Page 77 of The Road Trip Romance

I kiss the top of her head and hold her to me, relishing the feel of her body against mine, wishing I could take her upstairs and show her how good we are together. “It’s alright,” I lie. I don’t feel those words at all. It’s not alright. I just need to figure out how to make her see that.

“I’m going to take the basement for tonight, if that’s OK,” I say to her.

She nods. “I’m probably just going upstairs for a bit to work and go to bed after I say goodnight to Anissa and Penn.”

I nod and head to the basement. I can hear them talking upstairs when they all come in, but I don’t feel like being social. A knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah?” I call out, hoping it’s Sophia. Instead, I watch Penn come down the steps and I feel disappointment wash over me.

“Hey, Soph told me,” he says. “Sorry, man. I thought she was the one for you.”

“I’m not giving up on her, Penn. I love her. I know that’s crazy. I know it’s only been a week. But I do,” I reply.

He grins. “Fuck yeah. What’s the plan?”

I shake my head and shrug. “I don’t know yet.”

“Well, let’s start figuring one out. Let’s channel our inner romance author. We got this,” Penn says. “I mean, hell, we learned from the very best.”

I smile at that. “I don’t know if there’s anything we can do, but Anissa says she needs time. So, I guess, let’s go home and work on something, some grand gesture.”

“OK, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says as he heads upstairs.

“Penn?”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t sleep with Anissa.”

He laughs and doesn’t respond, and I groan. Fuck. My. Life. I look over at a photo of Sophia with Cal and Lizzie.

“I’m not giving up on us,” I whisper as I turn over and try to fall asleep.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

Sophia

I come downstairs. The house is quiet, eerily quiet. Penn had said his goodbyes last night because he didn’t want to wake me when he left this morning. I heard the door shut and then silence. After tossing and turning, I finally got up and started making coffee.

“And this is why I love you. The nectar of the gods,” Anissa says in a singsong voice as she walks into the kitchen.

I raise an eyebrow as I look at her disheveled hair. Very un-Anissa-like.

“What?” she says with a coy smile that gives the-cat-that-swallowed-the-canary vibes.

“You fucked Penn,” I state dryly.

She shrugs. “Maybe,” she says, drawing out the last syllable.

“Nis!” I scold.

“Oh, fuck off. You slept with Tate. And besides, when else could I possibly have a chance to sleep withthePenn Baker?” she asks, raising one still perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

“You’re incorrigible,” I grumble.

“Don’t worry. We are a one-and-done. He freaking ghosted me this morning. Didn’t even wake me up for a goodbye. So juvenile,” she says with a sigh, but then she grins. “But the sex was…fucking amazing.”

“Ewww…no. Just no. I don’t want the details, but I do want those sheets washed,” I state.

---