Page 5 of Penn

Wylie nods and heads around the front. And all I can think about is how many secrets I’m keeping.

My abortion.

My mom being in a mental hospital.

Daddy being a fuckboy, even now.

The pregnancy.

Now, I have Lainey and Wylie having a sordid affair in the alleyway of the Seven Crows.

Yep, that’s more than I want to have on my mind. Holding secrets that could destroy lives kills something inside you, and I’m not sure how many more I can keep before I’m dead inside.

At least one will be shared tonight.

And I’m excited for my shift to end again. I can’t wait.

Chapter 3

Dixie

Imake it to my condo before Stephen, and I’m so nervous my hands shake as I unlock my front door. So shaky that I almost can’t get the key into the lock, and I laugh at myself.

This is silly.

Stephen’s going to be thrilled. There’s no reason for me to be nervous.

The warm air hits me, and I kick myself for not remembering to turn on the air conditioner before I left. I try to only use it at night to allow me to sleep—I’ve never been one to sleep in the heat—and I was so preoccupied I forgot to remember it.

Or to put the towels in the washer.

Thankfully, I have tomorrow night off. That means that I can put the towels in the washer now and transfer them to the dryer between our lovemaking sessions. It’ll be the first time we’ll be making love without any barrier between us, and I can’t wait.

I ache between my legs as I throw the towels into the washer. We’re finally going to have that future we keep talking about.

The knock on the door makes my heart jump, and I smooth out the wrinkles on my shirt before walking to the door. But then I think there’s no reason to worry because I doubt it’ll be on long. Once I tell him I’m having his baby, he’s going to rip my clothes off. We’ll recreate how the baby was made for hours.

When I open the door, Stephen stands leaning against the doorframe with his typical smirk. Such a cool-guy stance.

Stephen Patterson isn’t the type of guy I’d typically go for, but there was just something that screamed stable when I met him one night after I left work. He’s a pharmaceutical sales rep, so he travels a lot. And is almost always in business attire.

He looks delicious enough to eat in his dark navy slacks and light blue button up that already has the top three buttons undone with his tie hanging rather than knotted like it was all day long. And he holds his suit jacket over his shoulder like a model. His dark hair is gelled and perfectly styled, and I hope our baby has his hair.

“Hey, beautiful,” he says with that confident smile that always makes my stomach flip.

His appearance screams success. He has his life in order, and I’m finally going to be an integrated part of that.

He doesn’t wait for me to respond before he reaches for my waist and pulls me close to plant a quick, sweet kiss on my lips. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” I whisper, burying my face in his neck for a second just to feel the solid reality of him.

“You’re trembling,” he says, stepping inside. “If it’s because you’re cold, I think you might be ill. It’s gotta be close to eighty degrees in here.”

“Oh, I forgot to turn the air conditioner on before I left. It won’t take long to cool down.”

That sneaky little smirk he adopts whenever he’s frisky appears. “I’m not opposed to stripping down to cool off.”

Oh, I want to. God, do I want to. But I need to tell him first. Then we can get into the rest of it.