Page 3 of Her Devils

“Aww, sweetie,” Gina replies, “your heart is in the right place, but I’m going to need more than that. If you give me a second, I’ll put together some makeup and a few other things I’m going to need. And we can’t just leave, the chef is still in the kitchen and—”

Lenley intervenes. “Don’t worry, Mom. I can take care of the chef.”

Gina rises from her seat, coming to hug her daughter. “Thank you, baby girl. You’re a sweetheart. Come upstairs with me for a second so we can say goodbye.” She turns to look at Dad. “Ken, meet you outside?”

Dad nods. “Sure. I’m going to say goodbye to our guests while you do that.”

Gina seems to realize then that Dad is talking about the Penns. “Oh sure, sweetie, but Kyle and the kids can see themselves out. We’re family, so we don’t usually bother with formalities between us.”

Dad’s tight smile tells me that if he has a say in the matter, Kyle Penn and his kids will feel way less at home here in the future. “Of course, baby.”

As if on cue, Kyle Penn rises from his chair, hugs Gina, and offers Dad his hand to shake. “Congratulations again, Kenneth. Lenley, we’re going to be right next door if you need anything. Actually, you haven’t stayed the night in a while. Why don’t you come on over once the chef is done? Darrius can wait with you and walk you over.”

Lenley hesitates, no doubt thinking about our plans to spend the night together. “Don’t worry, Uncle Kyle. It isn’t the first time I’ve been alone in the house at night. I—”

Penn must sense her reluctance to leave, and of fucking course he gets involved. “I’m happy to wait with you, Len. Dad’s right. Since you came back from France, we haven’t had a chance for a proper talk. It’ll be fun for you to stay over.”

I’m about to say something, because I don’t want that asshole to upset Lenley again, when Dad claps me on the shoulder. “Awesome, glad we’ve come up with a plan, and I’m sure Peyton and the guys must have someplace to be on a Friday night.” He sounds like he wants us to leave, and Channing and Jameson immediately take the hint, but they aren’t the only ones.

Anna gets up, tugging on Jameson’s arm like a petulant child. “Oh yeah, come on, J. There must be a party or somewhere fun we can go! I’m not sticking around here for cleanup, and it looks like we’re going to have an unplannedguesttonight,” she says with a displeased scrunch of her nose.

God, I don’t know which one of the Penn siblings rubs me wrong more. I mean, fuck, I hate Darrius, but his sister is a grade A bitch.

It’s hard to stifle a smile when J shoots her down. “Nah, Anna, I don’t think so. We’ve had a long day of training, and my shoulder is still bothering me, so I think I’m going to have an early night.”

She’s a bitch who doesn’t take no for an answer, because she still tries to stick to my brother. “Aww, are you injured? I could come home with you and give you a nice massage.”

My best friend sighs, and if his verbal attempt at shaking Anna off didn’t work, then maybe the scowl on his face will drive the message home. “Your physical therapist gave me a massage earlier and said I should ice it and rest for a couple of days, so I’m afraid I’m going to be even more boring than cleanup duty.” He rises from his seat. “Let’s go, Chan. Catch you later, Anna.”

Jameson strides toward us. “Congratulations again, Ken. Gina...” He hugs Lenley’s mom and then briefly wraps his arms around Lenley before walking back into the house.

“Yeah, congrats, man.” Channing claps Dad on the shoulder then says his goodbyes to Gina and Lenley. “Thank you for the beautiful night and the delicious dinner, Gina. Later, Len.” He places a kiss on her cheek, and I know I’m not the only one who notices that it lasts a few seconds longer than what’s appropriate, because Penn is looking at them with a scowl that would give Jameson’s typical brooding expression a run for its money.

But Penn isn’t the only one who doesn’t look pleased with the friendship between my brothers and Lenley, because Dad is observing them with a frown on his face too.

“Right,” he says, composing his expression into a smile as soon as Channing leaves. “Do you need any help getting your last-minute items, my love?”

Gina gives him a side hug as she gets up from her spot at the table. “No, sweetie. Go start the car, I won’t be more than a second.”

When Lenley follows her mother inside the house, I go to follow her.

“Where are you going, Peyton?” my old man asks.

“I thought I’d help Lenley with the cleanup.”

“The chef is doing that. Lenley only needs to be there just in case they don’t know where to put something, and Gina has the housekeeper taking care of dishes and everything else tomorrow morning. Just walk with me, I’d like a word.”

I follow him outside to his Bentley, which is parked right behind my Mustang.

“Thank you for not reacting to Penn’s provocations,” he says, leaning against the closed passenger door of his gray sedan. “That guy will be a pain in our backsides, and he’s a mediocre diver. He wouldn’t be the star of the Angels if his father didn’t own half the team.”

My feelings for Darrius Penn aren’t a mystery to my father, but I voice my agreement. “He wouldn’t be if he hadn’t cheated me out of tryouts five years ago.”

Dad nods. “I know, but we’ll take care of him in due time.”

I don’t understand what he means, so I ask, “Will the relationship between you and Gina have repercussions for the teams?”

He smiles. “For now, we’ll be working a lot more closely than before, but Penn really needs to perform at nationals, or Gina might be shopping around for a replacement before worlds. Your job is to qualify for the nationals and beat the Angels, like we’ve always planned. Be ready for when Penn will inevitably screw up due to his lack of talent and skills.”

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