Chapter 3 #4
She giggled and held out her hand.
Pyro took it and looked at Penny. “You want to lead the way? You know where the mess hall is?”
She nodded. She liked that Pyro was being so nice to Bowie, but she worried that her daughter might get too attached. As soon as they got to wherever it was they were going, he’d leave and probably never think about them again. She didn’t want that heartache for Bowie.
As she walked toward the chow hall, she heard Bowie and Pyro having a conversation about all the different sounds on a ship this size. Penny was constantly amazed at the things Bowie heard that she, herself, didn’t even notice.
She looked back once, expecting to see Pyro looking down at her daughter…but instead his gaze seemed to be glued to her ass.
She whipped her head back around and felt her cheeks grow warm.
But she couldn’t help the pleased feeling that swam in her veins.
She’d never thought of herself as anything all that special.
She was too busy raising Bowie and surviving to feel very sexual.
Being around Pyro seemed to bring back the feelings she’d had very early in her marriage, when John wasn’t such an asshole, roaring to the surface once more.
She wasn’t sure what to do with those feelings.
She didn’t want to be a one-night stand. Even for someone as sexy as Kylo Mullins.
When they arrived at the mess hall, Penny’s cheeks still felt hot, but she did her best to ignore that as she opened the door.
“If it’s okay, let me put your bag down at our table, then we can go through the line. My friends are over there to the right.”
Looking where Pyro indicated with his head, Penny saw five men sitting around a circular table. She suddenly felt shy, and like an outsider. As if everyone was talking about her, only to abruptly stop when she walked into the room.
But she was being ridiculous.
Taking a deep breath, Penny headed in the direction of the table he’d pointed out.
When they arrived, Pyro put her bag down next to an empty seat and introduced his friends.
“Bowie, Penny, you’ve met Chaos and Edge, but this is Obi-Wan, Buck, and Casper.”
Penny nodded at each of the men, then couldn’t help but grin as Bowie ran one hand along the chairs as she made her way around to each of them, enthusiastically shaking their hands.
“I’m Bowie Burns. It’s nice to meet you,” she said each time, repeating the words Penny had taught her to say when she met new people.
“Oh my God, she’s adorable,” Casper muttered under his breath.
And if she heard it, Bowie definitely did, as her hearing was way better.
“Thanks, I am adorable,” she said with a cheeky grin. “Or so my mom tells me.”
“And not conceited at all,” Penny added drolly.
Bowie frowned. “What’s conceited mean?” she asked.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Pyro cut in. “How about we go get some chicken fingers?”
“Yes!” Bowie exclaimed.
Thanks, Penny mouthed to Pyro. She wasn’t ready to get into a conversation about conceit at the moment.
She followed her daughter and Pyro to the chow line, impressed with how good everything looked. She’d kind of assumed food on a ship this big would be less than stellar, but her mouth was watering at all the delicious smells.
“Get whatever you want, there’s no limit,” Pyro told her.
Penny nodded and grabbed two trays, one for her and one for Bowie.
She described everything that was on the buffet to her daughter and filled her tray, mostly with chicken fingers and fries, but managed to get the little girl to agree to some green beans and carrots as well.
She shook her head at Pyro when he motioned toward the dessert options, relieved when he didn’t mention them.
Her daughter had a sweet tooth. That hadn’t been an issue before, with their lack of funds, but now that the options were unlimited, she didn’t want Bowie to get too used to eating junk food.
“You want to carry your tray?” Penny asked, ever mindful of Bowie’s independent streak. At every opportunity, she wanted to prove that she could do everything a sighted person could do.
To her surprise, Bowie shook her head and tightened her hold on Pyro’s hand.
He smiled at her, letting her know it was all right, then headed back to the table.
Penny took a deep breath. It was definitely going to upset Bowie when they arrived at their destination and Pyro and his friends went their separate ways. She didn’t want to think about the tears and meltdowns Bowie would have when she had to say goodbye.
Of course, she realized that her daughter wouldn’t be the only one sad to see the last of this man. He’d made her feel seen more than anyone had in a long time. It was a heady experience. And it didn’t hurt that he was so awesome with Bowie.
She wondered anew if he had a kid back home. Because he was a natural. Surely that was because he was used to being around children.
The thought was a little depressing, but she pushed it to the back of her mind.
She was not having a fling with Pyro. He was just being nice.
She had to remember that, for her own mental health.
It would be hard enough to start over, again, but it would be even harder if she was constantly thinking about how much she missed a man she barely knew.
Taking a deep breath, she put their trays down on the table and pulled out the chair for her daughter.
One day at a time. That was her motto. Life would do what life would do, and she just had to hang on for the ride.
She’d learned that the hard way, and she thought she’d managed pretty well, all things considered.
She’d continue to do so because of Bowie.
Her daughter gave her a reason to stay positive and keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when life seemed to want to squash her like a bug.