Page 58 of My Brother's Roommate (Frisky Business 2)
“That you’re used to people giving up on you. And that I could be the one to break that pattern.”
“Damn.”
“Is it true?” she asks, her voice small.
“Maybe.” I reach across the table, taking her soft hand in mine.
Lucky for me, she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she squeezes tight onto my thumb, like she’s not going to let go. And I hope she never will.
“Listen, Penelope. I’ve always seen myself as so complicated. Too complicated. For you, for anyone. Thought I’d just be better off alone, not imposing my bullshit on anyone.”
“You’re not too complicated for me, Wolfie,” she says earnestly, blinking up at me with her sweet turquoise eyes.
It’s almost too much for me. I’m not used to feeling so much, but with her, it’s like my heart’s wide open and there’s no place to hide.
“You’re kind and generous,” she says, “and despite what you think, you’re a good man.”
I swallow. “I’m trying to understand that. To learn to accept my past and move forward with my future. And there’s no version of that future I can imagine without you.”
Her pretty pink lips barely part as she draws in a quick, shaky inhale. “How am I supposed to know you’re not just going to run away again?” She ducks her head, staring deeply into her mug, as if the answer were buried in there somewhere.
I don’t know how to convince her, to assure her that I’m not going to pack up and leave again. I’ve done an awfully good job of tarnishing my track record thus far. What can I say? What can I do?
“Move in with me.” The words fall from my lips faster than I can stop them, but once they’re out, I realize just how much I mean them.
Penelope, however, is rightfully confused. She recoils, pure shock draining the color from her face. “What? You’re insane.”
“No, I’m in love with you. And I don’t want to live alone when we could be there together. That’s how serious I am, Penelope. I want you with me, all the time, twenty-four/seven. Move in with me.”
Her features soften, and something beautiful and sweet shimmers in her eyes. “You’re . . . you’re in love with me?”
I can’t help the smile teasing my lips. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Sliding her mug aside, she pushes to her feet and leans over her tiny kitchen table, capturing my lips with hers. She tastes even sweeter than I remember. Like flowers and honey. Like my future.
Like home.
“I love you too, Wolfie,” she murmurs against my lips, then pulls back, leveling me with a dose of reality. “But can we at least wait until my lease is up before we talk about moving in together, though? Take things one step at a time?”
“Of course.” I nod. “Anything you need.”
She arches one mischievous brow, her wild eyes flickering. “Anything?”
“Anything.” I laugh, pulling her lips back to meet mine. “I’m following your lead.”22* * *PENELOPETonight, Wolfie Cox is all fire, no ice.
"What changed?" My question is soft, barely above a whisper. I don't want to question Wolfie, but I do want to understand him.
He gives me a soft look. "I realized there were two paths in life."
"Two?"
He nods. "My path or theirs."
"Theirs?"
He jerks his chin toward the windows. "Theirs. The world's."
"I see. And what have you decided?"
He pauses momentarily, eyes still trained on the windows. My heart rate increases as I wait, wondering what he'll say next, what he's chosen and trying to figure out why it means the world to me. But it does. I want so much for Wolfie to be free from whatever baggage is holding him back from living his life to the fullest.
"I've decided that it's my life, and it's the only one I've got. And that just because some shitty things happened, I won't give up or quit trying. I want to live, I want to be happy. I want to be with you, Penelope, even if I don't deserve you."
"You deserve the whole world, Wolfie. And I'd give it to you if I could. You're an incredible man."
He smiles and takes a step closer. "Will you go down this path with me then? I can't promise it won't get a little bumpy along the way."
I reach for his hand and when our palms touch, I lace my fingers with his. "No matter how bumpy things get, I'm here. We'll ride out any storm together."
"I'd like that very much."
He levels me with a deep gaze that I feel deep inside my soul.
I could feel it from the moment he showed up at my doorstep, his gray eyes blazing with a certainty I’ve never seen from him before. And again in my kitchen, when he spoke in a voice so unwavering, I would have thought he’d always been this sure. Of himself, of us, of everything.
