Page 79 of Penny & Royce

He grunted. “How are you two doing?”

A smile formed. “Good. I think we’re doing good.” This time, she craned her neck so she could meet his eyes. “He found out about us.”

Royce looked about as sick as she’d felt earlier. “He knows?”

“Apparently, his friend saw us at the hospital and asked about you. It wasn’t hard for him to put two and two together.”

“He knows we’re…”

Her eyes widened. “No. Not that much. He just knows that…” She ducked her face into the crook of his neck. “That I’m in love with you.”

Royce’s arm tightened around her back, but then he groaned from his still-healing injuries.

She giggled. “You need to be more careful.”

“And you need to make sure I don’t stand in the way of your relationship with your family.”

Penny leaned up on her elbow and stared down at him. “What are you saying? That I should tell them?—”

He pulled her close and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m saying family is important. It isn’t good for either of us to keep this relationship a secret forever. I love you, Penny. So much. I think I’ve been kidding myself believing the longer we wait, the harder it will be for our families to interfere.”

She rested her cheek against his chest, frowning. “Yeah, I don’t think any amount of time will ease them into our new reality.”

Royce was quiet for long moments. Then he sighed. “It’s going to be bad.”

Anxiety.

Dread.

The intense feeling that something bad was about to happen.

All of it came creeping back into her chest. Not even lying here with Royce like this was enough to push those feelings away. She couldn’t bring herself to voice her biggest concerns.

What if Royce’s family threatened to disown him? It wasn’t in her nature to let something like that happen when she could be the force that kept a family together. She’d lost her father. She’d lost her aunt. She knew the pain of losing people she loved unconditionally. Royce had already lost his mother. Would he survive being cut off from the rest?

So many dark thoughts threatened to overtake her.

“Sweetheart?” Royce’s soft voice broke through the fear pressing in. His hand trailed up and down her spine. “It’s going to work out. There’s nothing that will tear us apart. I promise.”

She prayed he was right.

But deep down, she wondered if she could be as strong as he seemed to be.

20

ROYCE

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Royce groaned and rolled over to snuggle closer to the warm body at his side.

Thud.