Penny raised her eyebrows. “Are you jealous?”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh my God, Matt. You’re jealous. That Ian’s with Jen. Is that it?”
What? “No.”
“Don’t even pretend to deny it. I know that the two of you hooked up years ago. Jen told me.”
“Then Jen also told you that it was just a casual summer fling that meant nothing.”
“To her.”
“To either of us.”
Penny stared up at me. “You sound awfully defensive.”
“Come on, I could really use a cup of coffee.”
“I can do you one better.” She lifted up a wrapped box that I hadn’t seen in her arms. “A housewarming present.”
“You bought me a present?”
“Mhm.”
I reached for it but she pulled it away. “It’s a present that someone gives to someone while touring their new house.”
“You’re not going to move from this step, are you?”
She smiled. “I’m really not. At least not for another two hours when Ian’s supposed to pick me up.”
I didn’t really have a choice. It wasn’t like I was going to make her sit out here. We both knew it. I sighed and grabbed the box. “Fine.” My mind was filled with everything that could go wrong as I turned around and unlocked my front door. We could accidentally fuck on the couch. She could find the room filled with paintings of Brooklyn. There could be something besides coffee in the stupid box.
But it was easy to forget about all the reasons why she shouldn’t come in when I saw her face light up.
“Wow.” She spun in a circle in the small foyer, her skirt lifting higher on her thighs, as she took in the family room and kitchen. “Matt, this place is so…” she looked up at me.
“So what?”
“So not what I expected.” Her smile grew as she stared at me.
I laughed. “What did you expect?”
“A bachelor pad of course.” She walked into the kitchen.
“And that’s not what this is?”
She shook her head as she looked at the dishes in the drying rack. “Nope.” She turned back around. “It’s a home.”
Something twisted in my gut. “Well, not a home for me.”
“Really? I can’t understand why you’d want to sell it. The street is so peaceful. It almost feels like you’re not even in the city. It’s like an escape from all the chaos.”
Is that why she was here? To escape from the chaos? From James? I made myself stay on the opposite side of the kitchen island from her. “I like the chaos.”
She rolled her eyes. “What is it with you guys? I love New York, but only because it’s where everyone I care about is. If we could all pick up and move literally anywhere else together, I’d do it in a heartbeat. The suburbs are…”
“Boring.”
She laughed. “Fair point. Here.” She slid the present across the counter at me.
I caught it and just stared back at her.
“Open it.”
I pulled the bow on the top and ripped the paper. The box staring back at me was absolutely not coffee. “You brought me a teapot?”
“It’s a kettle. I figured you didn’t have one.”
“Yeah, because I don’t drink tea.”
“It’s for guests, Matt. Like me. And maybe for a special someone in your life after I set you up. Here, I’ll show you how to use it.” She opened the box and started washing the teakettle. She moved around the kitchen with ease, humming some tune I didn’t recognize.
And as I watched her, I felt the strangest sensation. Familiarity, maybe. My mom always hummed in the kitchen too. But it wasn’t really that. Maybe it was more of a…longing. Because I could get used to this. A woman in my kitchen. A woman in my house. It felt warmer with her here.
Penny placed the pot on the stove and turned back to me. “I figured you didn’t have any tea bags either, so I brought some.” She pulled out some more boxes from her purse and put them on the counter.
“You promised me coffee,” I said.
“Coffee is for people who don’t lie to their Tanners about their friends being rude and not wanting to see their place.”
“Please stop calling him my Tanner. It’s just Tanner.”
She laughed. “But it’s so fun to mess with you.”
I was the one that was supposed to be messing with her. That was our thing. I didn’t like when the tables were turned.
“It’ll whistle when it’s ready.” She walked around the island. “Give me a tour?”
It was actually cute that she didn’t realize how suggestive she always sounded. A tour usually meant straight to the bedroom. Or is that what she meant? I tried to shake off the thought as I showed her the family room and downstairs bathroom.
She peered out the window to the back yard. “You have grass?” She opened up the door before I could stop her. She laughed as she spun around in a circle, her hands lifting in the air. “It’s like a little slice of Central Park!”
It was such a small yard that I couldn’t help but laugh. But I’d made it look nice. There was a small stone patio with a grill and some chairs. And some flowerbeds along the back fence.
“Scarlett would love this,” she said.
“You can bring her next time if you want.”
Next time? Bring another person? What the fuck was I doing? I didn’t want anyone here.
“You’re inviting me back?” She looked so happy.
“I don’t know how to say no to you.”
She laughed. “Show me the rest.”
I didn’t know how to feel as I showed her up the stairs. She peered into my office and into the hallway bathroom.
“What’s in there?” she asked, pointing to the closed door.
I stepped in front of her. “The only room that’s still a work in progress.”
“You can show me next time then.” She wandered down the hall and into the master bedroom. “Wow, it’s so much bigger than I expected.”
“That’s what she said.”
She laughed. “Perve.”
“The first thing you said when you stepped foot in my bedroom was that it was bigger than you expected. You walked right into that one.”
“Fair enough. I can’t believe you make your bed. I absolutely hate making my bed, knowing I’m just going to mess it up at night. But James always does it or has Ellen do it. Is that like a rich person thing?”
“Penny, you’re rich too now.”
“Not like you guys.”
“Exactly like us. You’re one of us.” I made a point to make sure all my friends’ wives felt like they were a part of this world. Because I’d failed on that before. I wasn’t naïve. I knew we weren’t untouchable. But I wanted them to know that they belonged. Especially Penny.
Her smile suddenly looked shier. “Thanks, Matt.” She peered into the bathroom. “You’re very…neat.”
“That’s probably the worst description after nice.”
“Too bad. Because you’re also nice.”