Big Dick Energy - Cindi Madsen Page 0,68
high school crush,” Penelope was saying. “I wrote him a mushy love letter, and he showed it to all his friends. They snickered at me every time I walked by their group, and still, I thought he might answer it and confess he liked me too.” She swiveled her laptop toward Izzie, who leaned closer to the screen and made a sour face. “See how embarrassing? He’s cheated on not one, but two wives, and his profile picture is of his truck and”—she winced—“there’s a confederate flag in the back.”
“Ew,” Izzie said. “His spelling is awful, and is that a conspiracy theory I see?”
“Yeah. Not to be mean, but he wasn’t the smartest of lads. He didn’t go for me, after all.”
Izzie laughed, louder than I’d heard her laugh in a long time. I grinned at not only the happiness, but the sense of camaraderie between the two women in my life I was a total sucker for.
As I rounded the wall that halfway obscured me from view, both of the ladies glanced up. Penelope flashed me one of her signature smiles, and the knot in my chest eased.
“My taste in men gradually improved through the years. Probably in part because I got better at reading social cues. Fun fact, most guys don’t think it’s cool if you know a lot about cars. It either makes you weird or one of the guys. By the time I reached college, I found a boyfriend who used proper grammar and everything.”
“Swoon,” Izzie said while fanning her face, and then both of them giggled.
Suddenly I was reassessing my grammar skills. From now on, every text and email I sent to Penelope would need a second readthrough.
“He does have two kids with another woman now, but we’re cool. He and I just didn’t make sense as a couple. We were much better as friends.” Penelope closed her laptop, tucking up a leg as she pivoted to face my little sister. “My point is that right now, you might think Jaden’s the hottest ever, but you’ll find hotter. Better. Kinder. And better yet, someone who sees you for you. Competing for guys’ attention is such a waste of time. The right one will fight for you, not the other way around. I’m not saying you can’t show interest or test the waters by flirting. Or even that you won’t find yourself on dates now and again with guys who end up being total tools.” She patted Izzie’s knee. “But don’t do all the work, or they’ll think they don’t have to do any, and you’re worth effort.”
I walked around the back of the couch, and Penelope extended a hand to me. I squeezed it, doing my best to show how much I appreciated her talking Izzie down and giving her advice I wouldn’t have known to give.
“As much as I enjoy holding hands with you,” Penelope said, tipping her face back to meet my gaze. “I was gesturing for the cookie dough.”
I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “Don’t you want me to turn on the oven?”
“Pfft. Did you hear that?” The woman I was falling head over heels for bumped her shoulder into Izzie’s. “On nights like this, you don’t cook the dough.”
The bag crinkled as Penelope dug inside the bag and retrieved the bright yellow tubes. She held it up to Izzie like the spoils of war and then extended one her way. “The male species often mocks the way we deal with heartbreak, but that’s just because they secretly know they’re missing out.”
As I backed away from the couch, Penelope caught my hand. “We might be willing to make an exception for you if you want to watch the movie with us.”
“But only if you don’t groan and complain the entire time, as if it’s a hardship to watch a movie with a proper consensual romance,” Izzie added, as though I were some grumpy old man. After a month of acting as her guardian, I felt about a decade older, that was for sure. Although I also enjoyed being around and getting to know her better as well, and lately I found myself dreading heading back to my quiet condo in L.A.
I might even miss the yipee dog, God forbid.
“I have work to catch up on, so I’m going to pass. But you two go ahead.” I glanced at my sister, debating whether or not she’d be scandalized by a kiss. Given her snarky comment, probably not. I’d also be shocked if