Chapter 11
Penny
My eyes bore into the framed drawing on the wall. I decided to keep it as a reminder that the asshole next door doesn’t want anything to do with my daughter, not because it’s beautiful or anything.
“I still can’t believe he drew that,” Jordan says, looking at the same picture. “It looks exactly like a photograph. Like I took the picture of you and Autumn and not just you. He must have spent days or even weeks on this.”
I drain half my wine glass, glaring at the drawing. It’s been almost a week since the disastrousdate when Declan stepped in, and I can’t help but internally smirk at Declan’s reaction when I told him I heard him and his sister.
He looked so guilty.
I hum at Jordan’s assessment of the picture, not wanting to talk about it anymore.
“And Autumn’s unicorn drawing. That girl is obsessed with it.” She laughs, and I internally roll my eyes.
Yeah, Autumn made me put the picture above her bed, and every night since, she tells the unicorn good night and asks it to give Declan magical dreams. She also asks if we can visit Declan every day, and I have to lie to her and tell her he’s working and can’t be bothered.
“Are you going to say anything?” Jordan looks at me expectantly.
“What? I have been.”
“No, you haven’t. You’ve been humming and grunting.”
I haven’t told her what I heard him say on the landing, so she doesn’t know why I have such a sudden disdain for the man next door.
“Penny.” She snaps her fingers in front of my face to get my attention. “Okay, what’s going on? You’re being weird. You have been for weeks now.”
I run my fingers through my now short hair and set my wine glass down on the coffee table. “I heard Declan dissing my daughter on Christmas and haven’t talked to him since.”
Her eyes go wide. “Excuse me, what? What do you mean he ‘dissed’ Autumn?”
I blow out a breath. “He was on the landing and said he doesn’t like kids and that he wasn’t going to play daddy to ‘some little girl.’ And that’s a direct quote.” I point out to her.
“He fucking said that? Oh, hell no.” She stands and heads towards the door.
I jump off the couch and grab her arm before she can turn the doorknob, stopping her in her tracks. “I gave him a piece of my mind, don’t worry.”
She looks at the door, glaring lasers at it like she’ll be able to penetrate his door and do him harm. “You might have, but I haven’t. He needs to know he can’t mess with Autumn… or you.”
“He knows,” I drop her arm, “but that shitty date I went on last week… Declan was the one to throw the guy out.”
She blinks twice. “He was? You never told me that. Why do I want to throat-punch the guy? Both Mark and Declan.”
I bark out a laugh, grab the bottle of wine off the kitchen counter, and head back to the couch. “You’ll have to get in line. The worst part is that Declan has been texting me every day, apologizing. He’s overcompensating and looks like an idiot. You can’t just take back that you said you hate kids. He thinks we can still be friends after a comment like that.”
“I’m sorry, Penny. You guys looked like you had chemistry. I thought he was going to sweep you off your feet and fuck you into next year.”
I shake my head and chuckle, hiding the fact that at one point, that’s exactly what I wanted Declan to do; fuck me into next year. “We were just friends, Jay. But the fact that he said he wasn’t going to play daddy to Autumn just kind of broke my heart. I never expected anything like that from him. Only his friendship. And he went and ruined it.” I top off both our glasses and take a hefty swig of the two-buck chuck.
“Friendship, my ass. But,” she lifts her glass in the air to clink with mine, “forget the asshole. You can do so much better.”
I cheers her glass and we talk shit about him the rest of the night. By the time she leaves, I feel mildly better about the whole situation. He’s one man in a world with billions. I don’t need him as a friend or anything else for that matter. At least that’s what I convince myself in my state of tipsiness.
I’m washing my wine glass when I hear a slight knock on the front door. I drop my head between my shoulders and blow out a breath because I’m pretty sure it’s Declan on the other side.
I dry my hands on a kitchen towel and head to the door. I know I shouldn’t open it, so instead, I lay my ear against the wood grain and say, “Go away, Declan.”
“Please, will you just talk to me?” he asks from the other side, begging.
