Hard and Fast: Italian Stallions, Book 2, page 2
What a night.
Chapter Two
“And then, me and Billy won the prizes for being the fastest runners in the whole first grade!”
Penny nodded, enthralled as Jasper regaled her with the highlights from his school’s field day. Apparently, the school system had bussed the entire elementary school to the local high school’s football field and held competitions for each of the grades.
Penny suspected there were a shit ton of teachers facedown on their couches tonight, as Jasper detailed the countless events and games and—sweet Jesus—she was exhausted just hearing about it.
“He got a ribbon that says First Place. Aunt Berta has it hanging on the refrigerator.” Her brother, Rhys, who was seated on the other side of Jasper, put his hand on the boy’s head, beaming so proudly, you would think Jasper had just won the Olympic gold.
She’d been delighted when her brother had invited her to join his new family for dinner tonight. She was getting damn tired of eating alone. In addition to her, Jasper, and Rhys at the table, Tony, Jess, and Aunt Berta were also there. Penny was amazed by how quickly her confirmed-bachelor brother had upended his life, eschewing his assertion that he would forever be married to his work, and opting instead for this wonderful instant family.
He and Tony had been roommates for years, but that fact hadn’t prepared Penny when they’d both fallen head over heels for Jess. While she knew committed threesomes weren’t exactly the norm, there was no denying the three people sitting across the table from her were making it work. Tony had his arm draped loosely around the back of Jess’s chair, and Jess, a single mom who’d been homeless when she’d crash-landed in their lives, absolutely glowed with happiness.
Rhys called her this afternoon and said they all wanted to try a new Italian place that had opened in Center City, and he wanted to see if she’d like to join them. Considering there was nothing but cereal in her house, she’d been only too happy to accept the invitation.
Penny had started her job search in Philadelphia after college because she’d wanted to live close to her brother, and their parents, who had also moved here from Connecticut right after she graduated from high school. Her family meant the world to her, so she knew she wanted to settle down near them.
“Sounds like you had an amazing day, Jasper. I’ll have to stop by sometime and see the ribbon.”
Jasper beamed then asked Rhys, “Can I have some more bread, Daddy?”
Every time Jasper called Rhys and Tony “Daddy,” Penny’s eyes misted with happy tears, so grateful that these incredible people all found each other.
Rhys reached into the breadbasket, spreading a bit of butter on the roll before handing it to Jasper. “Last one,” he warned. “Or you won’t eat that big plate of spaghetti you just ordered.”
Jasper took the bread. “I can eat it all,” he said with great confidence. “On account of my leg.”
Penny frowned as she glanced down at Jasper’s leg in confusion. “Leg?”
Tony laughed. “Aunt Berta swears Jasper has a hollow leg. The rascal is eating us out of house and home.”
Aunt Berta grinned. “He’s a growing boy. I suspect he’ll be bigger than you and Rhys by the time he’s done.”
Jasper was clearly thrilled at the idea of growing taller than his two fathers.
Penny dipped her bread in the seasoned olive oil. “I appreciate you guys letting me tag along. I’ve heard good things about this place from Toby at work. He’s already eaten here three times and the place hasn’t been open a month.”
“We haven’t seen enough of you lately,” Rhys said. “I was missing you, kiddo.”
Penny grinned at her brother’s nickname for her. Their parents had waited ten years between kids, but that age difference hadn’t had a negative impact on their sibling relationship at all. She’d always been very close to her big brother, who’d never been too busy for, or too bothered by, the little girl constantly hanging around him when he was a teenager.
“Yeah. I need to get better about being more social, but by the time the workday ends, usually all I can think about is going home, stripping off the bra, and collapsing on my couch.”
They all laughed.
“I think we have to face it. Work is crazy for all of us. It’s hard to find a time when we’re all free.” Jess had been a waitress when she met Rhys and Tony, but since officially “moving in” with them—not just as a roommate—three months earlier, she’d cut back on her hours at the diner and taken on quite a lot of the office work for Moretti Restorations, the business Tony owned with his three brothers.
