Filed to story: Penny and Navy Brother Asher
The house creaks under the assalt of the strom, best inside it’s want
She reaches the landing and heads toward the bathroom at the end of the hall, puking the door open.
Then she stops, turning halfway around.
I, uh…”
She bites her lip, cheeks flushed from cold.
“I don’t have any clothes.”
For a second, she just stands there, dripping and shivering, towel clutched tight.
I’ll just grab some from Tyler’s room,” she says prickly, stepping back toward his door.
I shake my head, already seeing the disaster waiting behind It
“Not the best idea.”
She frowns at me but pushes the door open anyway.
I lean casually against the wall, armis crossed, waiting for it.
The door swings
And she freezes. wide
Clothes are everywhere.
A battlefield of jeans, socks, hoodies, and what might be a half-eaten sandwich lying forgotten on the desk,
She doesn’t say anything for a long second.
Just stares like she’s trying to calculate whether it’s physically possible to find a clean item in that disaster zone
I smirk – just a
Tittle.
“Come on,” I say, pushing off the wall.
She shuts the door with a wrinkled nose and follows me down the hall.
I lead her to my com cleaner, sharper, no mess except the rain soaked hoodie I peeled off earlier thrown over the back of a chair.
I open the top drawer of my dresser and pull out a plain black t-shirt and a pair of gray logging pants, tossing them toward her
She catches them awkwardly, holding the bundle against her chest.
“Thanks” she says, voice soft.
I just nod
She hurries back toward the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind her.
The hot water wings at fist
It needles now skin, sharp against miscles still from hauling Penny through the storm, from bracing arsimt up by the rootsL
But when a minute after the initial shock starts to feri gol.
The kind of good that seeps into your bones, makes the soild mere dosen in nothing but heat and breath and steam. felt strong mough to
I lean my head against the tile wall for a moment, letting the water drum against the back of my neck, shaking off the last sey edges of the night.
And- yeah.
The thought cresses my mind.
That Penny’s doing the same right now, two doors down.
That her hair’s wet and clinging to her back, that her skin’s flashed from the beat, that she’s wearing nothing but a towel, or maybe nothing at all.
The thought punches low and strong, making my dick impossibly ibly hard. I stroke it once, twice…
I grit my teeth and shove the thought away, taking my hand off
Not the time.
Not the place.
Not the girl
I kill the water before my brain can get any stupider, dry off fast, and yank on clean clothes-sweats, a dry hoodie, hare feet padding quiet down the stairs.
The bouw feels different now.
Still lit, still warm- but quieter.
Like everything’s holding its breath. drop to the couch, stretching my legs out, waiting
And a few minutes later, I hear it the soft sound of bare feet an
I glance up.
And for the second time tonight, the air knocks put of my lungs
There she is –
Penny, her hair brushed out and hanging damp down her back, her skin pink from the heat of the shower, swallowed whole by my clothes,
The black t-shirt hangs down to her mid-thighs, the sleeves topping past her elbows,
The jogging pants are so big she has to hold the waistbend up with one hand just to keep them from puddling around her ankles.
She scowls at me the second she catches the look on my face.
“You’re a giant,” she accuses, tugging the pants higher.
I smirk – small, involuntary.
“Not my fault you’re tiny.”
She huffs and stops – as much as someone her size can stemp
Not close enough to touch.
But close enough that I can feel the heat coming off her skin.
I glance sideways at her across the room, Bepping onto the couch next to me at the way the neckline of the shirt dips just enough to show the pale of her collarbone, at the way her hair’s dripping little spots of water onto the stretched fabric, at the way her lips are finally pink again.
And the thought that she’s naked under my clothes- nothing but my shirt against her skin makes my hands curl into fists against my thighs.
Not allowed. to will my boner away.. The floor creaks again and I sit up straighter automatically, trying to
It’s just Mom and Dad, carrying two steaming mugs of tea
They both beam when they see u
“Here you go, sweetheart, Mom says, handing Penny a mug.
“And for you, Ash,” Dad says, dropping the other into my hand with a grin
Penny wraps her hands around them like it’s a lifeline
“Thank you so much,” she says, voice small but steady. For letting me stay here. For everything.”
“You’re family, honey, Mom says. immediately. “You’re always welcome.”
Dad nods, clapping my shoulder once in a quick, reh gesture of pride.
We’re h heading up,” he says, “You two good down here?”
Penny nods, smiling thedly,
“Okay. Sleep if you can,” Mom says, fussing one last time before
The house settles around us quiet again, just the low him of the generator outside and the faint dimming of rain against the winders,
Penny sips her tea slowly, the steam curling around her face.
And then she frowns
Looks around
Shifts a little on the couch
“Where’s Tyler?” she asks, almost too casually.