I walked down the hallway in the direction of the guest room. Closing it behind me with my foot, I sank back against the door with my laptop clutched closely to my chest. I let out a trembling breath.
“Holy fucking shit,” I gasped. “What the hell is happening?”
I ran a trembling hand through my hair, and I walked across the room to set my computer down on the bed before collapsing on it. I sucked in a deep breath as I tried to keep control over my racing heart. If I hadn’t pulled away, there was no doubt what would’ve happened with Gabriel. Neither one of us seemed to understand the pull between us; even though we knew it couldn’t happen.
It couldn’t happen. At all. This sort of thing would destroy Alyssa in the process if she knew that I had nearly let things go too far between her father and me. Still, the ache between my thighs was almost unbearable.
I slid my hand down over my flat belly and under the thin fabric of my sweatpants. I spread my legs slightly and parted my tender folds with my fingers, feeling the thick wetness at my core. I sighed softly as I sank a finger into myself and imagined it was Gabriel’s thick member. I stroked deep inside myself a few times before pulling out and spreading my juices over my swollen clit. I rubbed myself in small, quick circles until I came, biting my lip so I didn’t scream. I lay still for a few moments afterward, trying to slow my breathing back to normal. Now that I had relieved the ache, I felt confident that I could avoid Gabriel and any more awkward situations.
The door to my bedroom opened thirty minutes later when I was absently scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed. I caught sight of the pale look on Alyssa’s face, and a stab of fear went straight through me. She sat down on the edge of my bed with a numb expression on her face.
“What is it?” I asked, closing my computer. “Alyssa?”
“My mother is here in Chicago,” Alyssa said. “That’s why my father came home. She came by his office to serve some papers, to tell him that she is suing him for something to do with his work.”
I let out a relieved breath before scooting close to sit next to her on the edge of the bed.
“She’s trying to sue him?”
“Something about copyright issues,” Alyssa mumbled, shaking her head. “I never realized how much of a bitch my mom is until now. She didn’t even want to come into the city to see me, you know?”
“She hasn’t been a part of your life since you were a baby. She doesn’t deserve to know what is going on in your life.”
“It still hurts, though,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “I just wish she would stay away for good and stop torturing my dad. I know it broke him when she left and that’s why he’s never remarried, or even dated much. He’s given his whole life to me, and as much as I appreciate that, he deserves not to hurt all the time.”
I felt a pang of sympathy for Gabriel, and for my friend who was clearly distraught that the woman who had given birth to her wanted nothing to do with her.
“I’m sorry, Alyssa,” I said, wrapping an arm about her shoulder. “I know it’s fucked up. Some people aren’t meant to be parents, you know what I mean?”
“No kidding,” Alyssa replied, sighing.
Even though I was not in a good place with my own mother right now, I knew she still loved me in her own way. Growing up with my mother hadn’t been a horrible experience. Money had never been much of an issue. She made sure that I had what I needed or what
I wanted. Nothing drastic had happened until recently. It wasn’t until the past few years that she decided to start finding love that I noticed our relationship had completely changed in ways that hurt more than I wanted to admit.
“I’m thankful for my dad. He’s never made me feel like I can’t ever go to him with anything that is going on my life. Speaking of my dad,” Alyssa twisted around to look at me with a frown. “Are you sure everything is okay with you? The two of you looked like you were upset about something when I walked in.”
“It was nothing,” I said, rising from the bed to avoid Alyssa’s eyes. “He was upset with your mom, so I think that’s what you were picking up on. Everything’s fine.”
The lie felt bitter on the back of my tongue. I tried to keep my face straight when I turned to look at Alyssa as she gazed at me.
“Let’s go out for a little bit,” I said. “What do you say? Get some coffee like I suggested?”
Alyssa’s face visibly brightened at that. “Let’s do it.”
“I’ll get changed. There’s an old coffee and ice cream shop around here that my dad used to take me to.” I forced a smile on my face. “I think it’ll cheer you up instantly. What do you say?”
“I say it sounds perfect,” Alyssa said. “Let me tell my dad where we’ll be. He wanted to make sure that we didn’t run into my mom.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be out in a second.”
I slipped on a pair of jeans while I half-listened to Alyssa and Gabriel’s muffled voices in the next room. I needed to figure out what I was going to do. I knew that I couldn’t go home to New York, but I was no longer sure that I could stay here either. Though I told myself I could stay away from Gabriel, I knew it was a lie. It would take very little for me to end up in his bed.
CHAPTER NINE – GABRIEL
I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of Alyssa and Penny’s chatter as they walked down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen. The smell of brewing coffee followed a few minutes later. I rolled over to gaze out the window at the slow drizzle of snow outside. No matter how hard I tried to comprehend the past few days, I couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it. I couldn’t get past why I felt this indescribable urge to kiss Penny Marshall all the time. Things had transformed between the two of us at a startling pace, visibly alarming Penny.
It wasn’t right. I knew that it wasn’t, but I kept thinking about how good it felt to touch her, and to kiss her. All of it had felt so sinfully good that it left my erection throbbing with excitement all over again.
“Fuck,” I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face. “What am I going to do?”
I had other things to concentrate on that needed my undivided attention. Like the Miller lawsuit lingering over my damn head like a dark storm cloud. I handed over the papers to my own legal team yesterday, and while they assured me much of it was ridiculous, I knew it was meant to do one thing—to rattle me. Throwing my worries over my daughter into the mix only rattled me more.
For years, anxiety plagued me constantly over Alyssa’s need to have a female presence in her life to help her through womanly things that cropped up as she grew. She never once complained, but I knew that she needed that feminine influence.
