Brett laughed. “That's fine. I'm up for whatever.”
_____
The next few days passed similarly. Pleasant conversation when they happened to be in the same room. Brett working from one of his three locations in the apartment while Penny mostly kept to herself, submitting applications and searching job boards.
On Thursday night, they worked through another PT session—less painful than the first—and by Friday, Brett had not only managed to keep his attraction to Penny under wraps, but he was also starting the day without his crutch.
He made tacos Friday night, and Penny insisted he try one of the tortillas she’d bought. They were slightly better than his, and he made Penny beam by admitting it. She’d been particularly quiet that day, but he wasn't going to repeat his earlier mistake by pressing her for answers.
Which was why he was pleasantly surprised when she said, “I haven't received any offers.”
Everything inside Brett stilled as he watched her from across the table. She was offering him a glimpse inside her head, and he didn't want to screw it up.
“Oh yeah?”
Penny nodded. “I've submitted over twenty applications, and the only responses have been ‘wait-and-see.’ Plenty of businesses haven't even gotten back to me. The one medical center I was really excited about asked for an interview and then cancelled it.
“They cancelled the interview?” That seemed unprofessional.
“I know. It was so weird. It was supposed to be this morning.” She nudged a piece of lettuce back into her tortilla.
“I'm sorry. Did they give you a reason why?”
She slumped in her seat. “Nope, just said that they’d decided to go in a different direction. But I don't know why they would have offered me an interview if they weren't interested in hiring for the position.” Penny shook her head. “I don't know. Maybe they got an applicant that was more impressive.”
Brett reflected on the days when he'd done all the hiring at their company. He never would have asked for an interview and cancelled it, even if he had received a better applicant. It was just bad practice. “Frustrating.”
“Yeah.” Penny blew out a breath and stood to take her dishes to the sink.
Brett knew this routine by now. She would rinse them off, load them in the dishwasher, and say something about how she needed to get a little work done before she went to bed. He wouldn't see her until the next morning.
But it was Friday night.
Tyler had texted that morning, reminding him that they were going to the Perch. Brett knew he'd mentioned it to Penny earlier in the week, but they hadn't talked about it since.
He picked up his phone and played it cool. “Did you have any interest in spending time with Kelty, Sean, Tyler and Emma tonight? I think they're still planning to go over to the Perch later.”
“What exactly is the Perch?”
“An outdoor patio. People get drinks, listen to music, play some corn hole.” It was their favourite summer hang besides the Stampede grounds in July, but Brett had only been there once since his injury.
“I'm terrible at corn hole.”
“There's not a tryout.”
Penny grinned and tucked her thumb in the pocket of her jeans. Brett wondered what his thumbs would look like in that same position. Pulling them off her. He shook his head and frowned.
“I don't know. It's not that I don't want to hang out with them. I think they're great, but I don't think I’m in the mood for noise or . . . anything that requires more energy than sitting down and staring at a wall.”
Brett chuckled. “That was very specific. Is that what's pencilled into your calendar for this evening?”
“Oh, definitely. Every night this week. Gives me a lot of time to really steep in my current life situation.”
“Sounds riveting.” Brett’s heartbeat sounded in his ears. “But we don't have to go out with them. We could do something else.”We.He was making a bid—a small one—but by the way his hands started to tingle, it seemed his body knew better than he did.
Penny pursed her lips. “Like what?”
It wasn’t a straight-up no.Brett shrugged as his pulse skated away from him. Did he want to spend time with Penny, or just another human in general? If he wanted to spend time with friends, wouldn’t he have already planned to go to the Perch? “I don't know.”
