CHAPTER FIFTEEN – GABRIEL
What the hell am I doing to myself?
I ran an exhausted hand over my aching eyes while I paced the confines of my bedroom. I could hear Alyssa and Penny’s voices coming down the hallway from the kitchen while they enjoyed their morning coffee. I couldn’t bring myself to go out just yet. I wasn’t ready to face either one of them.
Last night, I had caved in. Again. I had told myself that being with Penny one time was more than enough to keep me sated for the rest of my life, but clearly, one time wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more. I wanted her. All the damn time. We were crossing too many lines now; dangerous lines. I knew that Penny respected Alyssa with every fiber of her being. Penny didn’t want to lose her best friend by starting up a relationship with me. Not that we could even call it a relationship. We hadn’t had a chance to discuss what the hell was going on between us. Every time we tried, we were either interrupted or ended up fucking.
We had to put a stop to this. It couldn’t keep going on because Alyssa was bound to find out sooner, rather than later. My daughter was no fool. She already suspected that something was going on, but lucky for me, she didn’t have any idea what it was.
I hated lying to my daughter. Sure, I’d always kept my personal life private from her. She didn’t need to know what her father got up to with random women, just like I really didn’t want to know details about her dating life. But this situation was entirely different. I wasn’t hooking up with some random chick. I was fucking my daughter’s best friend, which would ruin her if she found out.
I just needed to end things completely, but I couldn’t control myself when it came to Penny. The woman had a hold on me like no other woman had in the past, and I didn’t quite understand why. Penny was gorgeous, of course, but I’d been with plenty of beautiful women before. So, it wasn’t just the physical attraction that kept me coming back to Penny. There was something else, something deeper that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. But I desperately wanted to explore things further with Penny so I could find out.
Penny was right, though. If we kept letting ourselves give in to temptation because we both wanted to, it was only a matter of time before we would get caught and then, things would explode in my face. But even though I knew that, I was compelled to keep pursuing her. My time with Penny would be over before I knew it. Winter break for both of them would come to an end soon, and that only added to my desire to get closer to Penny before she left, probably for good.
It was one fucked up situation, and I had no idea how to resolve it. Having Nikki Lewis, a once-close friend, coming over in a few hours didn’t help matters, either. After she trusted me to watch over her only daughter, I didn’t know how I was going to face her again.
And that prick of a boyfriend that kept staring at Penny the entire time during dinner.
My fingers clenched into fists at the thought. Not once had he really paid much attention to Nikki sitting next to him. His gaze had been focused entirely on Penny, who seemed very uncomfortable with the attention. It was like Dylan felt relieved to be around her again and that only made the alarm bells in my head ring louder. Something wasn’t right about the younger boy toy that seemed to follow Nikki around for one specific reason—to get close to Penny.
I made a mental note to talk with Nikki about it later, since Penny had retreated to the guestroom the night before without saying a word. I knew she was worried that one of these times, we were going to be caught. Damage control wouldn’t be easy on either side of the spectrum. Both Alyssa and Nikki would feel betrayed, and I couldn’t imagine coming back from that kind of disaster.
The sound of footsteps approached from down the hallway. I held my breath as shadows danced in the crack between the door and carpet.
“Dad?”
I let out a pent-up breath at the sound of Alyssa’s voice calling out gently. “What is it, honey?”
“Can I come in for a moment?”
“Of course,” I said, smoothing a hand over my face to get rid of the anxiety playing out there. “Come in. The door is unlocked.”
I forced a smile on my face when Alyssa opened the door to step inside my room. She closed the door behind herself as she approached me.
“I’m going to go out for a little bit to do some shopping,” she said, and caught sight of the look on my face. “And yes, I’m going to see Scott, too. I just wanted to see if you would like to come with me.”
“To meet this Scott?” I asked in shock. “You really want me coming along for this trip?”
“I mean, I’d like you to meet him eventually. He’s a really nice guy. I’d like to get your opinion on him at some point.”
