Page 121 of Breakaway

“Wow,” she murmurs, sounding dazed. “A vaginal orgasm. I’ve never felt it that intensely.”

“My ego doesn’t need stroking, but I like when you do it anyway.”

She giggles. I press my hand against her breastbone; her heart is racing like she just ran a sprint. My own is pounding as well. A vaginal orgasm. I wasn’t even sure if those existed before now. Now that I do, though? It’s going to be fun dragging them out of her.

We stay like that for a while, but eventually, she reaches for her phone.

“Oh, shit. We need to go.”

“We can just take a later train.”

“No,” she says, looking over her shoulder at me. “You’re getting breakfast with your dad.”

I raise my eyebrows. “No.”

“I set it up with him last night. You need to talk to him, love.”

My breath catches in my throat. That’s fucking unfair, hitting me with a pet name like that at a time like this. “I doubt he wants to talk to me.”

“He does.” She untangles us both and slips off the bed. “He just—”

I look at her slicked-up thighs. My mouth is watering. “I wasn’t done, you know.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, which just makes me look at her tits. As much fun as it is to come inside her, I love when I can suck my seed off those pale pink nipples. “Well, too bad,” she says. “Your dad punched your uncle last night, you know.”

I’m startled into laughter. “No way. Richard Callahan doesn’t punch people.”

“He does when he’s defending his son.” Penny runs her fingers through her hair, untangling the knots. “I know he’s been shitty to you, but I told him that. I told him he needs to be honest with you, and that honesty starts now. Get dressed.”

My eyes widen. “You did what?”

“It needed to be said, and I’m not sorry.”

“Holy shit, I wish I’d been there to see that.”

“I think I terrified James.” She winces. “I might’ve called your uncle an impotent worm, too. I was just so mad.”

“And you thought that insult was too over the top.”

“He deserved it,” she says, a fierce note in her voice. I can imagine the scene; Penny in her fancy dress, her arms crossed over her chest just like this, chin tilted as she stared down grown men. How could I have ever thought she wouldn’t choose me first? When I ran away, she was there to take the heat—and then she found me and gave me her heart. You don’t push away a girl like that, you keep her close and thank your lucky stars that she decided you’re the one she wants. “He might not deserve another chance, but your dad does. Don’t let things between you wither, Cooper. It takes a long time for them to grow green again.”

Chapter 67

Cooper

Once we’re dressed, we head down to the lobby to wait. After last night, I made sure Penny bundled up in thick socks, boots, jeans, an undershirt, a sweater, and then her coat, gloves, and her McKee knit cap. She looks like a puffball in her coat, and she’s glaring at me like she’s deeply annoyed, but I don’t care. She’s never risking the cold again, not after the stunt she pulled last night.

I feel like I’m waiting for a root canal. I’ve never had one, but this is what I imagine it’s like: staring at the clock, willing it to go slow yet fast, a pit of dread in your stomach the size of the Grand Canyon. I’d prefer dental work to talking to my father. At least the dentist would be less awkward, and maybe even less painful. You get Novocain at the dentist, not for heart-to-hearts.

If this ends up being that. I can’t imagine he has anything good to say. After he realized I gave over the money? The look of disappointment in his eyes was enough to make me want to crawl into the sewer and become one with the subway rats.

“Thank God he agreed,” I hear my mother say. I whip my head around; she’s walking arm-in-arm with Dad out of the elevator. When she sees us, she smiles tiredly. “There they are, Richard.”

Penny jumps up and kisses me on the cheek. “Have fun. I’m going to brunch with Izzy and your mom.”

“I need a mimosa,” Mom says. “And a bagel.”

“Can we get bagels?” I ask Dad.

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