it. You said you loved that coffee shop, though. Let’s hang out there like we’d planned.”
“You’re seriously not going to invite me in?”
“Nope.” I tried to step around her but she blocked me on the steps.
“But I had Ian drive me all the way here. I can’t just call him and make him drive me back across town. That would be so rude.”
“Penny, it’s his job to drive you wherever you want to go.”
She waved her hand through the air. “Ian’s family.”
“Hardly.”
“What do you mean hardly? He’s engaged to Jen. He’s going to be my brother-in-law.”
Jen was James and Rob’s sister. And one of the many women in New York whose body I’d used to try to numb my pain. It hadn’t worked. I still wasn’t sure how James and Rob had forgiven me for that one. I guess I had a get out of jail free card for everything after Brooklyn died. “Well, it’s Ian’s fault for being awkward and insisting he still works for you when he’s shacking up with Jen.”
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