Page 72 of The Show

“Your mom had already said we couldn’t have any snacks, but she went out for dinner so we tried anyway. You were down with your dad watching The Yankees in the den off the kitchen. He was yelling at the T.V., just like you are now. Neither of you even noticed us take, I dunno, maybe four tubs of ice cream out of the freezer and sneak them up to Lauren’s room. Then we tried again the following weekend, and we realized every single time there was an away game we’d be able to do it. Laurie stopped asking your mom because she always said no, and we knew we could get it anyway. And even if she didn’t leave the house, your mom never hung out in the kitchen when you were both down there.”

Penn wiped away the last of his unshed tears. “No, she always escaped off somewhere. She hated the hollering.”

“She did.” I looked at him, the tears replaced by a small smile that I’d placed on his lips. “Then your dad left us snacks out after you guys had gone to bed, so then we got two feasts. Anyway, you’re so like him. You’re sitting here now, exactly how he used to sit, all riled up. And you’d sit there too, a smaller version of you anyway. He would be so,soproud of you, Penn.”

He broke eye contact for a split second to pick up the remote and mute the game. Then in a seamless, commanding movement just like this morning, he hitched me up with one arm as though I weighed nothing more than a feather and straddled me across his lap. Reaching up, he pulled my hair free of the band, running his fingers through the strands until he could loop it round his fingers.

“I keep wondering if this is all his doing,” he muttered.

“The Lions?”

“Yes.” His eyes filled with heat, the flecks of dark grey which scattered round the edge of each iris sparkled in the dim light. “And you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

He started to say something else, but I stopped him with words that had been revolving around and around in my head as I attempted to reconcile what was going on.

“You’ve only ever been Lauren’s brother to me, but these past few days… I dunno, something happened…” I stopped before I made a bigger fool of myself. I really should have practiced out loud. If I had, I would have realized how totally idiotic and ineloquent I sounded.

But his smile never faltered. “I know, I feel it too. But I’d rather not think about my sister while I’m kissing you.”

A smile twitched at the corner of my lips. Leaning down, I took his mouth with mine, not wanting to think any more about what we were doing. I only wanted to feel. Feel the heat of him under me, how well we fitted together, feel how my heart beat in sync with his as my chest pressed flush against him. This time, I wanted the kiss to go exactly where it needed.

I had no interest in it being short.

Our tongues glided together leisurely, relaxed, tenderly, slowly enough to spike my blood with so much desire I was becoming lightheaded. The volume of the baseball commentary had been replaced with electricity which crackled through the air as his hands pushed under my sweater; then the chubby pads of his palms stilled on my ribcage.

He eased away from me, looking up through thick lashes and tilted his head. “I meant what I said, just being here with you is enough for me.”

His thumb was dusting back and forth, millimeters away from the underside of my breast,justout of reach. It was hard to concentrate on anything but what his thumb was doing, where it was, where itwasn’t… where I wanted it. I knew my blood was careening around my body, I could hear it whooshing through my ears; I could feel it under the surface of my skin. I could feel it between my legs, at the apex of my thighs.

Throbbing, aching, desperate for him.

I ghosted my lips to Penn’s then leaned back, removing my sweater. The soft hiss through his teeth and the tungsten-level hardening of his dick between my legs gave me the confidence to stay there bare for him, to let his burning gaze wander over every inch of my skin.

“Fuuck, Lowe. Look at you… you’re perfect.” His thumbs inched upward, so slowly it was barely enough to register movement.

My nipples were almost painful, so desperate they were for his touch. I watched in slow motion, biting down on my bottom lip to keep my groans from escaping, watched as his strong, warm hands slid upwards and cupped my breasts. I was his show, and he was captivated. His eyes flicked to mine for the briefest moment almost as if asking permission before concentrating back on the task in hand. His pink tongue dragged a wet trail of saliva across my chest, from one nipple to the other, and that broke me. A throaty groan forced its way from the deepest recesses of my belly and echoed in the space between us.

“Penn…”

“Lowe, if we start now, I’m not gonna be able to stop. I’m warning you. If we start…”

I responded by relieving him of his shirt, brushing away the hair that tumbled into his eyes when I pulled it over his head. And now it was my turn to gasp, my jaw loosening until I swear it was only held on by skin. I thought I’d seen his body during his midnight swim. I had, Ihadseen it, but between then and now, I swear more muscles had grown.

His golden skin glistened in the candlelight dancing round the room. Thick, broad shoulders flexed tight from the tension coiling through the sinews of his biceps at my touch, but he stayed still, just like I had for him. I ran my fingertips over the corded muscles stretched across his ribs, committing to memory the hard plains of his body.

When I’d seen him in the pool, I’d wanted to follow the path of a water droplet running down his chest, so I traced it now. His chest, his abs, all covered in baby soft skin, not a hair in sight, until I reached the softest trail of blonde curls leading below the deep V in his waist, and under the low band of his jeans.

He was potent. He was strength, power, might.

Yet he was looking up at me like I was the only person he’d ever seen in his entire life, and it stole my breath.

“I don’t want to stop.”

Before my heart could take another beat, he gathered me up, his big hands clasping under my ass as he carried me up the stairs. Placing me gently on the bed, he pulled off my yoga pants, taking my panties with them, and stayed at the end, peering down.

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