Page 81 of The One

“Instead of going with you in the boat, Pen and I will meet you at Timothy’s beach house. I’ll just drive us there, which means I’ll be driving us home, too, rather than taking the boat back with you.”

The logistics weren’t something I cared about. I’d been driving Dad’s boat since I was a kid, and I was more than comfortable going alone.

“So, you’re not canceling the trip?” I pressed.

“Heck no. I would never do that. But it does mean you’ll be going there and back alone, and even worse than that, I won’t be there to help you pack the boat with all our stuff or unpack it once you get to Timothy’s.”

I exhaled a long sigh of relief, and I rushed down the rest of the steps. “That’s nothing. Don’t worry?—”

“I’ll help,” Penelope said in the background.

I immediately stopped walking.

“Ohhh, yes. I like this idea a lot,” Penelope said. “Instead of waiting around for you to drive us to Timothy’s, I’ll meet Rhett at the dock. I’ll help him pack the boat, and I can help him unpack it at Timothy’s. He shouldn’t have to do all that work alone.”

Fuck.

That wasn’t what I wanted at all.

“Rhett?” Lainey said. “Are you okay with that?” When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “Pen was going to be coming with us anyway, so you’d only be missing me instead of both of us.”

How could I tell her I fucking hated her plan?

The last time I had been alone with Penelope, she’d confessed her love to me. I knew the chances of her being fucked up today were high, and I didn’t need a repeat of that night in any way.

But I wasn’t going to mention that to Lainey. Just like I hadn’t told her about what Penelope had said to me.

Maybe one day, I would, when we were deep into our years at USC and enough time had passed and I could blow it off.

Not now though.

“Rhett, are you cool with Pen going with you?”

I exhaled. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I walked out the door and got into my car.

“Are you headed to the boat now?” Lainey asked.

I started the engine and put on my seat belt. “I’m pulling out of my driveway as I speak.”

“Pen, he’s leaving now,” Lainey shouted, like she was standing downstairs and Penelope had just run upstairs.

“Is that Rhett on the phone?” I heard Lainey’s dad ask.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I’d like to talk to him,” he said.

My hand tightened on the steering wheel, my breathing deepening.

Her dad?

Wants to talk to me?

Now?

“Rhett, Dad wants to talk to you, so I’m going to give him the phone,” Lainey said. “Call me before you guys take off on the boat, okay? I’ll just be sitting there with foils on my head, so I’ll be able to talk.”

I sucked in more air. “All right.”