CHAPTER SIX | Penn
CHAPTER SIX
Penn
“Earth to Penn...” Cat wiggles in my lap before her lips find the corner of my mouth. “Did you hear me?”
“Sorry, what?” I try to shake off the fog that my altercation with London has left me with, a fog that has made even the clearest images difficult to see.
“I asked what time you were picking me up tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night?” My forehead furrows in confusion.
“Please do not tell me you forgot.”
I rack my brain for what she could be talking about.
Cat says so much and yet it typically amounts to so little, I rarely actually listen to her.
And yes, I’m aware of how bad that sounds.
Then again, I’ve told her more than a few times that this isn’t a relationship.
I don’t want a relationship, least of all with Cat Stewart. So really, do I need to listen?
“Wow. So you did forget.” My silence clearly speaks volumes.
“Forget what exactly?” Apology lines my face, though I don’t actually feel sorry at all. Really, I just feel annoyed.
“My birthday party. You said you’d go.”
“That’s tomorrow?”
“Yes, it’s tomorrow and I’ve only told you about it a hundred times at this point.”
I pick up a strand of thick, auburn hair, twisting the end around my finger. I always hated her hair. Hell, I hate everything about her. Her voice. How fake she is. How two-faced. How over the top and dramatic she makes everything.
I know what you’re thinking—then why the hell am I sleeping with her? And honestly, the answer is pretty simple. I don’t have to like her to screw her. And while that is true, it’s not the only reason I’m sleeping with her. In a way, I guess it was also my petty way of trying to get back at London.
Not that I ever expected that she’d find out, but something about having the girl she always hated bent over my desk gave me a sick sense of satisfaction I couldn’t resist. Like I’m really showing her.
It’s not why I continued, though. She may irritate the hell out of me, but she’s also one hell of a lay—that much even I can admit.
Though the thought of doing anything with her that doesn’t equate to us being naked is enough to make me want to throw myself into the middle of the ocean with no means of getting home.
“I’m sorry, but I—”
“Do not finish that sentence.” Cat pushes off my lap so abruptly that it causes my chair to roll several inches backward before colliding with my desk, jarring my body.
“I’m captaining one of the boats tomorrow night,” I try to explain.
“On the night of my birthday party.”
“Well, I didn’t plan to do it to avoid your party if that’s what you’re implying. Jack’s wife had her baby this morning, and the least I can do is give the guy the weekend to spend with his new daughter.”
“She had the baby?” Her demeanor softens.
“She did. Healthy eight-pound girl.”
“What did they name her?”
“Lily.”
“Aww. I’ll have to send flowers.” She pushes her thick hair over her shoulders.
“So you’re not mad at me then?” Not that I care if she is, but I know if I don’t at least pretend to care, she’ll never let this go.
“I mean, I’m disappointed. It seems like every time I ask you to go out with me, you find an excuse not to. I’m starting to take it personally.”
You should, I think but don’t say.
“It’s not like that. You know how busy I am. It’s only been nine months. I’m still finding my footing. Things will slow down... Eventually.”
“What time do you get back in?”
“Probably seven or eight in the morning.”
“Can you maybe do something on Saturday? Just you and me?”
“What did you have in mind?” I hitch a brow.
“I’m sure you can use your imagination.” She saunters back toward me, her irritation with me evaporating as quickly as it had formed.
There’s something I learned very early on about Cat. She wants everyone to have the perception that she’s a very loving, caring person, when in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I let her live in her delusion because it usually works out in my favor. Take right now, for example.
I drop my head back as she straddles my lap and grinds against me.
“I think I can make Saturday work.” I smile up at her, startling when the door to the office swings open.
“Seriously, Alec...” I look past Cat as she jumps to her feet, fully expecting to see my brother in the doorway. To my knowledge, he’s the only one still here who would just burst in without knocking.
Only it’s not my brother’s flushed face I see staring back at me. But London’s. I’m not sure if I’m pissed or ecstatic at her timing.
“Oh, I...” She seems flustered, her gaze jumping between me sprawled in the chair, pants tight around my groin, and Cat, who quickly plasters on a smile.
“London!” She crosses the room in an instant and tugs London into her arms like they’re old friends. And in a way, I guess they are, or at least they were, once upon a time. “How are you?”
“I’m... Um, I’m good. How are you?” London meets my gaze as Cat hugs her, and I can’t help the smirk that tugs at my lips.
“I’m so good.” Cat releases her. “My mom told me you were back in town, but I just could not believe it. But here you are, in the flesh.”
“Here I am.” London smiles and it couldn’t be further from genuine, though I doubt Cat is perceptive enough to pick up on this fact.
