Playing at Forever (18 page)

The ocean was literally Tommy’s backyard.  He had chosen this property for a couple of reasons—first, because of the privacy it afforded him.  Second, because he had wanted something with his own private beach.  It had cost him a pretty penny more than he had wanted to spend, but he’d gone for it. 

But after he moved in, Tommy hardly ever spent any time out here—even when he was home.  There was just something comforting about having the ocean nearby.  To know that, if the urge ever struck, he could just take off into the abyss and leave it all behind. 

He’d done that a lot throughout his life, mostly at his father’s behest. 

Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
, Tommy thought to himself. 

Beside him, Penny gasped.  “Why didn’t you show me this sooner?”  It was a good question—one to which he didn’t have an answer.  “Tommy, this is beautiful.  Is it all yours?” 

“Enough of it is.”  His neighbors lived quite a ways down the beach. 

“Listen to you, all confident and rich.  ‘I own my own beach.’  I bet the ladies fall for this every time.” 

“Oh, you better believe it.”  Except that Tommy had never brought another woman out here before.

“You’re such a little man-whore, Thomson Davis.”

“I am no such thing,”
  he
feigned innocence, his eyes wide. 

“You most certainly are.  I’ve seen the tabloids.” 

“Well, then I guess I’m to believe that you’re carrying my love child.”  Penny laughed, throwing her head back.  On the flight in, they had noticed one of the tabloids claiming that Penny was pregnant with Tommy’s child and she was officially declared to be under “bump watch”.  

“That’s right—it’s twins. 
Surprise!”
 

“That’s it.”  Before Penny could react, Tommy had stepped forward and swept her off her feet, tossing her over his shoulder.  She screamed, swatting at him and ordering him to put her down.  “Your wish is my command.” 

She hit the water with a splash, her expression absolutely priceless.  “You did
not
just do that.” 

“I’m pretty sure I did.”  She was on her feet much faster than he expected, jumping onto his back and trying to pull him into the water.  It wasn’t really all that necessary—he was pretty well soaked already from carrying her as far as he had.  But Penny was bound and determined to get him into the water, and so eventually, she did. 

By that time, they were pretty far out, Tommy only going further.  The water was much warmer than he’d expected and once again he asked himself why he didn’t do this more often.  “Oh!”  She squealed as her head dipped under the water and Tommy reached out, pulling her closer to him as she coughed. 

“You okay?”  She nodded, still trying to clear her throat. 

“Apparently I can’t reach the bottom anymore.”  Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, her legs around his midsection. 

“We can go back,” 

“I’m okay with this arrangement if you are.” 

Tommy was certain that Penny could tell just how okay he was with the situation, but he didn’t say anything.  “It’s so quiet out here,” 

“You don’t have to whisper, Pen.  Nobody’s going to hear you.” 

“Be quiet.”  She loosened her grip on his neck, laying back a little bit.  Tommy tried very hard not to notice the way her body shifted against his.  “And the water is so warm.”  She sat back up, pressing herself close to him once more.  “Are you sure this isn’t a fairytale, Tommy?  We’re not going to wake up tomorrow and find out we’ve been dreaming all along, are we?” 

“I certainly hope not.”  Her face was so close to his—it would be so easy…

“Let’s stay like this forever.” 

“As much as I would love to make that happen for you, I think we have to go back in eventually.”  This couldn’t be easy for her, either.  He could see the way she seemed to avoid his eyes, as if afraid of what might happen if she found them. 

“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if I had left with you?” 

“I wonder about a lot of things, Pen.”

“Do you think we would have ended up together?” 

“Would you have wanted us to?”  His response seemed to throw her off guard, her eyes finally meeting his. 

“Honestly?”  Penny asked.  He nodded his head, feeling her heart beating just as fast as his own was.  “At the time, I didn’t think so.  But after you left…”  She sighed, looking up at the night sky.  “I didn’t think you could miss a person that much.”  He could hear the tears in her voice.

“I didn’t either,”
  Tommy
agreed, reaching up and brushing his thumb along her cheek. 

“You didn’t answer my question.”  He was hoping she hadn’t noticed that. 

