Page 138 of Between the Lines

“I was out to dinner after the game with… and he was at the same restaurant. He came and said hello. Says he hasn’t seen you since Thanksgiving. So you’ve been lying to me, I guess.”

I shrug. Tears gather at my waterline and I feel so stupid. Penelope deflates, exhaling as her shoulders droop. When she lifts her gaze again, her head is tilted, leaning sorrowfully against her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Claire. I shouldn’t have tried to lie my way out of it.”

“Out of what?”

Her head falls forward again and she groans, mumbling something about,Knew it wouldn’t stay a secret forever, before extending her hand and standing.

“C’mon. Let’s get this over with.”

Confused, I let her lug me off the couch and follow her up the stairs to the one door I have yet to open. Come to think of it, she didn’t even show it to me on the tour. Just pointed to it, said it was her office and toPlease not go in there, and I abided without a second thought.

“Before I open this door, please promise me you won’t getweird,” she says, looking back at me over her shoulder. My eyes widen and I brace myself for whips and chains or dead bodies or a meth lab. What I’m met with instead makes my jaw hit the floor.

Her “office” resembles a smaller version of Nathan’s study. Wall-to-wall bookshelves, housing hundreds of copies of PJ Layne’s seven different novels. Like, girl has multiple copies. Posters of the covers, withUSA Today Bestselling Authorpenned across the bottom of the three that earned the achievement.

“Okay, so you’re like, a secret PJ Layne superfan?” I chuckle, crossing my arms and lifting one eyebrow. “You could’ve just admitted that you liked romance. That’sallJuliet and Lucy and I talk about. Why pretend you hate it?”

“Oh, sweet Claire.” She turns to me and sighs, her head tilting to the side again, her sad smile spelling out,Put the pieces together. When I don’t do it fast enough, she says, “I’mPJ Layne.”

Oh.Oh.

I scream.

Whoops.

“You’rewhat?!”

“You promised not to be weird about it!” she shouts above my already screeching volume.

“Technically I didn’t! You’re…”

I grab my cheeks and calm my breath.

“I have literally screamed about smut scenes in your DMs.”

“I know,” she says with a tight-lipped smile. “It was kind of cute. Mostly weird though.”

“I…”

With a closer look, I realize that the awards on the shelves arefor her books. The desk and whiteboard are organized chaos for the book she’s working on next.

“Oh,fuck yes,Iknewit was Finn and Delilah!” I shout, charging forward to see what she has written there.

But I pause, mid-stride to where my favorite author—androommate?!—make all the magic happen. I turn on my toe, slowly, and take a deep breath. This time,myhead tilts to the side, andmysmile is sad.

“I’m calm now. Promise.”

She huffs a laugh.

“It’s okay. It was kind of sweet. You’re actually the first person from my real life to find out.”

She shrugs. And all of a sudden, my heart is tearing into pieces. I wrap Penelope in a hug, and she leans into it, her otherwise tough exterior melting by just a fraction.

“Do you want to talk about that?”

“No, not right now,” she mumbles. “Maybe you can be my beta reader in your free time.”

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