Page 143 of Here and Now
“Okay!” He rushes out of the room, and I hear him scream when he sees the arcade game I bought. Every kid should get to play arcades.
“What did you do?” she asks.
“Don’t worry about it. Listen, I want to talk.”
Her body tenses just a little. “Okay, is there something wrong?”
“No, just the opposite. I want you to move in with me.”
Penelope steps back. “What?”
“Move in with me. Stay here. We’re together all the time anyway, and you’ll be safe here. I have the alarm system, put in a new door that’s reinforced and can’t be breached. Doug is installing cameras next week, and I did something else.”
Here it goes.
“What did you do?”
I take her hand and walk her to what used to be a guest room. I slowly push open the door and show her the transformation.
Gone is the neutral guest room with a queen bed and two nightstands, and there is a bunk bed with a full on the bottom. There’s a Lego table off to the right and a dresser with a television mounted on the wall. The room has lighting around the top that changes to every freaking color combination possible. My sister was adamant that I didn’t do a bedding with characters on it, and so I went with a blue-and-gray color scheme.
Penelope inhales, her hand on her chest. “This is ...”
“For Kai. If you don’t want to move in with me, that’s fine, but at least he has a place of his own. He and Ethan can use this room for sleepovers or?—”
Before I can say another word, Penelope has her arms wrapped around my neck and her mouth on mine. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her to me, and return her kiss.
Instead of letting this kiss get carried away, I pull back and lift her up so her legs are around my middle. “Are you happy?”
“I can’t believe you did this,” she says breathlessly.
“Why can’t you?”
“We’re so new.”
“I love you. I want you both with me.”
She stares at me as though she can’t really believe what she sees. “I love you too.”
“Will you at least think about moving in? You’d save money on rent, and I make a pretty good bodyguard.”
Penelope’s hand moves to my face, and she brushes the stubble there. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good.”
I hope the answer is yes.
“Where’s Penny?” Hazel asks as she finds me at the football game.
“She should be here any minute,” I reply, although she’s about fifteen minutes late.
This week I had a huge issue at the school with two students who got in a fight, and when I suspended them both, both of their parents wanted to have meetings with me. That meant that Tuesday night, when I was supposed to have dinner and watch a movie with Penny and Kai, I was here until nine, because no matter what I said, the family wasn’t hearing me. One day missed with Penny and Kai. Then on Wednesday it was the other family. I didn’t think it could be worse than the first, but I was proved incorrect.
Thursday is the day before game day, and I always have to stay late because home games in Ember Falls often get out of hand. I met with the sheriff and county police to establish whatever safety protocols they want. Tonight’s game is against our biggest rival, and last year the benches and the stands cleared.
It was absolute mayhem.
“How did the threats go?” Hazel asks with a smirk.