“You didn’t answer mine either.”  Tommy reminded her.  She lifted her head, meeting his eyes with a certain determination. 

“You first.”
  He hesitated for a long moment, wondering what he should say, trying to decide how to respond. 

“After you kissed me, I thought we might.”  He confessed.

“After I kissed you, I thought we should.”  Penny replied breathlessly.

He didn’t know who initiated the kiss, but all he cared about was that it didn’t end.  He carried them back toward the coast, his hands holding her as close to him as he could possibly manage.  His body longed for the shore, aching to lie beside her. 

She was just as eager, he realized, as she pulled him in, her lips claiming his hungrily.  His hands roamed over the soaked material of her clothes, wanting to remove even the thinnest barrier between them. 

It wasn’t until a loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance that she stopped him, pulling away breathlessly.  “Wait,”
  she
pressed her hand to his chest.  “We can’t—”

Tommy groaned in frustration, rolling over and laying next to her.  “You’re killing me, here, Pen.” 

“You told me you wouldn’t do that again.” 

“I told you I’d try.  Besides, I think it was
you
who started that one.”  He stared up at the sky, his body tense. 

“Well it doesn’t matter.”  Tommy couldn’t help it—he laughed, shaking his head.  “You know it’s a bad idea just as well as I do.” 

“Do I?”  Of course he did, logically.  But his body, on the other hand…that seemed to have a mind of
it’s
own.  A mind that wanted nothing more than to roll over and continue what had started just minutes ago. 

“Business, Tommy Davidson.  Just keep reminding yourself that.” 

“I’m really beginning to hate business.”  He turned his head to look at her, trying not to notice that he could see right through her thin white tank top. 

“It’ll come to an end eventually.”  Her voice sounded far away, tinged with sadness.  “And once it does, we’ll both go back to our own lives, won’t we?”  He wished he could tell her it wasn’t true, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.  Because he didn’t really believe them, and the last thing he wanted to do was lie to her.

So instead, he said nothing at all. 

“Hey Tommy, whatever happened to your dad?”  Suddenly Tommy wished very badly that he
had
said something.  This was definitely not a topic he was willing to discuss.

“I don’t know.  Last I heard, he was somewhere in Florida.  He retired, I think.”

“You think?”  Tommy shrugged. 

“We haven’t spoken much.  He wasn’t too thrilled that I took off.  You know how he was—I was supposed to be a Military man, just like he was.” 

“You haven’t even called him?”  Tommy shook his head. 

“I send him a Christmas card every year.  That’s about it.” 

“You should try talking to him.  It’s been a long time.  Maybe he’s changed.”  Tommy laughed—not genuine laughter, but empty.  He doubted it.  The Colonel was always going to be a hard-ass, up until the day he died.  And he was always going to be disappointed in Tommy, no matter what he did. 

“You never know.  People change.”

“You haven’t.” 

“In some ways, I have.  You have.” 

“I haven’t.” 

“Oh, I beg to differ.  The Tommy Davidson I remember would have already broken Kevin’s nose by now—probably twice.”  This time, Tommy laughed for real.  She had a point there—but that was a change that had only occurred within the last few weeks. 

Penny laughed too, their echoes fading into the night sky. 
“You cold?”
 

“I’m okay,”
  she
whispered.  He wondered what was going through her head—not even sure what was going through his own.  “You don’t have to stay out here with me.  I mean, if you’re—”

“I can handle it.”  He turned to look at her once more.  “Besides, we have an item to cross off that to-do list of yours.”  Penny lifted herself onto her elbow, smiling at him. 

“You remembered,” 

“Of course I did.”  He patted the empty space between them.  “Whenever you start to get sleepy, you go ahead and rest your head right here.  It can get chilly at night.” 

“Are you going to stay up all night?” 

“Somebody’s got to be awake when that sunrise starts.” 

“I’m going to stay up with you then.”  He knew the moment she said the words that she would soon be asleep, though.  He could hear it in her voice.  “Someday you’re going to make some girl very happy,”
  she
whispered, suddenly rolling over and tucking herself as closely as she could to him. 

“You think so?”  Penny nodded and Tommy felt a familiar ache spread through his chest.  Deep down, he knew why—it wasn’t just
some girl
he wanted to make happy.  He’d known who she was for a long time now.  “I hope so.”

