Page 62 of Devoured

"A dorm room isn't the best place to recuperate from this," her father said coolly.

"He actually lives in a nice apartment, Dad. It would be okay with me. I don't want to inconvenience you guys."

"It's never an inconvenience, Penny. Besides, James has classes. We can't ask him to miss them," her mom said.

"I can cancel them,” I said. “I mean, skip them. Not a big deal at all."

"Well, if you're sure it's okay, James. And if that's really what you want to do, Penny," her mom said.

Her father lifted his hand. "Nonsense. You'll be coming back with us, Pen." His tone was firm. It seemed like the end of this discussion.

Well, he’d definitely heard me zipper my pants then.

There was a knock on the door and Melissa burst in. She ran over to the bed.

"Oh my God, Penny!" She threw her arms around her. "Have you been here this whole time? I thought you were okay." She turned to me. "Thanks for keeping me in the dark, James."

I was pretty sure Melissa hated me as much as Penny’s father. "I didn't know she was here either. I would have told you."

"Then where were you, Penny? I haven't heard from you since Friday night. I can't believe..." she let her voice trail off. "We can talk later." She walked over to Penny’s parents. "Thanks for calling me, Mrs. Taylor." She hugged both of them at the same time.

So her parents loved Melissa? Huh. I wondered if they’d feel differently knowing how drunk Penny always got when she went out with her.

"Oh, I have someone I want you to meet,” Melissa said when they finally finished hugging. She opened the door and poked her head out. "Hey guys, it's okay, you can come in."

A man I’d never seen before walked in, followed by…Tyler.What the fuck is he doing here?

I ignored whatever Melissa and the stranger were talking about. I was too busy staring at Tyler. He was hovering by the door because he clearly wasn’t wanted in this room. And he looked like shit. Definitely worse than me even though I’d let him take tons of cheap shots. The inside corners of both his eyes were bruised. I was pretty sure I’d broken his stupid nose.

"And that's our friend Tyler,” Melissa said and pointed over to him.

Penny’s father frowned as he looked back and forth between me and the idiot kid. His brow furrowed.

"Nice to meet you both." Tyler smiled at them but didn't move.

Penny’s parents went back to talking to Melissa.

"Thanks for coming, Tyler," Penny said quietly.

Thanks for coming?It was this shithead’s fault that she was here.

Tyler glanced apprehensively at me. But then he walked over to Penny. "Yeah, well, Melissa needed a ride. It's hard to say no to her."

Was he even going to apologize to Penny? He really was a pussy.

"Right." Penny smiled at him. "Well, thanks for bringing her. My parents can take them back. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"What? No, that's not what I meant. I wanted to come."

Every word out of his mouth made me grip Penny’s hand tighter and tighter. Like I was afraid if I let go I’d break Tyler’s nose again.

"How did you end up in here?" Tyler asked.

"I fainted. On Main Street."

"Penny." His voice sounded strained. "I knew I shouldn't have let you leave. You're so stubborn."

Shouldn’t have let you leave? What the fuck?I loosened my grip on Penny’s hand. She’d went for a walk to see Tyler fucking Stevens?

---