Page 9 of Mitch

I looked from her to him, watching as he chewed his lip.

Oh.

Oh... shit.

Was I wrong?

Was Pretty Boy not who I thought he was?

At that exact moment as I questioned my gaydar, I saw him steal a glance at me.

And it was enough for me to understand, that this... This was uncharted territory for my little Cream Puff.

That should have been enough to deter me. I’d been in the game long enough, and I was open about my sexuality.

But Penn clearly was not.

Though I wasn’t sure if it was just a case of being in the closet, or if I genuinely had a bi or gay awakening on my hands.

I knew I should have walked away then. Said thanks for the cream puffs and called it a day, and given him a license to use the photos from the wedding for his promotional needs.

But I liked achallenge. Both in my work, and in my personal life.

I smiled, nodding at Penn, if only to try and quell his panic.

Don’t worry, baby, I won’t spill your secrets.

“Penn and I are colleagues, isn’t that right, Penn?” I said, giving him the floor,the chance to control the narrative.

I knew firsthand how important that was when you were trying to figure it all out. When you didn’t have the answers yet.

Penn’s shoulders loosened as he looked at me with a soft smile, and I knew.

The man was going to ruin me.

But maybe I like a little destruction.

“Yeah, colleagues. Mitch is uh, doing some work for me. For the bakery.”

Amy teetered back and forth as she looked between us.

“Oh, of course, duh! Mitchell is likethe bestphotographer. I’m sure whatever he’s doing for you, will be so worth it.”

Penn smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. Beneath the sparkle in his eyes, I could still see the panic.

“Totally,” he said, running his hand through his hair.

“I thought you were still up north,” she said.

Penn shook his head, tapping his fingers on the table. His gaze fixed on her face, never once venturing below to her prominent cleavage or the way she twirled her hair.

Watching her flirt with him made me angry, jealous, even though I knew that was insane.

I watched intently as he settled his hands in his lap.

“I was... but I graduated, so I’m home now.”

“Oh that’s awesome! Congratulations!” she said as she clasped her hands together in front of her bountiful cleavage.

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