Page 8 of Daddy's Treat

Penny chews on her pouty bottom lip, and I become mesmerized as the pink flesh disappears into her mouth then pops back out shiny and wet only to be sucked back in. The things I would do to that mouth. I want to be the one to bite her lip. To suck it. To fuck it.

“It’s okay. I’ll just go straight to my room. I have earplugs.” She smiles and shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Besides, I don’t really have any friends.”

“I don’t believe a sweet girl like you doesn’t have friends.”

She shrugs again. “Believe it. No one wants to be friends with the ‘little kid,’ the classmate that sets the curve, the socially awkward book nerd who says cheese and crackers or fluffernutter instead of cursing, or someone who hardly looks like a woman at all. That last one is more for the whole dating situation, but the rest applies to everyone else.”

I give her a heated look, letting her see in no uncertain terms that I do not see her as a little kid. That I very much see her as a woman. A desirable woman. “Not everyone.”

Her breath catches in her throat, and she has to try two times before she finds her voice. “Maybe there is one exception to that rule.”

“Definitely,” I growl. If I don’t rein it in, I’m going to kiss her right here, right now, and I know she’s not ready for that just yet.

Soon.

“Let me see your phone.”

Penny doesn’t hesitate to hand it to me. There is no lock on it. So trusting. I find her contacts and quickly add my name and number then give it back to her. My fingers linger on hers for longer than necessary, neither of us pulling back. It isn’t until Walt reminds me that I promised him ice cream that I move away.

“Call me if you need anything. Anything at all. No matter the time. You hear me?”

She nods, hiding a smile. “I will. Thanks again for everything. It was lovely to meet you, Walt. You’re quite the superhero.”

I wait until Penny is inside the house before I pull away from the curb. On her way to the door, at least three guys attempted to stop her. Two I didn’t recognize and one of my players. So many extra drills for that little fucker.

The drive to my house is a short one. I live about ten minutes from campus. I barely get the car parked before Walt is bounding out and up the stairs of the porch. He keys in the code to the lock, and by the time I make my way inside, he already has a spoon and the ice cream eating straight from the container.

“Your mom would kill me if she knew I let you eat out of the container.”

Walt shrugs. “Uncle rules.”

I ruffle his hair. “Yeah, uncle rules.”

I get my own spoon and dig in. Walt is totally focused on his phone one minute and then the next he looks straight at me like he has something serious to say. I sure didn’t expect his next words. But I can’t deny that the kid isn’t wrong.

“Penny is nice and funny when she’s not screaming. Well, that was funny too, but I would never tell her that. She’s also real pretty. Like a doll. I like her. You should marry her, then you won’t be lonely anymore.”

Seriously, out of the mouths of babes.

4

Penny

The alarmI set last night goes off at six. My eyes feel like sandpaper, and my mouth tastes like dead things. The party didn’t break up until three o’clock when campus security came through. Before that, though, I had one drunken couple stumble into my room, thinking they’d found a place to tango, and two of the guys who tried to give me a drink on my way up to my room came looking for a good time.

Needless to say, despite my earplugs, it was a restless night. I grab all of my toiletries and promptly walk into the leg of the chair I finally propped under my doorknob after the last guy got a little handsy and didn’t leave until I asked him if gonorrhea was contagious. After that, I barricaded the door with my shin’s new nemesis.

I quickly put the chair back where it goes and tiptoe out of my room and down the hall to the bathroom. This is always something to be afraid of after a party like last night. I can’t even tell you the horrors I’ve seen. I shudder just thinking about the Back-to-School Toga Bash… I had nightmares for a week and opted to shower in the girl’s locker room instead. Foot fungus is a small price to pay.

I’m pleasantly surprised that the bathroom isn’t a total wreck. I mean, the toilet is less than clean, but the shower isn’t full of vomit and… other things. Nope. Not thinking about that. Opting to make my bladder wait until I’m at the library, I take a quick shower. I hustle back to my room and get dressed for the day. I put on a cute white camisole and pull a Wildcat Country sweatshirt over it. Black leggings and ballet shoes complete the look.

I stuff my books in my backpack and heave it over my shoulder. I’ve been teased more than once that it weighs as much as I do. And asked how I don’t topple over from the weight. Both are hil-arious. Quietly, I open my door. It doesn’t sound like anyone else is up yet. Which is precisely what I want. The newbies have to clean up after parties. I know, without a doubt, the other new girls will somehow manage to weasel out of it, and I’ll be left with clean up duty on my own. Not going to happen this time because I’m not going to be here.

I manage to sneak out without seeing a single soul. The library is quiet too. Not many students show up at six-thirty in the morning on a Saturday. I find my favorite spot in the back near the windows that overlook the garden. It’s all dead right now, but even without the lush blooms of the flowers, I find it beautiful. It’s a little like Sleeping Beauty. The plants are just waiting for Spring’s kiss.

For the first time ever in my whole twenty years of life, I can’t concentrate on my homework. I’ve read the same sentence in my anatomy book at least ten times, and I still don’t know what in the world it says. Why is my focus suddenly on vacation, you ask? The answer is a four-letter word that might be naughtier than any of the other four-letter words combined: Kade.

I can’t get him out of my head. I thought for sure I would have nightmares about clowns chasing me endlessly, but instead, I had dreams of Kade. Albeit weird dreams. In one, I was riding Kade like a horse. In another, he was wearing a candy corn kilt, and I was eating them off of him. Don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that my lady-parts were in charge of that little dream. Or my stomach, whichever.