Chapter 14
14
PENNY
“Ooff!” I call out, as my knees and palms hit the ice. It’s the fourth time I’ve fallen, and the dampness is soaking into my jeans. “It’s these new skates.” I examine the birthday gift that the girls got me, wondering if my laces aren’t tight enough. “Maybe I just need to get used to them.”
“Or it’s your coordination,” Collins counters with a laugh, basically doing donuts around me.
“I’m not a tree. Move along,” I say.
“There’s nothing wrong with marking my territory.”
I glare at him. He’s not even trying to help me up. I mean, I’m sure he would if I asked, but I’m not asking that smug man for a thing right now. And he better not pee on me. I am already so bitter that he’s basically good at everything. Sure, he gave me the whole, “I’ve only ice skated once or twice,” garbage, but he basically hit the ice doing twirly things and has the grace of a swan.
So annoying!
It’s when I’m struggling to get upright that I feel myself being tossed airborne. With a smirk that seems to be permanently etched onto his face, Collins places me back onto the ice and tugs me along with his hand, as we skate to some boy band throwback song.
We stay connected like this as the song fades into another.
And another.
And another.
A coating of sweat lines my face as my lungs pant for air. I didn’t realize how fast we were skating until we stop and move off the ice for a bench break.
“Yes, my comfort zone.”
Collins looks at me and shakes his head. “You might need those little kid walkers on wheels.”
“I’d still manage to fall with one.”
He thinks about it for a few seconds. “Yeah, most definitely.”
“Hey! I’m just in awe that I didn’t manage to knock us both down.” I nudge him with my elbow. “I’m talented like that.”
Collins smiles, looking like he barely broke a sweat. His body fills out a gray-and-black striped sweater, and I can’t help but notice how buff it makes him look. “Do you want something to eat?”
“Cotton candy!”
“Any—”
“And caramel apples!”
“Do you?—”
“Maybe nachos?” I shake my head. “No, I want popcorn. I love popcorn with the fake butter sauce that still tastes sort of like butter. Yeah, that. I want that.”
Collins looks like he wants to say more but resists. He knows when I get this excited and passionate that he’s at the mercy of my munchies.
“Junk food is my jam,” I say softly. “We can share.”
His eyes darken, sending a shiver down my spine.
Now that my body has had a chance to cool down, I watch as Collins stands up and walks toward the concession stand.
After several minutes, Collins returns with an empty calorie buffet tray of goodies. We both dig in.
I dunk a tortilla chip in the processed cheese dip, savoring the synthetic taste. “These are so good.”
“I’m glad.”
His eyes follow my every movement, making the butterflies in my stomach grow anxious. I never really cared if a man watched me eat before, and now I suddenly am conscious of how unladylike I must look as I shovel in chips oozing with cheese dip one at a time.
I switch over to the cotton candy—fully committing to stress eating—ripping off a piece from the pink sugar cloud and popping it into my mouth. Closing my eyes, I savor the taste. “There’s something magical about this fairy goodness. I swear they put drugs in this stuff to make it so addicting.”
When I decide to come back down from my high, Collins is still staring at me. I keep catching him watching me, and every look coats my insides with warmth.
If he continues to analyze everything I’m doing, I might scream. He looks hangry but refuses to dig in to the pit of carbs with me, at least not to the extent I’m blowing through a day’s worth of calories. I wipe at my face with a napkin, worried I have something smeared on my cheeks.
“Here, let me,” Collins says, grabbing my napkin and moving it along the side of my mouth. “There.”
We have to maintain a platonic relationship when out in public, but he’s the one who keeps initiating all of the seemingly innocent touches.
I look down at my new skates, rocking the blades along the rubber floor. “Thanks.”
His eyes stare at my lips. “Anytime.”
“I’m not just referring to you saving me from the food stuck on my face but for today. I have so much fun with you.”
Collins’s smile is genuine. “I haven’t ice skated in a long time. I’m surprised I remembered how to do it.”
I turn my body on the bench, propping up a knee. “Is there anything you’re not good at?”
He thinks about it for a couple of seconds. “Hmm, no.”
I smack his arm, causing him to fake wince. “You can be so cocky, Mr. Stone.”
“And you can be so sassy, Miss Hoffman.”
“You like it.”
His smile is wicked. “I more than like it.”
