Page 24 of Screwed By My Roommate
He continues to shake his head, running his fingers through it. “No way. No fucking way.” He looks at me and I see the hate in his eyes. “She’s my sister.”
“And she’s the love of my life. I can’t help that she happens to be your sister too,” I say, grinning.
“You’re taking advantage of a young woman,” he says.
I shake my head, looking back at my bedroom. “I am definitely not taking advantage of her. I fought this for years. I tried to keep my distance. I accepted that I’d be miserable for the rest of my life. But things changed while you were gone, and I realized punishing her and myself to keep from pissing you off wasn’t worth it. I don’t want to lose your friendship, Henry. You’re my best friend; my brother. But if I have to choose. If you make me choose. It will be Penny every single time.”
He comes at me again, but this time Penny’s soft voice stops us both.
“Stop it.”
She comes to stand between us, and I can’t fight the grin on my face when I see her in my shirt. It’s huge on her but damn I like that she’s wearing it.
“Henry, I’m sorry you had to find out about Jace, and me like that. I’m humiliated you walked in on that,” she begins.
“What the fuck are you thinking, Penny? He doesn’t respect women. He uses them. He’s going to hurt you,” Henry says, searching her face.
She shakes her head, keeping her eyes on him. “Maybe he did, but not with me. He loves me and I love him.”
Henry’s eyes widen and she smiles.
“I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember.”
He begins to laugh, but it’s a humorless, hollow laugh. “This is fucking unreal. This can’t be happening. No way is my best friend screwing my baby sister.”
“Is that what the problem is?” Penny asks.
We both look at her.
She continues, “Is it the fact that Jace is your best friend? If I was with someone else, someone who made me deliriously happy, would it be a problem?”
I smile, loving that I make her feel that way.
“Yes! I know Jace much better than you, Penny. You have no idea the kind of guy he really is,” he pleads with her.
I step forward, having heard enough. “Penny knows me better than anyone else. She knows my fucking soul. You think you know me, but you know the guy who was miserable because the girl he wanted was untouchable. I was aching for more and angry I’d never get it. So, I did treat women unfairly. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of to try to get rid of the pain. But none of it worked because Penny was and is the only one who can do that. I won’t apologize for the shit I did because it was the only way I could manage my pain.” I reach for Penny’s hand, and she links her fingers with mine. “I’ll take your hits and your shit talk because, in the end, I’ll still have my girl.”
She looks up at me, her soft green eyes filled with tears. I pull her to me and wrap my arms around her.
“I swear to you I will protect her and give her the fucking world. I'll make her happy. You have my word,” I say, staring at Henry.
He scrubs his face and looks at me. “Jace, you fucking for real?”
I grin at him and nod. That is something we’ve said since we were kids. Every time one of us did something the other couldn’t believe.
“I’m fucking for real.”
Penny pulls away from me and looks over at Henry. “I know it’s hard for you, Henry. We never wanted to cause you any pain, but if I’m not with him, I’m in pain. Please try to accept this. I need my brother too.”
Henry looks between us and shakes his head. “This is gonna take getting used to.”
“I can live with that,” Penny says.
I nod, accepting it.
I smile down at Penny and press a kiss to her soft lips.
“Oh Christ, haven’t I seen enough,” Henry groans.
