“Got it, and hey, Brett?” Brett paused to look at his partner. “Thanks for earlier.”
Brett nodded, gave a small wave, then pushed through the doors. It didn't take him as long to slip into the passenger seat as it had that morning. He still couldn't fully straighten his leg, and he had zero motivation to push it after the night before, but it was less stiff.Penny had said to relax it, hadn't she?
“So how was your day,” Penny asked with a bright smile on her face.
Brett observed her warily. If she was trying to make him question his version of reality, it was working. His sister Cameron used to do it constantly. She thought it was funny to mess with him, but once he’d passed age ten, he refused to let her get in his head. He wouldn’t let Penny do it either. “Is this your strategy?”
Penny blinked. “What are you talking about? That was a normal thing to ask somebody when you pick them up from work.”
“Not when you drop them off by kicking them out of the car and acting like you had to hide from the paparazzi.”
Penny grimaced and backed out of the parking spot.
“Did you get my text?” Brett asked.
“Yes.” Her eyes flicked to his.
“Can you give me something here?”
She flexed her hands on the steering wheel. “What exactly?”
Brett’s jaw worked. “Fine, you don't want to talk about it? I won't push.” It felt like two stones were grinding against each other under his ribs. Why was she being so cagey? Possibilities began to swirl in his head, each option worse than the last.Had Daniel hurt her? Threatened her?
“Thank you.” Penny pursed her lips and stared intently at the road. The minutes ticked by, and she didn't say another word.
The idea of Dr. Daniel Ascott lifting a hand against Penny made Brett’s skin crawl. The fact that Penny was opting for radio silence and letting his worst imaginations swirl unchecked in his thoughts made him want to slam his working foot on the brakes. He'd answered all of her questions, hadn't he? Sure, they'd never gotten into the topic of dating, but if she'd asked, he would have told her.
Things had ended badly with her and her ex, but who didn't have a story like that? He could list at least three women that he wouldn’t relish running into again. Though that had been years ago and Penny had just barely split from this turd bucket. Maybe he could cut her some slack.
They rode in silence the rest of the way home, and as she parked on the curb, Penny asked,
“How's your knee doing today?”
Brett pushed his door open. “Perfect.” He hadn’t meant it to come out snippy.
Penny's eyes flashed. “Perfect?”
“That's what I said.” He stepped out onto the curb and turned his face so she wouldn't see him flinch.
“Huh. Well, I guess I didn't push you hard enough then.”
“Guess not.”
Penny slammed her door, and her flip-flops scuffed behind him on the sidewalk. He waited for her to pass, but she didn't. “I guess I was worried for nothing.”
He hesitated as they reached the steps, barely remembering that he'd left his crutch in the car. He wasn't going to ask her for it now. “You were worried?”
A blush rose to her cheeks. “No. I mean, it's normal to check in with a patient after the first session of PT. I only meant . . . I wondered. Especially since you refused to take anything that would help with the inflammation.”
Brett nodded and grabbed onto the railing as he took a step. “So you were worried about me not taking meds.”
“No, not worried. I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't done anything to hurt you.”
“Why didn't you text then?” Brett stopped on the landing, and Penny stomped past him and used her key to open the door.
“Never mind.”
Brett followed her into the house, and his thoughts burst out of him. “Hey, I'm happy to talk about this with you, but I don't think it's fair that you aren't willing to answer my questions and yet you expect me to get all vulnerable.”
