Page 100 of The Show

“Yes, good. All good. Baseball, baseball. You know what it’s like.” I topped up her wine while she ordered the entire menu from the waiter who’d stopped by. Thankfully, he’d also brought over a bowl of popcorn, and that would have to do. I couldn’t keep this inside any longer, and I had no idea how long it would take to bring the food out, considering the bar was filling up and they weren’t renowned for their speed. It was one of those places where it was cooler to be here than to expect decent service, but we picked it because the views were beautiful.

“Yes, yeah, I’m fine, just… I need to talk to you about something.”

She threw a handful of popcorn in her mouth. “What?”

“This baseball… helping out Penn…”

She groaned. “Oh God, sorry, I know it’s probably so boring for you...”

I held my hand up to silence her. “No, it’s not, I’m having a good time, I’m enjoying it actually. It’s…”

My belly was spinning around so much I could throw up. Fuck. this was awkward. Why hadn’t I practiced a speech? Why?! I took a deep breath through my nose, trying to steady my hammering heart. Then a long sip of my wine.

“I need to tell you… Penn and I…”

She looked at me as she grabbed another handful of popcorn, her brow raised while she waited for me to continue. “Yeah?”

“Penn and I… we… something has happened… is happening.”

She glanced over my head with a deep frown, though I think that was more because the food hadn’t arrived. “What d’you mean?”

“I mean, we’ve been… something…”

Her frown was now directed straight at me, and I finally had her attention. All her attention. “Lowe, please don’t tell me you’re trying to say you’ve slept with my brother.”

“Well…” I stopped. There wasn’t anything else to say. And from the look on her face I didn’t need to. She understood.

Her frown deepened into a scowl, so deep in fact that her eyes became tiny slits.

“Hang on a minute. You and Penn? You’ve had sex? You’re sleeping together? How? When? How did this even happen?” she spluttered.

I bit down on my cheek. “I guess it started last week in L.A.”

She didn’t blink, and I’d known Lauren long enough to know this wasn’t good sign; that this conversation wasn’t going well, and I just needed to ride it out.

“In L.A.?” Her scowl deepened another degree. “But on Saturday I asked you, I asked you why Penn was being weird. I knew something was up, and you flat out denied it. You lied to me!”

I tried to take her hand, but she snatched it away. “I didn’t know how to answer it, I didn’t know myself. I’m so sorry, Laurie, I really am. I’m so sorry I haven’t told you sooner, but it’s happened so quickly I haven’t had time to get my head round it.”

“Of course, it’s happened quickly.” She brought her voice down to a hiss. She might be monumentally pissed, but she was a Shepherd, and she knew that if she was loud enough to be overheard, then it would become news. Because there was always someone, somewhere, who knew who she was. “It always does with him. He’s been in hiding all summer and you’re the first woman to come along.”

“Laurie…”

But she now was zoned in, and not listening to anything I had to say.

“How could you? How could you become one of those women?”

“What? What does that mean? What women?”

“The women that have been sniffing around him his entire adult life, that he just clicks his fingers at and they drop their panties. Like that waitress at brunch - she was practically salivating! You know he’s on a one-man mission to work his way through the city! And what’s going to happen when he goes off with the next one? I thought you of all people would be sensible enough not to fall for it. Do you have any idea the position you’re putting me in?”

“Lauren… it’s not like that.”

“Of course it’s like that! That’s all he knows. He’s incapable of having a relationship. Is this because of your mom, you’re trying to make a point to her? God, you’ve known him long enough that he’s practically your own brother!”

“What? What are you even talking about?”

“This is gross.” She stopped, then her eyes opened wider than I’d ever seen them. “Is that what you were doing on Saturday when you were gone so long? He disappeared too! I was wondering where you both were.”

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