Page 34 of Rival Season
“Yes,” I answer, still taken aback by how easygoing he is.
“Easy to focus without a bunch of noise coming from your ceiling, eh?” He winks.
I laugh, and he finally closes my door and makes his way back to the driver’s seat.
Turning, I look back at his sister and she’s wearing an easy smile like her older brother. “Hey!” she says. “Remember me? I’m Cassie.”
I grimace. “Yes, sorry about the last time we met.”
She waves me off, her funky auburn bob bouncing with the movement. “I can’t believe you two are dating now.” Cassie looks between me and Penn as he drives forward through the parking lot.
“She couldn’t resist my rugged good looks,” Penn says.
Cassie rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. “I love your sweater,” she says, her gaze dropping down to my shoulder.
“Thank you! It’s vintage Chanel. Thrifted, of course.”
“Shut up!” Cassie’s mouth drops open. “I love thrifting.”
“Is that why you dragged me around to fifty thrift shops today?” Penn asks in a bored tone.
Cassie huffs a laugh, cupping her hand over her mouth like she’s telling me a secret. “Between the two of us, Penn is the shopper. Don’t believe him for a second.”
I look at the man in question. “Is that right?”
Penn smiles. “It’s fun, I guess.” I’m ready with a sarcastic retort, but then he adds, “Well, now it is. I never had money to shop until this last year."
His statement has my heart softening.
A few minutes later, we pull up to a nice-looking dorm. Penn parks, then turns to his sister. “Text me when you’re in your room, okay?”
She looks at me and shakes her head like he’s so over-protective…but I think it’s really sweet he cares about her so much.
Cassie leans forward and wraps her arms around Penn in a quick but fierce bear hug. Then, she touches me on the shoulder. “It was good to see you again, Hazel.”
She sounds like she really means it. “You too,” I tell her as she says goodbye and hops out of his truck, giving us a wave as she enters the building. Penn’s phone lights up and he stares down at it, then groans. “I’m gonna be late for trivia night. I totally forgot.”
“Trivia night?”
“We go every week per Ally’s demand.” He wrinkles his nose. “She said it keeps our brains sharp, and with all those pucks to the head, we need it.”
I laugh. “I can picture her saying that. Sorry I made you late.”
He turns to me. “You have to stop apologizing. And this is coming from a Canadian—we’re famous for that shit.”
“Okay, s?—”
He arches an eyebrow before the word is out of my mouth, so I roll my lips together.
Another text pops up on his screen, he angles the phone so I can read it. I smile at Cassie’s message telling him she’s safely in her room. Penn tosses his phone onto the seat beside him, relaxing before he backs out of the parking spot. Once we’re on the road, he turns the radio on and “I Walk the Line”hums softly through the speakers.
“You know,” Penn says, breaking the comfortable silence. “You could come to trivia night with us. You’ve been working your ass off all day; you deserve to have a little fun.”
I mull it over for a second. “I don’t know; I’m usually in my pajamas by eight.”
“Okay, but guess who won’t be at trivia night…”
I groan. “Ugh, Chadwick.”
