Page 82 of The Penalty

“Come on! It’s your last semester. Have a little fun.”

“I just don’t want to lead anyone on. I’m not looking for anything serious.”

“I’m not asking you to get married, but it might be nice to get laid, right?” She cocks an eyebrow at me. If only she knew. . .

“I’ll think about it,” I tell her, just to get her off the subject. “Let’s think about you first.”

She laughs. “Alright, fine. If you insist.”

She tells me what she knows about Jake and how her classes have been so far. I listen as I eat, but in the back of my head, I’m thinking about how all of this is going to be ruined the moment she finds out what I’ve been doing behind her back. Will she ever be able to forgive me?

I’m a terrible friend; there’s no denying it. And I’ve never been this selfish in my life. But this thing with Tyler. . . I’ve never felt anything like this before, and I’m just not sure I’m ready to give it up.

I’m not sure I want to.

The week comes and goes, and by the time Friday rolls around, Kylie is super nervous about her date. Unfortunately, I have to work, so I can’t be there to help her get ready. But we picked out her outfit in the morning, and she sent me a picture before Jake picked her up.

While I’m super excited for her, Tyler was less than thrilled she was going on a date with a hockey player, but he kept his mouth mostly shut when Kylie told him. All he said was to be careful. He told me later how he wished he could forbid her from dating anyone, much less a college athlete.

Since Kylie is out on her date, Tyler comes to Alessandro’s for dinner. He sits at the bar, so I don’t get to serve him, but it’s nice to see him. It makes my shift go a little faster, just knowing he’s there.

When he leaves, he sends me a look that makes me eager to get home to him. I even volunteer to leave a little early when Angel asks if anyone wants to leave after the dinner rush. I need the money, but I also need Tyler.

Kylie isn’t home yet when I’m finally off work. Tyler is on the couch watching footage of possible new recruits when I walk in.

“Hey, baby. How was work?” His voice is low and husky like he’s just starting to get tired. But I know he won’t go to bed until both me and Kylie are home safe.

“Good. I got pretty good tips, too.” I drop my bag on the floor and make my way over to him. Since we’re alone, I straddle his lap, and he wraps his arms around my waist. “Guess people like what they see,” I tease.

“What they see is mine,” he says, pressing his lips to mine. “I’ve been waiting for this all day.”

Like always, his kiss consumes me, and I soon forget about anything and everything but him kissing me. Our bodies mold together, and his fingers dig into my hips as I move on his lap, trying to create whatever friction I can.

We’re in our own world when I hear the front door open. We both freeze and stare wide-eyed at each other.

We got carried away.

In the middle of the living room.

It’s almost comical how quickly he throws me off his lap, and I scamper to the other side of the couch. We have a matter of seconds to control our breathing. Tyler grabs a pillow and puts it in his lap to cover his situation.

“So work was good,” he says, attempting to make it sound like we’re having a casual conversation.

“Good. Yeah, it was good. Really good.” God, we sound like idiots.

Kylie bounds around the corner with a huge smile on her face.

“Hey!” I say, unusually loud, but Kylie doesn’t seem to notice.

“Hey!” she says.

“How’d it go?” I ask.

“It was great. Don’t worry, Dad. He was a total gentleman. But I like him. A lot.”

“That’s so awesome, Ky,” I tell her.

“Glad you had a good time,” Tyler says.