Tied Up in Knotts Ch. 21

Considering how late Penn and I stayed up, I was up way too early. I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to see as much of Penn as possible even if he was sleeping. I'd be going back to Portland soon, to make some big changes, but I'd still be going alone. I wanted to wake him up and tell him to come with me. Instead, I laid and watched him sleep. This was my life now. Everything else would come on its own time.

When he finally woke up, I basked in that deep voice I loved so much in the mornings. The voice I wanted to hear every morning. I showed Penn just how much I loved that voice. When he was close to cuming in my mouth, he insisted we have a go with no condom but it wasn't time yet. I wanted to lay the groundwork and show him, with proof, that my long game was strong. Then, and only then, would we tango.

The day was low-key. We had to rectify the fact we'd spent the previous day apart. We did a whole lot of nothing and enjoyed every minute.

That night we went to my parents for dinner. It was the first time I introduced Penn to my dad as my boyfriend. It was great, of course. I already knew my dad liked Penn but this was different. There were moments I could see that Dad missed Lee. A part of him held hope that Lee and I would make it work the way he and Tracy had. He liked Penn, maybe even more than Lee, but Lee had been around since I was a teenager. Lee was a son to him and that wasn't easily forgotten. Regardless, he showed Penn nothing but love and, when we left, Penn was radiant. I realized this was a big deal for him. Not only was this the first time he'd been introduced as my boyfriend, but it was the first time meeting parents under that same concept.

I followed Penn to the driver's side of his truck and opened the door for him. He looked at me oddly.

I smiled. "You just met the parents and nailed it."

"I was nervous."

"You had no reason to be. My dad already liked you."

"Yeah, but I wasn't your boyfriend before."

"Well, you are now."

Penn rolled his eyes like I was a total nut job for being a little sappy. He loved it, though. I could tell by the blush that crept up his neck. He slid into the seat and buckled up. When I didn't leave, he gave me that what are you doing look I loved so much.

"I'm so obsessed with you," I said as a matter of fact.

Penn didn't say anything, he just smiled and started to close the door on me, forcing me to leave him alone. I went around the front of the truck, holding eye contact with him the entire time. He smiled, then purposely turned the headlights on, blinding me. I stared on, laughing at his antics.

Later that night, when we were in bed, Penn laid on top of me with his elbows on either side of my head. "I'm obsessed with you, too."

"I'm more obsessed," I argued.

"I'm the most obsessed."

We spent the rest of the night arguing about who was more obsessed with the other. I proved my point multiple times but so did he. In the end, it was a draw and we were both out of ammunition.

Friday morning, I peeled myself away from Penn then drove to Sam's favorite coffee shop. When I got to his house, I found him watching the morning news. I was a little embarrassed that it had been so long since I'd last visited but he was nothing but graceful about it. Typical Sam. It didn't matter to him that he'd gifted me ten grand and given me the opportunity of a lifetime only for me to drop off the face of the earth.

"I did what I did because I respect you and want the best for you," he explained. "I had no strings attached to my gift. I know your heart, Nash. It's filled with nothing but goodness. Besides," he continued, "you're here now and you brought me my life juice. That's thanks enough."

I didn't deserve him but I was glad to love and be loved by him. I'd be lucky to grow up and be half the man he was.

I stayed for over two hours. He asked me lots of questions about Penn and seemed genuinely happy for me. "Money well spent," he said. He asked how the marathons were going. I thought it would disappoint him to know they hadn't been a priority and that Boston seemed like a long-lost dream at this point.

"It's just a race," he said. "It's only an accomplishment if it's what you desire. Otherwise, it's a burden."

I left Sam's feeling better than I had in awhile. I respected Sam and was so thankful for his influence in my life. It tore me apart thinking that I might have inadvertently damaged our relationship or worse, he'd feel unappreciated in any way.

Penn was sitting at the table when I got back, clutching a cup of coffee and staring outside. He looked at me and smiled. It was an invitation enough to join him. I sidled my chair up to his and took a sip of his coffee. Penn put his arm around me and we stayed like that for the rest of the morning. This was my life now.

