Page 37 of Rival Season
Penn snorts a laugh. “Chad-dick’s clearly upping his douchebag game. It’s almost impressive how disgusting he is.”
“What am I going to do? It’s like, eleven PM. I can’t call a locksmith at this hour.”
“Guess you’re bunking with me tonight, Bubbles.”
I tut. “Um, no. Absolutely not.”
Penn comes to stand right in front of me. “What would enrage Chad-dick more than you sleeping in my bed?”
I narrow my eyes at him. Penn Matthews is either an expert at seducing women, or he’s an evil genius. Perhaps both.
I decide not to over think it too much, though, because I’m exhausted and need a place to sleep…and I do like the thought of Chadwick’s mean trick backfiring on him. “Okay, fine.”
“That’s my girl,” Penn says with a grin as he grabs my phone and sends a reply to Chadwick.
He passes my phone back to me and I read the text and burst out laughing.
Hazel
No worries, guess I’ll just sleep at Penn’s. His bed is comfier than mine, anyway. Have a good night!!
“He’s going to freak,” I say with a shake of my head.
“Yup.”
I look up at my fake boyfriend. “Thanks for letting me crash at your place…but no funny business.”
Penn holds his hands up in surrender. “These magical hands will stay far away from you, promise.”
I stare at his wide palms and long fingers, remembering the way he rubbed my neck at the bar. Somehow, I don’t think he’s exaggerating by calling them magical.
I fully believe those hands are capable of greatness.
CHAPTER 13
PENN
A few months back,Harry Styles—Ally’s cat—hopped up on the kitchen counter and fell into a sink full of soapy water. Ally ran to fish him out and then she wrapped him in a towel so his bedraggled, wet face was the only thing peeking out as she snuggled the startled animal. I felt bad for the guy, I really did, but his expression was totally hilarious: frozen in wide-eyed, horrified shock.
Tonight, when Hazel comes back from the bathroom wearing one of my T-shirts and sees me lying in my bed, her face takes on the same wide-eyed, horrified expression. I have to laugh, because while this scenario might sound like something conjured straight out of my fantasies—a beautiful girl I enjoy spending time with about to get into bed with me—the reality is a lot less sexy, and a lot more startled cat-like than I would have dreamt it.
“Stop laughing!” Hazel shuts the door and then her hands immediately go to the hem of my T-shirt, tugging it in an attempt to make it longer, even though it already hangs to her mid-thigh. Hazel’s tall, but I’m taller.
“I’m not laughing at you, I promise,” I tell her through a chuckle. “It’s just—you look like Ally’s cat after it fell in the sink…” I trail off into laughter again, and Hazel frowns.
“I look like a wet cat?!” she demands, putting her hands on her hips—until the action has the shirt creeping higher on her thighs and she remembers what she’s wearing and hurriedly grabs the hem again, tugging it back down. She looks cute this way, more undone without her usual loafers and plaid skirt.
I like it.
“No, no.” I shake my head, trying to stop my laughter. “You just looked really spooked when you walked in here.”
“Because I wasn’t expecting to come back from the bathroom and find you naked!”
“What?” I prop myself up on my hands so I’m sitting up in bed, then pull the comforter down, showing my lower half. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Bubbles. I’m wearing pajama pants. Obviously.”
Hazel eyes my bare chest warily before she glances down quickly to see my pants for herself. A flush creeps over her neck. “I just saw you not wearing a shirt and assumed you didn’t have pants on, either.”
“I can always lose the pants if you prefer,” I say with a smirk, remembering how gentle teasing seems to relax her and make her feel more comfortable.
