Blind Kiss(37)

“And I like Crystal, my neighbor. You’ll meet her in a bit. We’ve been to a couple of happy hours together.”

“What does ‘been to a happy hour’ mean?” The hot mom came up to the table and I turned my full attention to her. “Hellooooo,” I said, smiling wide.

“I need two tickets to parents night.” She looked me up and down but I couldn’t tell if she liked what she saw, or if she was intimidated by the prison thing.

“Do you need a date for it?” I asked.

She giggled. She was still into me despite my fake criminal record. Handing over a wad of cash, she let her hand linger in mine for a few seconds longer than necessary. Penny fake-sneezed on our connected hands. The woman pulled out of my grasp and scowled at Penny.

“Oh, sorry. Better wash up; I’ve had an icky cold for a month now. Thanks for supporting the PTA. See you soon!”

As the hot mom walked away, I turned to Penny. “You have no shame.”

“Always playing with fire, Gavin. I told you, she’s married.”

“So are you. It’s more fun to play with fire.”

“Don’t be that guy.” She elbowed me in the side. “Here comes Crystal.” A thin, slightly disheveled woman in her forties walked up and hugged Penny.

“Morning, lovely. I haven’t seen you in a while,” Crystal said.

“Crystal, this is Gavin.” Penny jutted a thumb at me.

“Oh, hey. Penny’s told me a lot about you.”

I can’t imagine what Penny would say about me. Probably nothing nice. I smiled. “Really? Huh. Well, nice to meet you.” I shook her hand. Immediately, I knew Crystal wasn’t the type to be intimidated easily, or be jealous. That’s exactly the kind of friend Penny needed.

“Let’s get a drink soon,” she said to Penny.

“Yes, soon,” Penny replied.


IN THE CAR on the way home I said, “Why didn’t you make a concrete plan with Crystal? That’s what you have to do to maintain friendships.”

“Don’t worry about me. Crystal’s divorced with four kids. She’s really cool but she’s got a lot going on. I’ll see her when I see her.”

It started to snow and the roads were slick with ice. “Slow down,” I told her. “Nice way to drop in that detail about her being divorced, by the way. But you know she’s not my type.”

“Why? Because she doesn’t look like a supermodel or a tatted-up emo chick?”

“Slow the fuck down, Penny, you’re scaring me. Pull over, please, and let me drive.”

She huffed and puffed as she pulled into a parking lot. “Why do you think I’m such a bad driver?”

“Because you are a bad driver. You’ve been in four car accidents in the last two years.”

“Fender benders.”

“Just get out and let me drive.”

She did but seemed annoyed about it. I always felt weird driving her car, but I was more concerned for my life than her ego at the moment.

Pulling into the driveway of her house, I noticed her husband’s Lexus was parked at the curb. “What’s he doing here?” I asked.

“He lives here. I guess he got off work early. Don’t freak out. I texted him and told him you were with me.”

I felt like if he walked into the garage and saw me getting out of the driver’s side, things would get very awkward.

He opened the inner garage door leading to the kitchen just as Penny and I reached it. He hadn’t seen me coming out of the car, which was a relief. “Hey Gavin, thanks for helping Penny out with the PTA stuff. I really wish that I had more time for that kind of thing.”

Penny and I just blinked up at him on the other side of the threshold.

“No problem,” I said.

“Yeah, you know, my job doesn’t really give me that much time off. Gotta provide for the family and all.”

He was so smug sometimes. It was fucking obnoxious. I glanced over at Penny, who looked bored. Her mind was somewhere else. I threw my hands up. “Well, I better be going. I’ll head out this way.” I pointed at the still-open garage door leading to the driveway.

“Yeah, I came home for lunch and thought Penny and I could sneak in some husband-and-wife time before our son gets home.”

I already said I was leaving, you fucker. Always pouring salt in the wound.

“See you, P,” I said without looking at her. “Peace, man,” I said to her smug-ass husband. I know you won, asshole. No need to rub it in. I walked quickly out of the garage and as soon as my foot hit the driveway, the automatic garage door began closing.

Two hours later, I got a text from Penny.


Penny: Sorry about earlier. That was weird.


Me: Whatever. It’s fine. I threw up a little in my mouth when he said “husband and wife time” though. Please tell me he doesn’t call it a marriage bed.


Penny: LOL

Pennyloyalty . . .





16. Fourteen Years Ago


PENNY

I could feel and smell spring coming on. The snow was melting, my feet didn’t ache as much anymore, and my muscles weren’t as sore. Joey and I had three weeks until our finals performance but we were ready.

After practice I met Ling for a drink and then stopped at Pete’s on my way home to see if Gavin was working. We studied together often but he was still seeing Lottie . . . so there was that.