Chapter 80
DARCY
After the festivitieshad died down, Penn and I worked diligently picking up every little piece of broken water balloon that surrounded the town square. Hundreds and hundreds of colorful little rubber pieces littered the ground, and we had made it our mission to clear the area. Well, Mr. Fitzgerald told me if I didn’t get them cleaned up, he would see to it that I never won another contest in Aveline, and as I was now gunning for the Corn Carnival’s pastel colored bike with the basket on the front, I couldn’t very well let that happen.
Penn and I walked back to my place when we were finished, and I felt at ease. For the first time, I was developing a relationship with someone instead of running away. I was working through my own faults and those of Penn without writing him off and saying good riddance. I liked Penn enough to get to know him beyond my first impression, which was, I will admit, not exactly a winner. We had spent the last few months starting over, and while it felt nice, taking things slow and getting to know each other after the whirlwind of a first act we had, it was also hard keeping things so...slow.
Penn took my hand in his and linked our fingers together. “I got you something,” he said. “It’s in my car.”
“What! Why would you leave it in your car? Go get it!” I stopped walking. “Go on. I’ll wait for you.”
Penn laughed. “Well, considering I parked my car at your house and walked to Trunk or Treat, it’s technically at your house.”
“Oh, well, okay...I must say, though, it was pretty forward of you to just park your car at my house like I was just going to let you spend the night or something.” I raised my eyebrows, teasing him.
“You told me to park it there,” he said, shoving into me playfully with his shoulder.
“Okay, fine,” I replied, knowing he was right. I had told him there was no reason for him to stay at the inn when he could stay with me. I just liked messing with him...in a non-Operation AA kind of way.
We got to my house, and Penn went to his car while I unlocked the front door. He came in with a gift bag, and I ripped it open excitedly, pulling out a cream-colored sweater. I held it up in front of me and examined it. It was just a normal, everyday, run of the mill, cream sweater. I didn’t understand the significance of it, but I liked it.
“Thank you. I really like this. You didn’t have to get me anything. It’s not even the celebration of the month before our wedding,” I joked.
Penn chuckled. “Where did you get that ring anyway?”
“One of those little machines in the breezeway of the market. I was going for the snake ring, but it gave me that cheap-ass gold one instead. I still haven’t gotten that damn snake. Anyway, irrelevant. The point is, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
Penn licked his lips, still smiling. “I know, but I figured it was better late than never.”
I stared at him blankly, still not understanding. “Yeaaah, of course. And I got you a...” I looked around my house and picked up the first thing I could find, a white ceramic head with a fake succulent in it. “This!”
Penn hesitantly took the head and placed it on the coffee table. “You don’t remember, do you?”
I grimaced, my shoulders to my ears. “I can’t say I do.”
“I put a hole in your favorite sweater the first day we met? I thought it looked really similar to this one, right?”
Then I remembered the day we met, the day he practically ran me over with his car, that I had said he put a hole in my sweater. I held the new one to my chest and started laughing. I was laughing so hard that I leaned over.
“What is so funny?” he asked. “Is the sweater not like the one you had?”
“I...” I was trying to talk while laughing. “I...” I put my finger up, coughing a couple times before continuing. “Oh, Penn. I lied about that. That sweater has had a hole in it for years. I think I got it caught on the doorknob or something.”
“Are you serious? You mean to tell me I had nothing to do with it? I have felt bad about the holey sweater for months now!”
Penn moved quickly, and I ran back as he caught me against the wall. He leaned in, and I felt my body fill with heat. This was the moment I had been waiting for. I was waiting for clarity that Penn was ready to take our relationship to the next level—or back to this level considering we had already been this far—and right now, I felt like it was crystal clear.
Then he backed away, and my heart sank.
Maybe I was wrong.
“Listen, Darcy, I really want to kiss you. Scratch that—I want to do way more than just kiss you.”
I nodded. “Yes! Absolutely. Let’s go!” I gestured to my bedroom.
“But...” Penn squinted his eyes and tilted his head. “I can’t while you look like Dwight Schrute.”
I burst out laughing and nodded. “Okay then. Help me out of these slacks.”