Assholes.
“Language,” Dad snaps at Jude before I can spit out a kid-friendly retort.
Iris suppresses her own laughter, reaching over to slam her hand over her idiot boyfriend's mouth. Lexi covers her laugh behind a forkful of steamed broccoli.
My mother spoons a serving of mashed potatoes onto Dad's plate. “Walker, why didn't you invite Penny to dinner?”
"I don't think Penny's available tonight, Ma," I grumble as I reach for a piece of fried chicken with the tongs.
Lexi sits straighter in her seat. "Oh, Penny's available tonight."
"Totally available," Iris confirms.
I glare at them. Traitors. Quick to throw me under the bus.
I can feel Mom's eyes boring into my skull. "Next time?" She suggests. She tries to speak in a neutral voice but I hear a lilt of hopefulness in her tone. Before I can argue, she rushes in to clarify. “I’m not trying to be pushy or anything. I just know that you and Penny are friends. That’s why I made the suggestion.”
I can feel Lexi and Iris's attention fixed intently on me as they wait for my response.
Good grief.
I love my mother's cooking but hell, tonight, she's tossed me onto the grill. I think next time I'll stay at my cabin, make myself a ham sandwich and skip on family dinner.
I shake my head, busying myself with my heaping plate. “I know you have good intentions, Ma, but I don’t need your intervention here.”
Look—I don’t mean to be curt with my mother, but I spent the whole afternoon on the phone arguing with equipment dealers, trying to find a reasonable deal on some new eco-friendly tractors that function reliably without slowly poisoning the planet with pollution. Having all that on my plate, the last thing I want is to be arguing with my family, too.
Ma mimics zipping her lips closed and throwing away her imaginary key. The conversation moves on. Cannon launches into a discussion about Jude's long road to recovery following the back-to-back knee injuries that nearly ended his professional football career. Then, they start talking about some reality series they're all bingeing on Netflix. Soon, everyone forgets me and my single nature. But I do feel both my sisters-in-law eyeing me more than once. I’m not sure what their deal is, but it makes me wonder if Penny gave them her version of last night's events.
The tiresome dinner ends eventually. My parents go off to put Callie to bed, leaving the rest of us to handle kitchen clean-up. It takes longer than absolutely necessary since the girls are so busy taking selfies and playing with their phones. Plus, Lexi has to run off and use the bathroom every thirty seconds.
In any case, when the table is cleared and the last of the dishes are in the dishwasher, my brothers and their women invite me to the family room to watch the next episode of their Netflix reality show.
I decline. I'm exhausted from being the odd man out. I’ve had my fill of uncomfortable situations tonight. I just want to get back to my damn house and kick back on my couch with a beer. The girls make a few attempts to convince me to hang out but give up soon enough.
The happy couples wander off toward the TV in the family room and I hang around in the kitchen for a bit, picking at the leftovers, with nothing but thoughts of my best friend to keep me company.
Dammit. I wish I could stop thinking about last night. I hated walking away from her. I hated leaving her alone in her bed when all I wanted was to climb beneath the sheets with her.
I hated trying to fight my attraction toward her. Christ. It about killed me. Even when she’s drunk, she’s adorable. Beautiful. Perfect.
It’s pathetic. I know. Pining away after one girl my whole life…I should probably take another shot at getting over her.
The only thing more tragic than spending the rest of my life not being Penny’s lover would be taking a chance with her, screwing up somehow and losing her friendship completely. So loving her at arm’s length is crisis management, actively choosing the lesser of two evils instead of letting fate make the choice for me.
Pushing my inner dialogue aside I head off toward the family room to say good night. Just as I'm about to pop my head in, I hear a phone ding. Iris answers. It sounds like Penny's voice pouring in through the speakers.
Cold bumps sprout up on my arms and an iron fist squeezes my gut.
The girls haven’t seen me yet, and I let my footsteps falter, keeping me just outside the doorway. Through the crack in the door, I see Lexi lower onto the arm of the loveseat where Iris is sitting. They crowd around the phone screen. I know I should leave but now my heels are glued to the goddamn floor.
What about Penny? Whatever is up with her, I need to hear this.
"Did you get my email?" I hear Penny ask. "I sent over a few more sketches and some tile patterns I think would look interesting on the back wall."
Iris makes a series of excited yipping sounds and tells Penny she's going to open the email immediately. As Iris clicks around on her phone, Lexi carries on the conversation. "Hun, let me set up a consultation for you with Cannon. Just so you can go over your business ideas. Are you free one afternoon next week?"
Business ideas?
Alongside operating the family's real estate business, Kingston Holdings, Cannon and Lexi run a non-profit together. Something to do with helping the small businesses around town. They give all kinds of free services and advice.
But Penny never mentioned she was opening a business. Not to me at least.
My best friend gives Lexi her availability then sighs. "Thanks for being so supportive, guys. I'm taking a lot onto my plate and honestly, I'm not sure I'll be able to do it without your help."
I feel a pang that she didn't come to me for help. Hell, she didn't even bother to tell me she plans to open up shop. And I wonder just how much damage I did to our friendship when