I smiled down at Alyssa, who looked nervous about my answer, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving Penny alone with her mother and Dylan while we were away. They were due to show up at any moment to come chat with her.
“Maybe another time, sweetheart,” I said, wrapping her up into a hug. “I appreciate the offer, though. Penny’s mom is coming by at some point this morning. I don’t want to miss out on that.”
“You mean you don’t like the vibes off of Dylan, either, right?’
“I don’t,” I answered her.
Alyssa looked slightly relieved that I was staying behind to make sure Penny was alright.
“I tried to talk to Penny last night about it,” she said. “I didn’t get much out of her, besides that Dylan sometimes makes her uncomfortable. She’s tried talking to her mom about it, but her mom is in total denial.”
“I’ll make sure nothing happens while they are here.” I held up my hand to do the universal sign of scout’s honor, which brought a smile on my daughter’s face. “Scout’s honor. You can trust me with your friend.”
Can she? Guilt crept over me. I looked away from Alyssa, who nodded. The more I wanted Penny, the more lies spilled from my lips to the one person in the world I never once lied to.
“Thanks, Dad. You’re a good guy. I appreciate you looking after Penny.”
Alyssa left my room. I rubbed at the back of my neck where the muscles were tense and sore. I waited until I heard Alyssa go through the front door before I ventured down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen. I found Penny standing at the kitchen sink. She washed a few coffee mugs in hot, bubbling water.
“Penny,” I said.
She turned around to look at me with her hands still submerged in the bubbly water.
“We need to talk about what keeps happening,” I said, handing her a dish towel to dry her hands with. Penny took the towel and dried her hands before answering. “I don’t know what to say,” she finally said. “I know that we shouldn’t be together, and not because of our age difference or any other bullshit reason like that. Alyssa is the best friend I’ve ever had and I really missed her all those years we were a part. When we met up again at school, I felt like I got a part of myself back. The thought of betraying her makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. But the thought of not being with you is just as bad. You’re all I think about,” she admitted, taking a step toward me.
I let out a breath that I’d been holding. “I know I feel the same way—about all of it. Honestly though, Penny, I think it’s best if we—"
The doorbell chimed, interrupting me. I frowned and glanced at Penny, still wanting to say more to her. But the doorbell was followed quickly by insistent knocking on the front door. I gritted my teeth in aggravation because it seemed that no matter how hard I strived for privacy, it wasn’t going to come easily.
The color drained from Penny’s face, and she reached up to smooth a hand through her tangled blonde locks. Mascara was smudged beneath her eyes in a dark ring. She hadn’t slept well the night before, like me.
“I need to get in the shower,” she said. “Do you mind entertaining them while I shower really quickly?”
She didn’t give me a chance to answer. Penny darted out of the kitchen, hurried down the hallway, and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her. I couldn’t tell if she was really worried about getting cleaned up, or if she was just trying to delay seeing her mother and Dylan. I was left to play the charming host for a while. I wouldn’t have minded at all if it was just Nikki stopping by to catch up. I liked Nikki, and we went way back. It was fucking Dylan who I didn’t want to see. At best, he was a useless gold digger, going after Nikki’s money. At worst, he was a creepy pervert who was just interested in Penny. The thought left me seething inside.
I smoothed out a few wrinkles in my shirt, and I forced a smile on my face, even though I was still annoyed that my conversation with Penny had been cut short. I took a deep breath to calm the irritation bubbling inside of my chest, then, I opened the door to greet Nikki with a charming smile.
“So glad you could come by,” I said. “Please, come in.”
Nikki squeezed my forearm and flashed a smile as she stepped inside and shrugged out of her coat. I caught Dylan’s eyes as he scanned the empty hallway behind me. Nikki turned to look back at Dylan, who lingered outside the front door.
“Are you coming, darling?” she called out sweetly. “It’s rude to sit at someone’s doorway like that.”
