didn't take it lightly. “An unnecessary disclaimer, I'm sure, but I want to say it anyway. Jenna Wells is my past...Penny Robertson is my future.”
She scrunched her nose playfully. “Jenna—I never liked that name.”
“She didn't either, ironically. Everyone called her J, and she was a sea of contradictions. She was from a wealthy family like me, but she lived off ramen and wouldn't shop anywhere but goodwill. That being said, she found the best things, vintage and name brand everything. Her hair was always in this wild bun with strands sticking out every which way, but there was never a wrinkle to be found on her clothes. She wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but lamented at every turn just how much she hated groups of kids.” I chuckled to myself, recalling how entranced I was by her. “She was like something wild and feral, which should have been clue one that she was looking for someone temporary. But for me, she was everything. My first love. The first girl I saw myself having kids with, a future with...but she didn't want those things. A five word text the summer after we graduated from university was all I got. ‘I can’t do this anymore’. I never heard or saw her again.”
“I'm sorry,” Penny offered, her mouth twisting to one side. “And not to steal the mic or anything, but I kind of wish my ex had been cowardly enough to send a text instead of looking me in the eye and telling me that everything we'd built was bullshit. Every time he told me that I was safe with him, or that he loved me, he was planning his next tryst to the city to meet all the women he cheated on me with.”
If there was any person that deserved hatred or animosity, it was the man who broke her heart. “It's probably a good thing I don't know his name,” I said grimly.
She hitched a brow, her thick lips spreading into a grin. “Why? You gonna kick his ass?” The smile flatlined when she saw that I just might. “Oh my gosh, Xander. The alpha thing? Super hot in the bedroom, but in real life, it's too much. Like you said, my ex is in the past. If I'm being generous, maybe he was supposed to be an asshole so I could be dragged to a sex club in San Francisco and meet you.”
I leaned toward her, scooping dark and gold strands that spilled into her eyes behind her ears. There was a symmetry to all of this. When I leaned in and kissed her, I knew that whether it was fate or coincidence, for the first time, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
I was happy.
Chapter Seven: Penny
“W hat's got you grinning from ear to ear?”
Usually the very sound of Lara's voice was enough to send me spiraling toward some version of a panic attack. What cruel thing would she say? What snide look was she throwing the people around me? If I made myself as close to non threatening and invisible as possible, would that lessen the blow?
Today, I just looked into the mirror, locked onto her glare, and pulled the sides of my mouth up another inch. Forget ear to ear, my smile practically stretched to the ceiling.
I could have told her that I had not only met the man of my dreams, but he wanted me too. And not for a month, long enough to secure his place at the top of his company, but for years. He'd said years.
I leaned closer to the mirror, touching up my peach colored lipgloss. Lara didn't budge from where she stood, trying to glare me into submission. Maybe she wanted a reply after all.
I lowered my lipgloss onto the vanity, my smile never leaving my face. I remembered the last time we were all made up in pretty dresses. The night I met Xander. I'd felt so out of place. I was just as pretty as the girls that surrounded me, just as accomplished. I let them convince me that I didn't belong; that I had to grin and bear it just to prove I earned a right to stand next to them. I'd be standing next to them again in a matter of minutes, and looking into Lara's pretty, cruel face, I realized that I had nothing to prove to
She scrunched her nose playfully. “Jenna—I never liked that name.”
“She didn't either, ironically. Everyone called her J, and she was a sea of contradictions. She was from a wealthy family like me, but she lived off ramen and wouldn't shop anywhere but goodwill. That being said, she found the best things, vintage and name brand everything. Her hair was always in this wild bun with strands sticking out every which way, but there was never a wrinkle to be found on her clothes. She wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but lamented at every turn just how much she hated groups of kids.” I chuckled to myself, recalling how entranced I was by her. “She was like something wild and feral, which should have been clue one that she was looking for someone temporary. But for me, she was everything. My first love. The first girl I saw myself having kids with, a future with...but she didn't want those things. A five word text the summer after we graduated from university was all I got. ‘I can’t do this anymore’. I never heard or saw her again.”
“I'm sorry,” Penny offered, her mouth twisting to one side. “And not to steal the mic or anything, but I kind of wish my ex had been cowardly enough to send a text instead of looking me in the eye and telling me that everything we'd built was bullshit. Every time he told me that I was safe with him, or that he loved me, he was planning his next tryst to the city to meet all the women he cheated on me with.”
If there was any person that deserved hatred or animosity, it was the man who broke her heart. “It's probably a good thing I don't know his name,” I said grimly.
She hitched a brow, her thick lips spreading into a grin. “Why? You gonna kick his ass?” The smile flatlined when she saw that I just might. “Oh my gosh, Xander. The alpha thing? Super hot in the bedroom, but in real life, it's too much. Like you said, my ex is in the past. If I'm being generous, maybe he was supposed to be an asshole so I could be dragged to a sex club in San Francisco and meet you.”
I leaned toward her, scooping dark and gold strands that spilled into her eyes behind her ears. There was a symmetry to all of this. When I leaned in and kissed her, I knew that whether it was fate or coincidence, for the first time, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
I was happy.
Chapter Seven: Penny
“W hat's got you grinning from ear to ear?”
Usually the very sound of Lara's voice was enough to send me spiraling toward some version of a panic attack. What cruel thing would she say? What snide look was she throwing the people around me? If I made myself as close to non threatening and invisible as possible, would that lessen the blow?
Today, I just looked into the mirror, locked onto her glare, and pulled the sides of my mouth up another inch. Forget ear to ear, my smile practically stretched to the ceiling.
I could have told her that I had not only met the man of my dreams, but he wanted me too. And not for a month, long enough to secure his place at the top of his company, but for years. He'd said years.
I leaned closer to the mirror, touching up my peach colored lipgloss. Lara didn't budge from where she stood, trying to glare me into submission. Maybe she wanted a reply after all.
I lowered my lipgloss onto the vanity, my smile never leaving my face. I remembered the last time we were all made up in pretty dresses. The night I met Xander. I'd felt so out of place. I was just as pretty as the girls that surrounded me, just as accomplished. I let them convince me that I didn't belong; that I had to grin and bear it just to prove I earned a right to stand next to them. I'd be standing next to them again in a matter of minutes, and looking into Lara's pretty, cruel face, I realized that I had nothing to prove to
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