Page 3 of Cheesecake
“Yeah. Hopefully that’ll be rectified once I’m at college. I certainly don’t fit in around here.” She laughs like it’s a joke, and I just smile, fighting sadness. Selfishly, I don’t want her to leave.
“Can I give you a ride home?” I say, needing to change the situation or the dynamic so I don’t start professing my undying love out loud. “I’m finished up here.”
“Sure. Let me shoot my brother a text so he knows I’m gone. You know, I think he’s scared of you after you went mad at him last summer.”
I shrug as I open the front door for her. “He shouldn’t have left you.”
As we drive along the darkened streets, I struggle to find something to say, too caught up in what my body craves and what my brain knows I can’t have. She’s got her brown hair curled and messy so it makes me want to dig my fingers in it and kiss her. And on top of that, she’s wearing a pretty blue summer dress over a black swimming costume that shows me a flash of thick thigh and a healthy amount of her full cleavage. I’m waging a war with my dick to keep itdown,so conversation is hard. But then, she’s also quiet, so I wonder if she’s feeling any of this tension too.
“Sorry if I’m being a bother,” she says suddenly, and I glance at her quickly, emphatically shaking my head.
“You’re never a bother, Penny. I’m just…worn out, I guess. But, uh, I watched that movie you suggested. Last night actually. I should have told you this afternoon.”
“Really?” Her eyes light up, and the pitch in her voice lifts. “I thought asking you to watchCat Peoplemight be too much. But what did you think?”
A chuckle bubbles out of my chest as I shake my head. “Was it supposed to be funny?”
“Back in 1942 when it was made, it was scary as fuck. But these days, yeah, it should be funny. That’s what makes these old movies so great.” I pull up outside her place and leave the engine idling.
“In that case, I loved it. It was a hoot.”
She smiles wide. “What was your favorite part?”
I don’t even have to think about it. “The pool scene where she’s in the water screaming, and there’s nothing around her but a few cat sounds. I almost woke my kid up laughing.”
“That was hilarious. And when the lights come on, all that’s happened is her robe is shredded.” Penny giggles and it’s music to my ears. But she quickly falls quiet when our eyes meet and hold for a moment too long. I’m the first to look away, prompting her to place her hand on the door handle and open it. The cool air rushing into the car is like a bucket of cold water to my senses. “Well, I should go. Thanks for the ride.”
“Any time,” I say, trying to keep my eyes forward so I don’t stare at her ass as she gets out. “Hey, do me a favor?” The words leave my mouth as she’s about to close the door.
“Sure.”
“WatchThe Lost Boyswith Kiefer Sutherland. I think you’ll like it.”
“OK, but only if you watchNight of the Living Dead.”
I grin. “Deal. Sleep well, Penny.”
“You too.” With a huge smile on her face, she shuts the door and walks up the path to her house, giving me one last wave before she steps through the front door, and I take that as my signal to leave.
Somehow, by just being near me, Penny manages to make me feel about a thousand times lighter. Fuck I’m gonna miss her when she’s gone.
Penny
“You know you’re eighteen, right? Shouldn’t you be asleep until midday after getting home so late last night?” Corey says when he spots me walking along the beach at sunrise the next morning. He’s got his surfboard under his arm and saltwater dripping down his face. He could be on a poster in one of those surf magazines with the way the peach and blue of the sky is framing his handsome face.
“You know you’re thirty-whatever-you-are, right?” I shoot back. “Shouldn’t you be in bed sleeping too?”
I don't know what it was, but I was too wired to sleep properly last night after Corey dropped me off at home, so when the sky started to lighten, I decided to take a walk. I don’t have a lot of sunrises on the beach left before I pack up my life and go and live in some miserable college dorm, so I have to take advantage of it while it’s still available to me. Living right near the beach will be the one thing I really miss about Maui—and Corey’s cheesecake, of course.
“I’m only thirty-five.” Corey chuckles as he shoves his board into the sand so it stands upright.
“Exactly. Surely you have arthritis or something by now.”
“I’m notthatold, but way to make me feel it.” He’s still smiling, but he lets out a sigh too, so I’m quick to try and redeem myself.
“I really don't think you’re old. I actually forget we’re not the same age most of the time.”
He lifts his eyes to mine and nods slightly. “I get what you mean.”
