Page 42 of Here and Now
“So, like I said, think some more until you come up with the right decision.”
Penelope leans in, and her smile brightens her beautiful eyes. “And what if the answer is still not what you’re hoping for?”
I grin. “Then I’ll have to come up with more of my glowing attributes to sway you. Besides, we’re practically dating as it is.”
She leans back. “We are?”
“Yup. We’ve had coffee almost daily, we spend three days a week together with Kai, went for ice cream, and I walked you home that one time. So I’m counting at least six dates.”
“Umm, this is my place of employment. That doesn’t mean we’re dating because you come in here to get coffee.” Her smile is just starting to form at the end.
“Semantics.”
She shakes her head. “Okay, as for your other times, you’re the coach of Kai’s team, so yes, I see you those days, and ice cream was with the kids ... those weren’t dates.”
I stand straight and smile. “If you say so. I see them as dates, and so far, you’ve been pretty happy each time that we’ve spent time together.”
Penny laughs and crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re ridiculous.”
I tilt my head. “The word you were looking for wasrelentless, and I’ll see you in a few days with Kai.”
“For practice.”
“It’s a date.” I wink and then walk out, hopefully leaving her at least smiling.
eight
Penelope
“Hey, Penny!” Eloise calls to me as I’m sitting off to the side, watching their clinic. “Come over here, sit with us.”
I’ve done my best to stay back from the other moms. Not because they’re not kind or anything, but because I need to maintain my distance. I know Ashton thinks it’s stupid, but if we have to run tomorrow, I don’t want to feel worse about it as I’m leaving friends without any explanation. I don’t need any more reasons to feel like shit about myself.
Still, saying no to them after being invited isn’t really an option. So I smile, gather my bags, and shift over.
“Hey,” I say as I sit down.
“Penelope, this is Maryanne. She’s Joe’s mom. This is Amari. Her son is Briggs, by far the best skater here, and then the blonde down there banging on the glass because her son is chipping the ice with his skates is Darlene.”
“It’s nice to meet you all officially. I’ve met Amari a few times in the coffee shop. It’s great to see you again.”
Amari smiles warmly. “You too. I’ll be heading there after practice because there is not enough coffee to keep me running today. School can’t start soon enough.”
Eloise laughs. “Tell me about it. The summer feels longer this year.”
“Probably because you have a newborn,” Maryanne notes.
In my perfect life plan, I would’ve been Eloise right now. I wanted two kids, a few years apart, but not more than seven. My brother and I are far apart, and I always wished we were closer. While I love having only Kai, sometimes I wish I could at least have options for more, but again, no one wants to be with a woman who is running from her past.
“That would be why, still, Miles has been amazing with helping. He’s kept Ethan busy so much for me, but it’s still exhausting. Between Doug still not being mobile and Cora waking all the time, I just wish I had a few hours during the day where I could ... sleep,” Eloise says, and you can almost feel the exhaustion.
“Your brother has aged like a fine wine,” Maryanne says as she bites her lip.
Eloise makes a gagging noise. “Stop it.”
“What? I’m single, he’s single. I’m just saying that Miles is still hot.”
I glance over where he’s waiting at the end, watching the kids trying to learn how to stop while on the ice. I saytrybecause most of the time he ends up catching them as they’re flying by, unable to get their feet in the right position to stop the way he’s trying to teach them.
