Page 90 of Devoured

"Okay." She stared at me for just a moment.

I wasn’t sure why I kept ruining moments like this.Breathe.We were just talking. It wasn’t like she was the paparazzi shoving a camera in my face. She wasn’t trying to get some inside scoop to flash on the front page of the paper. I took another deep breath.

"So this is the best pizza, huh?" She held up her slice.

"Fold it before you eat it. Trust me."

She followed my instructions and took a big bite. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"What's the verdict?" I asked.

"It's freaking fantastic."

I smiled.

She took a few more bites and then slowly swallowed. “What?” she asked. She rubbed the side of her mouth. “Do I have something on my face?” She wiped the other side. “Where is it?”

I hadn’t even realized that I’d been staring at her instead of eating. “Come here, I’ll get it for you.”

She stood up and walked around the table. She squealed as I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into my lap.

I silenced her with a kiss. “There’s nothing on your face.” I pressed my forehead against hers. “You’re perfect.”

“Hmm.” Her hands settled on my shoulders. “I think you’re the perfect one.”

I swallowed hard. There was still a lot she needed to learn about me. Dr. Clark was right…I needed to tell Penny everything. Isabella wasn’t the worst skeleton in my closet. And that was really saying something. But it was easy to dismiss Dr. Clark’s words in the back of my head when Penny was in my lap.

I breathed in her exhales. For so long I hadn’t known what it meant to live in the present. Yoga certainly didn’t help. Telling myself every day that I was a worthless piece of shit didn’t do it either. But this right here? I could live in this present. With her.

She pulled back slightly to look at me. “What are we doing next?” she asked.

“Next? You mean, you want more than a two-hour drive for pizza? Huh.”

She laughed. “If this is all you have planned, that’s fine with me. But I don’t want to go home just yet. Can we stay a little longer?”

Did she seriously think I brought her all the way to New York just for a good slice? I wanted her to see my New York. I wanted to see if we could fit here. Because as easy as it was to be in the present with Penny, I knew that present was complicated.

One slip and we could easily be thrust into our future pretty quickly. And I didn’t know where that future would lead us. Here? Or would we stay in Delaware?

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyes searching mine.

“Nothing.” And there I went again…losing the present. I didn’t need to think about all that right now. Today was just for us to have fun. And to show her my hometown. “I was just trying to think of what I’m going to do with you.”

“Do with me?” She laughed. “You make it sound like I’m some animal that needs to be wrassled into a cage.”

Huh.I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing her naked in a cage. Honestly, it was easy picturing her anywhere naked. My hands slid to her ass. “I think I have an idea.” I’d actually already planned out our day. With the help of Ian of course. Hopefully he’d gotten it all done between spying on us and eating.

“If it involves the Central Park Zoo, I’m out. Because I didn’t love the way your eyes lit up at the idea of me in a cage.”

I laughed. No, my ideal date with Penny in New York was certainly not going to the zoo. What was I…five? “How about you finish your pizza and I’ll show you.”

“Deal. Are we going to the Empire State Building? Or the Statue of Liberty? Oh! Rockefeller Center?”

What?I also wasn’t some basic ass tour guide. “No. Better.”

Chapter 22

Monday

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