What the hell? I reread her message because now I’m confused. I look to my front door and then back down at her request.
No.
No. Fucking. Way.
Pen… as in Penny? There’s no way the universe is this cruel. I just got done telling myself I wasn’t going to befriends with my new neighbors when, in fact, I’m now ninety-nine percent sure I’m already friends with the oldest of the duo.
I slowly make my way to the door and look through the peephole. Penny has her door open and is leaning against the doorframe, watching her phone.
I don’t want this to be true, but I have to face the music. I’ve never been good with confrontation, and now is not the time to chicken shit out of this mess.
The woman I’ve come to know and look forward to speaking to every day is my new neighbor, whom I just deemed completely off-limits. I always wondered what Pen would look like, and now that I do, my mind didn’t do her justice. It’s some kind of cosmic fate that we ended up here, and I’m not sure what to do.
But I man up and open my door. Penny’s head whips in my direction. I’m not proud, but the first thing I notice is her smooth, golden tan legs.
“Are you wearing pants?” I blurt out because her sweatshirt is so long that it doesn’t look like she’s wearing anything underneath it.
She looks down and then pulls it up slowly. I hold my breath, and a moment later, little blue shorts appear. Thank God for that.
I push away the part of me that wishes there was nothing underneath the oversized sweatshirt. That she was going to give me a private show. But that’s not what I’m herefor, and I shove it to the back of my head before I get any more ideas.
“Sorry,” she says, “I’m headed to bed soon.”
I nod and massage the back of my neck. “When did you figure it out?”
“At the coffee shop.” She points to my neck. “Your tattoos gave you away. And when you said your name was Declan, the math added up.”
I don’t say anything because I’m honestly in shock thatmyPen is here in front of me right now.
She looks down at her sock-covered feet, avoiding my gaze. “You’re different than what I thought you’d be.”
I stay silent for a beat longer before I finally think of something to say. “How so?”
Her baby blues look back up, and she waves a hand in my direction. “Just less… Dec. And more… Declan.”
Surprisingly, I get what she’s trying to say. I joke around with Pen, and with Penny, I can’t seem to form a sentence. I guess I feel more comfortable over text because I don’t have people judging me for anything but my personality.
It’s just very surreal now that I know Pen is Penny and vice versa. I should have put two and two together, though. It makes sense. I just never expected my gorgeous neighbor to be my pen pal or have a child, and now that I know who Pen is and what her life really looks like, I have the urge to fuck her on the spot, but at the same time, tell her I can’t be friends with someone who has a kid.
Call it dramatic, but kids are a hard pass for me. Friend or not, I just… can’t.
Her voice pulls me out of my thoughts. “Look, I didn’t want to end the day without you knowing that I know who you are. This isn’t some romance novel where the couple has secrets and doesn’t say anything until eighty percent of the book, and then they break up.” Her eyes widen at the metaphor, and she has a mini freak-out. “Not that we’re a couple or anything. Because we aren’t. But we’re friends. I think. Or not anymore. I don’t really know. Anyway, we’re two grown adults, and I thought you should know that I know who you are. No secrets.”
I nod my head. “I appreciate it.” And I do. Nothing worse than knowing you befriended a liar. She’s still the same person that I’ve been talking to for months, but I’m just not sure I’m in the headspace to keep talking to her like I have been. I don’t date or befriend people who have kids… ever. It’s a hard limit for me. And as beautiful as she is, I don’t have a clue as to how to navigate this now, knowing we’re going to see each other a lot probably.
“Right,” she says and pushes a stray strand of hair that escaped her messy bun behind her ear. “I’ll let you get back to… whatever you were doing in there. And maybe I’ll talk to you later?” She leaves the question open-ended.
I nod back at her. “Sure. Later.” That’s all I say to her, and it’s a shit response. But my mind is still trying to catch up with this new revelation. I’ll have to message her when I getmy head on straight and figure out what the next step is in our friendship.
She gives me a small smile and turns to shut herself inside her apartment, and I turn towards mine as well.
“Hey, Declan.” I turn my neck to look at her angelic face. “How was the move? Was it okay?”
Genuine interest laces her features, and I relax because this is the girl I’ve come to know. She’s funny but asks the small questions, which are the big ones.
I smile and nod. “It was good, Pen.”
Right before I turn back around, her smile broadens, and she bites her plump bottom lip.
