Page 35 of Devoured

"Don't worry about me, Penny." Why was she always worried about me? She was too good for me. Too kind. Too sweet. Too perfect.

"You're very worrisome," she sighed into my chest. "You never talk to me. You won't let me in."

I ran my fingers through her hair. I didn’t know what to say to that either. I swallowed hard. "I'm trying."I promise that I’m trying.

She yawned. "It's normal to worry about the people you love."

I started blinking fast. But I couldn’t stop it. I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

No one worried about me.

My parents never cared.

And I’d lost all my friends.

All I had was her. And she loved me despite my flaws. This was real. We were real.

It felt really good to know that someone cared. But even as I thought it, I felt guilty. Ellen cared. Ian cared. Rob cared. But this was different. I paid Ellen and Ian to stick by me. And Rob was family.

Penny didn’t have to care about me. She was choosing to.

She lightly snored in my arms. I reached out and ran my fingers through her hair. Being a better man for her meant not making her worry. I’d get my shit together.

I slowly unwound my arms from around her, being careful not to wake her. And then I texted her friends to let them know she was okay. I let Ian know too. I showered. I ignored the cut on my lip and my eye turning more purple by the minute. And then I climbed back into bed where I belonged. Next to her.

***

The sound of the shower woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes and yawned. I hadn’t slept that well since the last time Penny was in this bed with me.

Last night had not gone at all how I’d planned. But it had been a wakeup call. From here on out, I was going to be the man Penny needed me to be.

I climbed out of bed and walked into my closet. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants, grabbed a clean outfit for Penny, and set it down outside the bathroom door for her. Penny needed carbs to soak up the rest of the alcohol in her system. A hangover combined with her concussion…she was not going to be feeling good this morning. And I was going to make her feel better.

The shower turned off just as I got the waffles in the toaster. I put the box back in the freezer. Not that I was hiding the fact that these weren’t homemade.

Penny emerged out of my bedroom a moment later. Her eyes raked over my body. But unlike last night, when it seemed like she’d savored staring…today she looked pissed. She stopped at the counter.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she said.

That couldn’t be true. I was sure her head was pounding.

"I'm going to get going."

I raised my left eyebrow. Was she joking? I pushed a plate of waffles in front of her.

"I thought you didn't cook."

"I don't. They were frozen."

She looked down at her plate. "I'm not hungry."

"You've lost weight. You need to eat."

"So now you suddenly care about me again?"

"I never stopped caring about you." I couldn’t prevent the scowl from forming on my face. She had this all wrong. "I see that you have your memory back."

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