Page 141 of Love is a Game

Yeah, it fucking means something.

So, what the hell is Pen playing at now?

Chapter 41

Penelope

The wind teases at my carefully styled hair, turning my blowout into a tangled mess. My makeup is probably smudged, too.

From standing out here in the open, waiting.

Waiting for him.

Yet the cool gusts rolling off the lake do nothing to ease the clamminess of my palms. And my heart is hammering so hard it might shake me loose from this rock.

Shit. No turning back now. Not with all these people standing by, ready to witness this reckless plan unfold.

This felt like such an awesome idea—before I actually had to go through with it. Before I rallied half the town together to pull it off.

All because Tuck wanted something solid.

Well, I’ve given it my all: A bold, brazen,go big or go hometype of move.

But now, standing on the edge of it, literally and figuratively, I’m trembling worse than the tufts of oat grass poking through the cracks in the boulders.

My gaze falls to the lapping water below. The depths of blue shimmering with streaks of turquoise, catching the light in a way that reminds me of Tuck’s eyes, making my stomach twist even tighter.

Well, on the plus side, if this all goes south, at least I’ve got a perfectly good cliff to jump off.

“Penelope!”

I spin around as Nora charges over, one hand gripping her hat before the wind can snatch it away.

“He’s coming! Finn says ETA five minutes.” She glances at her phone again. “Make thatfour!”

“Nora—they didn’t give anything away, right?” I ask anxiously. “Tuck doesn’t know what I have planned?”

“Don’t worry,” she assures me. “Our ever resourceful Violet came up with a cover story. No one broke the secret pact, Penelope. Now, we better get set! Good luck!”

She gives my arm a reassuring squeeze before hurrying back toward the shaded grove where Brady and Vivian have set up their catering station.

Everyone’s there. My father and Laurie, Susan, Keith…friends, both new and old, all gathered beneath the towering pines, their excited voices a low, buzzing hum carried to me on the wind.

And here I am, perched on this rock, completely exposed. Vulnerable. Like that hermit crab from my childhood picture book, caught between letting go of the shell that no longer fits and finding the courage to step into something new.

My stomach lurches. Oh god. I’m really doing this. Have I truly thought this through? Is there any possible way to back out now?

Then again, at this rate, I might not have to. A coronary episode seems imminent. Either that or I’ll just flat-out faint and fall into the lake.

I press a hand to my stomach, swallowing hard. I have never been this scared in my life. Didn’t Laurie say that means this is right? Oh god, I don’t know…I need help…guidance.

I look up to the perfect blue sky, summoning a force that I want to believe in.

Mom…somehow, if you can hear me, please give me strength. Give me a sign this is the right thing. Anything.

I scan the endless shades of blues and dappled greens: the vast lake, the sky, the forest outcrops, and distant mountains. Desperate to invest my hope in something—anything.A drifting leaf, a darting bee, the flap of a bird’s wings. But in between the light gusts of wind, the world around me is unnervingly still. The water below smooth as glass.

It’s like being frozen in time, stuck inside a landscape painting, or between the pages of a book, waiting for the page to turn and tell me what happens next.

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