Page 100 of Devoured

Breathe."I don't want anything that's yours," I said. "Sign the papers now and you get half. Wait and get nothing."

She pulled out some more papers from the envelope. "I already did, you egotistical asshole." She threw them at me.

I stepped to the side and let them flutter to the ground. Had she really signed them? I leaned over and picked one of the pages up. Her signature was there. As clear as day. And it felt like this weight was lifted off my shoulders. Like I was free. Like it was finally okay for me to live my fucking life.

"You signed them?" Penny said from behind us.

I turned around to look at her. She looked so…small. And frightened. And hurt.I’m so fucking sorry, Penny.How many times was I going to make her feel this way?

Isabella stared at Penny. "He's all yours. Good luck. You're going to need it. He's fickle.”

Each word out of her mouth made my blood boil even more.

“He gets bored easily. He's going to eat you alive."

"Isabella! Enough!" She’d signed the papers. I didn’t need to even try to pretend to be civil with her anymore.

"What, are you afraid I'm going to let something slip that you haven't told her?”

Fuck, is that what they’d been talking about?

“Stop running, James. Stop throwing yourself into new things. Get some help. She's not the answer and you know it." Isabella walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.

The doors opened and closed and she was gone. The apartment was eerily quiet after her screeching voice stopped. I looked down at the paper in my hands again. She’d signed it. She’d really signed it. I set it down on the table and turned to Penny.

I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know what they’d been talking about before I woke up. And I knew I didn’t love anything Penny had just witnessed. I wanted to close the distance between us, but I didn’t know how. Because a part of me knew that Isabella was right. Penny didn’t know me. Not really. Hell, Dr. Clark had been trying to get me to tell Penny the truth for weeks.

But I was scared of what the truth would do to us. Because I needed her. Yes, fuckingneeded. And all the power was in Penny’s hands. I felt…out of control. I felt lost. And I knew it was partially because seeing Isabella made me think about blacking out again. I didn’t know how to acknowledge what may have happened when I blacked out the last time I saw her.

And Penny was the only one who ever made me feel better. The only fucking thing. But there might as well have been a canyon between us.

"What am I not the answer to?" she asked.

"What did she say to you while I was in bed?"

"James."

I swallowed hard.

"You're hiding something from me. Tell me."

"You need to get to class,” I said.

"James." Her voice cracked. "Why won't you tell me?"

"We can discuss it tonight." Tonight. That gave me time to figure out what the hell I could say to her to make her stay. A few hours, at least. My heart felt like it was ricocheting around my chest. I’d been so focused on getting Isabella to sign the papers. I thought I’d be happy. But instead, I felt like I was seconds away from another panic attack.

It was like Penny could tell how much I needed her. She closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around me.

I immediately relaxed. If she was still here…whatever Isabella had said to her in private wasn’t so terrible. Right? I hugged her back. I felt calmer with Penny in my arms. With her cherry perfume invading my senses. And I realized I wasn’t just rattled from what had happened with Isabella. I was rattled because of what could have happened.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm okay." Penny kissed the scruff beneath my chin.

This should have been a happy moment. I was divorced. We could be together without Penny feeling bad. But I only felt panic wrapping around my chest.

"I need you,” I said. She could make me feel better. I just needed to know that we were okay.

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