Penny & Squirt

By T. M. Haught

Penny Mathews is 18 and new in town. Her widowed dad, Robert, just moved them both into an old Victorian house owned by Rebecca Nash, also widowed, who is renting out rooms to help make ends meet. Penny can’t help teasing Rebecca’s son Jonah, who is also 18 but a bit shorter, slightly nerdy and very bashful. She needles him by calling him “Squirt,” but takes pity on him when he awkwardly tries to ask one of the other girls at their high school for a date and can’t even get the words out. Penny decides to mentor “Squirt” to help him get over his fear of girls, using her own unique approach guaranteed to boost his confidence and help him rise to the occasion. The problem is, Penny soon discovers that Jonah is the perfect “boy toy” and someone worth giving her heart to as well, and decides to keep him for herself. Now if they can just keep their romance and their frequent hook-ups secret and not let their raging hormones burn them out, everything will be fine. But that’s a really big if...!
(Adult content!)

• Language: English
• Publisher: T. M. Haught
• Release date: Oct 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310931994

T. M. Haught

I have been a professional fiction writer in a number of genres, both traditionally published and indie published, for many years. For me, writing is a joy, especially when my fictional characters really work well and seem to take on lives of their own.

Book preview

The Erotic Misadventures of

PENNY & SQUIRT

A Love Story

A Novel

By T.M. Haught

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 by T.M. Haught

Registered with WGA East

The cover design is also copyright 2014 by T.M. Haught.

All rights are reserved.

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This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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All characters in this novel are fictional, including those who are identified by office or calling. Any resemblance to actual persons is coincidental. All events are fictional, including those set in real locations. Real locations and actual brand names are only used as a backdrop for this story and their use does not imply or represent an endorsement in any way. All sexually active characters are 18 years of age or older.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE:

This story is a fantasy, intended only for readers who are 18 years of age or older, but it is important to point out that in the real world unprotected sex can result in sexually transmitted diseases and in unplanned pregnancies.

However, this isn’t the real world, it’s just a book, so enjoy...!

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CHAPTER ONE

The Adversaries

It was an old Victorian style house, not nearly large enough to be called a mansion, but still impressive in appearance with its small porch, decorative trim, and turret. It had three floors, although the top floor was mostly disguised by the mansard roof with two dormer windows in the front and two more in the back. The walls’ fresh coat of paint sparkled and gleamed in the early morning sunlight and the residential neighborhood was quiet except for birdsong... that and the grumbling of the two teenagers standing on the sidewalk in front of it.

Penny Mathews was 18, with long blonde hair and bangs, brown eyes, about 5’6 tall and with a good enough figure to make her blue jeans and pullover blouse look better than average. Jonah Nash was also 18, although two months younger, with tousled brown hair and blue eyes, about 5’3 tall, and a slender, somewhat gangly build that made his gray slacks and plain shirt with its pocket protector full of pens seem slightly oversize. The round, owlish glasses didn’t help the image any.

Penny raised an eyebrow and checked her watch... again. Ah, life in the ‘burbs. So when does the freakin’ school bus get here, Squirt?

Maybe you should go back to having your dad drive you. And stop calling me Squirt, Jonah said defensively. You’ve been doing that since you and your dad moved in two weeks ago. I’m as old as you are, and only a few inches shorter.

Penny made a show of holding her hand flat over her own head, then holding it lower over his head. "Yeah, right. You’re a regular giant. Squirt."

Her silly grin was more impish than cruel, but Jonah was still peeved by her taunts. He glared at her.

You shouldn’t pick on me, he asserted. After all, you and your dad are guests in our house.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Yeah... paying guests. We needed someplace to live when my dad’s company transferred him to their divisional office here."

Why didn’t you just stay in that apartment on the other side of town where you were at first?

