Page 34 of Loved

"We met before I knew he was a professor,” Penny said.

"And you..." her mom's voice faded. "And he..." She closed her mouth again.

Stunned silence. I could work with stunned silence. "Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, I know how this might sound, but..."

"She's a sophomore," her dad said calmly. "She's only a sophomore." He was staring at me like I was some kind of pervert.

Penny was 20 years old. It was only a seven-year difference. Seven years was nothing.

But hadn’t I thought of myself the same way? I’d tried so hard to stay away from her. I really had. And yes, I was fucked up in the head. But… Penny belonged with me. I truly did believe that. "I thought she was a senior," I said, as if that would help.

"You thought she was a senior? So you only hook up with seniors, is that it?"

Oh fuck you.I took a deep breath. The last thing I needed to do was say that to him.

"Dad, it wasn't like that at all,” Penny said.

"I think you should probably leave, James. We need to have a conversation with Penny in private."

"I really think we should talk about this," I said as calmly as I could. "I am in love with your daughter. I'm not going anywhere."

"You're a 27-year-old man. She's a sophomore," her dad said again.

"I'm 20 years old, Dad. It's not that big of an age difference."

"Seven years? You need to focus on school, Penny. You're not ready for the same things thathe'sready for." He pointed at me as if I was an object instead of a person.

I really did not like that. I glared at him. And what kind of things was he referring to exactly? Sex? Because I was fucking his daughter so hard every night. And most mornings too. Penny was not the good little girl he thought she was. Not when she was crawling to me and begging for my cock. A good little slut would be a much better description of her. I smiled to myself.

"I am ready for those things. I love him, Dad."

"You're ready for marriage? And children? And responsibilities? You have no idea what it's like to be an adult. You don't even know how to write a check. You're just a child. He's an adult. You're too young to date him."

Well, that was a leap. We’d only said we were dating. And Penny didn’t need to write any checks. That was all online now. For some reason picturing Penny’s dad writing checks instead of paying bills online made me smile.

This whole conversation was ridiculous. "I'm not even ready to get married again..." I instantly closed my mouth.Oh fuck.I hadn’t meant to say that. I was hoping that could be a discussion for a different day. Dating her professor was one thing. Dating her recently divorced professor sounded way worse.

"You were already married?" Penny’s mom finally broke her silence.

"I'm recently divorced, yes."

"How recently?" she asked.

"I filed for a divorce last year."

Penny’s parents just stared at me.

Shit.I cleared my throat. "It became official yesterday, but..."

"You got divorced yesterday?" her mom asked incredulously. "You started a relationship with my 20-year-old daughter while you were still married?" She didn't hide the disgust in her voice.

I definitely preferred stunned silence.

Chapter 11

Wednesday

I wasn’t even sure why I’d said it. Mentioning not being ready to get married again? Seriously? What the hell was I thinking? Yes, I wanted to marry Penny. One day. But not today. Why hadn’t I kept my mouth shut? I needed to get control of this conversation.

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