Sean nodded. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Sean moved to stand up, then hesitated. “You know if Brett did anything . . . if he treated you like—”
“Brett didn't do anything.”
Sean's lips drew into a line. “You know we'd back you up, though. All you need to do is call. I don't care if he has a knee injury. I'd be happy to show him what's what.”
Penny laughed under her breath. “I think in this scenario, he probably wishes you'd shake some sense into me instead.”
Sean gave a lopsided grin. “Brett hasn't learned yet. That's not how it works.”
Penny laughed as Sean stood and picked up his pop. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Penny threw out her trash and washed her spoon, then folded the quilt and used the bathroom downstairs. She didn't take the sheets off the couch because she was planning to use it one more night. The thought of staying at the apartment still filled her with dread.
But she did have packing to do. Penny got in her car and drove back home. She breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived and saw that Brett's car was gone.Four hours.She rushed inside and got to work.
_____
Penny moved back to her own bed the next day. She and Brett didn't talk about dissolving their dinner rotation, but they both read between the lines and did their own thing. Besides accidentally passing him once when she walked out to get something from her car, she'd successfully avoided being in the same room as him.
It was childish, but she still didn't have any explanation that would make the situation better. Nothing she said would reverse the hurt, and that would only drag her deeper. She just had to white-knuckle it until she could drive back home and sort herself out.
This was why it wasn't a good idea to date roommates.Housemates.He was there on the other side of the wall at all times, which only tapped the little ice pick further into her heart.
On Friday evening, Penny hadn't heard the front door open and was positive that Brett had gone out after work. Her mind wanted to run wild with that one, imagining all the places he could be or people he could be meeting up with. She shut it down and walked out into the kitchen to heat up the last of her chicken fajitas, which she’d taken home after stopping at the Ranch House for dinner on her way home from Kelty’s the other night.
She stuttered a step and pulled up short when she found Brett leaning against the counter looking at his phone. Penny froze as Brett looked up. The sadness was back. All of it.
“Hey.” His voice was low.
“Hey.” Penny didn't know what to do next. If she stepped toward the refrigerator, she'd be dangerously close to him, but if she didn't do something, he'd wonder why she came out here in the first place.
She wanted to ask him a million questions. The last five days felt like a thousand, and she wanted to hear every thought rolling through his head. Every problem he'd come across at work. Every clip on his phone that made him laugh out loud. Every second he thought about her.Every time he’d wanted her.
Brett's hair hung in loose waves to his shoulders, and he was still wearing his slightly dusty T-shirt and work pants. “I did it,” he said. “Laced up my skates and got on the ice.”
Penny's heart bubbled over. “You did? When?”
She hated that she'd missed it. She hated that he'd gone over to the rink without even telling her. But what did she expect? She'd been avoiding him like that guy at the office who asked you out and you said you’d check your schedule but never did.
Brett nodded. “I felt like Bambi in that scene when he’s on the ice with his legs all splayed out.”
Penny laughed. “I'm sure it wasn't that bad.”
“The team had a good laugh.”
They were all there.Of course they were.“I'm really happy for you, Brett.”
He looked up with what seemed like a hundred words waiting on his lips. As Penny stared into those baby blues, that invisible thread attached to her spine stretched between them, tugging her in the only direction it could. Forward.
Her legs moved before she could intervene, and she reached for him. Brett dropped his phone on the counter and pulled her into his arms.
“I'm so sorry,” Penny whispered, her breath already coming in short bursts.
