Page 119 of Loved

I grabbed the wheel.

“No,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not doing that.” He laughed again, but it wasn’t his normal laugh. It sounded a lot more nervous.

“Would you tell us if you were?” Rob asked.

“Um…yeah.”

“I don’t believe him,” Rob said. “James, I think Ian’s fucking Jen. Let’s call her and ask.”

“Don’t call Jen!” Ian yelled.

“I thought you wanted us to call her…”

“Please stop,” he said. His fingers were gripping the wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Shit.I was pretty sure Ian was fucking my sister. Or if he wasn’t, he definitely wanted to.

Chapter 30

Saturday

“Should we just stay in the car?” Ian asked.

“No, that would be super weird,” Rob said. “We’ll come in.”

Honestly I wasn’t sure which was less weird. But I didn’t know how long this was going to take. And you weren’t supposed to leave people in the car. Or was that animals? Or babies? Rob probably would cry like a little baby if I left him in the car with Ian. “Yeah, you guys can come in.”

“Sweet.” Rob climbed out of the car.

I quicky hurried after him. I really did not want him to just stroll right into Penny’s childhood home uninvited. “Hold up.” I grabbed his arm to stop him from turning the doorknob. “You can’t just walk in.”

“Why? Aren’t they expecting us?”

“No.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t call them in advance?”

I shook my head. “Shit, should I have?”

“Probably. It’s rude to show up uninvited, James. Especially when propositioning his daughter.”

Well, fuck.It was too late now. But I wasn’t propositioning Penny, so hopefully that would help.

“What if they’re asleep?” Ian asked.

“It’s only like 8 o’clock.”

He shrugged. “Well it’s really dark inside. Maybe they’re not home.”

“Only one way to find out.” I rang the doorbell. And waited. And waited. We all looked at each other.

"I don’t think they’re home,” said Rob. And then he knocked on the door super loudly.

No! Stop it!

But his knocking must have done the trick, because finally a light turned on and the curtains to the side of the window moved. The curtains fell back and the door opened.

“Oh, James,” Mr. Taylor said. “What are you and these boys doing here so late?” He didn’t open the door any further. Like he was worried we were about to jump him or something. Or…did he look kind of mad at me?

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