Broken Empire A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance - Callie Rose Page 0,64
we didn’t—or wouldn’t admit—and were constantly trying to reconnect, to get closer.
Introductions were made, and the boys exchanged a quick greeting while Penny stared up at me with big eyes, then Cole took my hand in his free one and the three of us started across the lawn toward the student lot. He kept his pace deliberately slow to match mine, and when Penny started to get ahead of us, he cleared his throat and jerked his chin slightly toward me.
She adjusted her pace, shooting me another wide-eyed look, and I smiled weakly.
God, why am I so fucking nervous?
I’d never officially met his parents since I’d arrived at Oak Park, but I found myself way more worried about what Penny thought of me than I would be about Mr. or Mrs. Mercer’s opinions.
Cole’s gaze cut to me, and I thought maybe he was hiding a smirk. Like he knew exactly what I was thinking and thought it was cute or something. I narrowed my eyes at him, and the smirk finally broke through, tilting his lips as we reached the parking lot.
His car was a sleek Aston Martin, and as he reached for the passenger door handle, I saw his gaze flicker between me and his sister.
“Hey, Penny, why don’t you sit up front?” I offered, moving toward the other door and saving Cole from having to decide between us.
I could feel him watching me as his sister climbed into the front seat and I slid into the back. When he got behind the wheel, he adjusted the rearview mirror to see my face, and there was something warm in his bright blue eyes.
The mini-golf place was on the outskirts of Roseland, about a twenty-minute drive from the school. The entire way there, Penny kept up a constant stream of chatter, with Cole throwing in a few words here and there in his deep, gruff voice. I didn’t say much, partly because I thought Penny had sort of forgotten I was in the car and I didn’t want to scare her—she’d been mum all the way across campus, too busy staring at me to say anything at all.
The other part of why I didn’t talk was because I was caught up in observing the interactions between Cole and his sister.
She had lighter hair than him, but I could see other similarities in their features. And although their personalities seemed as different as night and day, I couldn’t help thinking the universe had created them as the perfect complements to each other.
Cole needed someone around who would fill the silences he couldn’t. And given what I knew of their home life, Penny probably needed someone who would listen when she talked.
She got quiet again when we reached the mini-golf place, even though I could tell from the look in her eyes and the way her body practically vibrated that she was excited. She struck me as a sweet combination of bubbly and shy—closed up like a clam around new people, but a ray of sunshine around the ones she loved and trusted.
While Cole paid for our club rental, I walked over to where Penny was considering the baskets of colored balls and glanced down at her.
“What do you think? Did you pick your color yet?”
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she blinked up at me. “No.”
“Cool. I think I’m gonna go with…” I ran my hands over the balls, wiggling my fingers like I was letting them call to me somehow. “…yellow.”
“That’s a good color,” she said softly. “Not my favorite, but it’s good.”
“What’s your favorite?”
“Blue.”
“Good choice.” I picked up one of the blue golf balls and offered it to her, and she scooped it out of my hand eagerly. “Should we grab one for Cole too?”
She nodded emphatically and pointed to the basket full of pink balls, a mischievous glint in her eye.
“Excellent choice.”
I grabbed one out and handed it to her, and she took it and ran over to Cole. He turned around when she tugged on his shirt, and when she handed him the ball, his gaze cut immediately to me. I just shrugged and inclined my head toward his sister, suppressing my grin.
Penny seemed younger than nine in some ways, and I wondered if it was because of her Tourette’s—the way Cole had made it sound, she hadn’t gotten much support at all from their parents. I noticed a few small tics that she had, but only because I knew to look for them.