Big Dick Energy - Cindi Madsen Page 0,77
breakup song that I suddenly understood all too well.
I batted away the phone with a grunt, lifting my shoulder to my ear to help drown out the sound. “If you think that’s going to cheer me up, you don’t know me at all.”
Izzie somersaulted over the back of the couch, landing with her butt on the cushion like some kind of acrobat. “There’s only one thing that’ll cheer you up, and her name is Penelope. But you refuse to do anything about it, so I’m resorting to drastic measures.” She pressed her finger to her ear and belted out the lyrics along with her favorite singer, pointing at me and then clutching her heart, as if her dramatic interpretive dance would cause me to shoot out of my seat, go find Penelope, and declare my undying love.
Not my style, and I’d already lost enough. No reason to have to scrape my pride off the bottom of Penelope’s shoe before I slunk back to L.A. “I sent a congratulatory text, along with an apology. When she didn’t respond to those, I left a longer apology on her voicemail.”
No surprise, the decision to go with Penelope’s blueprints was unanimous. For all my talk about seeing how amazing of an architect she was and what she could do, I’d gone and underestimated her again. By the time she’d finished her presentation, there was nary a dry eye in the office.
I’d like to say except for mine, but the instant the committee declared her the winner, she’d bolted. Right before she’d exited the conference room, her gaze had snagged on mine. I’d tried to convey through that last long look how extremely sorry and wrong I’d been.
The disappointment and hurt in her features were palpable, and with the tiny shake of her head, I’d known it was over. The gaping hole that’d opened in my chest that day yawned wider.
“Earth to Archer?” Izzie snapped her fingers in front of my face, jerking me back to the present.
“If Penelope wanted to talk to me, she would. She’s made her decision, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Mom and Kyle were due home on Monday, and as soon as they were settled, and I’d spent the minimum required time listening to them regale their tales, I’d leave San Diego and BJB behind and return to my regularly scheduled life.
Surely that’d make it easier to get through the day. I refused to remain this pathetic, forlorn person who stared at my phone and heard phantom buzzing and ringing, just to look at it and see my desires were overwhelming my common sense.
“Oh, come on. It’s like you don’t know anything about girls at all.”
“Now that’s something we can agree on.”
The cushions dipped as Izzie twisted to face me. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, transforming into interrogation mode scarily fast. “Time to come clean, big brother. You only told me part of the story, and if I’m going to be able to help you, I’m going to need all the nitty gritty details. So spill.”
I hesitated, but Izzie continued giving me her sternest stare, and out came the details of the ugly, bitter end. I told her how I’d only been trying to save our relationship by bowing out of the competition. I owned up to seeing the error of my ways, as well as admitted Penelope had blown my presentation out of the water, so I understood how wrong I’d been about that, too. And didn’t my good intentions mean anything?
By the time I finished the tale, my little sister looked at me like I had the mental capacity of a rock. Her eyebrows had done so much scrunching, bunching, and moving up and down during the retelling that I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up with a sore forehead. “Let me get this straight. You thought the perfect grand gesture was to offer Penelope a pity win?”
I should’ve expected the harsh judgment. Tweens and teens weren’t well-known for their tactfulness.
“It wasn’t pity. She wanted the project, so I figured I’d give it to her.”
“By handing her the equivalent of a participation ribbon? Without even letting her participate? Despite what people say about my generation, nobody who’s given it their all wants to settle for one of those.” Izzie held up her hand when I opened my mouth to defend myself. “I’m not saying your heart wasn’t in the right place, you knucklehead. But let me try to put this in