“Mitch?” Her voice dips with worry. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I accelerate through the intersection, then add, “I didn’t have the right, Pen. I told you I was okay with taking things slowly. And then I turned around and pushed you to move in with me. I should have known?—”
“You were right,” she interrupts. “It’s been six months. It’s not fair to keep making you wait.”
Fear clutches at me. “I’ll wait. For however long you need me to.”
“But, Mitch. The things you want. They’re not unreasonable. Going to a wedding with you? Taking a trip together? Those are normal things couples do.”
Feeling a bit like I’m walking a tightrope, I say, “That might be true. But if it’s not whatyouwant, that’s okay, too.”
Penny sighs. “That’s not it. I just convinced myself it was safer to stay single. It sounds crazy, but I got this idea in my head that if we were a real couple, things would go wrong. Like I was jinxed or something.”
“Pen. You’re not jinxed. You had some bad luck?—”
“I know. Like I said, it doesn’t make sense. But after you brought me home, I just kept thinking about it. I kept thinking about you. How I know you’d never hurt me. How it’s crazy to keep clinging to some years-old vow I made to myself when I have someone so great—” Her voice cracks.
“Penny.”
My foot presses down on the gas instinctively. Hearing her upset, knowing she might be on the verge of tears… I’m less than five minutes out. But it still feels far too long.
She sniffles. “I don’t want to lose you, Mitch.”
“You won’t.” I force myself to slow as I take a right turn. “I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you tell me to.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Do you think—” Penny sniffs again. “Do you think I could come over? I know it’s late, but I’d really like to talk in person.”
My spirits lift. “I’m actually on my way over right now. I wanted to come apologize, and I thought… Well, I just wanted to see you.”
Her tone brightens. “You’re coming over now?”
“Is that okay?”
“Yes. Of course. I’ll go downstairs to unlock the bottom door so you can come right up.”
“You don’t have to, Pen. It’s not as safe that way. I can wait for you to come down.”
“It’s fine.” Soft footsteps tap across the floor. “No one’s going to break in. I’ll just?—”
Her voice cuts off as she gasps in pain.
“Penny? What happened?”
She lets out a shaky breath. “My hand. I burned it.”
“What? How?”
“The doorknob. I went to open it, and the metal… it burned my hand.”
Alarm surges through me. “The doorknob? To the stairwell?”
“Yes…” Footsteps hurry across the floor again. “Mitch. Why is my… Oh.Crap.”
“What?”
