Page 75 of Crazy Love

“Yeah! I never thought of that.” When he gets it out, he takes it to the table and looks around, seeing what else he can do. “Should I set the table?”

“Yes, please. Kinda forgot to do that before I started all this.”

“I got it,” he says. He already knows where everything is more than I do.

Penn walks in as I’m turning off the eggs and have the last stack of pancakes to carry to the table. His hair is wet and he’s got sweats and a white T-shirt on…barefoot. I swoon a little inside and can’t wipe the goofy smile off of my face.

It helps that he can’t either.

He walks toward me, smiling at me and then over at Sam. “Mornin’, you two.”

“Mornin’,” I say, my shoulder lifting as he nuzzles into my neck, his scruff tickling my skin.

“Mornin’!” Sam calls. “You’re not gonna believe what all Addy made.” He runs down the list of food. “Come on. It’s all ready. You came just in time.”

“This looks amazing. Thank you for all this,” Penn says, brushing back hair that’s fallen in my eye.

“I think I’m going to really love feeding my boys,” I say shyly.

Penn stares at me for a long moment, as if he’s trying to discern whether I’m just playing a part in front of Sam or if I’m telling the truth.

“I mean it.” I lift up to whisper in his ear before I move past him.

He puts his hand on my lower back, following me, and sitting at the head of the table where Sam has the table all set.

“And even my favorite green juice?” Penn says, his eyebrows lifting. “Sam, this is the juice I was telling you about. I think you’re going to love it.”

“It’s very green,” Sam says, sounding somewhat nervous.

“Trust me. It’s way better than it looks.” Penn lifts his glass and then downs it in five seconds.

“Whoa,” Sam says. He lifts his glass and so do I, tapping our glasses together, and we both drink it. When we come up for air, Sam’s grinning. “Wait until I tell Cassidy I did that. She’s gonna be so impressed.” He leans in. “She’s a little pickier than I am.”

I lean in, matching his excitement with my own. “Tell me more. Is Cassidy someone you like? Just friends? She’s really pretty.”

He takes a huge bite of pancakes and smirks over at Penn as he tries to chew with his mouth closed. When he finally finishes, he clears his throat and holds up his finger, pausing another second to take a big drink of water.

“The suspense!” I moan.

He laughs and Penn looks at us, amused.

“I’ve liked Cassidy for a long time, but she’s so like—” he holds up his hand— “up here and I’m so—” he lowers his hand— “down here.”

Penn growls. “Not true.”

“I know you say that, but it is true. She’s just like,” he shakes his head in wonder, “she’s amazing. There was this other girl at school that was all about me and I thought she was nice. We kissed.” He lifts his shoulder up. “But I just always go back to wishing it was Cassidy.”

“Sheisa few years older than him,” Penn tells me. “Maybe she’s your Elle though,” Penn says, pointing his fork at Sam. “If you still feel that way when you’re eighteen or nineteen, you better be letting her know.” He frowns. “Or maybe when you’re twenty or twenty-one…whatever you do, just don’t wait until you’re thirty-one.”

We all laugh.

“Is that what Rhodes did with Elle?” I ask.

“Yes,” they both groan.

“I don’t know anything about love, but even I could see that they belonged together!” Sam says. “Just like you and Penn.” His eyes are bright as he looks between the two of us.

Penn glances at me and smiles. “You think so?” he asks Sam, but his eyes quickly find mine again.

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