Page 155 of Loved

Recently Penny and I had been sleeping in together. Enjoying these lazy mornings just the two of us. But I heard muffled voices downstairs. Her and Rob must have both already been up. And I could smell bacon in the air.

I pulled on a pair of pajama pants and headed downstairs. Penny, Mason, and Matt were all in the living room.Wait. Mason and Matt?

“If you don’t clean it, you’ll get an infection,” Penny said as she blotted some peroxide over Mason’s knuckles.

He winced. But only for a second. Penny finished bandaging him up. It looked like Matt had already been taken care of.

“Thanks, Penny,” Mason said. He smiled at her. And not in a “I’m going to bang your girlfriend and then put her in a sex auction” way. It was a genuine smile.

But I was really confused about what Mason and Matt were doing here.

“You’re welcome,” Penny said. “Like I said last night, any friends of James’ are friends of mine.”

When had they talked last night? I was with her all night.

“Were you really his student?” Matt asked. “I saw the tabloids.”

“Yeah. It’s a long story. But we moved here for a fresh start. And I know James wants that fresh start to includethe two of you. He mentioned that you guys all grew apart after college. But I know he misses you. You’re his best friends.”

I was pretty sure the rest of the apology had to come from me. I cleared my throat.

Penny turned toward me. “Surprise!”

I waited for either Mason or Matt to lunge at me like they had yesterday. But they just sat there.

“I explained everything to each of them last night,” she said as she walked over to me.

“When?”

“When I made you and Rob give me your phones.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t help but smile. My friends were sitting there. Not attacking me. “What exactly did you say to them?” Because I felt like I owed them apologies for the last few years.

“I explained the whole misunderstanding. Isabella’s vengeance or whatever you want to call it. And they both agreed to bury the hatchet. As long as you do. I told them that they’re your best friends. And that you want to move forward now that you’re back here for good. The past is in the past, right?” She smiled up at me.

I nodded. “Thank you, Penny.” This was better than any of the gifts I’d given her last night.

“And I invited them over for breakfast so the four of you could talk. Which I need to go finish cooking. How about you go talk to them. And please, please don’t fight.”

“I promised you I wouldn’t.”

She kissed my cheek and went into the kitchen.

I shoved my hands into my pockets. “So Penny told you what happened?”

“Yeah,” Matt said. “The troll strikes again.”

“I’m sorry about Isabella,” I said.

“We should have known that you’d never say that shit,” Mason said. “And as soon as I saw that fancy invitation for a bar hangout, I was wondering what the fuck happened to you.”

I laughed. “I thought the same thing about you.” I sat down next to Matt on the couch.

“I knew you guys thought I was funny!” Rob said as he walked into the room.

Mason laughed. “Annoying. Funny. Same difference.”

“So does that mean we’re cool again?” Rob asked. “Because I’ve missed the four of us hanging out. It’s been a long time since we were all together.”

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