Page 21 of The Penalty

I’m up with the sun as usual.

No matter what time I go to bed, I’m always up early.

I roll out of bed and go on a quick jog around the neighborhood. I won’t let myself go like my father did. After he quit football, he stopped doing anything and fell into a deep depression. It was tough watching him go through that, and the last thing I want is for Kylie to have to see me like that.

After my run, I shower and make a cup of coffee. I take it to the back porch and stare at the morning sky like I usually do on the weekends when I have a minute to breathe.

Nebraska was never high on my list of places to live. Actually, I’d never even considered it until they reached out for an interview, but I can’t deny that this part of the state is beautiful. Having a large piece of land helps, too. I’ve got enough privacy that I know my neighbors aren’t snooping on my business. Not that I have much business for them to know. It was just me, myself, and I until Kylie came to live with me. I never dated anyone long enough for it to really matter.

Something moves behind me, and I turn to see McKenzie in the kitchen. I’m surprised to see her up this early. It’s after eight at this point, but I figure college kids slept all day if they could, especially if they were out late like she was. Whenever I didn’t have football, I’d sleep until at least noon unless I had a class.

I left the sliding back door open, so she walks out.

“Morning.” Her voice is still gravelly from sleep. “Do you mind if I grab a cup of coffee?”

“Help yourself.”

She’s dressed in the same clothes as yesterday, which I guess makes sense, considering she didn’t have a bag with her when she brought Kylie home. I guess I assumed she would’ve grabbed some pajamas from Kylie, but maybe I should’ve offered her a T-shirt.

Although offering a student one of my shirts to sleep in probably goes against some sort of ethics code at La Vista. I don’t know for sure, though, because I never thought I’d need to worry about that.

But now here I am, wondering what McKenzie would look like in one of my shirts.

Fuck.

No.

I gulp down the last of my coffee before I head back inside. McKenzie is standing at the counter.

“Didn’t expect you to be up this early,” I say, trying to keep a friendly tone. I hope to God I’m not sending her any weird creeper vibes because I feel creepy as fuck.

She shrugs. “It seems I’ve lost the ability to sleep in. I don’t mind it, though. I like getting up early. Makes me feel like I’m actually doing something with my day.”

That’s not what I was expecting her to say. It sounds awfully mature for a girl her age.

“You hungry? I can whip up some breakfast,” I offer. I can tell she’s going to say no before anything even comes out of her mouth. “Don’t lie to me this time. If you’re hungry, just say so.”

She smiles before nodding. “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

“Ok. Go wake Kylie up while I start breakfast.”

“Thanks, Tyler.”

Maybe telling her to call me Tyler wasn’t my best idea. I like it a little too much. I guess it’s too late to take it back now.

Once McKenzie is gone, I get breakfast ready. I’m certainly not the world’s greatest cook or anything, but breakfast, I can do.

I mix up some pancake batter and scramble some eggs. By the time McKenzie finally drags Kylie downstairs, I’m putting everything on the kitchen table next to a carton of pineapple mango juice, Kylie’s favorite.

“Morning, sunshine.” Kylie winces at my voice.

“She just took the ibuprofen. Give it a few minutes to kick in,” McKenzie explains.

I chuckle and take a seat next to Kylie.

McKenzie sits on the other side of the table from Kylie giving me the perfect view to see her smile when she looks at the breakfast spread.

“You made pancakes?” she asks. She sounds surprised.