I narrow my eyes at her, and before she knows what’s happening, she’s over my shoulder and we’re both being sprayed by a steady stream of water.
“Declan!” she yells. “Put me down!”
I smack her ass for good measure and gently place her on her feet. “Don’t get weird about this now, Penny. It’s just a shower.”
She narrows her eyes and then pushes me to the side so she’s under the spray and I’m out of it.
“Brat,” I tell her, and pump a handful of soap into my hand. She smirks at me but doesn’t say anything else.
We take turns washing our own hair, but I take the lead and start washing her body. As my hands glide over her pert little nipples, she holds onto my waist for balance. I move my hand down to her pussy and wash around her opening, her breathing picking up.
“You ready for round two?” I ask.
She reaches for my hard cock and nods. But not a second later, I hear what sounds like a cell phone going off.
“Oh, shit,” Penny exclaims. “That’s the ringtone for my mom. I have to get it.”
She jumps out of the shower, and I follow suit. She quickly grabs the single towel off the hook, wraps it around herself, and goes to find her phone. I grab a towel from under the sink and follow her out to the living room.
“Is it happening again?” Penny questions into the phone. Her brows furrow, and she looks worried. “I’ll be there in less than twenty.” She hangs up and immediately heads to the bedroom to find her clothes.
“Is everything okay?” I ask as she starts to pull her shirt over her body. Or is it a dress? It shouldn’t be a dress.
She shakes her head. “Autumn is having a night terror. They don’t happen often, but when they do, she gets hysterical and has a hard time going back to bed. I need to go to my parents’ house.”
“I’ll take you,” I tell her as I pull a pair of sweats out of my drawer and put them on.
“No. It’s okay,” she refuses, looking around the room for her other clothing.
I already have a sweatshirt on by the time she locates her first boot. “Penny, look at me,” I grab her by the hips and pause her movements. “Go next door, put on a pair of sweats and sandals, and we’ll get your stuff from here later, okay?”
She swallows hard and then nods her head. She runs out of the bedroom, and I can hear her go next door.
I put on a pair of socks and some slides, grab my wallet and keys, and head to the landing. I enter her apartment, and she comes out of her room a moment later. She looks a touch frantic, but she did as I said and put on a pair of gray sweats and some pink slides that almost match mine.
“Hey,” I say gently, and she jumps, finally noticing that I’m standing in the doorway. “Let’s go. You don’t need anything else.” I go to grab her hand, and we make it inside of my truck in record time.
When we pull onto the road. I do my best to distract her.
“Why did you cut it?” I ask, referring to her hair.
“Huh?”
“Your hair. Why did you cut it?”
“Oh. Um… I was pissed after I heard you outside my door and got a little scissor crazy,” she tells me. Her leg is bouncing, and I do my best to speed to the Whitehall residence without getting us into an accident or pulled over by cops.
“I will apologize until I’m blue in the face. I should have never said those words,” I reiterate for the millionth time. Because I am sorry. I’m a jackass.
“I already forgave you.”
My head whips in her direction, but her eyes are on the road. I face forward before asking, “Is that why you threw me a birthday party?”
She pulls her cardigan sleeves over her hands, and I can see her nod from my peripheral. “I forgave you after you told me about your childhood.” I go to speak, but she continues, “We’re friends, and I should have confronted you about what you said right after it happened. I’m just super protective of Autumn and couldn’t bear to hear you reiterate it to my face. But I will never expect you to treat her like she’s your kid. A friend, yes. But you don’t have to apologize anymore. I’m past it.”
I nod my head. “Okay.” I reach for her leg that’s bouncing and place my heavy palm on it. She immediately calms down, and a few seconds later, she threads her fingers through the top of my hand. She looks out the passenger side window and doesn’t say anything else.
I don’t think too hard about how I love the feel of her hand on mine, or how I just had the best sex of my life. I only focus on getting her to her parents to get to Autumn.
