Chapter 26
HAZEL
After the game, the guys are buzzing from their win.
Before I can wrap my mind around how handsome Penn looks in his tailored black suit, Fisher announces we’re going to midnight trivia.
With the guys in their game day finery, we pile into Fisher’s G Wagon.
Ally and I took the metro to the arena, so we’re also hitching a ride.
I sit in the back between Penn and Noah. It’s a tight squeeze between two hockey players. Now I know why Ally called shotgun so fast.
I lean toward Penn to give Noah more room…
but also because I enjoy the warmth of Penn’s body and how amazing he smells after his post-game shower.
He’s wearing a simple black suit that contours to every muscle on his body.
The minute he buckles his seat belt, he yanks his purple tie off and unbuttons several buttons on his white dress shirt, revealing a sliver of bare chest. I get a tantalizing glimpse of intricate ink and a smattering of dark hair before I make myself look away.
“I love what you did with the jacket,” Penn leans in to whisper, his lips brushing my earlobe and making a shiver move up my spine. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”
There’s a hint of vulnerability in his tone that has me looking up at him. “I thought I should have something with your number on it,” I say, then pump my eyebrows once, attempting to keep things light. “I just wanted to support my man.”
He chuckles softly, and I soak up the drive across town pressed against his side.
When we arrive at the bar, we’re just early enough to order food and drinks before trivia starts.
The place is already alive with people, the high-top tables filling up quickly in front of the stage where they do the trivia.
We snag a tall table, and a waitress sweeps in and takes our orders.
The guys order a pitcher of beer and enough food to feed a family of five for a week, clearly starving after their game.
Ally and I order burgers, and I get a glass of rosé.
The waitress turns to Ally. “How about you? Whatcha drinkin?”
Ally smiles. “Just a Coke for me.”
The waitress nods and she’s off toward the kitchen to put in our order.
“You really need to turn twenty-one already so you can drink with us, Ally,” Fisher teases.
“I always forget how young you are,” I admit, nudging Ally with my elbow.
Noah smiles, wrapping an arm around the back of his girlfriend’s chair. “She might be the youngest, but she’s wiser than the lot of us.”
“How old are you, Hazel?” Fisher asks, leaning his elbows on the table and studying me.
“Twenty-six.”
Fisher whistles, looking between Penn and I. “Damn, Hazel. You’re a cougar.”
Penn covers my hand with his where it’s resting on the table. “She’s only three years older than me, Fishy.” His thumb rubs a gentle circle on the back of my hand, and I know he’s trying to comfort me so I don’t feel weird about Fisher’s comment, but my shoulders remain tense.
“True,” Fisher agrees. “I forgot you’re twenty-three now. Noah and I need to catch up.”
“You and Noah are only twenty-two?” I ask nervously, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Yep, the three of us just graduated from college last spring,” Noah answers.
I swallow, feeling inexplicably out of place. My undergraduate years of college feel like an eternity ago. I realize if we were all in our thirties, these age gaps wouldn’t seem like such a big deal…but we’re not in our thirties.
The waitress stops by again, delivering the three appetizers the boys ordered along with our drinks. The guys dig in immediately, like they’re starving.
I pick up my wine glass and take a sip as Ally raises her hand to get the waitress’s attention. “Could I get a straw, please?”
“Sure thing, Angel!” The waitress passes her a straw and leaves us again.
I watch as Ally unwraps the paper and sticks the straw in her pop then takes a drink. She suddenly seems so young and innocent, I feel ancient with my glass of wine.
Do old ladies drink wine? Am I an old lady?
I’m surrounded by friends who are even younger than my baby brother.
A warm hand lands on my thigh. I look over at Penn, and he gives my leg a squeeze. “You okay, Bubbles?”
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.
I’m being ridiculous. All this stress over being a few years older than my friends.
So what? I’ve connected more with the people sitting around this table than I have with anyone else in this state so far.
Penn and his roommates make me feel more seen and welcome than I’ve felt in a very long time.
“Yeah.” I huff a laugh, reminding myself it’s okay to have fun and let people in. “I’m good.” I sip my rosé and decide I don’t care if it makes me an old lady. I’m only twenty-six, for goodness’ sake.
The guys finish their appetizers with alarming speed and soon the waitress is back with our dinner order. Ally and I take hesitant bites of our burgers as the hockey players inhale their dinner like vacuum cleaners. How do they do that?
By the time the waitress clears our plates and refills our drinks, the emcee is making his way onto the stage for trivia time. Everyone claps when he introduces himself then the room goes quiet as we wait for the first category to be announced.
“Okay, kids. Tonight we’re starting off with early 2000s romcoms.”
A group of thirty-something moms to our right clap their hands with glee. I know they’re moms because their trivia group is called Mom’s Night Out.
Meanwhile, the boys all look at Ally and I with blank expressions.