Later that day, when we were running errands, Penn disappeared. He returned with a box of three condoms. "To hold us over," he whispered.

"Patience," I said, stuffing the box behind whatever was on the shelf next to me. "We can wait a week. Think of the sea turtles."

I'm pretty sure he mumbled something like "fuck the sea turtles" as he followed me through the store. He was pouting. Every time I looked at him, he scowled and looked away. Later, when we were back home, I gave him an impromptu lap dance when Meghan Trainor came on the stereo while making dinner. It was the same song I had to sing to him during the first game night. He wasn't scowling so much after that. Later, his scowl disappeared completely when I straddled him on the couch. I was naked and ground against him until he came between my ass cheeks.

Then it was time to go home.

"You're really going to turn down the job?" he asked as I sat in the Suburban, not leaving like I should've been doing.

"I am. And we'll find a place together?" I asked.

"We will."

I made it twenty minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my phone and called Penn.

He answered on the first ring. "What did you forget?"

"You."

Penn laughed and I couldn't help but smile in the darkness of my car. "I miss you, too."

"I'm serious," I said. "I don't want to seem needy or anything but could you come to Portland tonight? If you're busy with work tomorrow, I understand. I just don't—" I sighed. I didn't want to be apart anymore.

"I'm on my way, Nash." His voice was light, almost like he was smiling and happy that I was desperate for him.

"I love you."

It was silent and I could imagine Penn on the other line, smiling. Then he said, "God, why are you so obsessed with me?"

I couldn't help myself, I laughed. I deserved that. We'd been joking about the L-word more than we'd been serious about it and I think I loved him all the more for it.

"But you'll come to Portland tonight?" I asked. "So I can obsess over you?"

He came to Portland that night. Forty-five minutes after I arrived, he knocked on the door. Joe was already in bed so I dragged Penn straight to my room. When I got off work the next day Penn took me to dinner. Sunday, he insisted we look for a place. I don't think he felt comfortable being at Joe's while I was at work. It's one thing to visit for a few minutes, it's another to be there all day while I was gone.

Jason ended up calling again. This time he apologized for how he handled things. He asked if they could have lunch when he was in town again. More than anything else, he wanted to be friends.

Penn asked how I felt about it. I told him it was his call. As someone who didn't have a lot of friends outside his family, I thought reconciling with Jason was a good idea. He liked Jason and enjoyed his friendship. Penn seemed excited about the prospect and stoked that I was supportive. I made him promise there'd be no sexy time. Penn only laughed. Not that I was ever worried.

Wayne was disappointed when I told him I wasn't going to take the job. We'd already put so much time into building the role. We were both invested emotionally. But Wayne understood, and when we parted ways, Wayne hugged me.

"This is good," he said. "I'm sad that we won't be working together but this is important. I can see how happy you are. When you're ready to come back, you know where to find me."

I felt better than I expected when I left his office. After Lee cheated and I stepped away from Yevo, I felt like I lost a big part of the community I knew and loved. I was no longer involved in what was happening in Lincoln and that was a hard loss. But Sam and Wayne proved that I still had great people in my life, people who genuinely loved me. I still had a community.

When I got to the Suburban, I had a text from Penn. It was an address.

Knotty Penn: Let me know when you're on your way

I called Penn before pulling out of the parking lot. "Hey, I'm on my way."

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Good, about as expected."

"So, you're resigned?"

"Wasn't that the plan?"

"It was. I was just nervous that something would come up. Maybe they'd offer you more money or less traveling."

"I didn't turn the job down because of the money or the traveling and you know it."

"I know," he said. "I was just checking. How long until you get here?"

"Fifteen minutes?" I answered. "Where is here anyway? Did you find a potential rental?"

"I did. I might be in the backyard so I'll leave the door open. Just make sure to lock it behind you."

Twenty minutes later I pulled into the driveway, alongside Penn's truck. It was a nice house in a cute suburban neighborhood. I let myself in, making sure to lock the house behind me.

The heat was on and the house was warm and toasty, a nice contrast from the cold fall weather outside. I admired the inside and wondered if it would come furnished. I peeked into the bathroom and then the spare room. I was impressed. Then I stepped into the kitchen and froze.

