Page 50 of Naughty Nicky

“Why? Would it be too hard to see me around your brother and not get that longing look of lust in your eyes around me?” he asks with a smirk.

I lean over and punch him in the arm, but when I go to move back to my side of the couch, Nick stops me and kisses me in a way that makes me feel like I just found my soulmate.

13

NICK

Irinse out our coffee mugs as I stare out the window. The sun is out and shining, and minus the nearly six feet of snow on the ground, you couldn’t tell that there was a storm. The driveway is plowed, the street is plowed, and I am sure people are out and about getting ready for Christmas that is just four days away.

It makes me depressed to think about it. I have no plans and figure I’ll just keep busy by chopping wood and doing housework. I probably have some old film I never developed. I could always work on that.

Dad told me two weeks ago when I went to check on him that he didn’t want to see me. And our phone call the other day just proves he’s only keeping me around to get him booze and smokes.

Sadness eats at my chest thinking about it. I don’t want it to, but it’s there, the ever-creeping feeling of despair. You think after the last three days with Penelope, I would be happy. And I am. God that woman is something else, and I swear she was made for me. Never would have thought that years ago when we were just kids.

But it’s always hard around the holidays for me. I’m usually alone. Every now and then, I’d go to one of my brother’s houses for the holidays, but the last two years, I’ve been stuck here with Dad.

I wish I could just go to the James’s house and put on a smile. Be there with Pen and enjoy the holidays. But since Wes will be there, it’s a no go.

I know Pen is right, and I need to talk to him. But it can’t be now. Mostly because I need a few days to figure out what the hell I am going to say to him.

I set the breakfast dishes in the dish rack to dry and turn to find Pen staring at me. She’s in her clothes that I found her in on the side of the road, including those damn flip-flops.

“You ready?” I ask her. She talked to her dad earlier who offered to come pick her up, but I told her I would drive her home. I need to check on her FJ and see if I can pull it out with my truck or if we need to call a tow. I’m guessing after being buried for three days in six feet of snow, it’s going to need a tow.

Pen looks so sad as she looks at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to leave.”

I walk the few steps over to her and wrap my arms around her. “It’s just gonna be a few days, and then we can see each other again. Wes comes home tomorrow?”

She nods.

“Then I’ll call you tonight and whisper dirty things into your ear before you go to sleep.”

Her cheeks turn that soft shade of pink that I love. “You are not having phone sex with me when my parents will be sleeping a few feet away.”

“We’ll see about that,” I tease.

She groans and rolls her head back, but I stop her with my lips, capturing her mouth in an all-encompassing kiss that letsher know this is real. This fairytale isn’t ending. It’s just a short intermission.

When I pull away from her, I toe at her feet. “You know I probably have a pair of boots you can wear so you don’t need to walk around in flip-flops.”

She looks down at her feet and then back at me. “The roads are plowed. My feet will be fine.”

I shake my head at her. “I’m buying you a pair of snow boots for Christmas.”

“I have like three pairs at home. I just don’t care for them.”

“Until the day you get frostbite.”

“So dramatic,” she drawls.

I slap her ass. “Such a brat.”

She turns and presses her hands into my chest and flutters her eyelashes at me. “Do you want me to be a brat,daddy?”

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