Page 82 of Someone You Deserve

“I know the feeling.” When Penn stands, he stretches his hands above his head and then to the side, granting me the perfect view ofhis abs and happy trail. My vagina instantly wakes up and remembers what we did last night, requesting a replay. “I need to get going. Mrs. Hansen is going to wonder where I am if I don’t get to the hardware store soon.”

“You sure you’re okay, Penn? That you don’t have too much on your plate?”

Penn clears his throat and moves around me, avoiding my eyes. “I’m fine, Astrid.”

“Okay.” I want to believe him, but I know this man. He’s too stubborn to ask for help and you can’t tell him what he needs until he figures it out on his own.

I follow him out to the kitchen where he left his keys on the counter. Lilly is sitting there with a bowl and spoon ready for cereal, and when I glance at the clock, I realize I have thirty minutes to shower and get ready to head for the bakery. My mother should arrive any moment, and the last thing I need is for her to see Penn still here. I haven’t discussed the shift in our dynamic with her yet. Not until I’m more secure in it myself.

“I wanna have a sleepover with Ryan,” Lilly says, catching me and Penn both off guard.

“What? Why?”

“He’s my friend,” she answers dryly.

“But he’s a boy,” I counter.

“Uncle Penn is a boy and he slept over…”

Bentley chooses to enter the kitchen at this moment, confusion on his face as soon as he sees Penn. “Uncle Penn? What are you doing here?”

“Uncle Penn had a sleepover last night,” Lilly answers him. “That must be why Mommy wasn’t praying so loud again.” She shootsa look over at Penn. “She was talking to God the other night and she was really loud.”

Penn starts coughing. “Oh shit.”

I shove his back, pushing him toward the door. “You should really be going.”

Bentley looks around the kitchen, his brows drawn together. “Why is everyone acting so weird this morning?”

When Penn turns around, the grin on his lips is lethal. God, he’s so handsome. I want to kiss him, jump into his arms and let him make me talk to God again, but…kids.

“I’ll call you later,” he says, winking at me for good measure. “P.S. I told you not to be so loud the other night.”

“Go to work.” I open the door and push him outside as he laughs.

“Have a good day, Astrid.” He drags his eyes up and down my body and then he smirks at me before jumping in his truck and driving away.

And as I watch him go, I wonder if this is what it would be like every morning if I just gave us a shot to be together out in the open, if I could find the courage to bridge that gap between friendship and something more—because choosing to be more than friends is something different than what we’ve been so far. This time both of our hearts are on the line, and I’m not sure that I’m ready for the chance to be hurt again.

***

“It is with great honor as the mayor of Carrington Cove that I get to celebrate the grand reopening of a landmark in our town.” Tyler Lexington, our longtime mayor, stands right beside me on the small stage right outside of my shop. Tons of people from the town aregathered outside, making my grand reopening a much larger spectacle than I anticipated.

When I glance over at Willow standing proudly in Dallas’s arms, I have a feeling I know who to thank for that.

“The Sunshine Bakery fed the stomachs and hearts of our citizens for over forty years, but now it’s time for a new legacy to take shape. Smells Like Sugar is officially a new staple in our town, and Astrid Cooper has shown us all what hard work and a dream can get you.”

The crowd breaks out into applause as the mayor hands me a giant pair of scissors. He motions for me to cut the pink ribbon stretched across the entrance to the shop. When the metal slices through the fabric, the crowd goes wild and I feel my cheeks grow hot. “Congratulations, Astrid. I wish you an abundance of success.”

Tyler shakes my hand, his eyes beaming with genuine excitement for me. Then, I find Penn in the crowd, clapping enthusiastically with those giant hands. We lock eyes, and the fierce look of pride in his expression sends my heart soaring. And in this moment, I allow myself to be proud too.

Brandon never supported this.

But Penndoes. He always did. He encourages me to explore who I truly am.

God, why does this have to feel so good and awful at the same time?

As the crowd begins to thin out, many head to the bakery and form a line out the door. When I slip inside, I am instantly bombarded with people coming up to congratulate me, commenting on how much they love the new look of the place and the new menu items.

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