“Penn.”
His voice is eerily calm.
Penn’s eyes go wide as saucers, and he scrambles to pause the video, his entire face turning bright red. “Uh…hello, Caleb, sir.”
I stifle a laugh, biting down on the inside of my cheek as I watch Penn sit up straighter, suddenly looking like a guilty kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Dad’s expression is pure business now professional and unreadable, but I know better. This might be bad now, but it’s about to get a hell of a lot worse if I don’t step in and try to diffuse the situation.
I gently place a hand on my dad’s arm, a move that feels foreign yet familiar. My mom was big on physical touch to de-escalate situations and it’s something I’ve picked up from being raised by her. I’ve always felt it helps ground people in the moment. Bring them back inside their bodies when they feel like they’re losing control.
“Dad.” The word feels strange on my tongue, but it slips out anyway. I’m not trying to weaponize it against him, but right now, I can tell he needs his daughter and less an employee.“I need to do some dry needling on Penn now but,” I pause, channeling every ounce of my mom’s tenderness, the warmth she always exuded no matter how hard life got or how much someone wronged her. “How about we grab lunch tomorrow? During my break? If you’re free.”
There’s no mistaking the flicker of hope in his eyes. “I’d love that, Brianna.”
“We can have it in your office if you’d like,” I add softly.
And just like that… Relief floods his face. Like he’s been holding his breath this entire time, unsure of how to even begin this conversation with me. The way he says my name softly makes my chest ache. I can see it now. The hesitation. The uncertainty. He doesn’t know whether to hug me or leave me alone before I can change my mind. He’s trying to figure out how to navigate this.
Maybe…I’m still mad at him. No. Not maybe. Iamstill mad. For how he left. For all the ways he let me and my mom down. And I won’t be the one to work the hardest to fix this fractured relationship. He deserves to struggle for that. To grovel a bit and put in the effort. But this, throwing him a chance when he initiated the conversation by showing up outside the supply room, I can do. Because at my core, I’m a kind person. And everyone deserves a little kindness.
Even him.
“We’ll do it in my office. I’ll order some food for us.”
“Sure. See you then.”
After a few seconds pause, he smiles then turns to leave, and without another word he’s gone.
I let out a long, shaky breath, my hand going to my hair, smoothing down my red layers as I turn back to Penn. I’m goingto have lunch with my dad. I’m going to talk to the man for the first time since my mother’s funeral. I have no idea how this is going to go.
“Well…” Penn drawls, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face as he leans back on the table. “That was awkward as hell.”
I snort. “Yeah. First conversation with him since I started working here and the opening was you watching porn. Thanks for that.”
Penn flashes me a lopsided grin, his gaze dropping briefly to my new hair. “The red looks good on you. I like it. Sexy.”
I laugh and shake my head while setting up my supplies. “Thanks. Let’s work on your leg.”
And in the back of my mind, two thoughts linger: I hope Seth got out of the supply closet without being spotted. AndSeth likes it too.
Chapter 28 – Seth
I’m whistling.? That’s right.Whistling.
Like some love-struck fool while I move around my kitchen, putting the final touches on the lasagna that I made from scratch for my dinner date with Brianna tonight. The smell of garlic, basil, and marinara sauce fills the air, mingling with the anticipation of our first real date humming through me.
After slipping out of the supply closet earlier—when I knew the coast was clear and was certain I wouldn’t run into her dad—I met with Coach Steele to talk about our upcoming game, then hit the train, and just barely missed Bri. She texted me a little while later, said she was back at her and Natasha’s place to shower, and that she’d be over soon. Late dinner. Almost seven now. But I can’t wait to feed her. I can’t wait to spend time with her. I can’t wait to take care of her all night.
Do I know exactly what we’re doing? Fuck, no.
It’s been almost two years now since my ex walked out on me and Sawyer. A year since the divorce was finalized, and I’m fumbling through this thing with Bri, no playbook, following her lead, hoping like hell she doesn’t wake up one morning and decide that I’ve got too much baggage for her.
There’s something else that Bri doesn’t know about that first night we met. And that’s that it was the last time that I broke my self-imposed celibacy after my divorce. Call it punishment for fucking up, I’m not sure, but after that night together, I haven’t slept with another woman since.
And I don’t want to sleep with another ever again. My phone buzzes in my palm. A text from Sawyer.
Sawyer: Tell Bri I finished the book if you see her tonight. It was SO good.
I text back immediately.
