Page 11 of The Rocker

Her features fell, and then her whiskey-colored eyes narrowed on me. “How do you know?”

I held up my hands when her nostrils flared. Did she seriously think I had somehow been inside her place and looked? “I’m just guessing. Settle down.” I got up to get each of us another beer and grabbed the remote as I came back into the room. I sat down next to Pen, where I’d wanted to sit all night. “You’ve had a different purse with you every time you’ve come to our practices. I was seriously just guessing.”

She took the beer, not taking her eyes off me for a long minute. Finally, she nodded and then finished off her other beer.

“If you’re not tired, what do you say we watch a movie?” I nodded down the hall. “Trust me when I say we’ll want some sort of noise happening, and soon.”

Her nose scrunched up again. “I’m sorry you have to listen to that on the regular, or maybe you don’t because you have your own girl with you.” Her mouth formed an ‘O’, and then she covered her mouth with her hand. “Did I cockblock you tonight? If I did, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m right where I want to be. And normally, I don’t have to hear them because my room is on the other side of the house.”

“Oh,” Pen jumped up and then swayed a little on her feet. “Do you have a TV in your room? We can go in there to watch something.” She looked down the hall to the other bedrooms. “I don’t really want to hear them having sex. I feel like we’re not at that point in our relationship.”

I stood and ushered her toward my room. It probably wasn’t a good idea to have her in my space where I could obsess over her more than I already did, but it was too late now. “Is there a point in any relationship where you’re okay listening to someone having sex?”

Pen sat on my bed and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees as she took in my room. “I’m guessing Kenton’s mom didn’t clean your room?”

“Nope, it’s off-limits to her and everyone else. They all know to stay out of my space.”

“Oh, should I not be in here?” She made a move to get up, but I sat down beside her and pressed my hand to her leg. I instantly wondered how soft her skin was under those jeans.

“Stay. If I didn’t want you in here, I wouldn’t have offered you my bed.”

She pushed her hair over her shoulder, and I got hit with the smell of citrus. I couldn’t quite place if it was orange or something else. Whatever it was, I loved the smell, and I knew my bed would smell like her for days. The urge to bury my nose in her hair was strong, but I managed to keep myself under control.

“Is Netflix okay? We don’t have any of the movie channels or anything. Actually, we don’t even have cable since we’re usually busy practicing.” Or other things I didn’t mention to her. Sex was definitely a strong component of our lives, but she didn’t need to know about that.

“That’s fine with me. I don’t have anything but a few streaming services at my place either since I’m rarely home and rarely watch TV. Now my best friend, on the other hand, always has all the movie channels, so if I want to watch something, I do it with her.

“What’s her name?” I immediately chastised myself. I didn’t need to know this information. It only made us seem closer, which was something that couldn’t happen.

“Stella,” she pursed her lips. “She’s going through a divorce right now, and it’s hard on her.” Pen pulled out her phone and frowned. “I’m surprised she hasn’t called me yet tonight.”

“Maybe she figured you were busy,” I offered, hoping she wouldn’t start worrying about her friend.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She put her phone down. “I’ll call her in the morning on my way home and check in with her.”

“You’re a good friend.”

“I try,” she shrugged. “Do you have anything I could change into to sleep in?”

“Of course, I should have offered. I don’t normally…”

“Have girls in here with their clothes on?” Pen laughed, her brows raised. “I guess I’m the first.”

She was probably right. I couldn’t remember a time when any woman had been in here and not taken her clothes off.

“What’s your full name, Pen?” I blurted out. It was something I’d wanted to know since she introduced herself.

Her head cocked to the side as she drew out her name. “Penelope. Why?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think your parents named you Pen, but I couldn’t be sure. I mean, look at Cross. That’s his real name.” I wasn’t sure why I was rambling on and on. I grabbed the remote from off the floor and turned toward my way-too-big-for-my-room TV, and clicked it on.

Instantly the sound of moans filled the room. I fumbled with the remote trying to turn it off, but Pen took the remote from me and turned the sound down. Most noticeably, she didn’t turn the porn off. Instead, she scooted up to the top of the bed and made herself comfortable.

Looking down her body at me, Pen noticed me staring at her for the first time tonight and smiled. “Is this what Netflix is playing nowadays?”

“If it is, I need to tune in more often. This is quality stuff.” I didn’t know what was playing. I couldn’t take my eyes off Pen as she kept her eyes glued to the X-rated show playing on my television.

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