Page 60 of Devoured

Wait, what had she said when she elbowed me? I was still half asleep.

Penny pushed me again. "James," she whispered and tilted her head toward the door.

All I wanted to do was pull her closer. But it looked like she was seconds away from shoving me out of her bed. I slowly sat up as she tried to run her fingers through her tangled hair.

I rubbed my eyes and looked over at the door. There were two people standing there that I didn’t recognize. And Penny’s greeting to them finally registered in my head.Oh, fuck.This was really not the way I wanted to meet Penny’s parents. Lying next to their daughter in a hospital bed where we’d clearly just slept together.

“Oh,” I said, trying to stall. I was about to climb out of bed, but my pants were unzipped.Screw me.I pretended to cough as I zipped up my pants.Please don’t have heard that."Oh, umm..." I quickly climbed off the bed and laughed awkwardly. Yeah, this definitely wasn’t a great first meeting.

I looked down and zipped up my hoodie too. It was fine. I was good with people. I could fix this. "Wow, this is not how I expected to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Taylor." Okay, so I was normally good with people. But for some reason my heart was racing. I was glad I wasn’t hooked up to that monitor. This meeting mattered. Because Penny mattered. And I was pretty sure I was fucking it all up. I ran my hand through my hair and looked over at Penny for help.

"Mom, Dad, this is James."

That wasn’t much to work with, but at least it was an introduction. I walked over to her parents and held out my hand to her father. "I've heard so much about both of you. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Penny’s father looked at Penny and then back at me. He did not look pleased. Actually, he looked a little pissed. Which I totally understood. Because of the whole just sleeping with his daughter thing.Seriously, fuck.

"That's quite the shiner," he said dryly and finally shook my hand.

“Oh.” I touched my black eye and tried to laugh it off. I’d forgotten about my black eye.Shit.I’d thought about meeting Penny’s parents. About having to tell them that I was her professor. It never went well in my head. But somehow…this felt worse. "I had forgotten about that. Just a misunderstanding."

I turned toward her mom. "And Mrs. Taylor." I put out my hand and she quickly shook it. I breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't look angry at all. She actually looked ecstatic.

"Excuse my outfit,” I said and tugged the zipper on my hoodie all the way up to my neck. "I just rushed over as soon as I heard what happened." I grabbed my shoes off the floor and sat down in a nearby chair. I was stalling. Trying to think of a way to make her father stop glaring at me. But at least her mom seemed to like me. I laced my shoes and stood back up.

"It's so nice to meet you, James," her mom said. She was smiling from ear to ear. "So how do you know Penny?"

"Oh." At least I could answer this honestly. I smiled over at Penny. "We actually met at a coffee shop on Main Street at the beginning of the semester."

"Is that so?"

"And we ended up having a class together. Comm." I’d got to be honest about a bit of it at least.

"Do you hate it as much she does?" Penny’s mom asked.

I laughed. Penny complained to her parents about my class? I wasn’t expecting that. "I actually love the class. It's my favorite this semester. Mostly because Penny's in it." I smiled at her. "You know, I didn't actually know she hated it, though. Her speeches are really good. She tends to be too hard on herself."

"That's what I always say," her mom responded. "It's so nice to get to meet Penny's new friends. We got to meet Brendan yesterday. Such a sweetheart. He stayed and waited for hours to see if she was okay. Are you friends with him too?"

Fucking Brendan.Seriously, who the hell was this prick?Breathe."No. And actually, Penny and I aren't just friends. She's my girlfriend."

"Oh?" Her mom looked even happier, if that was possible.

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry, James. Penny didn't tell us she was dating anyone. I'm so embarrassed. Penny, this is kind of a big deal isn't it? Your first boyfriend?"

I’d forgotten about that. Maybe I should have let Penny tell them herself. But I couldn’t help but smile when I glanced back at Penny. She looked completely mortified. My parents never tried to embarrass me. They just ignored me completely. And it was weird being in such a normal situation that didn’t feel normal at all to me.

"It's still new,” Penny said. “I was going to tell you." She had a deer in headlights thing going on and it was absolutely adorable.

I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t start laughing.

"You know what?” her mom said. “James was the first thing she said when she woke up. We had no idea what she was talking about. But I guess she wanted to see you. Isn't that sweet, honey?" She looked over at her husband.

"Mhm," her dad said and crossed his arms.

Penny’s mom loved me. But her father hated me.Maybe I should give them all a moment alone."Well, I don't want to interfere with your time, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. I just spent all night with her."Fuck, what did I just say?"Sleeping," I quickly added.

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