Page 51 of One Pucking Wish

She swings the door open. “Hey, I told you that you don’t have to knock. Just come in.” She steps to the side, inviting me in.

“Yeah, I know, but that feels weird.” And it does. As much fun as I’m having with Penny, this whole dating scene is still very new, and just walking into someone’s home feels strange.

Penny scrunches her wet hair with a towel. She wears a baggy T-shirt and cotton shorts. Her makeup-free face reminds me of our time in Vancouver. Something about Penny in this state, without her power suit, hairdo, and done-up face, is so attractive to me.

“You showered without me.” I follow her into the living room.

She chuckles. “Yeah, and it was nice. I actually got to shave my legs. When you’re in there, we get distracted.”

“I like getting distracted.”

“Yeah, our distractions are pretty nice.” She hangs the towel on the back of the chair and grabs the remote from the side table before plopping on the sofa. She taps the spot next to her.

“One second. Let me put this away.” I hold up my duffel. I grab her damp towel from the chair as I make my way to the bedroom. I hang her towel on the towel bar in the bathroom and retrieve the bag of scones before leaving my bag beside the bed and returning to the living room.

I groan when I see the TV. “Again? Do you watch anything else?”

“No. Why would I? Friends is the best.”

“You’ve seen all the episodes a hundred times. Don’t you get tired of them?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. Love ’em.”

I hold up the clear plastic bag. “Bash made cinnamon scones. They’d be great with coffee. Want them now or tomorrow with your coffee?”

She claps her hands. “Ooh, one now and the rest later.”

I toss her a scone and put the rest on the kitchen counter. “This is amazing. Seriously, are we sure that kid went into the right field?”

Sebastian is only three years younger than Penny, but she even refers to him as a kid. “Yeah, he’s quite the baker, but he’s a damn good center, too.” As the rookie on the team, it’s not common to be a starter, but Bash has been a starter since his first day on the team. He’s that good.

“I think he was Betty Crocker in his former life,” she says.

I join Penny on the sofa. “Is Betty Crocker a real person? I thought it was just the name of a cookbook.”

“I don’t know.” Penny shrugs, picking up her phone. “Ah, Google says that Betty Crocker is a brand, but there is a real woman behind the brand named Marjorie Child Husted. Weird. I always thought the name of the woman behind Betty Crocker was Betty Crocker.”

“Well, is this Marjorie lady still alive?”

“No, she died in 1986.”

“Well then I suppose Bash could be Marjorie reincarnated.”

“Or some fancy pastry chef that we don’t know about.” She plops the last bite of the scone in her mouth.

I circle my arm around Penny’s shoulders. “I guess we’ll never know, just as we’ll never know if Ross and Rachel end up together. These two have more back-and-forth than anyone should. Watch her end up with someone else, like Chandler,” I tease.

Penny rears back, her brows furrowed. “Wait, you really don’t know who Rachel or Chandler end up with?”

I chuckle. “No, why would I? I told you I’ve never watched the show.”

“I know but even people who haven’t watched the show have watched the show. You know? Everyone has seen bits and pieces of it throughout the years when it’s playing in hotels or in the background somewhere.”

“I really haven’t seen any episodes besides the ones I’ve watched with you, so I don’t know how it all ends.”

“Oh my gosh. We have to start from the beginning so you can get the whole experience.”

I shake my head. “No, we really don’t. It’s okay. I’m fine with a limited experience.”

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