"Well hello," I said to a very sexy, very naked Penn.

"Are you hungry? I stopped at Costco and bought some black truffle pasta."

I smiled at his casual attempt at small talk then stood behind him with my hands on his hips and my chin on his shoulder. Seeing him naked was enough to get me going but standing behind him while he was naked made me hard in an instant.

"You're going to stand here naked and ask if I'm hungry for pasta?" I ground against his hot ass and kissed his neck. My hands explored that hard stomach I loved then moved down until I was cupping his package.

"Pasta is what I bought for dinner."

I continued to touch him, getting more turned on by the second. "Are you sure you don't want anything else for dinner?"

Penn smiled as I touched his body. He was also hard so I knew he was just as affected. Other than that, he didn't react. He just kept messing with the food on the counter. "No, I'm pretty sure I want this pasta. It looks really good. I can't decide if we should use butter or white sauce, though. Thoughts?"

I pushed my pants down and pressed the tip of dick between his ass. I felt Penn shudder when I rubbed myself against him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"What are you doing? I countered. "I walked in and found you naked. What did you expect me to do? Pretend like you're not naked? Because I don't know if I'm capable."

"Patience," he said.

"Are you smirking?" I leaned around and saw he was. "You're doing this on purpose," I accused.

"Doing what on purpose?"

"You know exactly what," I growled into his neck as I stroked his dick. "I told you we could wait until I officially turned down the job."

"Wait for what?" he asked, oh so innocently.

"To not use condoms."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"Yeah? You forgot about it? Is that why you rented this house that I just happened to find you naked in on the same day I talked to Wayne?"

Penn hummed. "That is quite the coincidence."

"Is it also a coincidence that the heat is turned up?" I asked. "Oh, it's pretty warm in here. I think I need to take off my clothes." I stripped my shirt off and tossed it on the table then did the same with my pants. "That's better," I said, taking my place behind him. "Oh, and how about this?" I grabbed the bottle of lube that was sitting amongst the groceries. "What a coincidence."

I applied some of the lube to myself then spread some in Penn's ass. I wasn't planning on actually fucking him, just fucking with him. I slid myself between his ass and began slowly grinding him. Every time I brushed against his hole, he shuddered.

Penn gripped the counter and arched his back. He pushed back, trying to get me to enter him.

"Black truffle pasta you say? That does sound good."

Penn kept his back arched but continued going through the motions of dinner. Meanwhile, I played with Penn. I kept him hard with my hand on his dick or my fingers in his ass. I was so close to pressing into him. A few times I almost did. I started pushing the head of my dick into his ass but he'd pull away before anything could happen. By the time the pasta was done, I was dying.

Penn sat on my lap as we shared a plate. I don't know what was better, the pasta or naked Penn on my lap with my now achingly hard cock wedged comfortably on his ass. Every time he moved to take a bite, he ground against me.

I tried to take him to the bedroom when we were done but he insisted on doing the dishes. Fine, whatever, but if he wanted to do the dishes, then he'd have to do them alone.

I stayed behind him because all I could think about was sliding into him with nothing between us. I was so turned on I wasn't sure I'd last long.

But then Penn bent over to get detergent from under the sink and it was all over. I pressed in. Penn stood up a little, with his hands on the edge of the sink, and moaned. I smiled and slowly pushed in until I was all the way in.

"Feel that?"

Penn nodded. "Yeah. God, that feels good."

I pulled out and pressed back in. Then again. I pulled him back until he was standing up with his back to my chest. I continued to press into him. I knew the angle was just right as he was starting to make incoherent noises.

"I need to touch myself."

I pinned his hands on the counter and kept fucking him. His legs were shaking by the time I finished with him and there was a trail of cum dripping down the cabinet. I walked him to the bedroom, laid him down on his back, and slowly slid back into him.

"Is this what you wanted?" I asked. "You wanted to feel me inside you?"

"All the time wouldn't be enough."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No, because I know you want me inside you, too."

I smiled down at him and nodded. "You know I do.