Couldn’t, said Penny. We’d only been there six weeks when the jerk owner decided to turn the whole building into condos. Anybody who couldn’t afford to buy their place outright ended up on the sidewalk. At least we got a refund on our security deposit and a partial on the rent. We’re lucky your mom was renting out rooms and was already acquainted with my dad from that online single parenting support group he joined awhile back.

Jonah’s expression was still sullen. Yeah... lucky. If... if my dad was still here, things would be different.

Penny bit her lip a little, looked down at the sidewalk at the narrow cracks where grass was trying to grow and the spot where their backpacks were sitting, then swung her gaze up again as the familiar sound of a large approaching vehicle caught her attention.

Hey, heads up, Squirt! she said. The school bus is here. Now we can get going.

Swell, he replied, without enthusiasm.

* * * * * * * * * *

Palmvista High School was like most such educational facilities in medium sized towns, built in the 50’s or 60’s and remodeled in the 90’s. Painted concrete walls, a flagpole out front, and fences around the parking area and the athletic field. Standard halls and classrooms, lockers on the walls, and not quite enough teachers for all the students. By mid-day it was lunch time and the cafeteria was full of students and noisy chatter, mingling with kitchen noises and the smells of hot food.

Jonah was moving through the serving line just ahead of Penny. As they both slid their trays along, being handed small melamine plates by the cafeteria ladies, Penny studied the items in the steam table bins with a sigh of disappointment.

Mystery meatloaf and overcooked veggies, she said. Don’t you just love school food, Squirt?

He said nothing in reply, but kept glancing away from the serving line toward the center of the room. He seemed to be searching for something... searching... searching... and then he perked up as he finally found what he sought.

They reached the end of the serving line, paid for their meals, and started to turn to go find a table. It was a big room with lots of kids, but there were a number of empty seats.

Do you want to sit together? said Penny.

No, Jonah said abruptly. I see someone I want to talk to.

Watching his back move away from her, Penny made a bit of a face, then shrugged and started looking for another area, preferably some distance from her bothersome acquaintance. Where to sit, where to sit? Most of the gang here was still new to her, but she recognized several clusters of mean girls who spent their time bonding and bad-mouthing others, a table of jocks—guys on the football, baseball or soccer teams—who usually leered at her in a suggestive way that made her feel uncomfortable, and then the groups of nerdy kids and chubbies who looked as if they just wanted to be left alone and stay off the radar of bullies.

Where to sit? She finally decided to pick one of the tables on the fringe where there was practically no-one sitting. She was heading for that spot when she looked over her shoulder at Jonah, who was now standing in front of one of the tables populated by some of the mean girls and staring rather fixedly at the one on the end of the row. The girl had unusually fair skin for someone wearing a cheerleader’s outfit, a slightly angular face framed by well styled brownish hair, and large expressive eyes. That girl looked up suddenly as she became aware of Jonah’s presence, and her expression hardened.

Penny slowed as she walked, then stopped in her tracks and watched the little drama unfold, flinching a bit as she noticed that Jonah was nervously shifting his weight back and forth from foot to foot, glancing down at those feet, then almost making eye contact with the pretty girl. Penny couldn’t quite hear what he was saying, but it really didn’t matter as there didn’t seem to be that many words coming out of his mouth anyway. She could see that his mouth was moving... perhaps stammering... but then even that stopped as he completely froze up. The pretty girl regarded him with all the fondness of seeing something unpleasant she had just stepped in.

He was spared further embarrassment only by the fact that one of the jock boys, complete with a large letter stitched to his sweater, stepped virtually in front of him, nearly pushing him out of the way as if he didn’t exist, and began talking to the object of Jonah’s interest. Penny noticed that Miss Pretty Girl instantly transformed herself into something charming and vivacious, chatting up the jock boy with eager interest.

Jonah was already backing away from the scene of the disaster, his head down, and changed directions, heading quickly for an empty table on the far edge of the room. He sat his tray down gingerly and took a seat.