“Why are you here, London?” I grumble like her interruption couldn’t be any more ill-timed, when in reality, I’m rather pleased that she’s here.
Petty. Immature. Vengeful. I am all of those things and then some, and I couldn’t care less.
“I, uh, I forgot my wallet.”
“You forgot your wallet?” I hitch a brow, finding her excuse rather lacking.
“Yep.” She sidesteps Cat, stepping around her desk before pulling open the desk drawer. “I really am so sorry for interrupting.”
I half expect her to say something along the lines of ‘it isn’t here, guess I must have left it somewhere else,’ but to my surprise, she holds up a soft pink wallet.
Why I thought she’d intentionally come back here after the crap I said to her earlier is beyond me. Wishful thinking, I guess. Though that thought doesn’t quite sit well with me either.
“I’ll let you two get back to...” She shakes her head like she’s unable to bring herself to say the words.
So not completely as unaffected as she’d like me to believe. At least there’s that.
“Before you go.” Cat steps into her path before she can reach the door. “I’m having a birthday party tomorrow night. A lot of the girls from school will be there and I know they would love to see you.”
“Oh, no, sorry. I have plans.”
“Plans that are better than catching up with all your old friends?” Cat places a hand on her hip.
London meets my gaze for the briefest of moments, almost as if to beg for a save, but I’m not going to give her one.
“I’m actually going up to Allen’s Ridge to visit my grandparents tomorrow. I haven’t seen them since I’ve been back, and my grandma has been begging me to come visit. My grandpa is wheelchair bound now and it’s a lot on my grandma to travel with him, so it’s easier if I go to them.”
“Well, as far as excuses go, it’s not the worst one I’ve heard.”
“Is it an excuse if it’s true?” London hitches a challenging brow, her slip in patience showing all over her face.
She doesn’t like Cat, but London is not the kind of person to be outwardly mean to someone just because they aren’t friends. Cat, however, has a way of bringing out the worst in people.
“Oh, you know what I mean.” Cat placates her by patting her shoulder, which only annoys London more. “So why are you back in town anyway? Weren’t you supposed to be some famous dancer in New York?”
“Fate had other plans.”
“Couldn’t cut it?” I can hear the smile in Cat’s voice, as if London’s failure brings her great pleasure, and in truth, it probably does.
Emotion dances across London’s face. Cat’s blow landed right where she meant it to. Guess we’re past the fake pleasantries already.
This should make me happy, seeing London poked and goaded. So why all of a sudden do I feel on the verge of losing the contents of my stomach?
“Something like that.” London concedes without so much as a fight and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that she would let Cat win so easily. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my parents are waiting in the car to take me to dinner.” Without another word, she dips around Cat and slips outside.
I stare at the door long after it swings closed, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
The London Voss I knew would never step back from a challenge and make no mistake, Cat was most certainly challenging her.
She certainly had no problem going toe to toe with me earlier, so why slip out with her tail between her legs like a dog who had been scolded?
“Can you believe her?” Cat spins back around, pinning me with a look. “All through high school, she thought she was so much better than everyone else. Now look at her. She’s like a scared little kitten who can’t find her mama.” She pouts out her bottom lip dramatically.
“You didn’t have to goad her like that.”
“Goad her? I was being nice. I even invited her to my party.”
“But to what end? We both know you have no interest in being London’s friend. So did you invite her because you knew she’d say no and you wanted an excuse to push her, or because you were actually hoping she’d say yes and then you and your vipers could really sink your teeth into her.”
“I invited her to be nice.”
“Sure you did.” I snort out a humorless laugh.
“What’s your problem all of a sudden? Mad that I ruffled your little princess’s feathers?”
“I don’t give a shit whose feathers you ruffle, but maybe next time, don’t do it in my place of business.”
“Seriously?” She huffs, crossing her arms in front of her ample chest.
“Like it or not, London is an employee here, thanks to your mother, and treating her as anything else is unprofessional.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Penn, but this isn’t exactly what I would call a professional business.”
“And what exactly does that mean?” I cock my head to the side.
“You know what, I’m not doing this with you right now. I’ll see you Sunday morning.” She grabs her bag off the top of my desk, spins around, and proceeds to stomp out of my office.
I blow out a slow breath of relief, thankful that she’s gone. I may have had my reasons for hooking up with Cat Stewart, but now even I’m starting to question my own sanity.
My mind quickly drifts back to London.
Why was she willing to let Cat think she won rather than tell her why she came home?
Is it true that she couldn’t cut it? Or is it something else?
If there’s one thing I know about London, it’s that she was the most talented person I had ever met.
Talent like that doesn’t just go away. If she left New York and gave up on dance, it wasn’t because she couldn’t hack it. Of that much I’m sure.