“No, I'm sorry.” Brett smoothed his hand over her hair. “I never should have said those things.”
“You weren’t wrong. I just—”
“I know. I know.” Brett kissed her temple and brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, sweeping away the tears already spilling over her cheeks. Being held by him felt like sinking into a hot bath, and her legs wanted to give out. It was true that nothing she said or did was going to change anything, but if they both had to feel this way, at least they could sink together.
She stood there for what felt like hours, pressed against him as their breathing slowed and synced, their hearts settling into one consistent beat.
Brett exhaled. “Do you need something to eat?”
Penny nodded against his chest. She leaned back and ran her palms over her puffy eyes, then opened the fridge and pulled out her leftovers. Brett pulled out an almost identical takeout container and grinned.
They took turns with the microwave, then stood next to each other while they ate. When they finished, they threw away the containers and put their forks in the dishwasher.
As Penny straightened, Brett grabbed her hand without a word and pulled her down the hall. He threw his sheets open and they climbed into bed together. As soon as they were settled, Brett scooped her against his chest, curling around her until she couldn't tell where he ended and she began.
Penny closed her eyes, gripping onto his hands and letting go of every thought about tomorrow. She had twelve hours—they had twelve hours—and she was going to steep in every last one of them.
ChapterTwenty-Five
The next morning,Penny awoke alone in Brett's bed. She jolted up and checked the time on her phone.Seven thirty.She peered into the bathroom, but there were no sounds coming through the open door and no lights were on.
It was a Saturday. Had Brett decided to go to the gym? Penny frowned and threw her legs off the mattress. She walked to her room and freshened up, then stowed her toiletries in her backpack.
This was happening. The truck was parked out front, and she was going to drive away from this apartment. Somehow it didn’t seem real. Had she only left Danny eight weeks ago? It felt like an eternity. It felt like she didn’t remember her life before Brett.She didn’t want to.
Penny drew a deep breath to try and force feeling into her limbs. She’d finished packing before she walked out into the kitchen the night before, and all her tubs and boxes, which weren't many, stood in a neat line against the wall. She stripped the sheets from the bed and tucked them into her bedding bin, then started shuttling all her belongings to the entryway.
She'd only taken two trips when the doorbell rang. Penny adjusted her hair clip and opened it to find Tyler, Sean, Country, Suraj, and Fly all standing on the front step.
She gaped.Had she told the team what day she was moving?“How much stuff do you think I have?” She gestured to the small moving truck parked against the curb. With all of them helping, this was going to take less than half an hour.
Tyler pointed to the driveway. “Is your equipment all ready to go?”
Penny leaned out the door. “You remember the code, right?”
Tyler gave her a thumbs up and took Fly with him around back. The others started grabbing the boxes she'd stacked next to the door. Penny had overestimated. Within fifteen minutes, the Snowballs had loaded everything into the back of the truck, and Sean was already working on hooking up the trailer to tow her car.
“You sure you're going to be okay driving this thing?” Tyler asked.
Penny stood on the top step of the porch and rocked on her feet. “People do it all the time, right?” Truthfully, she was nervous to drive this behemoth over the pass. When she’d voiced her concerns to Brett, he said that meant she probably shouldn’t do it. She should probably just stay there. They’d laughed then, but after their conversation in PT the other day, those comments packed a punch.
Penny had gone down a rabbit hole at Kelty’s, double and triple checking her route. At least the weather looked clear, but there was always road work to contend with, and forecasts over the mountains were never a hundred percent.
She was actually most nervous about crossing into Vancouver city limits. On the open highway, people were used to navigating around RVs and campers. In the city, people were just going to be annoyed.
Penny glanced down the road hoping to see Brett's car coming back from the rec center.Where was he?He knew she was loading up, or he wouldn't have told the whole team to show up. Though, that could have been Kelty.
Maybe he didn't want to be here when she left? She couldn't blame him for that, even though it made her want to smack him.
“Where are your keys?” Sean called.
Penny turned and snagged her waist pack from the floor of the entryway. She descended the steps and handed it to him.
“Are you okay with me pulling it up on here?” Sean pointed at her car.
Penny held up her hands. “Please do. I don’t trust myself to get the wheels in the right position.”
“I doubt he's a better option,” Tyler teased, and Sean flipped him the bird. Penny stood on the sidewalk and watched as Sean inched her car up onto the trailer. As soon as he got it in the right spot, Tyler got to work securing it.
