"What are you thinking about?" Stevie whispered as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
He had her wrapped up from behind, one arm around her waist and chin snuggled into the crook of her neck as he held her close. They had been like that for over an hour. "Just about how incredible you are." Lindsey's voice was soft, eyes just hardly open as he felt her reach up and let the palm of her hand meet his cheek.
"That's very funny." She chuckled lightly, gaze traveling up and down to look at his face.
He was tired and the only thing that gave it away was the look that lingered in those deep blue eyes. "It's true, baby." He had always called her that, but for some reason, after all those years and at their age, it made her heart flutter.
"You are so handsome..." Stevie reminded him, even though she already had a couple of times that night... He just made her feel so special.
Lindsey's lips turned up into a grin as the tips of his fingers crept down to tickle her side, which caused instant giggles to fill her bedroom.
"Lindsey!" She playfully swatted at his hand, face flushed and smile wide.
She didn't feel fifty in moments like that, not while she was with him.
He patted her side, smirking lightly when he felt her use her free hand to reach for his. "And you're so pretty." Lindsey gave her a gentle squeeze when she laced her fingers in his. "Really pretty." He repeated, letting his lips meet the curve of her neck.
Things hadn't always been that simple, but for the time being, nothing else seemed to matter... It was just the two of them, lost in whatever it was that they were sharing.
Stevie's brown eyes fell closed as she sank back further to be curled in closer. "Are we having an affair...?" She couldn't help but grin as she casually bit down on her bottom lip.
Neither of them had even thought about what they were doing, not until that point and it caught them both off guard, even Stevie, who wasn't sure why she would ask that so randomly.
He paused for a second, heart beating a little faster than before. "We can call it whatever you want to call it as long as you'll let me kiss you some more..." Lindsey's words caused butterflies to form in the pit of her stomach as he carefully rubbed her hip.
She turned her head to the side, letting out a sheepish laugh when he pressed his lips to hers. "Just keep kissing me."
~~~
Since Penny was in LA for another couple of days, she wanted to soak up as much time with her mom as possible. She felt like they were still getting to know each other, even though they had gone to dinner a couple of times and shared countless phone calls... She just really wanted her to be a constant in her life and she knew it wasn't going to be that easy once she was back in Arizona full time.
That being said, the evening after dinner with their family- the one where Lindsey randomly announced that he had a work meeting and had to leave before they even ate dessert, Penny invited Stevie out to Marina del Rey.
"This is so cool, honey." The older woman was sitting criss cross applesauce towards the bow of the sail boat on a blanket, hair pulled up into a clip and sunglasses resting on her eyes.
They had just gotten out onto the water and Stevie was beyond impressed that Penny could handle the sail all on her own. Of course it wasn't anything huge, but it was still something to be proud of and Stevie was exactly that.
"It's my favorite thing." She chuckled, shrugging a shoulder lightly as her long blonde waves flew around the frame of her face.
She looked so carefree with the freckles, the sunglasses, the salty hair and bikini... She was twenty- one and living life to the fullest, which made her mother smile.
"How long have you had this?" Stevie wondered, leaning back and letting her hands meet the wood floor to keep herself propped up.
"Um," she thought about it for a second, smiling lightly as she watched the blonde look up at the clear blue sky. "When I turned eighteen I took a little bit of the money that I got from a song that dad gave me and I bought this." Penelope thought it was her best investment, even if it was kind of untraditional... She never felt like she had fit in anyway. "We spent every weekend out here getting it fixed up for months and then he went on the first trip with me down the coast." She added, obviously pretty attached to that memory.
Stevie couldn't help but grin in return, not surprised to hear how supportive Lindsey was of her dreams. "That's amazing." She assured as her mind suddenly drifted back to the same man that had been on it all day.
He had to leave late the night before, even though she had nearly begged him to stay, which just made him weak in the knees, he couldn't... He wanted to pretty bad, but with a house full of people, Lindsey couldn't have gotten away with being gone all night long.
"He seems like a really good dad." Stevie added a moment later as she brought her hand fan up to her face and waved some cool air on her skin.
Nodding her head, Penny's lips turned up. "He's the very best." She didn't say that lightly or just because... she meant it, whole heartedly.
Stevie bit down on her bottom lip, suddenly not sure what to add to the conversation that wouldn't make it sound suspicious.
They had already established the night before, right as he was getting ready to walk out the front door that they were going to keep seeing one another... They didn't know what it meant, or what their next move was, but they both knew that they didn't want to give that up.
"You should come over for dinner tonight." Penelope announced after she'd let a moment of silence wash over them. "Dad always gets take out on Friday nights and my grandparents are there..." she added, growing more anxious the moment Stevie's eyes met hers. "They would all love to see you."
