Page 33 of That Thing You Brew
“I wouldnever.”I had to make that clear.
“I know.” She smiled. “You?”
“Fakeness.” I laughed at the irony. “Not our fake marriage, but you know, when someone changes who they are to try to fit in and you don’t know them anymore. I see a lot of that … women trying every kind of thing to get our attention. Or thinking they have to become influencers and be perfect when they marry one of us. I see that, too. The guys don’t like it. So many Wags look like Barbie dolls once they’re Instagram-official.”
“D-don’t worry.” Penny smiled. “I don’t w-want to be b-blond. Or w-wear heels.”
I laughed. “Good. Because I like you just the way you are.”
The color of her cheeks deepened to that rosy glow I loved so much, and it looked like she was finally starting to relax.
She sat up and reached for the next card. “W-what … makes … you … angry?” Penny set the card down and brought the notepad into her lap. Our hands were still linked, so I held the pad steady with my free hand and read while she wrote.
Not too many things make me angry. My stutter. I’m very hard on myself. My dealbreakers, for sure. Lying. Mistreatment of people and animals. Loud chewing and gum smacking. High-pitched giggles from groups of girls; it takes me back to middle and high school when I was made fun of. Wasted time—time we never get back.
“All of that makes me angry, too,” I said. “I’m sorry those awful girls were mean to you. It probably made you even more nervous.”
She nodded. “N-needed th-therapy.”
“Oh, Pen.” I tugged her to me and let go of her hand so I could wrap my arm around her and dropped my chin to kiss the top of her head. “I hope they’re all in dead-end jobs and marry trolls. And I hope they cry for days when they hear you landed yourself pro hockey’s biggest stud.”
Penny chuckled and leaned her head back to look up at me. “B-biggest stud, huh?”
I waggled my eyebrows. “You just wait. I’ve dreamed of playing in the all-star game my entire life. Just wait till the world sees what I’ve got planned for the Breakaway Challenge. All the women are going to go crazy.”
“All the w-women, huh?” Penny’s grin was wider than I’d ever seen it.
“Yup. But only one who matters. Well, and rubbing it in those mean girls’ faces, of course. Revenge, bwahaha!”
Penny lost it, laughing harder and longer than ever, so hard she had tears in her eyes. I just grinned, loving the sound. The sound of her happiness was even more beautiful than her music. I wanted to make her laugh like this every day. I wanted her to be happy and stress-free and…
And I wanted to kiss her. More than anything.
As her laughter tapered off, she relaxed against me again, and I had an idea.
“Pen?”
“Yeah?” She shifted to look up at me again. I locked my eyes on hers, green as the emerald I wanted to give her. Makeup-free, her freckles were visible, dotting her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Lips the shape of Cupid’s bow just begged to be kissed.
“Do you think it might behoove us to, um,practicefor our wedding kiss? So that it looks natural and not fake?” My pulse quickened.Say yes, say yes, say yes.
Penny tapped her chin thoughtfully with her index finger. “Hmm …behoove.Big word.”
She was teasing me, and I loved it.
“It’s one of Dex’s I’m-smarter-than-you Harvard words.”
A wide smile spread across her face. “I … like it. And … yes. P-practice is … important.”
She said yes!A jolt of excitement buzzed through me. I’d never anticipated a kiss so much before. This one would mean something.
And I hoped, for both of us, it would be our last first kiss.
I better make it good.
Penny’s eyebrows lifted in silent challenge.
Game time.