Penny immediately headed for that table, almost against her own better judgment, and reached it in a few seconds. She studied the forlorn youth a moment, glanced back at Miss Pretty Girl, who was still engaged in conversation with Jock Boy, then put her tray down next to Jonah’s and took the seat beside him.

All right, she said. What just happened here?

Nothing, said Jonah.

Sure looked like something. For someone you were in such a hurry to talk to, you didn’t get many words out.

Jonah gave a big sigh of exasperation and stared at his food. That’s Tiffany Jeskavech. She’s very popular.

She’s a real cutie all right. Penny started eating.

Jonah sighed. I’ve wanted to ask her for a date since the first time I saw her here, two years ago.

Okay. I can see that. So what’s the problem?

Jonah said sullenly, I... I have trouble talking to girls.

Penny swallowed her bite of food and shrugged. Really? You’re talking to me.

That’s different.

I’m a girl.

Jonah glanced at her. Yes... but...

But what?

I like Tiffany.

Oh, said Penny, as the fork full of meatloaf that was headed toward her mouth suddenly froze in its trajectory. And you don’t like me?

No, said Jonah. Then, almost as an afterthought as his annoyed gaze met her own quietly perturbed look, he added, No offense.

Right.

It’s just that you’re always picking on me, making me feel worse than I already do. Why should I like you?

Penny resumed eating, then nodded grudgingly. "Point noted, Squirt... sorry... Jonah. I probably should cut you some slack. Sometimes I forget that other people have feelings, too, when I try to be funny. I know you’ve been through a lot, but regardless of how you feel about me, you really need to get over your fear of girls. I mean, really. If you can’t even talk to them, then you’re never going to get any... uh, anywhere."

There was an awkward silence for a long moment that stretched into even more moments. Jonah started eating, then he said, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that I don’t like you. You’re okay, I guess. I mean, you’ve been through a lot, too, losing your mom and all.

Penny sighed and her look turned reflective. The past year hadn’t been easy in a lot of ways. An awful lot of ways. Yeah.

So... what should I do?

About what?

Girls. What should I do? You’re a girl, so you must have the inside track on what I’m doing wrong.

She turned to look at him more fully. His words didn’t sound like sarcasm and there was a certain vulnerability in his eyes that made it hard to poke fun at him. In fact, for the first time since meeting him and judging him to be an annoying twerp, she actually felt sorry for him. And she had to admit, in his own way, he was kind of cute.

Okay. It’s not so much what you’re doing wrong, Penny told him. "It’s more what you’re not doing right. Some girls find bashful guys sweet and charming, up to a point, but most girls like boys that are self-confident... boys who know what they want and how to get it, as long as they’re not too grabby and aggressive. That can be a turn-off, too."

Makes sense, said Jonah. So, what should I do? How do I get to be the kind of guy that Tiffany will take seriously?

Tiffany seems a little shallow to me, Penny felt obliged to point out, especially the nasty way she looked at you and then turned on the charm when the guy in the varsity sweater hit on her. Just because you have a crush on her doesn’t mean she’s nice enough to be worth the effort. But whether it’s her or one of the other girls, you still need to boost your confidence level so you can approach them on an equal footing. I mean, being too shy to talk to her for two years? Not gonna work. She paused. How about sports? That might help.

I’m in the chess club.

Penny rolled her eyes. Oh yeah, that’s a really rough and tumble game!

Chess isn’t easy!

No, and intelligent guys can be sexy, too, but just sitting there staring at a black and white checkerboard isn’t going to get the girls excited about you the same way as watching a guy in shorts kick a soccer ball into a net and hearing someone yell ‘score!’ You know what I mean?

Jonah sighed. Yeah, I do. I’ve just never been good at sports.

Penny returned her attention to her meal. Well, we’ll just have to find a way. Let me think on it. I love a challenge.

A challenge? said Jonah. So I’m hopeless, huh?

She turned back to him and her eyes locked on his. Not you... just your attitude. Attitudes can be changed. You’ll see. She reached for her dessert. Let me think on it.

