Melissa laughed. "The type of girl who likes to stay in on a Saturday night. She doesn't break the rules. I mean, I thought she was joking when she told me she was dating you."
"I break the rules sometimes,” Penny said.
"No you don't. You're ridiculously straight-laced. I basically have to drag you out of the dorm on weekends."
I laughed. I put down my plate, stood up, and sat down next to Penny on her bed. I was tired of being formal around her. And the tension in the room seemed to completely evaporate once I put my arm around her. She wasn’t my student in this room. She was my girlfriend.
Melissa smiled at us. "Going from taking no risks to dating a professor is a huge leap. I didn't really understand it. But seeing you two together..." Melissa shrugged. "I get it."
"Well I'm glad we have your approval. Your opinion seems to be very important to Penny, and therefore important to me."
"And I promise not to tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you, Melissa."
"And let me officially invite you to our birthday party. I'm sure Penny has already told you about it."
A birthday party? "Actually, she hasn't invited me yet." I smiled at her. "Or mentioned it at all." Not that I was upset. We’d been going through a lot. There’d hardly been time to mention parties. But I knew she was turning 22 soon. I even had her gift already in the works. Five years age difference was basically nothing. It was weird that both Ian and Melissa seemed to think it was a big deal. At least Ellen was on my side.
Melissa laughed. "Well, normally I guess you couldn't come. But since it's going to be close to Halloween, we're having a costume party. So as long as you wear a good costume, I think it'll be okay."
How convenient. I flashed Penny a smile. "I wouldn't miss it."
"Can I come over to your place for a bit?" asked Penny.
I rubbed her back. She looked…off. Was it about the party? I was excited that I’d be able to attend with her. But I knew there were two sides to that. I was only able to because I could wear a mask. It would be a while before we could be just us in public. I swallowed hard. I hoped that wasn’t weighing on her. I could wait till the spring. But could she? "Of course."
"I'm sorry, I just have one more thing to say before you go,” Melissa said.
"Melissa," Penny pleaded.
"No, it's okay," I interjected. "What is it?"
"You better not hurt her."
"I won't." There were still a lot of things that Penny didn’t know about me. But I would never hurt her. Not on purpose. The thought made me pause. I tried to push it away.
"Well, you already have,” Melissa said. “So your word is hard to believe. I've never seen Penny act the way she did this past week. And you two may have forgotten about that, but I haven't."
She was right. And I really wished she wasn’t. "That was just a misunderstanding."
"Maybe if you're more upfront about your baggage, things like that won't happen."
"I won't hurt her," I repeated. I’d changed. Even Dr. Clark saw it. I could be good for Penny. I knew I could.
"That's all I can ask." Melissa finished her brownie. "You two are cute together."
I looked down at Penny. "It's getting late. If you wanted to come over for a while, we better get going." I got off the bed and pulled on my jacket.
Penny dumped the plates in the trash.
"Penny, can I talk to you for a second?" Melissa asked.
"I'll pull the car around," I said. I extended my hand to Melissa. "It was...interesting to meet you, Melissa."
"Good choice of words. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Melissa shook my hand without hesitating this time.
"Looking out for your friends is a good quality to have.” And I meant it. I was glad she was stepping up. “I hope to see you again soon. You're going to make a good lawyer."
I was pretty sure she blushed. I knew I could win her over. I left the two of them alone and made my way back outside.
Chapter 40
Wednesday
I leaned against my car, waiting for Penny to come out. The evening had turned around. But it wouldn’t have needed to be turned around if Penny hadn’t told her friend I was fucking married. Penny could have at least warned me. She knew I didn’t feel comfortable talking about my personal life. Especially anything involving Isabella. And the longer I stood there, the more pissed I got. It was pretty clear that they were talking about me right now. Penny was probably revealing more intimate details, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about that. I was used to confidentiality agreements and rules. This…this was hard for me to adjust to.
Yes, I’d told my staff and Dr. Clark that I was dating her. But intimate details about her? You put cameras around campus to watch her. You had Ian run a background check. I knew all that was bad. But I was going to tell Penny about the cameras. And I’d barely looked at her background check. I glanced down at my watch. Really, what were they talking about right now?
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Maybe Melissa was trying to convince her not to be with me. Maybe she was reminding Penny that I wasn’t the only man interested in her. Fucking Tyler. The more time that ticked by, the angrier I got.
Penny finally came out of her dorm and walked up to my car. I opened the door for her without a word. I needed a minute to calm down.
I climbed into the car and sped off. The silence was even more unnerving than the waiting. Had Melissa said something bad about me once I was gone? Maybe I hadn’t won her over after all.
"I'm sorry about all of Melissa's questions,” Penny finally said, breaking the silence.
"It's okay." I kept my eyes on the road, gripping the wheel tighter than necessary.
"It doesn't seem like it's okay."
What the fuck do you want me to say? "When I told you to tell her about me, I thought you were just going to say that I was your professor."
"I thought I was allowed to tell her everything? She would have asked questions if I didn't tell her what our fight was about."
"You should have asked me if it was okay."
"I'm sorry."
"I like to keep my personal life private, Penny."
"I know. Even from me." She folded her arms across her chest and looked out the window.
Now she was pissed at me too. Great. I pulled into the parking garage and into one of my spots. She opened the door for herself before I reached it. Yup, she’s definitely pissed. Well, so am I, baby.
I grabbed her hand and walked quickly toward the elevator, pulling her inside when the doors parted.
“I said that I was sorry. I should have asked you.”
“It's not just that,” I said.
“Then what is it?”
“Your friend hates me. She didn't even give me a chance. I think that maybe it's because she has someone else in mind for you.”
"She doesn't."
"So, she dislikes Tyler too?" I asked.
"This has nothing to do with Tyler. She's just looking out for me."