Page 37 of Cozy Girl Fall
“A classic trope,” he said, nodding.
They’d been playing the predictions game for a long time and falling back into the pattern was easy thanks to its familiarity. It felt comfortable playing it again with Ethan, even as her heart raced at his proximity and the brush of his arm on the rest between them. Typically whoever picked a prediction that came true in the movie got to pick the next one. Sometimes therewere no winners, but it didn’t stop them coming up with all kinds of nonsense guesses.
“I’m glad you agreed to meet me,” Ethan murmured, his low voice raising the hair on her arms and sending a tingle across her chest. “I take it your talk with Tasha went well?”
She nodded. “It was dicey at first, to be honest. I know she’s just trying to look out for both of us but it took a little while to convince her that our friendship isn’t at risk if anything happens between me and you. And then many cookies were eaten, and things got a little easier from there. I do get where she’s coming from though, especially after how everything went down last time.” Ethan didn’t say anything, allowing Penny to finish her thought as he simply nodded in understanding. Before she could lose her nerve, Penny blew out a breath. “Ethan? Is this a date?”
His eyes flicked over her face, assessing her. “Do you want this to be a date?” She hesitated, biting her lip before nodding. “Then it’s a date.” He smiled when she relaxed and leant in to kiss her on the cheek as they settled back in their seats.
The previews came to an end, the screen briefly going completely black as the movie prepared to play. The theater was relatively empty and the darkness felt cozy until the brightening of the screen threw their surroundings into sharp relief.
Ethan’s face looked pale in the bright light and when he turned to find her watching him, she jerkedher gaze away quickly. She’d been up front with Ethan about her feelings, and her concern over her eventually leaving Magnolia Springs behind, so why did she feel guilty? Like a nerve was twanging under her skin, Penny couldn’t stop fidgeting, unable to focus on the movie, or anything besides Ethan’s warmth beside her. She didn’t need to fight this feeling anymore, but she also felt like she couldn’t give in to it either. Had it been so long since she’d last been happy that the sensation now felt completely foreign?
A hand covered hers, squeezing gently, and her eyes darted down to find Ethan’s hand intertwined with her own atop the shared armrest between them. Maybe it was the darkness of the room that had her burning, the freedom of being unobserved, but her body felt like a live wire as Ethan touched her.
When her fidgeting started up again ten minutes later, Ethan leant in with worry furrowing his brow. “If you want to leave we can,” he said, as Reese Witherspoon pouted adorably on-screen.
“No, it’s fine,” Penny murmured, wriggling in her seat to get comfortable. “Just can’t relax and get my brain to switch off.”
“Oh.” A small smile pulled at Ethan’s lower lip as he settled back in his chair. “I see.”
They didn’t say anything else and Penny tried to focus on the screen and the inevitable heist build-up. But then Ethan let go of her hand and surprise, maybe a little hurt too, made her fingers clench.
Except, his hand didn’t stop moving and instead dropped, reaching over the armrest and landing on her knee. She started, popcorn spilling from her bucket, and when he squeezed her knee her breath caught.
“What are you doing?”
He smiled. “Relaxing you.”
His hand on her leg was theoppositeof relaxing, and then he started to move. His fingers trailed over her knee and carefully stroked upwards in a line of fire so delicate she thought she might lose her mind.
“Ethan—“
“Shhh. I’ve got you. You can be quiet for me, can’t you?”
His hand reached the waist of her jeans and he looked up at her for approval before flicking open the button and smoothly lowering her zipper.
Her gasp was lost in the loud music that flooded the room, but Ethan knew, had seen her chin tilt and mouth part and rewarded her by slipping his hand under her jeans and cupping her over her underwear.
Penny glanced to her right and was relieved that the rest of their row was empty, as was the row behind them. Nobody could see him torturing her, but even if they could, she wasn’t sure she’d care right then. Not when she could feel her own wetness mounting against the friction of his large hand.
She wasn’t the only one affected, though. Ethan’s eyes were closed, his bottom lip sucked into his mouth as he rocked his hand against her heat. Her hips cantedforward and his finger slid under the boundary of her underwear, making them both jolt.
There was a brief moment then, as if they both realized that there would be no going back from this, then the bubble of time popped and his hand pressed against her clit.
He stroked into her arousal, the curl of his fingers proprietary as he teased her entrance and found her soaked. Ethan muttered something under his breath that she couldn’t hear over the music playing, she stared at the screen without really seeing it as the tip of his finger pressed into her and she gripped the armrests, trying for some semblance of control.
“Is this OK?” The words were husky and uttered straight into her ear, making her shudder as his finger pressed into her more fully, curling and rubbing in a way he definitely hadn’t known how to do when they were in high school.
“Yes,” she panted and his smirk was there and gone in a flash of light from the screen.
“Good. I think you can take more, baby. Don’t you?” His palm pressed flat against her and the added pressure to her clit made her legs strain open wider. “I think youneedmore, but you have to be quiet for me, Penny.”
She nodded, the movement frantic and eager, and was rewarded with the press of a second finger at her entrance, stretching her out as the pressure inside her built. Her eyes fluttered close and Ethan tutted.
“Eyes on me, baby,” he growled and then chuckled low and dark when he felt the rush of moisture his words generated. Their eyes locked and he bit his lip on a groan as the filthy sound of what he was doing to her was lost in the soundtrack of the movie.
“How’s that, Penny? Are you feeling calmer now?” The speed of his slow thrusts increased and her hips rolled against his hand as small whimpers were wrung from her lips. The motion of his hand froze. “Shhh, only quiet girls get to finish.”