“Don’t think you can rely on me here.” Ally groans. “I’m going to suck at this category; I wasn’t even born yet.”
Rolling my lips together, I remind myself I’m only six years older than her. I was just a little kid in the 2000’s, but I remember my mom watching romcoms and sometimes watching with her—hopefully I can be somewhat helpful.
“In 13 Going on 30,” the emcee begins. “There was a popular group of girls in Jenna Rink’s school. What was the group called?”
Ally sighs. “My mom has talked about that movie, but I don’t know the answer.”
I grab the board from the center of the table and write six chicks on it, then hold it up. The answer is correct and Penn wraps me in a side hug. “Good work.”
The emcee doles out points to the tables who answered correctly then moves on. “In How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, what’s the name of the diamond Andie Anderson wears?”
I gasp, remembering the answer. “The Isadora diamond,” I whisper to Penn, and he writes it on the board and holds it up.
“Man, it really pays off to have someone older in our group,” Fisher says, holding out his fist for me to pound it.
Reluctantly, I meet his fist with mine. I know his comment was made in good humor, but the reminder that I’m the oldest doesn’t feel great.
Intuitive as ever, Penn leans into me, pulling my body against his. “Don’t listen to Fisher,” he keeps his voice low so only I can hear. “He’s a dumbass. You’re not old.”
With a sigh, I sink into him, enjoying how his arms feel around me. It’s grounding and immediately helps me relax. “I am feeling ancient at the moment.”
He breathes out a laugh, and I can feel his warm breath against my neck. Having him so close makes me want to kiss him, makes me wish we were back in his room alone. Just the two of us enjoying the chemistry we share without all the reminders of my life being completely different from his.
Could we ever work if this was real?
A pointless question, because this isn’t real…no matter how real it feels sometimes.
I lean my head back to look at Penn. His blue eyes are bright, his jaw peppered with a five o’clock shadow, and his sculpted chest partially displayed beneath his unbuttoned shirt. Penn Matthews doesn’t feel younger than me. He holds my gaze, his eyes dropping to my lips.
“Um, Hazel, I hate to interrupt…but none of us know these answers,” Ally whispers.
I slowly pull away from Penn and look at her. “Right, sorry.”
The emcee goes through several more questions, and I know the answers to all of them. Ally is amazed because she’s never heard of half of the movies.
When the emcee announces the next category I’m relieved. “Next up we have capital cities! I hope you’ve all brushed up on your geography.” He chuckles.
Penn groans from beside me. One of his arms is draped across the back of my chair, so I lean back until we’re touching. Penn looks down at me. “You might be slightly older, but at least you’re not dumb like me.”
My stomach tightens at the way he’s talking about himself.
Penn Matthews might be a lot of things, but he is certainly not dumb.
Sure, he and the guys have a silly sense of humor and joke around a lot, but Penn is more emotionally intelligent than any man I’ve ever met.
And that counts for so much more than being able to answer stupid trivia questions.
I reach a hand up and cup his jaw. “You are so far from dumb, Penn. Don’t talk like that.”
He closes his eyes, leaning into my touch, but he doesn’t say anything.
Sure enough, the first five questions are about various state capitals in the U.S. I know all of them, but Ally, Noah, and Fisher also answer them all easily. Right when we’re getting bored of how easy this category is, the emcee switches things up.
“Okay that was too easy! Let’s try this one. What’s the capital of Uruguay?”
My head falls back with a laugh. “I don’t have a clue about that one.”
“Miss Smarty Pants finally doesn’t know something?” Penn teases.
Fisher writes down a random word but it’s totally wrong.
“All right, that was clearly too challenging.” The emcee chuckles after every team gets it wrong. “Let’s stay in North America. What’s the capital of Canada?”
Everyone at our table turns and looks at Penn, and I love the smile that stretches across his face. “You guys don’t know this…do you?”
Ally, Fisher, and Noah all shake their heads from side to side. Penn glances at me, and I laugh. “I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t know this, either. This one’s all you, Playboy.”
He grabs the board and writes Ottawa in big letters, a confident smirk plastered on his handsome face.
Penn holds up the board, and of course, his answer is correct.
We all erupt into cheering and clapping for him, and he laughs.
“It doesn’t count because it was about Canada, but at least I can finally say I got a trivia answer right! ”
I lean in and kiss his stubbled jaw, unable to hold back. “It counts. You’re smart, Penn.” He reaches a hand behind my neck and pulls me close before pressing his lips against mine.
“You make me feel smart,” he says when he pulls back, his beaming smile tugging at my heart.
The affection in his eyes takes me by surprise, and before I can stop myself, I press my mouth to his again. He hums as he kisses me back, and I soak up his scent, his touch, the overwhelming feeling of being desired…I’ll soak it up for as long as I can.