Page 58 of Penny & Royce
“Don’t lie to me, Royce. You’ve never been interested in a girl enough to bring her home. And the first one you brought is a Taylor?”
“She’s not a Taylor,” he snapped back.
Of course, he wasn’t going to tell her that technically Penny was a Meyers now. That would set Morgan off even more than she already was.
“Whatever. She shares their blood.” Morgan glanced toward the barn doors, then back at him. “Look, I get it. Dad is unreasonable about this whole thing. But what you’re doing is reckless.”
He smiled. He couldn’t help it.
“You think it’s funny?” she demanded. “What is wrong with you?”
Royce sobered, though the smile didn’t vanish completely. “Nothing is wrong with me. And nothing is wrong with her.” He glanced at Penny, letting the truth settle where Morgan could hear it. “I love her.”
Morgan’s eyes widened, and her focus flicked over to Penny. “Does Rose know?”
He held up a hand. “You don’t have to tell her anything.”
“No,” Penny said quietly. “We’re keeping our relationship quiet for now.”
“Relationship?” Morgan hissed. “Seriously, Royce?” She slapped her hand to her forehead and dragged it down her face. “I can’t believe this.”
“You’re not going to say anything,” Royce said, taking a step forward before he caught himself.
The last thing he needed was to make this worse by acting like Morgan was the enemy.
His sister’s gaze sharpened. “Are you telling me or asking me?”
Royce exhaled, then rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Asking. Badly.”
Penny made a tiny sound behind him that might have been amusement.
Morgan stared at him another second, then shocked him completely. “No, I won’t.”
“You… won’t?”
She sighed. “No, dummy. I won’t. Because someone has to put their money where their mouth is. I think this feud needs to end. And who knows? Maybe you dating one of them would be enough to knock some sense into Dad.”
She muttered something else he couldn’t understand, but it almost sounded like, “Heaven knows friendship wasn’t.”
If that was what she’d said, he had no idea what she meant by it.
“Morgan—”
She held up a hand and glanced over her shoulder. “Shh. Hear that?”
He froze and stepped closer to Penny on instinct.
The quiet pressed in on them. He didn’t hear anything but his own pulse racing in his ears. Then Morgan turned toward him and sighed again.
“I’ll make sure no one is out there. If you’re going on a ride with her, you better get out of here while you can.”
“Royce?” Penny whispered. “Do you think we should…”
“It’ll be fine,” he assured her, turning to look at her. “But it’s your call. We can leave if you want.”
Penny studied him for a moment, then shook her head. “No. Let’s go.”
He shot an appreciative look toward his sister. “You okay if I text you when we’re on our way back?”