Tony nodded. “I can’t complain because business is good, but we’re feeling the loss of Joey, now that he’s off filming that TV show of his. If you ever repeat this to him, I’ll deny it, but he was a hell of a worker and it’s been hard finding someone to replace him.”
Tony’s brother Joey had landed a gig hosting his own TV show, ManPower, a few months earlier. Penny couldn’t wait for the first episode to air. The Morettis were already planning a massive viewing party and she’d been invited. The Morettis, Italian to the core, knew how to party.
Aunt Berta leaned toward Tony, as if speaking confidentially. “There’s no way I’m telling him you said that. That boy is a walking, talking contradiction. Works harder than anyone I’ve ever seen when it comes to building things, but my heavens, he’s the laziest creature on the planet at home. Dirty dishes in the sink, laundry piled up everywhere. I stopped by his place one day to drop off a casserole I made him, and I counted no less that ten pizza boxes piled up by the door.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Tony grumbled. “I lived with the idiot for three years. Best day of my life was when Rhys and I decided to move in together.”
The waiter came by the table to deliver their food and refill their wine glasses. “This smells delicious,” Penny said.
For a moment, she thought Tony was groaning in agreement. Until she realized it was his Russo growl. She followed the direction of his now dark gaze, expecting to see Matt Russo, Tony’s sworn arch enemy—for reasons Penny had only just recently learned from Jess. It had something to do with an old high school rivalry and, of course, a girl.
However, tonight’s Russo in the crosshairs was Gage…who had his arm wrapped around a scantily dressed, heavily made-up redhead. Penny pushed her glasses up and squinted.
Wait. She was pretty sure that was Marjorie from accounting. Penny rolled her eyes. Gage was apparently starting to fish in the company pond. He’d mentioned some date with Connie from HR—for pity’s sake—just last week. Penny would have thought at least an HR woman would know better than to mess around with the boss, but apparently not.
Gage saw her staring and waved.
“Damn Russos,” Tony muttered. “Can’t turn around twice without running into one.”
“Down boy,” Jess joked.
Penny turned her attention back to Tony and felt the need to defend her boss. “Gage, while a shameless playboy, is actually a pretty nice guy.”
Crazy as it sounded, she’d actually come to view Gage as a friend lately. Which was just what she needed. Another fucking guy friend.
Since crashing their Dead by Daylight game three months earlier, Gage had become a somewhat regular fixture in the nerd circle. Not that any of them considered him a full-fledged member.
Gage Russo would never qualify as a true nerd, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy their company, loved D&D as much as she did—which was saying something—and had proven himself her biggest competition when it came to gaming.
So really, if he hadn’t been a gorgeous, super-cool billionaire with stunning women fluttering around him like butterflies, he would have easily been inducted into the nerd circle, no questions asked.
Recently Gage had grown a beard—a ridiculously sexy beard—and now Toby and Rich were trying to do the same. She didn’t have it in her to tell Toby his beard probably classified more as peach fuzz and he should probably just pack it in and shave.
Not that he’d listen to her. Toby and Rich were too busy hanging on Gage’s every word—something that was completely annoying—while Penny’s role in their ragtag gang was to simply keep the man humble.
Although, she had to begrudgingly admit Gage had been good for the guys. Toby and Rich had become more confident of late as they followed Gage’s advice regarding women. Both of them, normally extremely shy and awkward around the opposite sex, had gone out on several dates, and it sounded like Rich was on his way to landing himself an honest-to-God girlfriend, something that had eluded every member of the nerd circle since the three of them had started working together six years earlier.
Regardless of her reassurance about Gage’s good-guy status, Tony mumbled something indecipherable under his breath. Probably because it included some bad words regarding the Russos that he didn’t want Jasper to hear.
Jess winked at Penny across the table, shaking her head. Like Penny, Jess had worked for Russo Enterprises, though for a short time, and she shared Penny’s opinion that whatever the Russo guys had been like back in school, they weren’t pure evil, like the Morettis continued to insist.
