Page 113 of Cinder
Frankie softens a fraction. “You’re not going to, Penny.”
I lean forward to take my shot again.
“Has he kissed you?” Remi asks.
I miss, and she presses her lips together as I straighten slowly. My eyes find hers, and I tilt my head back with a sigh.
“Yes,” I breathe.
They gasp as I cover my face with my hands, meeting each other’s eyes with glee before turning back to me.
“Do you want him to do it again?”
“Yes,” I admit through my palms, surprising myself with how easily it comes out.
Frankie hums, satisfied. “Good. Progress.”
“It’s not progress,” I say. “It’s complicated.”
“Why?” Remi asks gently.
I exhale, letting my hands drop to grasp the cue again, and rolling it between my palms, watching the blue felt instead of them.
“Because I don’t want to be the reason something cracks,” I say finally. “He has a life, he has Elle. He’s careful for a reason.”
“And?” Frankie presses.
“And I have a history of misreading situations and bringing bad luck.”
Remi’s expression shifts, interested in my reasoning.
“I don’t know.” I shrug, but it feels thin. “I just think maybe I’m not always great at knowing when I’ve stopped being welcome somewhere.”
“What does that mean?” Remi asks gently.
I stare down at the pool table for a second before answering.
“My stepmother used to say I had a habit of bringing bad luck and making things harder,” I admit. “That I got too attached, and every time something went wrong, I made it messier by trying to fix it.”
Frankie’s face darkens immediately. “That’s bullshit.”
I hum, unsure. “After a while, you start wondering if maybe there’s some truth to it, especially when things keep falling apart, or people die.”
The music swells around us for a second, muffling the crack of another pool game somewhere behind me.
“I stayed in my dad’s company because I thought I could protect what he’d built. Be his lucky Penny.” I pause with a smile at the name, then shake my head. “But I couldn’t. Corners were cut, and decisions were made by my stepmother, and buildings went up that never should’ve…”
Remi’s hand brushes my arm, and my throat tightens slightly.
“Then my ex cheated on me with my friend from the office, and suddenly I was the idiot who didn’t see it coming.”
I let out a quiet breath, and Frankie swears softly.
“And now there’s Evan and Elle, and they’ve built this life together that feels solid and safe and good…” I glance down at my hands. “Evan is kind and courageous. He builds things the right way. And I think part of me is just waiting to be the thing that knocks it off balance.”
Then Frankie sets her cue down on the table with a hard clack.
“Penny, my love.” Her voice is gentler now as she turns to me, her hand reaching out to hold my arm. “You need to understand something.”
