Page 58 of The Complete Truth Duet
I laughed.
He shrugged. “What about you?”
I chewed on my bottom lip. I’d been in college for years, taking one class at a time. At first, that had been all I could afford. Cash hadn’t always been easy to come by. But, more recently, time had been the hardest commodity to come by. Most of the classes I took were online, but without a computer at home, I had to hit the local library. My coming and goings weren’t monitored by any means, but that was only because I’d never raised suspicions. If I started disappearing for hours a day, who knew what would have happened. Flying under the radar was always the safest. And that included keeping my mouth shut about my accomplishments even when I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
I shot him a flirty wink and parroted, “Lie. Florida State.”
“Right,” he chuckled. “Your turn.”
I snuggled deeper into his side. “Do you have a relationship with your parents?”
“They’re dead,” he answered curtly. “Drew’s all I got left.”
Wincing, I whispered, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. They lived a good life. Loved each other. Loved me. I loved them. Nothing to feel bad about.” He was silent for several seconds after that, lost in reflection. So I allowed him his time, but I did it while lazily drawing circles over his abs.
He abruptly cleared his throat. “Shit. Ah, okay. I’m up.” His hand anchored in the curve of my hip, trailed up my side. “You got any friends?”
“I have a lot of friends.”
“No, Cora. I don’t mean the women in this building. I mean girlfriends that you stay on the phone bullshitting with for hours on end. Or get dressed up, go out to a bar, and cut loose with, laughing too damn loud while annoying every patron in the building, yet still attracting the eyes of every man.”
“Oh. Then no.”
“What about that Catalina?”
My head jerked back and my entire body turned to granite at the mere mention of her name. “What?”
He gave me a squeeze. “Relax. I’m only asking because you mentioned you two used to be tight, and short of River and Savannah, I haven’t seen you be anything even resembling tight with anyone else.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I mentioned we used to be tight?”
He put his chin to his chest and looked down at me. “Yeah, babe. While you were trying to kick me out of your apartment and accusing me of reporting back to Manuel.”
I blinked, racking my mind. I rarely said anything about Catalina. Though that particular night, I hadn’t been thinking straight. My aching heart and furious mouth had been running that show, so it wasn’t exactly impossible that I’d mentioned something. I just didn’t remember it. Which, depending on what I’d said, could be a dangerous thing. Even if I’d only said it to Penn.
“What else did I say?”
“Nothing. Just that and that you didn’t know where she was followed by a whole lot of, ‘Get the fuck out.’”
I blew out a relieved breath. “Okay, good.”
His brows shot up, crinkling his forehead. “Something you want to tell me?”
I pursed my lips and shook my head. “Nope. And truth. No, I don’t have any girlfriends that I get dressed up and go out with. That’s not a luxury I’ve ever had. Not when Cat was still around and not since she’s been gone, either. Though that does sound fun. Maybe when the weather gets cold again and things slow down, I’ll suggest a night out to some of the girls.”
He shifted, inching down at the same time he pulled me up until we were sharing the same pillow. “You can talk to me. You know that, right?”
“Course,” I whispered, pecking his lips. It was only a half-lie. I did feel comfortable talking with Penn. I loved this little game of tit-for-tat. But not at the risk of Catalina’s life. “My turn. How’d you get the name Penn?”
He frowned, ignoring me. “You miss her?”
My stomach knotted—at the question and the answer. “Every day.”
“You think she’s still alive?”
I didn’t want to hear the alarm bells.
I didn’t want to feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise in warning.
And I definitely didn’t want to see the rapt interest as he held my gaze waiting for my reply.
But it was there. All of it.
And it made a panic build within me until I was ready to bolt.
“I’m going to grab something to drink. You want—” I turned away and started to sit up, but his hard front became flush with my back. His strong arms folded around me from behind, tight enough to restrain me, loose enough that I could easily escape.
Pure Penn.
“I hate that you’re alone,” he rasped. “I hate that you spend ninety percent of your time trapped between these four walls. I hate that the only friends you have are women who need you rather than want you. I hate that you have no family to lean on. And, while I fucking love that every night you’re waiting for me to get here, I fucking hate that I’m not shoving people out the door in order to spend time with you. You need good people in your life, Cora, and Catalina is the first and only person I’ve heard you mention as being that to you. So I’m sorry if talking about her upsets you, but if there’s something I could do to get that back for you, I’d like to at least try.”