“So what are we doing for your birthday next month?” Jess asked Penny, adeptly finding a way to change the subject.
Penny groaned. “Nothing. I’m not celebrating this one.”
“Why not?” Tony asked.
“It’s not a milestone I’m particularly excited about.”
Rhys frowned. “This isn’t a milestone birthday. You’re going to be twenty-nine, right? Not thirty.”
“Twenty-nine is a milestone,” Penny insisted. “Last year in the twenties. Then…I’m going to be ancient. Like you.”
Rhys reached over Jasper’s head to playfully pull her hair. “Et tu, Brute? It’s not enough I have to deal with Tony calling me old man all the time.”
“We’re having a party,” Jess interjected, refusing to be swayed.
“Bah humbug,” Penny grumbled.
“We’ll go out for a girls’ happy hour with Keeley, Gianna, and Liza to come up with a menu and guest list,” Jess continued.
For the first time in her life, Penny actually had a few girlfriends to hang out with. They were women she’d seen occasionally over the years at Moretti parties or get-togethers but had never really talked to because, hey—wallflower. Jess had been the one to help her break the barrier, moving her out of the acquaintance column to the girlfriends one with Keeley Gallo, Gianna Duncan, and Liza Moretti. So far, they’d gone to one happy hour and had met up for lunch. Penny hadn’t contributed much to the conversation at either event, but she’d been thrilled to her toes to be invited and included.
In high school and college, she hadn’t managed to find common ground with many girls, her interests landing her more male companionship. She’d never been the type to go to parties or bars, preferring to hang out in some pal’s dingy basement playing Warzone all night.
She had zero interest in hair or makeup—though lately she’d been thinking she might like to try something different with her looks—and she viewed shopping as the equivalent to getting a pap smear.
Then her mind drifted back to dingy. Hmm. That would be a good Wordle word.
“Penny,” Jess said, trying to draw her attention back to the conversation at hand.
“Sorry. Um. Can we just do the happy hour and forget the rest?” she muttered, not even bothering to feign enthusiasm about the party.
“Come on. A birthday party will be fun. You can invite that hot guy across the hall,” Jess added.
“Hot guy?” Rhys asked.
“I have a new neighbor,” Penny said, recalling the way her jaw had dropped the first time she’d seen him on his move-in day. The clean-cut man reminded her of a younger Brad Pitt, with his dirty-blond hair, dazzling blue eyes, and deep, sexy dimples she could get lost inside for days. Something she’d shared with Jess a few weeks ago. “But I’m not inviting him. I haven’t even introduced myself to the guy.”
Every time Penny ran into the new neighbor in the hallway outside their apartments or on the elevator, her brain cells evaporated, and she wound up just staring at him and grinning like a goofball. The guy probably thought she was touched in the head because the last couple of times he’d seen her, he’d avoided making actual eye contact.
“We’ll make you a cake,” Jasper chimed in. “And there will be presents and games and everybody will sing to you. And pizza!” he added, clearly all in on the birthday party plan.
Penny grinned. Jasper basically owned the keys to her soul, so the chances of her bailing on the party idea were nil at this point. “Sounds awesome.”
Jasper wiggled with what she thought was glee until he said, “I need to go to the bathroom.”
Aunt Berta and Rhys both started to rise, but Penny beat them to the punch, waving them back down. “I’ll take him.” She was anxious to escape all talk of birthday parties. She’d go through with it, but she wasn’t looking forward to it.
Jasper hopped up and grabbed her hand, leading her through the restaurant. She glanced over at Gage’s table. He was sitting very close to Marjorie, his arm draped around her shoulders as he leaned close to whisper something into her ear. Marjorie laughed, turning her face to his as he nuzzled her cheek.
The whole thing looked…nice, and Penny felt the same pang of loneliness that kept sneaking in and sucker punching her lately. They entered a small alcove where the bathrooms were.
