Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 115763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“Can we do this later? I promise you can beat me to a pulp later. Right now, I need to make sure Penny is safe.”
That brings him up short, his entire face morphing to confused concern. “What do you mean safe? What the fuck’s going on, man?”
“Griffin?” Penny’s voice comes from the sports med room, drawing both my and Dom’s attention instantly. “What are you two doing in here? The second period still has a few minutes, right?”
I turn my face toward her, and she sees my bleeding nose and swelling eye, eliciting a gasp. “Oh my God! What happened?” I say nothing, but Dom’s face must give him away, because Penny plants her hands on her hips. “Dominic Lee! What the hell did you do?”
Shocked by her indignation, he stutters, “D-defend you?”
“Guys, let’s do this somewhere else. We need to go,” I tell them both.
“Go? Go where? There’s still another period, and Coach will want to talk to us after the game,” Dominic exclaims.
Ignoring him, I catch Penny’s eyes to say, “They’re still here, Pen.”
“Oh my God!” Horror washes over her face, but is quickly followed by true fear. I think that’s the only thing that gets Dominic moving, straight to her.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got you, Penny-Nickel-Dime,” he says, trying to calm her down. Waving me off, he sneers, “I’ll handle whatever this is. You can go.”
I laugh outright. “The fuck you will. I’m going with her. If you want to come, you can.”
It’s a line in the sand. It’s always been the two of them as siblings and me on the outside. I guess, to Penny, it was Dom and me as friends, with her on the outside. Now there’s a new dynamic. It’s me and Penny as whatever we’re becoming, with Dominic on the outside.
Penny comes up to my side, looping her arm through mine and peering up at me. “Can we go?”
I watch as Dominic realizes everything has changed. “Motherfucker!”
Penny unhelpfully whispers, “Technically, he’d be a sister-fucker.” Dominic shoots her a deadly glare, and she squeaks, “Right. Not the time. Definitely not the time.”
Chapter 22
Penny
Griffin and Dominic spend a ridiculous amount of time arguing about whose house we should go to, with Dominic insisting we go to his place, even though he has no idea what’s going on and Griffin countering that his would be safe and is closer.
Quickly done with all that noise, I stomp off toward the exit. “I’m going home. Feel free to come with me or not, your choice.” Secretly, I really hope they come with me because I’m scared to go outside with those two guys hunting me down.
What if they did get my address?
Thankfully, like the good guys they are, Griffin and Dominic follow along like my own personal, overly protective, Velcro-level guard dogs. Though without looking behind me, I can tell they’re elbowing each other for position so their fight isn’t remotely over, but as long as they don’t start punching again, I’m not going to intervene. Who am I kidding? If they start throwing punches, I’ll absolutely play referee, whistle or not.
The few team staff members in the locker room don’t try to stop us, thankfully, but I’m sure they’ll be telling tales after the game. God knows what the fallout from that’s going to be.
Once we get to my apartment, like the big-brother-slash-dictator he is, Dominic decides he’s in charge. “Tell me what the hell’s going on.”
“With what specifically?” I question, noting that there are two separate but connected issues here. One, the ring and stalker guys. Two, me and Griffin.
“Penny,” Dominic says in that warning tone I hate.
“Dominic,” I echo in the same tone because I can mimic Mom and Dad just as well as he can.
Irritated with me, he sighs deeply before leveling Griffin with a hard look that promises painful blood loss. Right when I think he’s going to ask Griffin for the lowdown on what’s happening, he slowly turns back to me for the answers he wants. I guess Dom’s decided to give Griffin the silent treatment. That lucky bastard. “Safety first. Why aren’t you safe, and who was at the game that scared you?”
“So, it’s kind of a funny story . . . about that whole situation . . .” I say, dragging it out. “I got myself into a teeny-tiny dill pickle of a situation, like one of those cute little cocktail gherkins. But I had some help this time.” I glance toward Griffin, intending for it to be a compliment, but given Dominic’s grumbling, I’m pretty sure he heard that this is Griffin’s fault, not mine, despite knowing that I’m nearly always in some sort of trouble. “You see, it all started with Carolynn at Yesteryear—you know the antique store I like to go to?—calling me about this amazing ring—”