“I’m not avoiding you,” she mutters. “Maybe I just don’twantto touch you.”
She doesn’t make eye contact with me as she stirs her drink—hard enough to chip the glass.
“See, I think you’re worried that it will bring up something. You won’t even look at me,” I add, my tone bordering on cocky.
I know I’m goading her.
It’s a risk, but if I’m going to keep my promise to Fia and Danny, I need her to talk to me again, and unless she’s willing to bring up the past, I don’t know if we’ll have any type of future.
And until I saw her again, I didn’t know how badly I wanted a future, of any kind, with her.
I’d settle for being civil.
She takes a long sip, so long I wince. That much vodka could strip paint. But she drinks like it’s water.
“Don’t flatter yourself,Mr. Rivers. Maybe I just don’t like what I see.”
I push back my hair and can’t help but smile. “So you didn’t like what you saw in the hallway?”
She glares at me like she wants to throw the glass at my face, but I don’t flinch.
“You’re insufferable,” Penny spits out.
“I think staying in the same house and avoiding the elephant in the room is insufferable,” I reply sharply.
If I learned anything over the last ten years, it’s to say what you really feel. I’m not going to lay it all out at once and overwhelm her, but shit, I have a lot to say.
“I’m not here forthis.” She points between us. “I’m here for my sister. You’re just a leech who wandered in.”
Well shit, tell me how you really feel.
“Okay,” I say, pushing off the counter, hands raised. “You win. I’ll back off.”
She grabs a takeout container from the counter and shoves it toward me.
“What’s this?”
“Dinner,” she says flatly.
“I didn’t think we were ondinnerterms.” I’m not complaining, just confused as hell.
“I’m not a complete bitch, believe it or not.” Penny snatches the other container. “Actually, I’m a pretty fun and upbeat person. But your presence has turned me into someone I hardly recognize.”
There’s exasperation in her voice, but underneath it is hurt she disguises with a lashing tongue. For a second, I feel like a complete asshole. I never meant to make this harder for her.
I just want to talk, to get it out. Because pretending we didn’t blow each other’s lives apart is slowly driving me insane. But I’ve learned how to wait.
Prison teaches you that.
So I’ll weather Penny’s storm...because sooner or later, she’s going to have to look our history in the face.
If she doesn’t murder me first.
“I appreciate it.” I hold up dinner. “Really.” I smile at her.
Kill her with kindness, right?
Penny silently exits the kitchen and heads upstairs, presumably to eat her food in peace, away from me. Sushi and vodka soda seem like a horrible mix, but I’m not about to give her any advice.
