Good luck tonight, Theo.
With a flutter of happy tingles, I turned to find a seat.
“Penelope!”
Had someone called my name? I didn’t usually talk to anyone when I was at the games. Even when some of my fellow faculty members were there, they usually sat with their families.
I scanned the crowd to see who’d called for me. Melanie waved with a friendly smile. Her dark hair was up in a ponytail and she wore a black jacket and jeans.
Luke was next to her, and as my eyes flicked around, I realized the whole Haven family was there.
Melanie gestured for me to join her. “Come here.”
Adjusting my glasses, I walked over to her. There wasn’t room on the bench, but she leaned over Luke and yelled for everyone to move down one.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I can sit wherever.”
“No, we’ve got it.” She scooted over and patted the spot next to her. “Have a seat.”
I sat down, feeling a nervous tingle.
“Do you know everyone?” She glanced around. “Never mind. It’s too loud; they won’t hear me. I’ll introduce you later. How is everything?”
“Not bad. I’m sorry I haven’t returned your clothes. I’ve just had a lot going on. I will, though, I promise.”
She waved a hand. “Don’t even worry about it. And my burn-down-his-house offer still stands.”
A guy behind us cleared his throat loudly.
Melanie turned with a wide smile. “Oh hello, Firefighter Bailey. I would never do such a thing. It’s a figure of speech. You know what I mean.”
I glanced back at him and blinked in recognition. “Hi, Levi. You are Levi, right?”
He smiled. “Yeah. Hey, Penelope. I thought that was you.”
“Do you know each other?” Melanie asked.
“Sort of,” I said. “We met once, when his twin brother went behind his back and created a dating profile for him and then swiped right on me and pretended to be him and set us up on a date. Obviously that was like a million years ago, and look at him now, with his beautiful family. And here I am with a nice roommate. Yay, me?”
I twisted in my seat, my cheeks blazing.
Melanie put an arm around me and hugged me against her. “Honey, I feel your pain. I was married to a jackass for basically a decade. My life fell apart and I moved back to my hometown, divorced and broke.” She squeezed me again. “It’ll get better.”
I straightened as she let go and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “That actually does make me feel better. Thank you.”
“That’s what friends are for.” She smiled. “Speaking of friends, you and Theo are just friends, right? You’re not…”
“Right, no,” I said quickly. “Just friends. Definitely nothing else.”
She nodded slowly. “Maybe you can help me solve a little mystery, then.”
“What mystery?”
“Why Theo doesn’t date.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn’t know what to say. It had never occurred to me that Theo didn’t date. He hadn’t dated anyone since I’d known him, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. I’d sort of assumed he just hadn’t met the right person yet.
“I actually don’t know,” I said. “What do you mean, he doesn’t date? Ever?”