* * * * * * * * * *

That evening at home, Rebecca Nash was putting dinner on the table in the small dining room of the old house. The table was already set and there were glasses of water, dishes of vegetables, a basket of dinner rolls and a few other things, and Rebecca was just now bringing in a platter with a dozen pieces of fried chicken on it. She set it down, the chicken still steaming, near the middle of the table next to a small vase with a few cut garden flowers in it.

Everything smells great, Mrs. Nash, said Penny. You’re a good cook.

Thank you, Penny. Rebecca smiled and took her own seat. So how was school today? Are you making new friends yet?

Penny shrugged. I’m still the new kid. It’ll take time.

Robert Mathews studied his daughter, thinking about the fact that his transfer to the Palmvista office of the company he worked for had made things harder for her, especially coming only a year after her mother’s death. He still felt guilty about the move.

Robert glanced at the others at the table. Maybe Jonah can introduce you around. He’s been going to that school for awhile. He must know everyone.

Penny rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut. Why cause trouble.

Rebecca said, I think that’s a great idea, Jonah. You wouldn’t mind helping Penny get acquainted with the others, would you?

Jonah kept his gaze directed down at the table. His tone of voice flat, he said, Sure. No problem.

Rebecca studied him, remembering several teachers in the past who wrote on his evaluation sheets the words, Does not play with others, or Too introverted. She glanced at Penny, suddenly remembering the times she had heard, but overlooked, Robert’s daughter make needling or disparaging jokes about her son. Maybe Jonah wasn’t the ideal one to play go-between after all. There was clearly hostility between the two. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake. She hoped there wasn’t a war about to erupt.

Well, she said, looking away from both teenagers and starting to pass the bowls of food around. I’m sure things will work out in time. Let’s eat dinner!

CHAPTER TWO

The Lesson Plan

It was a little past nine in the evening when Jonah finished his homework and put it in his backpack, ready for school the next day. He was in his room on the top floor of the house, and although it was small there was plenty of room for his bed, a desk and chair and a large footlocker he used for storage. The door to the hall was on the side opposite the window, and in the wall on the right side were doors to his bathroom and closet. Bookshelves and a few posters from the Nova TV series filled the remaining wall.

Jonah turned on his compact stereo system, which still had a classical music CD in it, and set the volume so it would be loud enough to enjoy but not loud enough to bother others in the house or annoy the neighbors. He started scanning the bookshelves for something to read, although he had read every book he owned a number of times.

He had selected a title, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and started to turn around when he heard a peculiar scraping noise. It was hard to pinpoint, both as to what it was and where it came from, but then the sound came again and stopped him in his tracks. It was definitely coming from the closet... his closet.

He had had nightmares as a small child about monsters in the closet or under the bed, and although that was in the other house in which he and his parents had lived, not far from the military base where his father was stationed at the time, those dreams leapt vividly to mind and the sound made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Childhood dreams and worries were easily dismissed, but still....

Then the knob on his closet door turned counter-clockwise slowly, and the door opened a crack. Oh shit, he thought, remembering a dozen horror films he’d seen with scenes that started like this and all of them ending badly for the hapless person involved. He didn’t know whether to yell out, or run, or what.

Then the door opened a bit more and a familiar blonde head peeked around the edge of it. Penny quickly surveyed the room, then settled her gaze on Jonah.

Humph, she said. Well, I’ll be.

Jonah didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved. He was definitely a little of both. Maybe a lot of both!

Penny? Have you been hiding in my closet?

She made a face. Hiding? No way!

Then... then what are you doing in there?

I just discovered something, she said innocently. Come see for yourself.

She swung the door open wider and motioned him forward. Jonah could see now that she was wearing an oversized T-shirt with alternating bands of hot pink, purple, orange and aqua that reached down past her hips. He imagined she was wearing it like a nightshirt, since her legs were bare. He noticed that her feet were bare, too, and for some strange reason that bothered him more than anything else.

