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stared at it for a good ten minutes before knocking. Having his father call and basically order him to attend Sunday brunch at his parent's house had him on edge. He was sure there was an ulterior motive behind it. It had been years since Seth was invited to anything family related, including Christmas.
    Focusing on the moment as he waited for Penny to answer the door, he tried to put everything other than tonight out of his mind. He'd decided in the shower that he could stay calm enough not to embarrass himself on the way to the bar. Then after a beer or two he would be relaxed enough to have a nice time with her.
    Thinking maybe she hadn't heard him knock the first time, he decided to knock harder. The door quickly swung open and instead of knocking Seth ended up hitting Penny in the shoulder.
    "Ow!"
    It was pure logic that kept Seth from retreating back to his apartment. If he ran back to his apartment at this point, he'd be the guy that waits for a girl to open the door, and then frogs her in the shoulder and runs away.
    "I am so sorry..."
    Rubbing her shoulder Penny laughed, "I guess you're ready then?"
    Seth quietly nodded.
    Penny closed her apartment door and locked it before looking up at him saying, "You can ride with me."
    Still in shock at what happened, Seth placed his hand on her shoulder asking, "Are you sure you're okay?"
    With a nod, she replied, "I grew up with four brothers. I'm a lot tougher than I look."
    Seth allowed his hand to linger on her bare shoulder for a moment before he felt her shiver slightly.
    "Sorry..."
    Penny slipped on a sweater she was holding before laughing, "It's okay. Just next time let me know we're gonna play punchies."
    Well, this was a great way to start the night.
    Once they were in the car and heading to The Dog House, Penny broke the awkward silence that had built between them.
    "I'm glad you wanted to go with me. I haven't been in a few weeks."
    Trying to get semi-comfortable in the passenger seat of Penny's tiny car, Seth replied, "Sure. Hey, is there any way to move the seat back more?"
    Penny glanced over and snickered, saying, "You look uncomfortable."
    Seth leaned the seat back a bit further, giving himself some relief as he said, "My knees are practically in my chest."
    Laughing at him Penny offered, "Next time we can take your car," before asking, "You don't get out much do you?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "Well, it seems like all you do is go to work."
    Feeling put on the spot, he replied, "It's not like there's a whole lot to do here."
    "So, no girlfriend then?"
    Seth thought for a minute on how to answer that.
    He hadn't had a girlfriend since right after he graduated from high school. He'd gone out with a few girls since then, mostly dates arranged by his mother. At first he was too busy between night classes and work then it was just work. He volunteered to stay late, come in early and even weekends when needed. When he had free time, he went for a run and that was pretty much the extent of his physical activity and social life.
    Since he had already been labeled a lurker then earned it by peeping on her and seeing as fifteen minutes ago he practically punched her, he didn't want to add 'weird celibate guy next door' to his ever growing list of shame.
    "No, nothing steady."
    Shrugging a shoulder at him, she said, "Yea, me neither."
    "That's hard to believe," he swore, truly baffled that she was still single.
    "It's not like I don't try... It's just that no one ever seems to stick you know."
    Seth nodded at her wondering what kind of people she had been with. Who wouldn't want to be with her?
    ~
    Penny couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Seth face when they arrived at The Dog House and he was able to get out of her car. He was still stretching his arms and shaking his legs as if they had gone on a ten-hour road trip as she made her way around the car to his side.
    As soon as he noticed her standing there, Seth appeared disappointed saying, "I was going to open the