Page 107 of Devoured

I sat down next to her and took another deep breath. "I need to know exactly what she said to you this morning.” I already knew. But I wanted to see what Penny had to say about the encounter. What things she was hung up on. What she’d openly tell me about. Because she wasn’t the only one with trust issues.

"She already knew about me,” Penny said.

"I didn't..."

"I know. She made it clear that you didn't do much talking last time you saw her." She shrugged.

Fucking Wizzy.I sighed. "I'm so, so sorry." I hated how much this hurt Penny. And I hated how thinking about that night made me feel like I was going to be sick. Would that ever go away?

"No, it's fine. Really. I see the appeal."

I frowned.

"Yeah, I'm joking. She's horrible." Penny smiled, but I could tell it was forced.

I put my hand on her knee. "There was a new employee at the front desk. He's been fired."

"James, it wasn't his fault."

"Yes, it was." No, it really wasn’t. Partially, sure. But my phone being on silent shouldn’t have allowed an intruder to break into my home. I’d fixed the problem.

She opened her mouth and closed it again like she was going to protest. But then she changed direction. "She said you only want things you can't have. That's why you like me. Because I'm a student."

"But I do have you." I’d made mistakes, lashing out and saying we were just fucking. But it had just been in the heat of the moment. I’d also told Penny I loved her. She was my girlfriend. I did have her.

"She made it seem like you'll get bored with me and move on to something else."

Well, it didn’t seem like Penny was holding anything back. Which was good. But I didn’t love that she was believing all these lies.Breathe."I'm not going to do that, Penny."

"I know. You wanted to know what she said."

Oh.So she didn’t believe Isabella? That was good. But…Isabella hadn’t lied about everything.

Penny grabbed my hand. "She said that you're addicted to me."

"I am." I didn’t even hesitate in my response. Despite everything Dr. Clark said, I knew better. He was wrong about this one thing. And Isabella was a bitch, but she was right about this. I was addicted to Penny. Every inch of her.

Stop.I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want to believe I was actually addicted to Penny. And wouldn’t Dr. Clark know? This was his job. He said this was love, not addiction. Maybe he was right.

"She made it seem like that wasn't a good thing."

Yeah, fuck.I squeezed her hand but didn't say anything. I’d tried all day to think of a good way to talk about this. But I was still coming up empty.

"And she said you were withholding information from me. That's it. We didn't talk for that long."

I nodded. That was everything. Penny hadn’t held anything back. And it was time I did the same. "Saying I'm addicted to you is a bad choice of words. I love you. I love spending time with you. I love being with you. I missed you today."

"I missed you too." She stared at me for a moment. "What is your type?"

"What?"

"She said that I'm not even your type."

"I don't have a type." Unless shy, sweet girls from Delaware were a type. I immediately shook the thought away.

"Are you sure it's not tall brunettes?" She smiled at me.

"No." I laughed uneasily. "She's definitely not my type." I wasn’t attracted to Isabella. Not physically. And I definitely wasn’t attracted to her awful personality.

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