Page 100 of Loved

"James."

I yawned again.

"James."

I wasn’t sure if she said my name again or that I just dreamed it. And I had the oddest sensation that I’d dreamed all of this. That Penny wasn’t real. And that I was still staring out the window of my office in New York City contemplating whether or not to jump.

Chapter 26

Saturday

“Hey,” Penny said softly and ran her fingers through my hair.

I slowly opened my eyes. My head was still resting against Penny’s tits. I was clinging to her. Last night was foggy, but I’d had a terrible dream that she wasn’t real. That I was still alone, drowning. But she was here. We were okay. I eased my grip around her waist.

She kept running her fingers through my hair.

I lifted my head off her chest and looked down at her. "Hey."

"How are you feeling? You were really drunk last night."

I laughed. That was nothing. She should have seen me when we’d been on a break. And if she was expecting me to have a hangover, it wasn’t happening. My body had a very high tolerance level. But I kept all that information to myself. "I'm fine. Although I don't remember much about last night." My eyes scanned down her naked body and I smiled. "I remember that." I remembered my palm on her ass. Her laughter making her pussy grip my cock so tight.

She scrunched her mouth to the side as she stared at me. "Do you need some Advil or something?"

"No, I'm okay." My dream of her not being real was worse than any hint of a headache I had. But she was here. I reached out to touch her cheek.

"Oh my God, James." She sat up and grabbed my hand. "Your hand is bleeding. Why are you bleeding?!"

"Oh, shit." I ran my hands down my face as everything about last night fell into place. Rob. Ian. The flaming bag of shit. "Fuck. I remember that too." She was going to be so mad at me.

"What happened? James, you need to clean it. It's going to get infected or something." She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the bathroom.

She looked frantic as she opened up a drawer in my vanity and then another.

And I found it incredibly adorable.

"Do you have peroxide?” she asked as she kept rummaging around in the drawer.

I’d been hurt plenty of times and no one had ever cared. Besides, she should have seen the other guy. Blood all over his face, rolling around in Rob’s shit. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Or Band-Aids or anything?" She pulled open another drawer.

"No. Penny, I'm fine. Really, it doesn't even hurt." I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.

Her eyes met mine in the mirror, catching my smile. "This isn't funny. We were just in the hospital. I don't want to go back. Is Ellen here? Maybe she has something?"

"She doesn't work on the weekends. Penny, it's fine. See?" I closed my hand into a fist to show her I was okay, but the dried blood made the cuts on my knuckles resist the movement and I winced.

"Jesus, James." She turned on the water and grabbed the bar of soap. She grabbed my hand and put it underneath the faucet.

Ow, fuck.I exhaled sharply and turned away from her in the mirror. I kept my head turned away from her as she gently washed away the blood on my knuckles. The water eventually stopped and she patted my hand with a towel.

Silence had always been comfortable between us. But right now it felt heavy. I could practically hear the questions running through her head. And I didn’t want to answer any of them.

"James,” she said, finally breaking the silence. “What did you do?"

"Thank you,” I said, ignoring her question. “I'm sorry, I didn't know I was bleeding."

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