Amnesia

Chapter 48

Penny wakes before Avi does, rolling over to find him hugging his pillow tight to his chest, his face half pressed into the fabric. Soft snores fall from his open mouth, his hair remains a tousled mess around his head and the blankets have slipped down his frame, resting just above the curve of his hip. Penny bites her lip and smiles, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him, instead letting him continue to sleep.

Sitting up, Penny stretches, the cool air sending a chill down her spine, goose bumps ghosting along her skin. Ruffling her hair and shaking out the tangles, she pulls her hair into a messy bun and stands from the bed, eyes darting quickly around the room for her discarded clothes. She finds her panties and shimmies them on before picking up Avi's plaid button-down shirt from the floor. Penny brings the fabric to her nose, inhaling the faint scent of his cologne still clinging to it and slipping it on, buttoning up a few of the buttons.

She quietly toes down the stairs, trying to avoid the creakiest spots on the floorboards, pausing to look back at Avi in the bed one last time before he slips from her view. Reaching the living room, Penny crosses the small space and kneels before the fireplace, arranging logs and kindling to start a fire. Once the fire is roaring and cracking, the warmth of the flames beginning to soak into her chilled skin, Penny stands and wipes her hands together, brushing away stray ashes and slivers of wood. She turns an ear up towards the bedroom, listening carefully for any signs that Avi has woken and hearing none, proceeds into the kitchen.

Most of the food they had brought was non-perishable (and picked by Avi, so she wasn't quite sure what she would encounter), but they had brought some essentials such as milk, eggs, butter and cheese. While Avi had unpacked some food, most of it remained in the plastic bags from the store strewn about the counter.

As if you're going to complain about a messy counter, she thinks. Avi just kept you in bed for almost twenty-four hours. Not sleeping.

Penny huffs a small laugh, smirking to herself and begins to quietly peer into the bags in search of something to make for breakfast. Spotting the pancake mix, she gives a small noise of triumph and pulls the box from the bag. Clearing a small space on the counter and finding the necessary kitchen utensils, Penny gets to work whipping up a batter and dropping the first pancake into the pan.

Just as she's transferring the first pancake onto the plate next to the stove, Penny hears the telltale creaking of the floorboards above her and Avi's groan as he yawns. She smiles to herself as he begins to amble down the stairs, the second pancake in the pan, and she glances over at him as he reaches the bottom step, his face scrunched up under the glare of the morning sun streaming in through the windows. His pajama pants hang low on his hips, the cuffs brushing against the tops of his bare feet and he wipes the sleep from his eyes as he walks into the kitchen.

"Good morning," she whispers, trying not to stare at his naked chest and failing, her eyes following the trail of hair from his chest into the top of his pants.

Avi comes up behind her as she's plating the second pancake and pouring the third, wrapping his arms low around her waist and resting his chin against her shoulder. He nuzzles his nose into the juncture where her neck and shoulder meet before pressing a soft kiss there, his beard scratching her skin and sending a shiver down her spine. "'Morning," he mumbles, pulling her flush against his frame, one hand sneaking under her shirt and pressing hotly against her stomach.

Her muscles clench at his touch and she bites her lip to keep from groaning. As his hand begins to slip further down her stomach and into the waistband of her panties, Penny bats his hand away and gives him a slight shove backwards. Avi whines in protest and removes his hand.

"Don't give me that pouty face, Kaplan," Penny teases, sliding the pancake onto the plate and beginning the fourth. "We had sex like seven times yesterday, calm your libido."