Page 181 of If Our Hearts Collide

And in this moment, I know that I won’t be able to voluntarily let Penelope Hoffman go.

34

PENNY

I can feel the anger seeping from my skin as I walk briskly down the sidewalk toward Nic and Claire’s apartment. It almost feels like I have freedom, but who the fuck knows where Collins is or how he’s watching?

I would have worn something he’d surely disapprove of just to piss him off if I wasn’t trying to avoid his attention as it is.

I’m mad.

I’ve been fuming for days over Collins snooping through my belongings to discover my goals sheet. That man is unhinged if he even thinks that’s normal.

Next up, he’ll be retrieving my latest pap smear results and digging up my third grade spelling bee rank.

I’ll put nothing past him and his intrusive tendencies. He has no boundaries—just like my brothers when it comes to their women.

But I am not Collins’s anything…

Well, other than the pesky brat who won’t allow him to bulldoze over my entire life.

Hence, why I’m going to gift him the ultimate gift for being such a giant dick—just in case he’s not sure of my true feelings over that stunt.

I’ve been running on popcorn and pineapple juice for days and can’t think straight, so I expect some fun and vibrant bad choices to be made. I’m twitchy and in need of a solid distraction.

That’s what Collins does to me. He makes me want to be bad.

I walk into the building and wave to the lobby attendant who immediately escorts me to the elevator as if I can’t possibly take the twenty steps to arrive there myself without getting lost. It honestly makes me wonder just how much my brother pays to have all these extra details.

When I get inside and hit the button for the correct floor, I send Claire a quick text that I’ll be there in a minute.

Ringing the doorbell, I wait patiently. This may be the last time I visit this place. Soon the deliriously happy couple will be moving into their newly constructed custom-built house prior to the baby arriving, and I can’t wait to see it. I’m sure Nic spared no expense to give his fiancée the forever dream home she deserves—and never had growing up.

I hear some rustling and then Claire appears in the doorway, all smiles and looking adorably pregnant.

“I need a dick cake,” I blurt out without any preamble.

“So do I…” she exaggerates all the syllables. “I’m always starving for dick cake. I’m at the horned-up phase of the pregnancy where my hooters hurt and my hoo-ha wants action.”

“Not for us to eat, but for me to send,” I clarify.

She nods eagerly. “Also, yes, please. That sounds fun too.”

It’s obvious she’s on board with this idea, without knowing any detail or who it’s for. Claire’s the ride-or-die type of friend, and slowly I’m starting to see her as more than just my future sister-in-law.

“I want agiantdick cake.”

“A colossal cock…got it.” Claire steps back to allow me to enter, welcoming me inside. “I know the best bakeries in town.”

“I have zero doubt.”

I follow her inside, and we settle on the sofa in her living room, facing each other.

“Or we can make one ourselves.”

My shoulders lift. “Whatever you think is best.”

Reaching for a notepad resting on a side table near the lamp, Claire turns back the cover and pulls the pen from the spiraled binding. “Let’s get to work.”

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