Page 24 of The Show

“What?” Penn spun round to me. “Is this true?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, not wishing to get in the middle of whatever it was happening right now. “A year ago. And you never called.”

Penn scoffed hard.

“What?” snarled Bryce at Penn.

“Nothing. You’re just more of a dickhead than I thought you were. Now fuck off! How you got on the guest list is beyond me.”

“Probably because not everyone in your family is the asshole you are.”

“Wanna bet? They just hide it better.”

Bryce’s lip lifted up enough that he was almost baring his teeth at Penn, but then looked like he knew better than to start a fight, and stormed off.

“Penn…” I touched his arm only for him to snatch it back.

“What the fuck are you doing with that guy, Lowe?”

I recoiled hard from the venom in his voice, my fingers curling into fists to distract me from the sting. He may as well have slapped me.

“I… I… I don’t understand what you mean.”

“That guy is a grade A dick. He’s not even fit to breathe the same air as you, let alone take you on a date.”

I scanned his face to see if I could find anything that made sense, any hint letting me know where this outburst had come from, but there was none. “What? What are you even talking about?”

“Bryce Wexler…”

“Penn…”

“Just… Just…”

I waited while he tried to find the words, with his eyes closed tight and brow furrowed deep enough that I was suddenly desperate to smooth it out.

His eyes had turned thundercloud grey when they slowly opened to find mine. “Just, please, don’t go out with him.”

I didn’t move as he walked off, only managing to stare at his retreating back with my mouth slightly open. I’d drunk way too much champagne for my brain to be at its optimum capability, because what the fuck had just happened?

In fact, what was with everyone tonight? My mom pushing me on every guy she could – not thatthatwas unusual, but Penn asking me to stay away from them?

Did people not think I could manage my life by myself?

My hiatus on dating was going to be permanent at this rate.

5

Penn

Itossed the ball in the air, watching the stitching flicker against the pale blue of the early morning sky as the ball spun on its axis before I caught it again, then sent it back up. As it rose above me, I could almost block out the fast-fading moon which was still hanging on, like the most die-hard reveler at an all-night party.

Me, for example.

I’d been laying here since before the sun rose. The dewy grass of the field had completely seeped through my shirt and dress pants, but I wasn’t ready to move quite yet.

To anyone who walked past, they would have two immediate thoughts; I didn’t know there was a baseball field here, and then quite logically assuming there was a man drunk and passed out in the middle of it.

The flaw with that, however, was that firstly, no one would ever be walking past, because they’d then be trespassing on my parents’ land. To do that they’d needed to have gotten past Carlos, my mom’s head of security, and anyone attempting to bypass entry requirements the White House would be proud of could only have a death wish.

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