Page 71 of Lucky Penny
Time is something I don’t really have.
She’s leaving in a week—that’s not enough to rewrite the ending of our story, no matter how much I want it to be. Not enough to prove I’m a man now, not a scared eighteen-year-old kid. Not enough to unpack all the years she lived without me.
But maybe it’s enough for something—a start, a second chance, amaybe.
It’s getting late, and the wind is picking up, so I finally turn around and go back home. At a light near the house, I glance down at my bare hands, red and stiff from the cold.
HOPEinked across one set of knuckles,HURTacross the other—fading a little now.
It was the first tattoo I got in prison, and I got it retouched in LA. I got them in a moment when I didn’t know which one I felt more, always toggling between the two.
Some days, I still don’t know which one wins.
Neither Penny nor Fia has asked what they mean, though I notice Penny looking at them a lot. Maybe she’s afraid to find out.
I grip the handlebars tighter, my hands freezing cold, but I don’t mind. I like the way the ache reminds me I am still alive. That today had been real.
I want more of today. I want to remind Penny of the boy who loved her.
And maybe, just maybe, show her the man who still does—the one who loves her enough to wait for trust to come back around.
28
Jesse
THEN
Age 18, End of Senior Year
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask, my voice low, rough with restraint. “I don’t want you to feel rushed.”
The room is stuffy and warm, and only lit by the moonlight leaking through the slats in the blinds, leaving silver lines across her face. She touches her collarbone, nervously pulling on the hem of her T-shirt.
It’s just us at home tonight.
Fia’s at a sleepover, and Nan’s working the night shift. Danny even miraculously picked up an evening stock shift at the grocery store. It’s the first time we’ve been truly alone. Not stolen moments or whispered touches behind closed doors.
I can’t let it go to waste.
Penny nods, her forehead brushing against my chest. I can feel her breath, warm and unsteady against me.
“Yes, I’m sure… I’ve been wanting this for so long,” she replies.
I lean my head against hers for a second, needing her to know,reallyknow.“I love you so much, Pen…I need to know you feel safe before we do this.”
She melts into me like those words were all she needed. And hell, I mean them. Every syllable. I’ve never loved anyone like this...never wanted toprotectsomeone like this.
I’d never let anyone hurt her.
Her fingers tremble slightly as she lifts her shirt, and I meet her halfway, pulling it over her head and dropping it on the floor next to me. I press a kiss to her forehead, then her temple, her cheekbone, and finally her lips. I hook a finger under her chin, gently tilting her face up so I can kiss her deeply.
“I love you, too, Jesse,” she whispers against my mouth.
I pull my shirt over my head, too, and suddenly, we’re chest to chest, the heat between us too real to go back now.
The pink lace of her bra cups her softly, delicately, and catches the low light. She steals my breath. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
“Fuck, princess,” I murmur without thinking, my voice strained. “You are so damn beautiful.”