“I can go in by myself,” Jasper said, pointing to the men’s room door. It was a single stall, so she opened the door, did a quick scan, then nodded.
“I’ll be just out here.”
Jasper walked into the bathroom and locked the door. Penny leaned against the wall and sighed.
“Tired, Beaumont?”
She looked up, surprised to discover Gage had followed her.
She shrugged. Her sigh had nothing to do with exhaustion, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. “Hot date?”
“Always,” he said with a shameless grin.
“You better pace yourself,” she joked. “You don’t want to run out of single women at work to date too quickly.”
Gage leaned his shoulder on the small wall she was currently holding up. “Yeah. Matt’s gonna be pissed when he finds out I’ve been dating women from work, but it’s not like I’m purposely seeking them out. The truth is, Marjorie asked me out tonight.”
“And the word no isn’t in your vocabulary?”
He frowned, as if puzzled. “Say the word again. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that one. No, you said?”
She snorted. “You’re an ass, and I should let you hang, but I’m worried about you.”
“Me?”
She shrugged casually. “I’m worried you’re going to mess with the wrong woman at work, someone vindictive who might decide to label your advances harassment if you break her heart.”
Gage scowled. “I don’t come on to women at the office, Beaumont. Don’t touch them or say inappropriate things. You know that. The women I’ve dated from there have approached me.”
“Fine, but still…be careful. Okay?”
“I will.” Then he looked her over, taking in her outfit. “New shirt?”
She glanced down, shocked that he would notice something like that. She had stopped by Goodwill on the way home, wanting to find something decent to wear tonight. Her wardrobe was in bad need of a freshening up, most of her stuff worn out or faded. She’d grabbed this striped patch shirt because she loved the vivid colors. She was aware it was probably a bit in-your-face loud, but it was easy to partner with her best pair of jeans. She hated trying to put outfits together, figuring out if shit matched.
“Yeah. Well, old new. I found it at Goodwill. Can you believe someone got rid of this? Still had the original tags on it.”
“I like it.”
Penny studied his face, searching for the slightest indication of insincerity. Either Gage had one hell of a poker face, or he really meant what he said.
“Guess Moretti’s annoyed by my presence.” Gage looked a little too pleased by that idea.
“Not sure he noticed you were here,” she lied, feeling the need to defend Tony, since he was practically family now.
“Mmmhmm,” Gage hummed as he reached out to tug on her braid. “Liars go to hell.”
“So do shameless playboys, so I guess I’ll see you there.”
He chuckled. “Followed you here to ask if D&D is at Rich’s apartment again or if we’re moving it back to Toby’s. Knew it would piss Moretti off if I approached your table, which was tempting, believe me. But it looks like you and Jess are having a good time, so I opted to keep the peace.”
“Very mature of you. D&D is at Rich’s place again. Toby’s is still a wreck.” Toby had gone home last week to soggy carpet due to an overflowing bathtub in the apartment above his. He’d been crashing at Rich’s place while the landlord made the repairs.
“Great. Then I guess—”
The bathroom door opened. “Penny. I can’t get my pants buttoned,” Jasper said.
“No worries. I got you.” She knelt before him, quickly slipping the button into place. “Did you wash your hands?”
He shook his head. “No. I was frustrated.”
“Aw. I bet.” She grinned at his very adult word as she pointed into the bathroom, toward the sink. “With soap, please.”
“Okay.” Jasper returned to the bathroom, the door closing behind him.
“Smart kid,” Gage observed.
“So smart,” she said. “I’m crazy about him.”
“You’d be a cool mom, Beaumont, with your mad Mario Kart skills. Ever consider it?”
She’d done way more than merely consider it. Penny dreamed of the day she’d start a family of her own.
No. Dreamed was too weak a word. She longed for it, yearned for it.
Of course, before that happened, she had to find a guy, lose her virginity, convince said guy to marry her…
She was twenty-eight years and eleven months old, and managing just step one of that process felt impossible. Find a guy?
