Page 129 of The Score

"You will dazzle them, hija," Tío says.

"And Evie and I will help you." I kiss her temple, before we hug her parents and say goodbye.

Five minutes later, we're driving back in the same direction we came from. I take several turns into different side roads, before Pen figures out where we're going.

She gasps. "The geodesic cabin?!"

I tap her thigh, and leave my hand there as I drive.

"It was later in the day when we came the first time," she says. "The change in light threw me off. And I thought you might want to take me somewhere new…"

"No need for excuses, Penélope." I chuckle when she makes an offended sound. "Let's enjoy what I have planned, all right?"

"But— we didn't bring food or many clothes or—"

"Pen. We'll enjoy. Okay?"

She keeps her eyes on me. The way she studies me is familiar, yet I wish I could stare right back. Something clicks in her mind, but all I can guess at is the way she bites her lip. It makes me want to bite her lip, too. A gentle nibble. Just a small taste.

Mhhh. If this were about my fantasies, I might have gotten her to suck me off as I drive. We're making our way through smaller roads now, and I could have slowed down enough. Or driven faster, if she wanted to feel the thrill of risk in this too.

But what we've been doing is about her. Her desires and fantasies. Hypnotized as I've been by finally getting familiar with her pussy, with her sounds, with her smell… God, I've been lost in hunger for her. My heart is beating underwater, hidden in its flooded cell. It creates waves in my system. The kind you see when skipping a rock on a lake, growing bigger as they ripple across the surface.

Unlike any archetypical heroes, I don't go toward it. I let it be for a little longer. I'm content being distracted, and making the most out of our agreement.For now.

Pen offers to read some fanfic out loud to me while I drive. She's done that before, when we spent enough time in the car together. Not that she cares for it— she usually just starts reading wherever I left off. It's something nice she does for me sometimes. But she doesn't know I'm on a break, and I can't explain that I'm avoiding things that make me feel too romantic. In the end, I guide her to pick a drabble collection I have bookmarked.

She skims the first story. "This is spicy."

I grin and wink at her.

"I've never read this kind of fanfic to you."

"We weren't doing these kinds of things before."

I glance at her. She bites her lip.

"Are you game?" I ask.

In the end, it's her idea to suck me off. She calls it a surprise bucket list item, and I'm only too happy to oblige.

It takes us another hour to make it to the campground, somewhere between back home and Seattle. The place looks much the same as it did that day many weeks ago, when I proposed to Pen. The memory of getting down on one knee in front of my best friend gets my heart beating faster, but it's all as muffled as expected. I simply smile as we go into the cabin, and she finds a few extra clothes and a fully stocked kitchen.

She grins as she comes to me. "How long are we staying?"

She gets her hands around my thick waist, and I do the same around her arms and back.

"For a few days." I kiss her. "For as long as we want to."

She sighs. "You're perfect, you know that?"

This time, the sound my heart makes is not as muffled as earlier. I ignore it anyway.

"Let's see what you think about this." I give her another kiss, before I take her by the hand and we go out of the cabin.

It's nearing sunset on a sweet summer day. The skies are turning shades of orange and purple, casting long shadows on the forest at the other side of the lake. I guide Pen right to the edge of the water. I asked the groundskeepers to set up for a picnic, and they did an amazing job. A blanket lays on the floor,with several pillows and cushions strewn around. Food and drinks wait for us in baskets, and an extra flannel cover lays folded to the side.

I stop at the feet of the set up and bring Pen to stand in front of me. She gazes at me with excitement gleaming in her eyes, and lips that are slightly parted.