Page 109 of Lucky Penny
“Fine, fine. The interesting edition,” she starts, and I relax, listening to her talk. I could sit here forever if it meant hearing her voice. A voice I’ve dreamt about for the past decade.
She pulls up a picture of a pretty brunette with her arm around Penny. They have tall flutes of champagne in their hands.
“This is my best friend in the entire world—Audrey. She owns a bakery, the best in the state, probably the country. She’s really talented. She’d probably love you, unfortunately.”
I smirk, and Penny closes the laptop, crawling out of my lap so she’s facing me now.
She pulls her knees to her chest, and I rest a hand on her legs. Penny stops fidgeting when I do, a splash of pink on her cheeks.
“I got my degree in business,” she continues, running a hand through her hair. “But I fell in love with photography when I went to Paris junior year. I got lucky.” She shrugs. But I know that’s not true. I know she worked incredibly hard for everything she has.
“My Lucky Penny." I smile, and Penny rolls back into my arms.
One thing hasn’t changed about her, she’s always restless, always squirming around. I pin her in with my arms, and she exhales, melting into me again. Her fingers lightly trace idle shapes across my forearm, then they drop down and she laces her fingers through mine.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” I reply steadily.
Her thumb brushes across my knuckles, and my heart skips a beat.
“Hope. Hurt,” she says softly. “What do they mean?”
I glance down at our hands intertwined, the black ink staring back up at me. “Yeah…”
Turning my hand palm-up and curling my fingers through hers, I exhale, and she moves with my chest. “I got it years ago. My cellmate gave it to me. After I thought maybe I’d already lived the only good parts of my life.”
She doesn’t say anything.
“Hope was what I wanted to believe in. Hope that by some miracle, everything would go back to normal. That I could right my wrongs. That maybe one day, you’d forgive me.” I pause. “Hurt was how it actually felt most days.”
There’s a long moment where neither of us speaks. She’s still facing away, her back against my chest, but I know she can feel it—my heartbeat pounding against her ribs.
“And now what?” she finally asks.
I tighten my hold on her hand. “And now…you’re here in my arms.”
I hope it says enough.
She doesn’t answer, not with words. She simply lets herself be held. Then, like a switch flipping, her voice is playful again.
“Okay, it’s your turn. Any more topless modeling pictures?”
I bark a laugh, letting the weight in my chest lift for just a second. Penny does that. Shefinds ways to lighten the load, to make everything okay again.
“None,” I say, sliding the laptop out of reach just in case she gets any ideas. I slip a hand under her sweatshirt, unhooking her bra, hungrily kissing the side of her neck. “If you want to see me topless, you’re going to have to make it happen yourself.”
Penny doesn’t miss a beat, and before I can get out another word, she spins around, grabbing my neck with both hands.
Little vixen.
“I can do that.” She smiles wickedly, and I pull her under the sheets, ready to show her just how full ofhopeI am.
42
Penny
NOW
