Page 86 of The One

“Lainey—”

“I know. It’s not your thing. But this one time, will you do me a favor and snap some for me?”

I sighed. “Really?”

Lainey didn’t know how I truly felt about Penelope and how I was getting so tired of her behavior. I kept that to myself. But my sounds made it clear that her constant presence was wearing on me, and I was sure Lainey was picking up on that.

“Rhett, she’s going to be in New York soon, and I won’t be able to get these moments back. Who knows if she’ll come home for summer breaks or even holidays?”

There was emotion in her voice, and I couldn’t handle hearing it.

“I’ll take some,” I told her. “Don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

Penelope had mentioned wanting to talk to her sister to tell her how much of a snore I was, so I turned toward the bow to get her.

“Hey, Penelope, do you want—” My voice cut off when I saw what she was doing.

What the fuck? Is she fucking serious?

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I couldn’t believe Penelope.

I ground my teeth together, attempting not to sound pissed when I said to Lainey, “Never mind, she’s busy. Don’t forget to call me when you leave the salon.”

“I won’t. I love you.”

“I love you, Lainey.”

The phone went dead, and I squeezed the rubbery cover, my brain scrolling through all the things I wanted to shout at Penelope while she sat on the floor of the boat.

Her legs were folded in front of her, and she had one of those makeup compacts in her hand. Lainey had them all over the vanity in her bedroom, so I recognized what Penelope was holding.

But Penelope wasn’t putting on makeup.

She held the compact upside down so the mirror lay flat on her palm, and she was using a credit card to chop up a mound of white powder that she’d dumped in the middle of the glass.

With each pass, she formed a new small, thin line.

And the dollar bill that was balanced on her lap told me those lines were about to be snorted up her nose.

TWENTY-TWO

Rhett

Present Day

“If you’re going to go into detail about what happened between you and my sister, I don’t want to hear it.”

“And if you’re going to tell me you weren’t high when it happened, don’t bother. I already know you were.”

Lainey stared at me from the bottom row of the bleachers, waiting for a response.

Of course this entire conversation was going to be about Penelope. And how I’d felt. And what had actually gone down that day.

Why would Lainey think otherwise?

Penelope was the reason we were sitting so far apart right now.