Page 107 of Witch You Would
Penelope flinched, and her face shut down. “Right. Okay.”
She didn’t get it. “People already think we’re hooking up, and Isaac wants us to keep it up after the show airs, but it’sgoing to be a really big problem for us later.” And I wanted a later. I wanted a lot of laters with Penelope. For me, notLeandro.
“So you want us to stop,” she said.
“I think it’s better if we do, yeah. Before things get worse.”
Penelope blinked, over and over, her face turning red. “I didn’t think it was going that bad.”
“Not yet. But after? We’d have to be so careful, all the time.Sneaking around. Trying not to get caught, so we wouldn’t get dragged on some gossip site.”
She swallowed hard. “I guess. It all seemed easier before, when we first started. But you’re right. It would be a mess. Especiallyif you get this show.”
“Show or no show, you deserve better.” I fell on my knees in front of her, grabbing her hands. “You deserve something real.”
“I do,” she whispered. “So do you.”
I kissed her knuckles, feeling relieved. We still had to figure some things out, but this felt like a good first step. Shecould be just friends with Leandro, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about weirdness later.
Penelope smiled, and I smiled back.
“You should go,” she said, her voice raw. “So people don’t think, you know . . .”
I extremely had not intended to leave yet, but... “Right. Yes. Good idea.” It was only for a couple of days. We’d haveplenty of time later to be together, in every way I’d imagined and ones I hadn’t yet.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, standing up, still holding her hands. “You’ve got your lucky card?”
Penelope nodded.
“Then we can’t lose. Don’t worry. We’ve got this, Jelly Bean.”
I gave her one last kiss on her cheek, quick and sweet, so I wouldn’t be tempted. She walked me to the door without sayinganother word.
“Wait,” I said, my hand on the doorknob. “There was something you wanted to tell me about?”
“Another time,” she said. “You’ve been in here too long already.”
True. “Tomorrow, then.”
“Sure.”
I was halfway to the elevator before I replayed that one word and realized she had sounded sad. Unless I was imagining things?Probably stress getting to me. I couldn’t wait for all of this to be over, so we could finally start figuring out our lifeafterCast Judgment. Together.
Chapter 22
Penelope
One good thing about being in a hotel was that I could spend an hour in the shower, standing under the hot water while I criedmyself into a super bad headache. Then I flopped onto my bed and cried some more, tried to distract myself with TV and failed,and got back up to stare at the thick envelope sitting next to the half-eaten tiramisu on the desk.
Charlotte had come through with the contract. She hadn’t brought it herself—some assistant had given it to me, with the reminderthat I had to return it before midnight.
Before Gil came back, I’d been completely sure I would turn down Charlotte’s offer. Especially after what Felicia had said.I’d intended to tell him about it, to explain how I thought maybe she was the one who’d sent that dude after him with thecheck, to see what he thought and what we should do to prep for tomorrow.
Now?
It shouldn’t matter that he’d ended things, but it did. I’d been so worried about winning when I’d seen Leandro Presto appear in the doorway as my partner on that first morning, but by round three, everything had changed. For a few wonderful days, Gil and I being a team in every way had made me feel awesome, unstoppable.Dreams of a future with him had turned the intense stress of this competition into something sweet and magical.
And now that spell was broken. I knew how Quentin’s busted automaton felt, like I’d been about to hang the moon and insteadeverything had fallen apart. I was Amy’s phoenix egg gone wrong, burned into a pile of ash, never to rise again. My thoughtswere the same painful static as Dylan’s radios.
