“Seriously?”
I flush and nod.
“Dude, it’s gorgeous, and like, amazingly soft. I can’t believe you made it.”
“Yeah, Gram taught me to knit and I do it when I can. Usually while watching TV.”
“Are you knitting anything now?” he asks, taking a seat on the sofa. Marble hops from her spot on the ottoman to the open space between us.
“Yeah, actually, I’m making a blanket for Peyton for her birthday. She’s been asking for one forever.”
“You gonna work on it while we watch? I don’t mind.”
“Nah, not this time, but I probably will if you decide you like it and we want to keep watching.”
“Hey, there he is,” Alex gestures to the giant plush penguin sitting in the corner of the room. I haven’t quitefigured out what to do with him yet. He’s so damn big. Probably a good three feet tall and very chubby, with a giant bow tie around his neck. It makes me happy, though, to have him, even if he was intended for Stacy. Maybe there’s some spite there if I’m being honest, though I guess Stacy doesn’t know the difference because she never saw it, but thinking of her having anything from Alex makes my skin crawl, and I also like that I have this constant reminder of how Alex and I met, even if things were a bit awkward at first. Seeing the penguin in my apartment, having Alex in my apartment, makes me happy.
“He have a name?” Alex asks, nudging my arm with his elbow.
“A name?”
“Yeah, all stuffed animals need names.”
I look at the penguin. I didn’t have a lot of stuffed animals as a kid. Not past the age of nine or so, I don’t think, but there are a few that I keep in tubs in storage that I got from Mom or Gram and have sentimental value. One sits on my bed, actually. A worn out teddy bear named Jean-Luc Teddy, because Gram got him for me, and we loved to watchStar Trektogether. Jean-Luc is my favorite character.
“How about Tux?” I say, looking at the gigantic penguin with the bow tie.
Alex chuckles. “Nice. Tux it is.” He hands me a beer and then clinks his beer bottle against mine. “Did you know that some penguins give pebbles to their potential mates as a sign of affection, and that when people send messages now to friends and family throughout the day, little things that remind them of that person or that they know they’ll appreciate, like gifs or memes, or just random texts, they call it pebbling? It was originally adopted by the neurodivergent community, I think, as a way for people who are nonverbal or have trouble expressing emotions with words to have asafe way of communicating and showing they care, and then over time it’s become more popular in the neurotypical community, too.”
“How do you know that? You a penguin expert?” I tease.
He laughs. “No, hardly. But my brother-in-law, Pierre, loves animals, and he knows a lot. And I asked him what the most romantic animals were because I wanted to find something to give to Stacy as a gift, something different, you know, because I thought it would be romantic, and he suggested penguins. A lot of them mate for life, too. And they’re really affectionate with each other. Turns out Stacy doesn’t deserve Tux, or you, so glad he’s here.”
I grin. “Me, too.”
He slaps my arm. “Okay, show me what thisSupernaturalshow is all about, cowboy.”
We end up watching the first three episodes before I tell Alex it’s getting to be my bedtime. He genuinely seems to like the Winchester brothers and their family business of saving people and hunting things, as they say on the show.
“Same time next week?” he says, standing. I only just realized he didn’t even bother wearing shoes over, and I kinda like it.
“Sounds good.”
“You let me know about the books. If you do decide you’re okay with me reading to you we can figure out a time.” He scoops up Marble, who hisses at him before letting him scratch behind her ear.
“I know, princess, I’m gonna miss Bentley, too,” he tells her, and my cheeks heat for the millionth time that night. When I close the door behind Alex it’s with a smile on my face. Peyton was right. It is nice having another friend.
I groan when my phone buzzes on my nightstand a few days later. It’s not my alarm. I don’t work today with it being Sunday. And I was planning to sleep in. I reach for it, opening one eye and keeping my face smashed against the pillow. The first thing I notice is the time. I guess I did sleep in because it’s after ten. The second thing is that I have a text from Alex.
Alex: Rise and shine, gorgeous! You have plans.
Me: I do?
Alex: Very much so
The next thing I hear is a pounding on my front door and it makes me jolt. Jesus Christ.
Alex: Come let me in
