Page 15 of Naughty Nicky

“But we are stuck in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm.”

“I live here.”

She grins at me. “It’s still the middle of nowhere.”

I chew on my bottom lip as I take her in. She has a point. I do live in the middle of nowhere. But I feel like this could be a really bad idea. I don’t know what kind of questions she is going to ask me, and there are some truths I would rather keep hidden.

She grabs my arm and pulls on it. “Oh, come on, Nicky.”

I raise a brow at that. “I haven’t heard that nickname in years.”

“See? So we can pretend we are young and dumb again. I can call you Nicky, and you can call me—”

“Penny?” I question her. The name she used to hate but her parents always called her when she was a kid.

She gives me a closed-mouthed smile. “You can call me Penny.”

I smirk at her. “It looks like it pains you to hear that name.”

She shrugs. “It just makes me feel like I’m eight years old. There was a reason I insisted on being called Penelope when I went to high school.”

“The kids really make fun of you that much?” I ask her, genuinely curious.

“You and Wesley were the worst, and I just knew that once I was in high school the kids would be even worse.”

“It was the same kids.”

She groans. “Yeah, I know, but you know how it is. It’s like high school hits, and everyone just acts differently. I mean, you and Wesley used to let me play with you up until you started high school.”

“Yeah, and then we didn’t want to be freshmen hanging out with a third grader.”

She throws her hands in the air. “Exactly what I mean.” She sighs and runs her hand through her hair. “I guess I just didn’t want to risk being made fun of. It was already bad enough that you and Wes made fun of me.”

“Yeah, but you were like a little sister.”

She blows a raspberry and then waves a hand in front of her face. “Well anyway, it doesn’t matter, I was a kid and didn’t want to be called such a childish name. Penelope sounded sophisticated.”

I can’t help but smile at her. “Whatever you say.”

She folds her arms over her chest and glares at me. “Are you making fun of me now?”

“I didn’t say anything,” I manage to get out without a laugh.

“Oh my god, you are.”

I smirk at her and stretch out on the couch, whiskey glass in hand. “Well, are we doing this or not?”

She sits up on her knees and nods with the biggest smile on her face. “Truth or dare?”

I run my finger across my bottom lip as I think about what to choose. I really don’t want to say truth because I know she will ask prying questions, and there are some things I would rather not share. But I also know Pen, or at least I knew her in the past, and I don’t think her dares are going to be any better than her truths.

I take a deep breath. “Dare.”

She claps her hands together as she sits up on her knees. “Oooh yay!” She taps her chin. “What shall I have you do?”

“I figured you had a bunch of dares lined up ready to go.”

She gives me a devious look. “Hmm. Do you have any grapes?”

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