Page 138 of Loved

“I love it too,” she said and clasped her hands behind my neck.

I could feel the metal of her engagement ring against my skin. She was mine. I ran the tip of my nose down the length of hers.

“Don’t you want to know what I think?” Rob asked.

“This really isn’t about you, man,” Ian said.

Rob sighed. “Bros before hoes, Ian.”

I cleared my throat and glared at him.

Rob lifted his hands. “I wasn’t calling Penny a hoe. You know what I meant.”

Penny laughed. “It’s fine. What do you think, Rob?”

“I think my bedroom is the perfect size for entertaining.”

“No,” I said firmly.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said and winked at me before turning to Evelyn. “It’s the one. We’ll take it.”

“How much is it a month?” Penny asked. She bit her lip as she braced herself to hear the amount.

But Penny was not working while she was in school. And she didn’t need to know how much the place cost. I wanted to take care of her. We’d found a place we both loved. And I wanted to start our future right here.

Evelyn looked at her notes. “It’s…”

“Rob’s right,” I said, cutting her off. “We’ll take it.”

Penny looked up at me. “James. I…”

“Just help me make it our home, Penny.” I cradled her face in my hands. “It’s us against the world now, baby.”

Tears started welling her eyes. “I love you so much.”

“I loveitso much!” Rob yelled and hopped up on the kitchen counter.

“It’s actually us and your brother against the world,” Penny said. She laughed and I held her tighter.

The smell of her cherry perfume surrounded me. I never had to wake up another day without her by my side. I closed my eyes and breathed her in. I wasn’t sure why I was so worried about being back in town. Penny grounded me. She was all I needed.

***

The next few days were a whirlwind of packing and goodbyes. Well, goodbyes for Penny. Everyone I knew was coming with me. Except Dr. Clark. I still hadn’t convinced him yet. But he’d seemed intrigued when I offeredhim a permanent spot at my new company. Once everything was up and running, he wouldn’t be able to resist.

But Penny’s teary goodbyes with her friends made me nervous. What if she missed Melissa too much? What if NYC never felt quite like home?

“Take care of my girl,” Melissa said and gave me a hug.

“I will. I promise.”

She nodded like she believed me this time. She went back over to her boyfriend, Josh. He put his arm around her. She turned her head to hide her tears.

I felt like I was pulling Penny away from happiness. But we’d talked about it. We’d decided to move together. I tried to let go of the guilt gripping my chest.

Slow goodbyes were never a forte of mine. “Penny, we should go if we’re going to beat traffic.” Traffic was always bad. But it was especially bad this close to the weekend.

She nodded. “Just one more thing.” She walked over to Tyler.

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