Chapter 39 Mac
39
MAC
Aspen called me in a panic last night, said we needed an emergency meeting about this whole Penny thing. Her voice was sharp, clipped, like the kind of panic you don’t fake.
She refused to say more, just that it had to be in person.
Since then, my brain had been spinning in endless fucking loops trying to figure out what the hell she meant. I didn’t sleep. Not a damn wink. Smoked way too many cigarettes, which I was really starting to regret right now because I’d run out.
The bar was still closed, just me and the silence, doing my usual setup for the night. Then the door chimed, cutting through the quiet like a slap.
Finally.
I spun around, tense and more than a little strung out, desperate to hear whatever bomb Aspen was about to drop.
“It’s about time,” I grumbled, arms crossing over my chest. “You couldn’t have shown up earlier? I’ve been up all damn night panicking.”
Aspen raised a hand like I was a wild animal she didn’t want to startle. “I had to get Ellie to cover for me so I could even come here. But I’m here now, okay?”
She slid onto the barstool with a loud exhale, folding her hands on the counter, and shot me a look that could cut steel.
“She knows.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Penny,” she said firmly. “She knows. She knows that we all know. She knows you came to me for help. She knows everything.”
Her tone was tight, urgent, like she was trying to stop the bomb, aka me, from going off.
Penny knew?
Fuck.
My stomach dropped like I’d been sucker-punched. Of course she’d be mad. I’d gone behind her back, used our friends like chess pieces to win her over. It was another secret stacked on the pile I swore I was done building.
I’d had a plan. I was going to tell her when it was all said and done, lay it out in one big, grand gesture, be honest and open. No more hiding.
Well, so much for that.
I dragged a hand down my face, trying to wipe away the regret settling deep in my gut. “Well… fuck. Now what?”
Aspen shrugged like it wasn’t her problem anymore.
“How’d she find out?”
“We had a girls’ night,” she said, wincing a little, “and it kind of… slipped out.”
Of course it did. Aspen’s as subtle as a damn megaphone.
“So she’s mad?” I asked, bracing myself.
Aspen tilted a shoulder and said coolly, “No.”
Just like that. Like it was nothing. The urgency in her voice from last night? Gone. Now she was calm, collected, and smirking even.
I narrowed my eyes. “You call me stating it’s an emergency and now you’re all zen about it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, but I didn’t tell her that I was going to tell you that I told her.”
I squinted. “What? That sounded like complete gibberish.”
Aspen sighed with sass. “I didn’t tell Penny that I was going to tell you that she knew. Better?”
I shook my head. “Crystal clear.”
She smirked. “So, I suggest you start planning the big guns. The finale. The go-big-or-go-home moment.”
I stared at the counter, jaw tight, my bottom lip caught between my teeth.
The finale.
I already had something in the works… but it wasn’t big enough. Not for her. Not for everything we’d been through. She deserved more. Something undeniable. Something that would stop her in her tracks.
I stood to my full height, arms crossing over my chest as I began pacing behind the bar. Aspen’s eyes tracked me, back and forth, her curiosity barely contained. Moving helped me think. Helped the noise in my head organize into something real.
She didn’t speak—just watched, waiting.
Then it hit me.
I stopped mid-step, a slow grin spreading across my face as the idea took full shape. Aspen mirrored my smile, leaning forward on her elbows, eyes bright with anticipation.
“Well?” she asked, practically buzzing.
So, I told her. The plan. The details. What I’d need from every one of our friends. Her eyes widened with every word, and before I could finish, she snatched a napkin off the bar and started scribbling furiously.
“This is good,” she said, her pen flying across the paper. “Where the hell did you come up with this?”
I tapped my temple, grinning. “All up here, baby.”
Aspen narrowed her eyes playfully. “Hmm. Sure. Let’s pretend you didn’t get it from one of Penny’s romance books.”
I laughed.
“We’ve got some time,” I said, sobering just slightly. “But… there’s something I need to do first. Before we pull the trigger on any of this.”
She paused, mid-scribble. “And that is?”
I shook my head, the smile on my lips turning slow and sure. “Can’t tell you. Not this one.”
Aspen opened her mouth to protest, but then caught the look on my face and snapped it shut with a grin.
She pointed her pen at me like it was a weapon. “Say less.”