“Nope. That was a rough estimate.”
“Ah, I see.” She buried her hands in his hair and pulled him closer before whispering, “Jack? I’m sorry I said I wanted some distance. That was a stupid idea. I want closeness. Much more closeness.”
“Good,” he replied, his voice thick. “Because our ideas overlap there.”
She hiccupped, running her thumb over the sensitive spot behind his ear. “Convenient. And I love you too, you know?”
His smile widened. “I was hoping you did.”
“Good. Because the last few days have been terrible. I really wanted to tell you about my new carpet but couldn’t.”
“You have new carpeting?”
“Yes. And a framed picture.”
“Wow…”
“I know. My apartment almost looks like a home.”
“Almost?”
She nodded. “Yes. You were missing,” she whispered. Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, taking the closeness that she needed so much.
Epilogue
Does it really look…okay? Festive but casual?” Penny tilted her head critically and wrinkled her nose. Jack wondered if she was aware she always did that when she was unsure and nervous. In the last hour, she had almost worn a hole in her new carpet and the wrinkles on her nose had probably become permanent fixtures on her face. But he didn’t want to tell her and make her self-conscious — he enjoyed her expressions too much for that.
“I told you ten times that it looks fantastic,” he said somberly.
“Yes, but I’m sleeping with you. Your opinion is therefore worthless,” she replied absently and glanced around her living room, where there was no longer a single black or white surface. Penny had even painted the walls a light mint green. In his opinion, that color only belonged in toothpaste tubes, but he didn’t tell her that because he was still sleeping with her… Oh, shit. She was right! His opinion was worthless.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” Dax said, stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth before saying with his mouth full, “Beer and wine go great with the coffee table.”
“She’s talking about the apartment!” Lucy said, rolling her eyes.
“Oh. Um...” Dax scratched the back of his neck, sending chip crumbs tumbling to the floor. “It has walls. That’s what I like about apartments.”
Jack chuckled softly while Penny glanced up at him and muttered, “Sohe’sthe annoying brother, huh?”
“Hey! I heard that,” Dax grumbled.
“She wasn’t trying to hide it, it was intentional,” Matt chimed in, joining them. Penny had actually invited the entire organization to the housewarming party for their new apartment, but so far, only hockey players had shown up. That might have been because Jack had kindly andalmostnon-threateningly advised them to show up on time so as to not disappoint Penny. “And don’t worry, boss, your brother never invited us to a party at his house, so you’re way ahead in the race right now!”
“There’s no more competition,” Penny said, alarmed, pointing her index finger at the striker. “That’s over! Gareth and I are equal partners.”
“Sure.” Matt grinned. “Maddie said she wouldn’t even want to dull one of Gareth’s pencils and then be there when he notices.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “He’s not that bad…besides, it would depend on the pencil.”
“Where is your fiancée, Payne?” Jack asked, frowning and looking around.
He waved dismissively. “Oh, she’ll be here, but she needed to empty out her apartment and drive her things over because Rachel is supposed to move up next week.”
“And you left my sister alone with that?” Lucy said in disbelief. “What are your muscles for, anyway?”
“She kicked me out!” Matt raised his hands defensively. “I wanted to help, but she said I was just getting in her way.”
“Oh. Yeah, that sounds like Maddie.” Lucy nodded.