“I know so.”  He wrapped his arm around her, running his hand up and down her arm.  “Let’s pretend this is real, okay?”  She whispered sleepily.  “Let’s pretend we’re not pretending.  Pretend that you’re just a boy, and I’m just a girl, and we don’t have a care in world.” 

“I can do that.”  It was probably the one thing he wanted most in that moment.

She was sound
asleep
several minutes later, her breath warm on his chest.  Lightening flashed far in the distance and he
watched,
his heart heavy. 

As he lay there, he tried to convince himself that it was just hormones.  There was nothing more there than simple desire.  She was a beautiful girl, there was no denying that.  It was only natural male instinct. 

But he knew it was all just a lie.  Deep down, he had fallen for her. 

Whether he admitted it or not…that was a different story. 

For hours, he lay there, watching her sleep, content just to be there. 

When the sky began to lighten, he whispered her name, waking her as gently as he could.  “Penny, it’s starting.” 

“
Hm
?”
  She stirred slowly at first and then, suddenly, she became much more aware.  “You should have woken me up!”  She scolded.  “I didn’t want you to have to stay up alone.”

“I wasn’t alone.”  He nodded toward the ocean.  “Look, it’s still lightning, too.” 

She remained quiet for several long moments, her eyes trained on the sky before them.  “In case I forget to tell you this somewhere down the line, I just want to make sure I tell you now.”

“What’s that?”

Her eyes found his easily, her expression more heartfelt than he’d ever seen.  “Thank you.” 

“Just close your eyes, Penny.”  Tommy repeated for what seemed like the millionth time.  Penny was having a hard time following his orders, her curiosity getting the best of her.  They hadn’t been back in
Ravenside
for more than a couple days and already he had a surprise for her. 

It was more frustrating than anything. 

“You better not have done anything crazy.”  She warned him, trying to peek.  He reached over to hold his hand over her eyes.

“You’ll find out in just a couple more minutes.”  For an impatient girl like herself, a couple more minutes was just about impossible. 

Finally, the car came to a stop.  She heard the door open and felt Tommy take her hand, guiding her toward him.  “Okay, you can open them.”

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she looked around, slightly confused.  They were standing in front of a
very
large house, surrounded by trees with a yard full of leaves.  “What is this?” 

He dangled something out in front of her.  “You didn’t.” 

“Oh, I did,”
  Tommy’s
grin stretched from ear to ear. 

“You did not buy this house.” 

“I did.”  Penny’s eyes grew wide as she looked around once more.  A wrought-iron gate separated the yard from the street—and from the looks of it, it enclosed nearly the entire yard.  “Want to take a look around?” 

“I don’t know, do I?”  She was in shock.  She couldn’t imagine being able to just up and buy a house—much less a house like this one. 

“I thought you might like having a place of your own,”
  Penny
looked at him, hoping that he hadn’t done this just for her.  He’d done far more than enough as it was—she couldn’t stand it if he’d bought a house just so that she’d have a place to stay.  “And I wanted to have a place to stay, too.  I’m sick of living in a box.  I need a little more space than that.”

“Well, I think this place will give you two or three times the space as the entire motel.” 

“Hey, I like to have lots of space.  You never know who could be showing up.”

“Are you planning on opening up a bed and breakfast?”  Tommy nudged her with his elbow. 

“You just wait until you see the inside.  You’re going to love it, and you’re going to regret all these little comments.” 

Well, he had a
point,
she thought the moment she stepped inside.  It was beautiful, much as she had expected it to be.  The kitchen was enormous, vaulted ceilings everywhere she looked.  She assumed it had come furnished as everything looked like it belonged there—it all had a very old, cottage appeal to it. 

Tommy led her up the stairs, showing her two bedrooms before taking her to the Master suite. 

That was where she just about lost it.  The bathroom alone was bigger than the bedroom she had at Amy’s, the bedroom just as grand.  “Well, I don’t see a theater room anywhere.”  She said finally, having kept quiet throughout the entire tour.  Tommy’s laughter was music to her ears and she smiled, turning to face him.  “You’re insane, you know that, right?”