Page 95 of Santa Has a Six-Pack
“Don’t fuck it up, kay?” he jokes.
“I will do my very best.”
Penny spots me in the corner and rushes over to me as soon as I hang up. “Sorry that took so long. You okay?” She casts a worried look around the crowded room.
“Yeah, I’m great. Had a lot of nice conversations so far.”
I stroke her hair.
She leans into my touch.
“How bout you?” I ask. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She nods. “I am. Banks and I are good.” Then she half smiles, half cringes and lowers her voice. “She wants me to be in the room with her when she has this baby.”
“Whoa. Is that something you want to do?”
“I think so, yeah.” She sounds surprised at herself. “I’ve always wanted to be closer to her and the kids. I think I’ve been letting all my parental bullshit stand in the way of that. But… no more. Anyway, she’ll be induced at the end of the month, which is perfect since it’s my winter break from Herald’s, so I’m going to spend a few days with her.”
“Sounds awesome,” I say. “Happy for you.”
Who knew this party would be such an eye-opener for both of us?
“Speaking of parental bullshit,” I say. “I haven’t seen them yet, but?—”
“I don’t want to talk about them right now,” she says in that breathy voice I love so much.
Penny wraps her arms around my neck.
I circle mine around her waist.
She’s so close now, all it would take is leaning down an inch, and I could finally kiss her again.
“What, um, what do you want to talk about?” I rumble.
“MISSLE HO!” a small child’s voice screams beside us.
“Whoa! Hey!” I startle. “You must be one of Penny’s niblings, huh?”
A little girl with curly red hair and a shiny green Christmas dress looks up at me. “Yes. My name is Maya, and you’re standing under the Missile Ho.”
She points at the little sprig of mistletoe, which is in fact hanging right above us.
“If you stand under the Missile Ho, you gotta kiss.” She puts her little hands on her hips. “That’s the rule.”
I chuckle and look at Penny, not sure where she wants to go with this.
Keeping her arms around my neck, she shrugs. “Well, we can’t defy the Missile Ho, can we?”
I smile and place a hand on her cheek. “The rules are the rules.”
With that, we close that inch of space between us, and finally… we kiss.
Chapter 25
Penny
The moment Matt’s lips touch mine, my entire body responds. We’re no longer in a crowded room where my anxiety about seeing my parents is through the roof. We’re in our own little world instead, where there is only the warmth of his breath, the softness of his skin, and the feeling of calm that overtakes me whenever he’s around me lately.
