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Rhys put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the living room. They sank down on the couch side by side.
“Tell me about Gage Russo.”
Her brother was never one to mince words or beat around the bush. He was also the best listener on the planet, so she told him.
Everything.
Every. Single. Thing.
About the bet, the makeover, the lessons.
He sat quietly as she unloaded every heavy feeling, only asking the occasional question here and there for clarification, but otherwise allowing her to tell it all without interruption.
“And then he left. I haven’t seen him at work. Haven’t spoken to him since Friday night.”
Rhys sighed. “I didn’t know you’d been so lonely, Penny. I’m sorry for that. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own life that—”
“Stop. Don’t go that direction. Youshouldbe wrapped up in your life because you finally have one,” she teased. She’d spent most of their adult years giving her big brother, the doctor, shit for his workaholic ways.
“Very funny. And I know you feel bad, and you might not get this right now, but I have to say…I’m proud of you.”
“Proud of me?” she asked, bemused. “For sleeping with my playboy boss and catching feelings I knew wouldn’t be returned?”
Rhys shook his head. “For acknowledging that something was missing in your life and for being brave enough to seek it out. I wasn’t smart enough to know how pathetic my life was until Jess and Jasper crash-landed into it and knocked some sense into me.”
“I’m sure you would have figured it out.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t have. Sex lessons notwithstanding—and please don’t feel like I need any details about those because Ireallydon’t—I think Gage taught you other, more valuable lessons.”
“Like?”
“Like loving yourself. Knowing your worth. How to fall in love, and even what a broken heart feels like—nobody in the world escapes that one, and I don’t think they should. It makes them appreciate the next person who comes along even more. He didn’t leave because ofyou, Penny. You know that, right?”
She nodded. That was the one truth that had made her pain more bearable. “I know.”
“He left because ofhim. And given the things you’ve told me, I suspect he’s suffering as much as, if not worse than, you are.”
She hoped not. She’d witnessed too much of the pain he still carried over his mother’s suicide. She would hate to think she was causing him even more.
Rhys put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him as he said, “Now promise me you won’t be one of those people who believes they can change someone. Gage walked away because he hasn’t dealt with his past, and therefore, he can’t give you what you want. You have to accept that.”
“I do,” Penny insisted. “I’m perfectly aware that the only person I can change is me. I’ve started the transformation, but I need to keep going.”
“Going how?”
“I’m going full-on T. Swift. Gonna shake this off. Move on. I’m even going to find a date for my birthday party.”
Rhys smiled. “That’s my girl.”
“My game isn’t over yet. I still have a few more lives to play with.”
He rose from the couch. “You and those damn video games. Put some shoes on.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re coming to dinner at my place. Knowing you, there’s nothing in that refrigerator of yours but days-old takeout and frozen pizza.”
“Actually, there’s not even that much. I was about to have cereal for dinner,” she confessed.
“Don’t tell Aunt Berta that unless you’re prepared for a very long lecture on the importance of good food.”
Penny pretended to lock her lips, tossing away the imaginary key. While her chest was still tight, she felt infinitely lighter than she had an hour ago.
Thank God for big brothers.
