Page 88 of The Show

“Not really, because it’s simple: I’m not interested in them.” He looked at his sister before his eyes roamed toward me and stayed there for a split second. “If I’m interested in a woman, she knows.”

I tried to swallow but it stuck in my throat. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find, which was an untouched, tepid cup of coffee and knocked it back like a tequila shot. Putting the cup back on the table, I noticed Lauren frown slightly.

“Okay, I’m going to the bathroom before we leave.” I stood up and walked off before anyone could follow.

I was washing my hands when the bathroom door opened and Lauren entered.

“God, I’m stuffed now. Going to need some coffee for the journey otherwise I’ll fall asleep.” She pushed open one of the stalls and started peeing. “Lowey, why’s Penny acting so weird with you this morning?”

My hands seized up under the faucet and I stared at my reflection in the mirror while I tried to figure out how to respond. I shut off the water.

“What did you say? I didn’t hear.”

The toilet flushed and she opened the stall, still zipping up her jeans. I pulled out my makeup bag and rummaged through it, avoiding her eyes looking at me through the mirror.

“Penn’s acting strangely this morning. Don’t you think?”

“What d’you mean? I haven’t noticed anything.” I ran a brush across my cheeks, touching up the pink, not that I needed it. I’d been flushed since we walked in.

She shrugged. “I dunno; he seemed very focused on you.”

“He was sitting opposite me, maybe that was it. Maybe he’s preoccupied with the game.”

I was going to Hell for my lies… Or at the bare minimum, I’d be kicked out of the best friend club.

“Maybe.”

I zipped up my makeup bag and passed it to her, just like I would have always done, because obviously I was trying to act as normal as possible, and not like the two-faced liar I actually was. “You need anything?”

She dried her hands then squeezed out some lotion from the bottle and massaged it thoroughly over her fists. “No, I’m good. Let’s go watch a ball game.”

I followed her out of the door and back to the table, each step filling me up with more guilt than the step before, until I was nothing but was a knotted ball of deceit and anxiety by the time we got there. I needed to do something before I had a nervous breakdown.

Penn was holding Bell and blowing bubbles into her neck, her giggle drowning out most of the restaurant chatter. It was almost too cute to disturb, but as everyone else was putting their coats on and too distracted to notice me, it created the perfect excuse to get this over with.

He smiled softly when he saw me approaching, his body turning away from the rest of the gang. “Hey.”

“I’m going to go home. I can’t do this.” I tried not to look at him, because I knew he’d put up a fight.

A deep frown replaced the smile from a moment ago. “What? Can’t do what?”

I stroked Bell’s head, in case anyone looked over and saw us. “Be here, all of us together. It’s too soon. Me coming is a bad idea, someone is going to figure it out. Lauren just asked me why you’re being weird with me. I need to leave.”

“No, you’re not leaving. I’m not spending the day without you, Lowe. We’re all going to the game.”

“Penn…”

“You can solve this by letting me tell everyone; I don’t see why it matters. They’ll all be happy for us, and I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

It’s very hard to be angry and keep your voice down at the same time, but I felt I was doing a stellar job seeing as I wanted to yell, and at the very least shake some sense into him, because he didn’t seem to be listening or makinganysense.

“I don’t even know what that means! What’s happening between us is less than a week old! How can we tell people when we don’t even know ourselves?!”

“I don’t care how long it’s been, it changes nothing. But if you don’t come, then I’m not going. I want us to spend the day together, even if it means we’re sneaking around.”

“That’s blackmail!” I hissed, mustering as much outrage as I could.

“I know,” he grinned down at me, because he knew I’d cave. Because somehow, he always got his own way.

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