Page 62 of The One

I hadn’t even said anything, and he knew.

I walked over to him and climbed on top of his lap, straddling him with my knees on the bed, my arms resting on his shoulders. “I love you for that, but no. I want to do what we planned.”

He held my hair off my face. “You sure?”

“The only reason I’d want to go to the party is to make sure she’s safe. Which is crazy, I know. It’s March, for Christ’s sake. She’s going to be leaving for college in five months. It’s time I stop babysitting her.”

And it was time I stopped worrying. Penelope could take care of herself—I was positive about that. She got straight A’s, she had gotten into NYU, she had a perfect driving record, she’d never even had a cavity.

So, why do I feel the need to constantly watch out for her?

He gave me a kiss before he said, “The way you care about her is something I love about you.”

I narrowed my arms around his face. “Really?”

“That motherly, nurturing side of you is adorable. How you can’t go to sleep unless you know everyone is okay. How you look out for everyone at parties. Yes, Lainey, I love it.”

I took a deep breath. “Good, because I don’t know if I can change that about me, but what I do know is that I haven’t changed my mind about going to the party. Dinner, movies—that’s what I want.”

He smiled. “Then, let’s go.”

“Stay here,” Rhett said as he shifted the car into park, unlocking his seat belt and opening the driver’s door. “Don’t move, okay?”

This was our first stop after leaving my house, and I’d assumed we’d reached the pizza shop, although this wasn’t the plaza where the shop was located unless he was taking mesomewhere new. Either way, I couldn’t imagine why he didn’t want me to get out of his car and join him.

“Are you up to something, Rhett Cole?”

He laughed as he got out, looking at me through the open doorway. “Never.”

He smiled and closed the door behind him, and I was suddenly alone in the idling car.

I checked out the plaza again, reading the signs to see if there were any I recognized. I hadn’t really paid attention to where he was driving. My mind had been on Penelope.

It still was.

Even though Rhett had said he loved this about me, I hated it. I couldn’t entirely focus on everything we talked about on the way here because all I could think about was Pen at the party and what she was doing and how she’d get home.

How was I going to survive four years away from her?

Maybe it would be easier than I thought. She’d be so far away; I wouldn’t know what she was getting into—or what she wasn’t getting into—and she wouldn’t constantly be at the front of my mind.

But until then, she wasn’t only front; she was center too.

I dug inside my purse to find my phone and pulled up our last text.

Me

How’s the party?

Penelope

Puuuuurfect. If you were here, you’d know. Asshole.

Me

I’m going on a date with Rhett. That’s hardly asshole-ish.

Penelope