Page 104 of The Show

“Not exactly.”

He reappeared in the bathroom doorway, toothbrush in one hand, paste in the other, but all I could see was the hard plains of his bare chest and heavily sculpted thighs. As with every time, I was momentarily hypnotized and my mind blanked.

“Lowe,” he waited until I met his amused gaze. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “She was pissed.”

“Hmmm.” He frowned, then turned round and went back into the bathroom. “She’ll get over it. Did you talk to your mom? What did she say?”

I heard the faucet running, then the shower. I scooched down in the bed and pulled the comforter over me, trying to ignore the aching in my chest. The mention of my mom also set off another tornado in my gut that had me curling my knees up. If I thought telling Lauren was bad, telling my mom would be worse in a much different way.

“What was Lauren pissed about?” Penn called after he’d finally turned the water off.

“She just…” I lifted my head off the pillow, then dropped it again. “Do you think we should cool it for a while?”

This time when he stood in the bathroom doorway he was rubbing his head with the towel, while his entirely naked body was glistening with the water droplets still dripping down his sculpted torso.

And his dick… his dick… sigh.

But his expression told me he’d heard exactly what I’d said; horrified would be the best way of describing it.

“No, I fucking don’t!”

“Penn, it’s been an intense few weeks. Let’s cool it and see how we feel in a month or so,” I argued from under the comforter, though it lacked in any actual fight.

He dropped the towel on the floor, and stormed over to the bed. His arms crossed over his chest. “Absolutely fucking not! I don’t need a fucking month to see how I feel. Do you?” He glared, waiting for me to answer. “Do you, Lowe?”

I sniffed, and he was by my side in less than a breath. “Lowe, what did Lauren say to you?” He turned me gently, his face softening as he took in my tear-stained cheeks. “Oh, baby. What happened?”

His thumbs brushed against my cheeks, wiping away the tears. “She said I’d lost all self-respect and that it was only because I’m the first woman to come along since you’d been hiding all summer. And that you’ll move on soon, because you only need to click your fingers and women drop their panties, and you’re working your way through the city.”

Penn’s mouth set in a hard line. “She said that?”

I nodded, the tears starting again. “She was really pissed. What if I’ve ruined our friendship? I feel like I’ve betrayed her.”

“You haven’t.” He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine, his tongue darting out to catch another tear. “Lauren will learn to deal with it. Lowe, I’m not working my way through the city.”

“I know.” I smiled weakly.

“No, you don’t.” He caught the ends of my hair in his fingers and twirled through them. “You are the first woman to come along, because I’ve never been in a relationship. And I’ve never been in a relationship because I didn’t think it was fair to give anyone false hope when my heart has only ever belonged to you. You have owned my heart since the first time I saw you, and even if the past few weeks had never happened, you would still own my heart for the rest of my life. I’m never letting you go, Lowe. I love you. I’ve loved you forever and I have no plans to stop. I will deal with Lauren.”

I tried to object, tried to tell him that no, I didn’t need him to fight my battles, but while he’d been talking, he’d moved under the comforter and his hot, still damp body was hovering right over me. And when his lips met mine, I forgot what I was objecting to.

Then he showed me exactly how much he loved me, and I forgot my own name too.

19

Penn

“Why are we awake? It’s still dark,” Lowe mumbled into the pillow.

My lips found their way along her shoulder to the delicate spot where her pulse beat a slow, sleepy rhythm. “We both have an early start, and I have a long day. You’re not going to be at the stadium, so I have to maximize my time with you right now. You give me my energy for the day.”

“What? What does that mean?” Her head turned slowly and her face scrunched up at my wide smirk. “You shouldn’t be allowed to speak before you’ve had coffee.”

“I know one way you can shut me up,” I muttered against her lips, and pulled her on top of me, eager to get her closer than she already was.

I wrapped my arms around her naked body as tightly as I could, needing to feel her heartbeat wake up against mine. I maneuvered us quickly, so I was propped against the headboard, lifting her hips until she was straddling me.

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