Oddly enough, I noticed having Penny around seemed to fill in those gaps. She had someone to go shopping with, to get her hair and nails done with, and take trips to the spa. She’d had none of that growing up with me. It added to the guilt coursing through me that morning as I slipped out of bed. I padded over to my private bathroom to take a shower.
Penny’s gorgeous face resurfaced in my thoughts, and I reminded myself it had been a one-time thing. It had to be a one-time thing. That much, Penny was right about. Nothing could happen between us anymore. I made a mental vow to myself when I stepped under the hot spray to keep my distance until the girls went back to college. I would have to keep my urges under control, no matter how difficult it might be.
Penny and I still needed to talk about it, though. I needed to make it clear that I had no intentions of pursuing anything further. Penny was young, on the cusp of graduating college and about to enter an adult world for the first time. She didn’t need to get tangled up with an older man like me, who had more than a few issues clinging to his back.
The hot water eased the headache pounding furiously in my temples. I finished washing up before I could concentrate on any lingering memories of touching and kissing Penny. I dressed quickly in the slightly chilly air of my room before heading down the hallway to find Alyssa and Penny both sitting in their sweat pants in the kitchen with cups of coffee in hand.
“Morning,” Alyssa said. “Want some coffee?”
Penny glanced over her shoulder at me. Our eyes clashed together, and it sent jolts through me. I nodded to Alyssa’s question, and she got up from her chair to grab a cup for me. I kept the kitchen island between Penny and myself while I waited patiently for Alyssa to pour me a cup.
“What are your plans today?” I asked casually. “Anything exciting?”
“I think we are just going to hang around here,” Alyssa replied, sitting back down. “Maybe brave the Christmas traffic again to explore Chicago a bit more. I don’t want to be cooped up here all the time.”
“There are some nice museums here,” I suggested with a small smile. “I believe Penny might enjoy them.”
“How’d you know that I like art and museums?” Penny asked.
She gave me a long sideways look, but it was Alyssa who spared me from answering. “Because you’re always reading those books about art. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”
“Oh.” Penny’s cheeks reddened as she looked back over at Alyssa. “A few museums would be nice. Something different than the chaos of downtown and the Christmas shoppers.”
“Dibs on the bathroom first,” Alyssa said. “I’ll get showered since it takes you longer to wash all that long blonde hair of yours.”
She reached forward to tug on an errant strand of hair framing Penny’s face before breezing by me. An awkward silence hung in the kitchen while I listened for the shower to turn on down the hallway. Once it did, I felt safe to try and talk to Penny.
“About yesterday—” I said.
“It’s fine, Gabriel,” Penny interrupted. “Please don’t make this more awkward than it already is.”
Penny slid off her chair, not willing to face me fully. I drummed my fingers anxiously on the counter top as I tried to figure out what to say that would lessen both of our nerves. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the week with this hanging over my head like everything else.
“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable here,” I said.
“I’m not uncomfortable here,” she replied, sweeping up her mug of coffee. “It’s much better here than it would be going home to visit my mom for Christmas. Let’s put it that way.”
“I get the sense that is supposed to make me feel better, but I don’t know what I’m comparing it to.”
“You don’t need to know,” Penny said. “I have to get ready for the day. Thanks for trying to clear the air, but I’m an adult. I’m not necessarily an innocent when it comes sex.”
She left the kitchen with the last part of that sentence lingering in the back of my mind. Fuck me. Somehow, it turned me on even more. I ran a hand through my damp hair in aggravation as I left the kitchen to sit down at my desk to do a couple hours’ worth of work. I needed to do something to keep Penny off my brain. It was an hour later that Alyssa stopped in the living room to kiss me goodbye.
“Do you want to come with us?” she asked, squeezing my shoulder and smiling. “It’d be fun to have you around. It’s a Saturday too, Dad. I don’t know why you’re insisting on working right now.”
I offered a forced smile because I could see Penny visibly stiffen in the foyer at Alyssa’s invitation. “You two go on. I have to keep working on this presentation. Have fun, the both of you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes, go on
. Have fun.”
I let out a pent-up breath the second that I heard Alyssa and Penny shut the front door. I listened to their retreating steps and voices as they walked in the direction of the elevator before rising out of my chair. Nothing would ever make any sort of a relationship with Penny right. I sat down on the edge of the couch to flip through a few channels in an attempt to find something good to watch. Nothing caught my attention.
The buzz of my cellphone on my desk broke through the silence. I rose from the couch, tossed the remote carelessly on the coffee table, and looked down at the caller ID. This would be a good distraction, at least.
“Hello, Neil,” I said. “What are you up to?”
“Michelle and the kids have gone away for the weekend,” Neil said. “I thought enjoying the silence in the house would be nice, but I’m going fucking crazy over here.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. “I know that feeling very well.”
“I have a proposition for you,” Neil continued on. “Since Michelle is out of the house this weekend, I have no one to answer to.”
I rolled my eyes at his excited tone. “Good for you. Make sure to throw a big house party, drink all her alcohol, and then get the house cleaned up before she comes back home at the end of the weekend.”
“Very funny. I was going to ask if you wanted to go back to that club we were at the other night.”
I grimaced at the thought of alcohol after that nasty hangover the following two days, and the prospect of going back there didn’t sound appealing at all. It had landed me into some solid trouble.
“I’m not sure,” I replied, crossing the living room to gaze out the windows. “I have some issues going on here at the moment that started with that night.”
“Do any of those issues have to deal with Penny Marshall?”
I went rigid as a board at his suggestion. Swallowing thickly, I tried to think of a way around the question. I had no idea how Neil knew who Penny was, or that something had happened between her and I. It set me on edge, thinking that anyone had seen something that night. If they did, it was only a matter of time before something was said.