Page 57 of Santa Has a Six-Pack
“But you don’t have to romance me here. We both want the same thing from each other.”
She kisses me again, biting my lower lip this time. I get lost in her for a few moments, but damnit, my brain just won’t shut up.
“Do we?” I say.
“Do we what?” she asks as she nuzzles my neck.
“Want the same thing.”
“Well, yeah.” She looks directly in my eyes, then lowers to the ground in front of me, taking my pants down with her.
And because apparently I am an absolute moron, I gently grab her by the shoulders and pull her right back up.
“Sorry.” I’m just as shocked with myself as she seems to be. “I really want you to do what you were just about to do, but, um, you said we want the same thing from each other. What is that exactly?”
“Are you serious right now?” She lets out a sound of disbelief and gestures to the floor, where her skirt and my pants are puddled around our feet.
“Yeah. I am.”
And I hate myself more with every word that comes out of my mouth.
“I thought we were attracted to each other,” she says, confused.
“We are! I mean, I certainly am attracted to you. You better believe I am!”
“Okay… so, I thought we were acting on that attraction.” Her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
“Penny? Hear me out. I’m all about acting on that attraction.”
“It doesn’t really seem like it right now.” Penny chuckles self-consciously, then bends over and pulls up her skirt.
“Wait, wait.” I tip her chin up to look at me. “Can we talk about this?”
She brushes my hand away. “Ya know what? I’m not really in the mood to talk right now. I’ll just see you at lunch, okay?” She tucks in her blouse.
“Penny, please. Don’t leave it like this. I think you’re amazing. I?—”
“No need to explain.” She moves toward the door. “I got caught up in the holiday spirit, that’s all. Won’t happen again!”
“Listen, I want it to happen again. I just feel like?—”
The rickety door slams behind her, leaving me standing alone, my red velvet pants still around my ankles.
Damnit. I completely blew it.
Chapter 15
Penny
“Well, this won’t be awkward at all,” I mumble to myself Monday morning as I walk into PS44 for my first holiday show rehearsal.
After signing in at the front office, I follow the school secretary’s directions toward the auditorium, admiring the popsicle snowflake art displayed on the sky-blue concrete walls.
How should I introduce myself when I get in there? “Hi, kids! So happy to meet you! I’m the woman who stuck my tongue down your PE teacher’s throat yesterday while he was dressed as Santa Claus. Oh, I tried to blow him too, but he stopped me before I could, which wasn’t humiliating for me at all! Anyway, happy to be here! Who wants to learn some dance moves?”
After my tryst with Matt on Saturday—can we call it a tryst when I left the man unsatisfied with his Santa pants around his ankles? Whatever. He was the one who shut things down— I took my salad up to eat alone in my office so I could avoid facing him again. I told Dottie I needed to catch up on inventory for the rest of the afternoon and asked that Keira act as Matt’s handler for the rest of the lap-sitting event. I could tell they both knew something was up with me, but thankfully, they didn’t press the issue and let me lick my wounds in peace.
I seriously considered pulling out of this commitment. I mean, do I really have time to choreograph dance numbers for a little kids’ holiday show? No. No, I don’t.
