“Because in the five years I’ve known you, you’ve never called me once.” Another thought hits me. “Is Dom okay?”
“Oh!” she says, both relieved and a little surprised, but still sounding weird. “Yeah, fine. I think. I mean, I haven’t talked to him today, but probably? That’s not why I’m calling, though.”
I take a deep breath, gritting my teeth to keep from shouting,Why are you calling me, then?My default asshole mode won’t do me any good right now. Penny would probably hang up on me just to further piss me off and do a happy dance over my rising blood pressure. “Why are you calling?” I manage to say in barely a growl.
“I wondered if you might, if you’re not too busy, maybe go with me to talk to someone about a particular missing ring?” If she hemmed and hawed any more before getting through that question, I would’ve crawled through the phone and strangled her myself, saving Miles Conniver’s goons the trouble.
“Are you tracking down the fences?” I shout.
“If you’re gonna be like that, never mind.”
After clearing my throat, I try again. “Do you want to talk to the fences?” There, totally calm and collected, if not a bit grumbly.
“I already did,” she informs me cheerfully. “Mad Dog said the man to go to is Johnny K, but he’s a hockey fan, and I figured you might be my ace in the hole there. Plus, there was that whole moment when Mad Dog got a teensy bit irritated with me and kinda got in my face, so I realized it might be better to do this with a buddy. And since you already know what’s going on, and I wouldn’t have to catch you upon the whole story like I would Dom, you’re the obvious choice to go with me. That is, if you’re not too busy twiddling your dick ... or your thumbs.”
She didn’t take a single breath during any of that. But despite the rambling, there was a lot of information, like that I now need to track down somebody named Mad Dog and give him a taste of his own medicine, because how fucking dare he threaten Penny? Also, she’s asking me for help. Not her brother, not her parents, not a friend. Me, Griffin Mahoney, the guy she hates who fucked this whole ring thing up for her from the get-go.
That pride I felt over my goal feels small compared to what’s growing in my chest now. Penny reached out to me in her time of need. Sure, it’s partially because Dom would give her shit for not being careful with such a valuable piece of jewelry, but it’s also because she wantsmy help. In some twisted way, when shit hits the fan, she’s coming to me.
“I’m on my way. Where are you?”
I’m going to kill her. No, I’m going to kiss her and then kill her.
No, you’re not. You’re not gonna do either of those things. You’re gonna help, that’s it.
I argue with myself the whole way to meet Penny, and when I finally lay eyes on her, my sigh of relief is soul deep. She’s okay.
More than okay, she’s sitting at a café table outside a coffee shop, petting a dog and talking to its owner like she’s got nothing but time and friendship to offer. Selfishly, I wish she could offer that to me.
Actually, that’s not true. She would’ve offered that easily when we met. What I wish is that I could’ve accepted her friendship and reciprocated it instead of shutting down any and all potential relationship we might’ve had, friendship or otherwise. But I chose Dom then, and though I’ve questioned that choice a million times since, I can’t go back to unring the bell on years of asshole behavior now.
Could this ring deal be the start of that? A chance to turn a bad situation into something good?
The hope that lights inside me at that idea is a dangerous thing. It’d be too easy to let it grow into an inferno of something much more than friendship. At least for me.
I tamp down my feelings the way I have so many times before, deliberately hardening my face into barely controlled annoyance as I approach her. “Penny?”
She turns light-filled amber eyes to me, her smile bright and her whole body relaxed until she sees me and my stony expression. The light dims, her smile fades, and her shoulders inch up toward her ears. “Hey! Thanks for coming.” She turns back to the dog, “Sorry. This is my friend I was telling you about, so I have to go. You’re such a good boy. You have a good walk and a good day, and make sure you get two yummy treats when you get home.” The dog wags his tail like he understood every word, and I realize she wasn’t talking to the owner, offering friendship I greedily wish I could have, but rather the dog.
Meanwhile, the dog’s owner is eyeballing me like I’ve interrupted the meet-cute with Penny that he’s going to wax poetic about at their wedding reception. I meet his glare with an unveiled threat in my cold eyes, silently ordering him to get the fuck out of here. Little does he know, I’m saving his life. Because if he doesn’t leave, and take the admittedly cute dog with him, I’m going to kill him.
But he heard Penny’s dismissal and has taken in my considerably larger size and hostile warning and wisely, albeit with disappointment, walks away.
“You couldn’t sit here for thirty minutes without flirting with some rando?” I accuse. I know I sound jealous as fuck, but I can’t help it. I am jealous ... of anyone who gets the relaxed, happy, vibrant version of Penny that I want. Especially when I get the bratty, annoyed version. It’s what I deserve, but it still stings.
“Clover came up to me,” she replies, throwing her hands wide.
“Not the dog. The guy.” I’m assuming the guy’s name wasn’t Clover, though, these days, who knows? I went to school with a guy named Pine. He was a hell of a math whiz who helped me cheat my way through trigonometry, so who am I to judge? But seriously, that guy’s name isn’t Clover, like the weed, right?
She looks down the sidewalk where they disappeared like she’s only now realizing that the dog had a guy holding the other end of the leash. She has no idea how gorgeous she is, how her radiant spirit shines out of her, attracting the attention of every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Clover in a one-mile radius.
Most of all, she has no idea that I see that beauty in her.
That’s how it has to be. It’s for the best.
When she looks back at me, I see how tired she is, and I twist inside. I should be helping her, and instead I’m a fucking vampire, sapping her strength. “This was a bad idea, wasn’t it? Never mind. I’ll be fine. You can go back home or wherever you were, to whatever you were doing. Just return to your regularly scheduled programming, and I’ll figure this out on my own.”
I snort out a humorless laugh. Fine, I’m a vampire, but I won’t let that continue. I need to fire her up again. “If you think for one second that I’m letting you talk to criminals by yourself, you’re crazier than I thought.”