I was tempted to slam the door in the prick’s face. I didn’t like the look he gave me, one full of thinly veiled contempt. He stepped inside, though, before I could shut the door to lock him out of everyone’s lives.
“Where’s my Penny at?” Nikki asked. “She just hopped into the shower,” I said. “Alyssa has gone out to do some shopping. We can have some coffee in the living room while we wait for Penny to come out.”
Nikki smiled. “That sounds lovely, Gabriel. I could use some coffee.”
I left the two of them to wander about the living room while I made a pot of coffee. I could still hear the shower pipes running down the hallway as I walked into the living room with a pot and three mugs. Nikki stood next to Dylan in front of the living room windows that overlooked the entire city of Chicago. The sight of her arm looped through Dylan’s made my heart seethe with contempt. They both turned as I set the items down on the coffee table.
“It’s beautiful here in Chicago,” Nikki said with a wistful sigh. “I loved living here. I’ve thought about returning several times, but I just fell in love with New York over the years. And in my line of work, that’s where the action is.”
“I can’t ever venture far from here,” I said, pouring everyone a cup. “It’s a nice place to live year-round, and it’s just home to Alyssa and me.”
“Cheers to that,” Nikki said, picking up her coffee and lifting it.
Dylan didn’t pick up his mug of coffee. He smoothed his hands over the front of his dark colored sweater as he looked over at Nikki.
“Is there a bathroom open by any chance?” he asked. “I’ve already had two cups of coffee this morning.”
“Down the hallway,” Nikki said. “Right, Gabriel?”
“There’s one right before you hit the bedrooms,” I replied tightly.
Unease filled me when Dylan left the living room. I turned to look at Nikki, who sipped at her coffee with a happy smile, blissfully unaware of the tension I was feeling.
“Nikki,” I said. “I’ve been talking to Penny about what is bothering her, and why she didn’t want to come home for the holidays. It might be difficult to hear, but I think it’s important that you know.”
Nikki set her coffee cup down immediately on the table. “What is it? What did she tell you? That’s the only reason why I came out here to Chicago. To—”
“Leave me alone!”
The sound of Penny’s terrified scream echoed through the living room. My coffee cup slipped through my fingers, and I rushed down the hallway to the guestroom. I passed the hallway bathroom door, the one I had told Dylan to go to, and the lights were off. Dylan was nowhere to be found.
The door to Penny’s room was slightly ajar. I pushed the door open all the way and saw Dylan quickly scrambling back from Penny, who was huddled on the edge of her bed, trembling. She clutched her towel around her body tightly, with fear shining in her eyes.
Blood filled my vision, and I lunged forward to grab Dylan by the collar of his shirt. I threw him back into the hallway, out of Penny’s room, and he slammed against the wall so hard, he fell to the floor. He scrambled back to his feet with a flushed face, staring at me angrily.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I shouted, shoving him in the chest so his back collided with the wall again. “What are you trying to do, you sick fuck?”
“What is going on?” Nikki cried, rushing down the hallway, too. “Dylan? What happened?”
“He was in Penny’s room,” I told Nikki while Dylan stumbled back away from us. “I saw him. He was trying to take advantage of Penny when she got out of the shower.”
Nikki glanced over her shoulder in horror as Penny emerged from the guest room, still clothed in only a towel. Tears streamed down her face as she nodded at Nikki.
“He came into my room,” she said, her voice shaking. “He’s been calling me from your phone. He’s been sending me all these messages, Mom. He won’t leave me alone. That’s why I didn’t come home for Christmas.”
“You bastard,” Nikki said flatly. “You were only getting close to me to get close to my daughter. Weren’t you?”
Dylan stared silently at Nikki, his eyes dark. I strode forward with every intention of punching the piece of shit in the face. It was Nikki who held me back before I could follow through.
“Get out,” I said. “Get the fuck out of my home. Don’t ever let me hear about you bothering Penny ever again, or I swear to God you’ll regret it.”