Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Penny

“Are you all set and ready to go?” Mr. Hayes asks, clapping his hands together like this is some kind of grand expedition and not two teenage boys bringing their entire wardrobe across the street.

Tyler, still slightly winded from hauling his emotional support bags, grins. “Yeah, we’re good.”

Mrs. Hayes smiles a little too sweetly. “Good, because we have a little announcement of our own.”

My heart skips. Announcement? Did they change their minds? Is this the part where they say, actually never mind, we don’t trust our sons under your roof?

But Mr. Hayes continues, “Since you three will be holding down the fort at your place, we figured this was the perfect opportunity to take a quick little getaway. Just two or three days.”

“Alone,” Mrs. Hayes adds, beaming like a teenager with a plane ticket and no curfew. “Romantic. Quiet. Without… teenage boy smells.”

She pats Tyler’s shoulder affectionately, and he gasps in mock betrayal.

“But don’t worry,” Mr. Hayes says. “You have our number, and the house keys are right here if you need anything.”

“Oh,” I say, blinking. “That’s great!”

It is. It really is. They deserve that. I’m about to say something sweet and supportive when Mrs. Hayes adds, “Do you guys need us to bring an air mattress over or anything?”

I shake my head without thinking. “No, they can sleep in my parents‘ room.”

Except.

Oh no.

OH NO.

I groan out loud, then slap a hand to my forehead like I’ve just remembered I left the oven on. “Wait–no. I forgot. My parents door when they leave town. It’s like this thing they do after the, um–incident.”

Everyone knows what incident means. No one asks for clarification.

“That’s fine,” Asher says casually. “I’ll take the couch.”

I open my mouth to argue – because that thing is half the size of him and definitely made for decorative purposes only

“Nonsense! Penny’s couch is way too small for you, Ash.”

Mrs. Hayes nods enthusiastically. “We have that nice air mattress. The one that feels like a real bed.”

“I don’t care about comfort,” Asher says flatly, arms crossed over his chest like he’s actually trying to lose the argument.

Tyler jumps in, “No, but seriously I tried that mattress once. Slept like a baby. Better than in my own bed.”

–

I raise an eyebrow. “Should I be concerned about the state of your bed?”

lock their bedroom

but Mr. Hayes beats me to it.

“Absolutely not,” he says, completely unbothered. “Also and hear me out – Penny’s room is huge. She’s got that ballerina setup in there. The barre and

the mirror and all that. There’s tons of space.”

I nod slowly, cautiously agreeing.

“And if we run out of room,” he adds, completely without shame, “Penny’s bed is really big. Like, way too big.”

1/3

Chapter 62: Penny

My soul leaves my body.

I don’t think I’ve ever turned this shade of red in my entire life, It’s not a blush brain is in a free fall and there is no parachute.

“Oh my god,” I mutter.

Mrs. Hayes laughs. “Perfect! You can all share the room!”

I sputter. “1-1 mean-”

it’s a full–on crimson implosion. My ears are on fire. My throat is dry. My

“You’ll be fine,” Mr. Hayes says, grinning. “That way you’re all in the same space, and we don’t have to worry.”

I stare at them. Surely there’s a rule in the parenting manual that says don’t encourage your sons to bunk up with a girl in her bedroom

Apparently not.

And then – because the universe is savage Mrs. Hayes winks at me.

“Good luck dealing with them.”

Tyler looks smug. Asher looks unreadable. I look like I’m about to faint.

“Um. Okay,” I say, because apparently that’s all my vocabulary allows now.

I am so not ready for what I’ve just agreed to.

I smile because what else can you do when your entire face is a pressure cooker of embarrassment and your boyfriend just offered your bed like he’s auctioning off property he doesn’t own?

Asher hasn’t said a word. His silence is worse than if he’d joined in. He’s just watching, unreadable as ever, like he’s making some silent calculation I’m definitely not smart enough to figure out.

“Well,” Mrs. Hayes says, clapping her hands once more like she’s a cruise director announcing the next event, “let’s get the air mattress and get you three moving.”

She disappears into the hallway, and Mr. Hayes follows. Tyler grabs a few things to “reorganize his bags” which basically me. things for ten minutes while muttering to himself.

I try not to look like I’m holding my breath, but I am.

pping and unzipping

When their parents return with the mattress in its neatly boxed form, it somehow looks way more intimidating than it should. Like this one object is now a physical representation of all the awkward tension in my future.

We start loading up. I reach for two of Tyler’s bags because I am a strong, capable human being.

Strong, capable, and immediately collapsing under the weight of both bags.

“What the heck do you have in here?” I gasp, half–laughing, half–dying.

“Essentials,” Tyler says, casually tossing one bag over his shoulder. “Bye, fam!” He opens the door and is already halfway down the steps before I can respond.

I adjust the straps, biting my lip. The bags are sliding down. My shoulder’s gonna have a red dent for hours.

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