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The corner of my mouth curls up into a smile as I jog down the steps toward my desk. I don’t bother to look back, because Eli Donnelley is firmly in my rearview mirror now. I’m growing up and moving on.
And he can’t hurt me anymore.
14
Present Day
“So that’s about it.” Holly drained the Pepsi from her glass, her throat parched from talking for so long. She’d have preferred another martini, but she had to drive home tonight. Switching to non-alcoholic beverages over an hour ago had been a necessity.
Penn flopped back against the booth and let out a long sigh. “I don’t even know what to say. I sure as hell never expected that. It’s all so...”
“Complicated?” Holly finished, arching a brow.
“Don’t you want to knowwhyhe did it?” Penn asks, leaning forward. “If I were you, it would be eating me up inside. I’d need to know. Hell, I need to know now!”
Holly shrugged.
“You guys were so close. I think he really was into you, Holly. Maybe he just got freaked out afterward. But regardless, you deserve to know what happened.”
“If he did get freaked out, he should have been honest with me about it. Not be a fucking coward and end things by not returning texts or putting his arm around that bitch, Stacie. He knew exactly what he was doing when he did that. He knew it would hurt me.”
“Yeah, he should have been honest,” Penn admits. “But I don’t know, Hol. If I were you, I’d still ask him about it.”
“Ask him about what happened all those years ago? Do you know how silly I feel that it still bothers me?”
“It’s not silly. You have to relive all of that shit, all of that history, every single time you see him.”
Holly toyed with her straw, poking at the ice in the bottom of her glass. “Yeah, but that history is ancient.”
“Oh, bullshit. That history is in your face, all the time. You’ve got feelings for him, Holly.Don’tdeny it.”
“He told me earlier tonight that he never wanted anyone like he wants me,” Holly murmured.
Penn bit down on her lip. “Really?”
“He said theexactsame thing to me the night we slept together. Word for fucking word.”
“Maybe it’s the truth,” Penn offered.
“Or maybe it’s a line he uses on every woman whose panties he wants in,” Holly countered.
Penn fell silent for a moment, then scratched her chin.
“Uh-oh,” Holly said, giving her a wary look. “I know that chin scratch. You’re about to tell me something I won’t like.”
“I am,” Penn agreed, meeting her eyes. “Holly, when you were telling me that story, you said that back then, you decided that you were moving on and that he couldn’t hurt you anymore. Newsflash, babe: he’s still hurting you. And you have no hope of moving past any of this until you tell him all of the things you never got to say.”
Holly made a dismissive noise. “I give him shit all the time, Penn. I—”
“No. That isn’t the same, and you know it. You need to find out why he did it. And you need to have your say over what happened.” Penn gave her a direct look. “You know I’m right. Otherwise, how else are you going to get through this 30 day assignment?”
“Damn,” Holly muttered. “When did you get so bossy? This is all Keller’s doing, isn’t it?”
Penn laughed and squeezed Holly’s arm. “This is not West’s influence. I told you, I learned from the best, and that’s you, babe.” She glanced down at her phone. “Okay, I’m going downstairs to check on my boyfriend. It’s late, and it sounds like people have cleared out. Are you coming?”
“Yeah, I’ll be down in a few minutes. I need to pee first, though. Those martinis were only renting space.”
Penn grinned. “Okay. See you down there.”
