But when I hear Steve call me that… I know he doesn’t like the nickname, but holy fuckin’ christ I just melt, like my sex is made of butter and all just for him.
I’ve never, ever even thought about boys, men or myself in any other way than just ‘how you doin?’… But when I hear Steve’s voice, especially today, I just melt.
The only part that registers is when he says he wants me too.
I notice my dad’s eyes narrow on Steve too, but he’s too excited to read too much into anything.
“Penny! I’ve got this job with Steve’s racing team but they need us soon, tomorrow really! What D’ya say?” Dad finally exclaims, standing up, his arms wide open.
Steve stays seated, beaming a smile but not wanting to get up.
“That’s great, dad… but how do I fit in? I mean…” I start to say, noticing Steve’s look of hurt once I start to put my ready-made wet blanket over everything.
A habit I have when things are sprung on me unexpectedly.
My dad knows me better than anyone and I don’t take sudden news or change very well at all. He pulls a smile and beckons me over to the couch to sit next to Steve, he fills me in a little more.
“It’s sudden, honey. I know, but this is such a great opportunity. I’ve already spoken to Mack at the auto shop. He’ll take over the regular business while we’re gone and, well… Steve says there’s a place for you too. Right Steve?” he adds, jutting his chin towards the man I’m almost afraid to even look at now.
Sitting next to him, I can feel his power, his warmth and his huge size radiating out.
Steve is six four and built like a linebacker. Not your typical race car driver’s frame.
His dark hair and smoldering eyes flash next to me. I can feel it.
His huge hands run up and down his thighs as he wipes nervous energy from them.
“Just say you’ll come, Penny. It’d mean a lot,” Steve blushes. “There’s a qualifying trial in the morning, not too far if we leave early. After that it’s cross-country for the next few weeks.”
His eyes finally meet mine and I gasp, noticing how much I’m trembling. My throat is dry but my head is already pumping a nod in agreement.
He’s about the only person who never calls me Pinky. But there’s something in his tone today that gives it an extra special edge.
A grown up, very adult sounding edge which I love instantly.
The very thought of me and Steve, it gives me shivers. But with my dad along for the ride too?
“Just say you will,” Steve says again, his tone more of an order than a question.
“O-of course I will,” I hear myself stammer. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
CHAPTER TWO
Steve
Getting my big break with a national team, having my best friend Mike as my right hand mechanic to boot?
None of it will mean anything if she’s not there.
I thought it was the thrill about the contract, Mike's excitement over his dream coming true too, working on a real racing team… a national team with major sponsorship. Real money for once and a future in the sport we both love.
But as soon as I hear the front door, as soon as I watch her glide by, I know what’s giving me this buzz inside.
I realize what’s been adding fuel to the fire inside me, has been every time I’ve seen her since she came back from college.
Pinky.
Penny.
I never much cared for her dad’s nickname which stuck from day one, but now either her nickname or her given name. The sound of them in my mind always gives rise to this feeling. Playing back to back most days now, almost every second she’s not there.
Pinky… Penny… Pinky… Penny…
She’s all grown up now, and filling those curves like a real woman should. I tried to tell myself no at first, that it’s not right to be eyeing my best buddy’s daughter, but holy fuckin’ christ I’m a man after all.
And she’s got it going on in a way that makes me so hard just thinking about her.
Apart from her body, which makes me weak, her golden mane of hair and crystal clear blue eyes, along with her genuine smile and button nose make me long for her before I even see her again.
Her smooth, creamy skin is begging to be kissed, worshiped. Tracing lines down from her smooth neck to a thick chest under her white sweater, I find it hard not to stare and catch Mike eyeballing me these days whenever he spots my reaction to his only daughter.
I grappled with it, still do, but it was the straw that almost broke the contract for me.
“You need to have your own mechanic… and his daughter?” The team manager had asked, looking sidelong at me.
Once I took their salaries off my own contract amount, plus a little more it was a done deal.
I don’t care about the money, but the thought of going national without Pinky, without my girl…
Ah! There I go again. It grips me like hot iron sometimes, a terrifying fear that she won’t want an older guy like me.
I know she doesn’t have a boyfriend, I made damned sure to find that out through her dad and have even made sure to happen to come by sometimes, calling in to see how things are going when really I just have to see her.
She’s twenty years old, I’m forty. I don’t just want her physically either. I want to give her the life she deserves.
The family of our own I know she wants too. And I’m just the man to give it to her, the only man I want to see anywhere near her.
Mike spells it out to her once she sits down, and I feel my own heart about to burst. Hoping he doesn’t pick up on how nervous I am.
If
