“Oh, good. Could I borrow your hoodie then?”
“My hoodie?” He looked at me like I had asked to borrow something much weirder than a sweatshirt.
It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t even the weirdest thing I was going to ask him for.Give it to me, I silently pleaded.
“I guess,” he said. He pulled it off and tossed it at me.
I quickly pulled it on over my shirt. “That helped a little, but geez, it’s still freezing. Our air conditioning must be broken in the way that it won’t turn off. Can I borrow your pants too?”
This time he stared at me like I had asked to borrow his pants. Which made sense, because I had. I'd earned his stare this time.
“Um…no.”
I laughed awkwardly. “Why? They’re just pants.”
“They wouldn’t even fit you.”
“I know. That’s the point. They’ll be big and comfy…”
“I pack light, Penny. I didn’t bring a million outfits with me like Melissa did.” He laughed. “I can’t just give you my pants.”
“Please?”
He just stared at me.
“I don’t have any comfy clothes here. And I’m so freaking cold. And all I want in the entire world is a warm pair of sweatpants to make me feel normal again.”
“If it seriously means that much to you, why don’t you just borrow a pair of sweats from James?”
“I don’t want his. I want nothing to do with him.”
He pressed his lips together as he stared at me. And then he shook his head. “Fine. Turn around will you?”
I turned away from the bed. In a few seconds, I felt a rolled up ball of sweatpants hit my back. “Thank you!” I pulled them on over my workout leggings. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Eh, I’ll just come watch the movie after I put on another pair of pants.” He set his laptop to the side. “Work can wait until tomorrow.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Your work is important.” I literally had no idea what he did for a living. Hopefully it was important. “Plus, Melissa’s going to be mad I stole your pants. Let me go explain everything to her. And I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out.”
He laughed. “You’re probably right about her being mad about the pants. Okay, fine. I need a minute to change anyway.” Hisbottom half was under the covers, but I knew for a fact that he was pants-less.
“Great. Just…stay here until I say you can come out.”
There was that strange look again. “Okay.”
I lifted the hood on the hoodie. “See you.” I realized it was weird to say goodbye like that when I was supposed to see him again in a few minutes. But it was goodbye. And he had helped me tremendously in my escape. This was the perfect disguise. The security team would think I was still in the guest room and that Josh was the one trolloping around the house.
“Is Josh com…” Melissa’s voice trailed off when she saw me. “What the hell are you wearing?”
“No, Josh isn’t coming. He’s working, remember? Don’t bother him.”
“It was your idea. Seriously, Penny, why are you wearing his clothes?”
“I suddenly got really cold.”
