Page 73 of Exposed

“We weren’t all in high school at the same time, though,” Rob said. “Because you were like 10 when we were teenagers.”

She laughed. “From both our times in high school.” She jotted the idea down in a notebook.

“Penny,” I said.

She looked up at me. “Bad idea?”

No, it was a great idea. But that wasn’t the point. “It’s asurpriseprom. Which means we’re planning it for you. You already found out too soon so that James couldn’t do a promposal for you…”

“Are you going to do a promposal for Brooklyn?”

“Yeah.” That was going to be half the fun. And I wanted to see her reaction to gauge how she was feeling about a real proposal.

“Since the prom is on my birthday, and I found out about it early…can I watch?”

“You want to watch my promposal with Brooklyn?”

“Absolutely.” She smiled.

“I mean…I was going to do it tonight.”

She looked down at my stained shirt. “You’re going to need to shower. James will let you borrow something. Right?” She looked up at James.

“I’m sure I have something that’s…stretchy,” he said.

Rob laughed. “Matt’s fat.”

I hit Rob in the back of the head.

“You wish you guys were as ripped as us,” Mason said.

“We’re not having this conversation again,” Penny said. “You all have six-packs, so calm down. Okay, here’s the plan…”

“We’re going to take turns bench pressing you?” Rob asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m going to go over to Matt’s house right now to hang out with Brooklyn. And I’ll let you guys plan the prom of Brooklyn and my dreams. This is going to be great, I really want to get to know her better.” She stood up. “Wait, should I bring Scarlett? Oh what if I stop by Tyler’s and grab Axel too? I bet Jacob and Axel will get along really well…”

“Penny, are you okay?”

“What? Of course.”

“You seem…nervous,” I said.

She exhaled slowly. “I really want her to like me. We’re going to practically be sisters.”

“Brooklyn already likes you.”

“Usually girls that fall in love with the same man have a lot in common,” Rob said. “To clarify, I’m talking about James here. Not Matt.”

“Hilarious,” Penny said. “Okay, I’m going to go. But definitely note down the balloons because that would be fun. And do you need me to pick anything up for your promposal? Wait, does that need balloons too?”

“Penny, I’ve got this,” I said. “Go have fun with Brooklyn. I’ll be there in a couple hours.”

“See you guys later.” She leaned down and kissed James before heading upstairs to grab Scarlett.

There was a knock on the door.

“Who is that?” Rob asked.

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