Page 38 of Just Bromantically Invested

Fuck, I wish I could believe that.

Penn’s thumb brushes my cheek, and then a mischievous spark hits his eyes. “Should we rock paper scissors for who will answer the door when our delivery gets here?”

The lightness in his voice helps ease some of my desperate longing. “Fine.”

He beats me with scissors over paper, then fist pumps the air.

“Look at me. Nailing this nudist thing already.”

He does look a lot more at ease than I was the first time. “You are. Except for one thing.”

Confusion crosses Penn’s face. “Which is?”

“You need to get better control of your cock, man. Embarrass-boners are a no go.”

His warm cheeks darken. “It’s a natural reaction to having my clothes off. That’s all. We all do it. Are you really telling me you’ve never accidentally gotten hard?”

“I used to. But like I said, I have better control now. And if you feel yourself getting hard in shared spaces, then excuse yourself and wait for it to go down.”

“What, I can’t jerk off?”

“No. That’s when you pass into creep territory. Nudist spaces are safe spaces. Nothing overtly sexual.”

Penn nods. “No boners. Got it.”

His dick still doesn’t flag, not that I’m looking. It justhappens to be there. In my periphery. Which I’m ignoring. “You’ll figure it out eventually.”

Thankfully, there’s a knock at the door, and our delivery saves me from any more talk of peens and rules. We eat our Mexican food and watch a movie, and for all I said about acting normally around each other, I don’t curl up in his lap.

I’m giving him space to be comfortable.

Letting him find out if this is for him.

Maybe if it is, he’ll be more confident in making my lifestyle a boundary with any relationships he has.

Though I really don’t want to be there for the conversation when he tells Lana I’ve converted him.

Chapter 14

Penn

The second Madden is out of my apartment, I text Lana. It’s after eleven, and I’m not confident she’ll still be awake, but I get a message straight back.

SOS? What happened?

Too much to explain in the text, so I ask if I can come over instead.

Theget down here nowresponse isn’t expected, but I hightail it over there anyway.

“Well, hello,” she says as she pulls the door open. She’s wearing a ratty dressing gown and has dog-shaped slippers on. “Please tell me you’re coming with fun and dramatic news. Oh! You tried the thingy.” Her hands flail madly. “With Madden. You tried it and it worked andnow you know he’s in love with you.”

It’s too late for this. I gently hold Lana’s shoulders and shift her to the side so I can walk in and close the door behind me. Her apartment layout from the door to the living room is identical to mine, and I have a feeling the bedrooms are the same.

“I didn’t do your stupid plan.” The fact I have to be clear about that is all kinds of fucked-up. “I wouldn’t mess with his trust like that.”

“So what was the SOS?”

“I might haveaccidentallydone what you said.”

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