"Are you going to cum in me again?" he asked. "Because I want you to cum in me again." Then he clenched down on me and I moaned.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to cum in you again. Because I want you to know you're mine."

"You own me?"

"Yeah," I said. "I own you."

The next morning, I woke up with Penn pressed against my back and his fingers deep inside me. I might have owned him the night before but he owned me that morning. Oh yeah, he owned me good.

****

Turns out the house wasn't a long term rental, just an Airbnb that Penn rented to seduce me.

I thought we'd look at rentals but Penn had other plans. He had never rented a place in his life and wasn't about to start. We scoured the listings until we found a couple of decent fixer-uppers. Penn went back to Lincoln for a few days then he was back in Portland, looking at houses again. At one point, his brothers joined us. It was fun watching them discuss things in a foreign language. They dissected each of the options; pros, cons, and all possible renovations. Before I knew it, Penn put in two offers.

"Do you have a preference?" he asked as we laid in bed. He'd already asked me a dozen times and my answer hadn't changed. The one in Wilsonville had acreage, a shop, and an awesome wrap around driveway. The house needed more work than the Molalla house but it had a lot of potential. Overall, it was the better option but it also had competing offers. The Molalla house was bigger, needed less work, but the neighborhood left a lot to be desired. Regardless, neither of them would be our forever home and both would yield decent returns.

By the end of November, we were moved into the Wilsonville house. I used some of the money I'd gotten from the divorce and Penn had the rest. No sooner had we moved in, the brothers had most of the home stripped to the studs and were already rebuilding. We had a lot of take-out those first two months. They didn't mess around, though. I had been prepared to live in shambles for a year but they proved efficient and things were pretty well done in three months.

During that time, Penn and I found some commercial property and decided to build a thirty-unit storage unit complex. I say Penn and me but it was mostly Penn, he just let me ride along because I was pretty to look at. His words, not mine. He claimed I was the breadwinner since I was still working full time at Costco. Yet he was constantly working on the house, the storage units, and drove to Lincoln once a week for his businesses there.

Jason came to town and took Penn to lunch. When they came back, Penn was smiling. Jason took me aside and apologized. In return, I invited him to stay for the afternoon and then we took him out for drinks. I understood what Penn saw in him. Jason was a fun guy. Penn kept eyeing me, making sure I was okay with it. I don't think Penn would've been cool with me being friends with Lee so it was hard for him to understand why I was so okay with it.

The truth was, I was nervous at first. Jason came in clutch when I couldn't pull my head out of my ass. He ended up taking Penn's virginity. I even found out his dick was bigger. Penn said it was too big, and that I was the perfect size. Still, not so good for the confidence. But I saw the way Penn looked at Jason and it was nothing compared to what I felt when he looked at me. Everything I needed to know was in those eyes.

****

In June, I quit Costco. The house was done inside and out and things were booming with the businesses. Even though we were living together and spending every free moment together, I still missed him terribly. Besides turning down Yevo, leaving Costco to be with Penn full time was the best decision I ever made.

Once we were settled into a routine, we started going to Lincoln twice a month. Game night with his family was reactivated. So much of the relationship he had with his family was the same, but it was also completely different. There was a lot more respect. It was no longer Ryan and Logan running the show, Penn was there, too. We also started having dinner with my family once a month. Something I never did when I lived in town. Nathan and Kelsea even joined in. Dad had lost a son but gained so much more.

Cam and Sam lived in Salem which wasn't that far from Penn and I. Penny stayed a weekend with us once a month or so. It was fun to play house with Penn. He was great with his namesake and it their connection was obvious. As much as I loved seeing the way she trailed behind him, watching her light up with Penn was around, and how she snuggled into his arms at night before bed, I also loved when Cam picked her up. Don't judge me but I hated sharing.

One of the weekends we drove to the coast separately. Penn still had a lot of stuff at the Lincoln house and we needed to move it up to Wilsonville. I ended up breaking down on the side of the road. I'd been having minor problems with the truck for a while. Penn came and picked me up. He managed to get it back to Lincoln but only just.

He let me drive his truck on the way home. Which had never happened before. Halfway through the trip, he started fidgeting, then he moved the console up and slid over until he was next to me.