Page 41 of Loved

Penny and I climbed back into my car. We waved to Penny’s parents as they drove off back to work. And for some reason, I didn’t start the car. I just stared out the windshield.

Penny turned toward me. "That went well, right?"

"In the end, yeah. Your dad...well, he surprised me."

"I'm sorry about what he said. I've never seen him make snap judgments like that before. He's usually really nice. He didn't mean any of that. He was just upset."

"At least he didn't try to punch me in the face." I smiled at her. "What did your parents say to you after I left?"

"They grounded me."

"Wait, what?" I lowered my eyebrows. When I thought they’d do that, I’d been half joking. How could they ground her when she wasn’t living under their roof? But if they required her to be spanked, I could definitely arrange that…

"I'm just kidding. They can't ground me, I'm an adult."

"So if they didn't ground you, what did they say?"

“They just wanted to make sure you didn't sexually harass me or anything."

"Oh God." I put my forehead down on the top of the steering wheel and started laughing.What a fucking day.All you could do was laugh it off.

Penny started laughing too.

I sighed and lifted my head back up. "That must have been awkward."

"Well, they didn't actually put it like that." She put her hand on my knee. "I think they phrased it by asking how rapey you were on a scale of one to Michael Jackson."

"What?!"

"Just kidding. They said something like pressuring me, or something."

I put my hand on top of hers and ran my thumb across her knuckles. I mean…I was older than her by several years. I was her professor. And I could be pretty demanding. "I haven't, have I? Pressured you?"

"No. James, I love you. I want to be with you. I'm not sure what else I can do to make you believe me."

I lifted up her hand and kissed her palm. "I do believe you. I'm sorry that I lost it in there. It almost felt like I was lecturing your father. I didn't mean to do that."

"Well, you were a professor." She shrugged. "It kind of goes with the territory I think."

"Yeah. I just feel like I kind of threw my money in his face. And that wasn't what I meant to do at all. I feel like a dick." Dr. Clark was not going to be impressed when he heard about this. I was supposed to be able to control my anger now. And…clearly I couldn’t.

"He certainly pushed enough of your buttons. James, I don't think my dad is mad at you. He seemed embarrassed about how he acted. Please don't over think this. We told them. It's over. Let's just be happy."

I smiled. That sounded like a good plan. And I’d promised her a trip. I’d have to text Ian when I got to the airport though, because he was definitely going to freak out when he saw my car parked there. And he’d want to tag along. "Just tell me where you want to go." I put my key into the ignition.

"Actually, I think I just want to go home."

"Home?" I raised my eyebrow. God, I really loved the sound of that.

"Mhm."

"Penny Taylor, are you referring to my apartment as home?" I couldn’t stop smiling.

"It's where I feel most comfortable. And of course, it's where you are. So, yes, I consider it home." She smiled back at me.

"You know, I'll take you wherever you want to go. Well, anywhere in the U.S. We really need to get you a passport."

"All I want to do is snuggle up in your bed with you."

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