We pack up our belongings and put on our normal shoes, exiting the facility into the parking lot.
The drive back to Sky View is pleasant. I watch the sun set and think about how I got to this stage in my life.
A couple of months ago, I’d have laughed in anyone’s face if they told me that I’d be signing a sex contract with this ultra private man.
But here I am, riding shotgun, being his passenger princess.
“I know you aren’t going to like this…”
“Oh boy,” Collins says, shooting his gaze my way. “Go on…”
“I’m going to need to at least show my face in my own apartment for a couple of hours.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t checked in with Luke in weeks. He has my cell number and we text on occasion, but I’m not really being a good roommate by deserting him.”
“Fine. But I’ll walk you to your door. And you’re coming back to my bed tonight.”
I nod and allow Collins to help me out of my side of the vehicle, which he always seems to enjoy. He grabs our skates from the trunk and carries them for us.
We walk to the elevator and exit onto my floor.
Digging through my handbag, I search for my key. After several seconds, I feel his warm breath on my cheek, as he leans over to put his key into the lock.
“Really?” I ask, turning and propping my hands on my hips.
“Yes, really.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit overkill?”
“What? Me opening your door or your reaction to me doing it?”
I feel a growl from deep in my belly, as I swipe the key from his hand and dump it into my handbag. “Thanks for the spare.”
“You know I have more.”
I grumble something unintelligible and wave goodbye without inviting him in. We’ve had this same repeat experience, and I doubt I will ever get used to him having his own set.
“Honey, you’re home!” Luke calls out from the sofa. “Perfect timing.”
He has on some sports game that I know nothing about nor care to learn. As a kid, I was dragged to my brothers’ wrestling matches, and while I enjoyed screaming from the stands and eating buttered popcorn from the concessions, the extent of my enthusiasm ended there.
“For what?”
“For you to tell me all your secrets.”
“What if there aren’t any?”
Luke tosses a hand into the air. “Just make some up. The juicier the better. I need drama in my life.”
“So there’s this guy…”
Luke sits up straighter and plasters a serious expression on his face. “Tall, Dark, and Overcompensated?”
“What?” I shake my head. “What does that even mean?”
“Like he’s using money or social status to overcompensate for inadequacy”—he points to his groin—“in the tool department.”
I stare at him blankly and then flop down on the couch beside him. “I, um, I don’t even know how to answer that. I mean, he has money.”
“Is he older?”
“Yeah.”
Luke plasters on a knowing smile. “Like a sugar daddy.” When I don’t answer, he lets out a huff. “Come on, you have to give more details. It’s a rule.”
“There’s no rules, Luke.”
He shrugs. “It’s listed in the handbook.”
I make a face. “What handbook?”
“ How to Survive Being Roommates .”
“Sounds boring.”
“Sounds practical. And with you I need all the help I can get. Your species is so complex,” he says with a whine.
“Luke, we really aren’t.”
“See, then it must just be you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
The doorbell rings, and Luke nudges me with his toes. “Go get it.”
I glare at him. “Why me?”
He gestures to the screen. “I don’t want to miss the game.”
“It’s a commercial.”
“Shhh…you’re being too loud.”
Pushing myself off the couch, I make my way over to the door, half expecting to see Collins through the peephole. He would do something like that…drop me off for a minute and come get me again because he can.
Instead, I see Rex standing out in the hallway, holding a pizza box. I haven’t seen him since the dating event that was such a disaster. Granted, that’s not that surprising since I haven’t seen much outside of the walls of Collins’s bedroom.
I unlock the door and allow him in.
“Hey, Penny,” he greets, giving me a one-handed hug.
“Hi. Are you coming to watch the game?”
“Yup. It’s going to be a good one too.”
I laugh. “Of course, you can predict the future.”
He shrugs. “It’s part of my charm.”
Walking inside, Rex places the box down onto the coffee table, and the boys dig right in for a greasy slice.
“Is there even cheese on those things?”
Talking with a mouth full, Luke mumbles, “It’s under all the meat.”
I make a face. “Sounds manly.”
“Oh, it is,” Rex says with a laugh.
Luke pats the space between him and Rex. “Come join the threesome.”
I walk down the hall to my room, calling back, “I would have if you didn’t just make it weird.”
“Dammit,” I hear both of them hiss.