He advanced cautiously, then as he got closer to the closet he could see that some of the clothes he had hung in there had been scooted over to one side to create an open space. Right behind them, one of the panels forming the back wall had been slid over to the right to create an opening. Through that opening he could see the interior of another closet, filled with girly things, and beyond the open door to that closet was the bedroom next door, like his in size but decorated in a feminine style.

A secret passage? he said, puzzled and intrigued. He looked at the book in his hand a moment, then set it on the desk.

Not much of a passage, really, said Penny. Just an unofficial doorway between our two closets. Didn’t you know it was there?

No... not until now! When we moved in here about a year ago, we had to do some cleaning and repainting, but none of us ever noticed that. How did you find it?

I was trying to pick up a hanger I’d dropped on the floor, and when I did I noticed there was a thread caught between the edge of the panel that moves and the next one. So I got my fingernails on the edge of it and gave it a little push. It opened. Cool, huh?

Jonah was clearly undecided. Maybe... maybe not.

The sound of a TV was coming from the other bedroom. Voices and weird noises. He couldn’t see the set but remembered seeing a small one among their belongings when Penny and her dad had moved in.

What are you watching?

A reality show, she said. It’s so stupid it’s funny. Do people really believe those things are real?

Jonah shook his head. I wouldn’t know.

Penny took another look around, apprising the posters and books and whatnot, then said, Nice room! Well, good night.

And with that she turned and re-entered the closet, closing the door behind her. He could hear faint sounds, then the scrape of the thin wall panel as it was slid back to its original position. The sounds of the TV in the other room were more muted now.

Jonah stood there a moment, perplexed and lost in thought. It was an old house and he wondered what the story was behind that sliding panel. Why was it there? He also wondered about Penny and the easy access she now had to his private domain... his personal space... his sanctum sanctorum, as it were. Should he tell anyone about the panel? Should he nail it shut?

He sighed and shook his head, then went to the desk and picked up his book. At least that was one adventure that he had control over, and could start and stop at will, just by opening or closing the book. No fear of being teased or rejected by the characters on those printed pages. When he was reading a book he could be somebody else, brave and bold, capable of even heroic actions.

He turned the reading light on over the head of the bed and pushed the pillows up to form a back rest. He sat down and opened the book, turning to the first page... the first chapter....

* * * * * * * * * *

It was a little after ten when Jonah realized that he had dozed off. He got up and went to the bathroom to make a pit stop, got a drink of water, then turned off the room light. He left the music playing since it was repeating on its own and returned to the bed, first getting out of his street clothes and leaving on only the boxer shorts that he wore when sleeping. He picked up his book, sat down and got cozy and started reading again. He was up to Chapter 3. He decided to read one more chapter before turning in for the night.

He had only read a few pages when he heard a faint noise and the slight scraping sound he had heard before. Quicker this time, the door to his closet swung open and Penny entered the room, dressed as before.

Hi, she said brightly. Me again.

Jonah quickly got to his feet, a bit awkwardly, and holding the book in front of his chest... then a bit lower... then... Well, he just wished it was bigger, the better to hide behind.

Maybe I should padlock that door, he said peevishly.

Oh—sorry, she said. Guess I should have knocked.

"I would have, he said. What do you want?"

We need to talk, Penny replied, then glanced toward the front wall of the room. Do you think my dad or your mom can hear us up here?

I doubt it. Their rooms are on the back side of the second floor. We’re on the front side of the third floor, over the study and the room that was supposed to be a nursery. They’re probably on the first floor at this hour anyway.

Penny looked puzzled. Nursery?

My parents had talked about maybe having another child, said Jonah. That was back when we were fixing this place up, when my dad was home on leave. He probably would have retired after another year. It would have been his twentieth. Then... he went back overseas on a mission, and never came back. They never found his body. They said he was officially missing in action and presumed dead. Something about a bomb.

Penny grimaced and cast her gaze down for a moment. Sorry. She knew only too