Page 45 of While the Sun Shines

She blows out a breath. “Well, this isn’t how I thought my evening would go.”

“I know that you—you and—” Say his fucking name bangs around in Drew’s head, too loud and clamoring. “Abelardo. You and Abelardo are, you know, the two of you—I don’t mean to get in the way. He’s great, he’s obviously great. I’m sorry, I—”

Penny holds up a hand. “Stop.”

“Okay.” Drew licks at his lips. “But, Pen, I really mean it.”

“Stop. For fuck’s sake.”

He edges back toward the bank behind him. “Okay.”

“Abelardo and I aren’t seeing each other.”

Drew lets out a short laugh. “Well, okay, maybe, but—”

“Maybe? What the fuck? Maybe, Drew?”

“I just mean, not yet, but you and him—”

“God, stop.”

“But—”

“Stop talking.”

“Sorry.”

“Fuck! Drew!”

He opens his mouth. Shuts it again.

Penny rubs her hands across her face, water dripping down her wrists and forearms. Then, she smacks her palms against the water. “This isn’t about him.”

“Okay.” Sorry, he wants to say again.

“We’re not—he’s my oldest friend. And trust me; if we wanted to be dating, we would be. And if we wanted to be fucking, we definitely would be. But we’re not, because we’ve talked about it, and it wasn’t what either of us wanted from each other—and it hasn’t been and won’t be. But thanks for making up an entire reality in your head about us.”

Drew dips lower in the water. “Sorry,” he murmurs.

She touches her forehead. “Drew.”

“But I am.”

“Sure you are,” she says.

“You’re mad.”

“I’m frustrated with you. And sad.”

“Oh,” he says, then softer. “Oh, no, that’s worse.”

She smiles a small smile down at the water. “Is it?”

Anger, he can understand. Exasperation and irritation. Pity, even. Awkwardness, for sure, and then a drifting apart, tectonic and permanent. His hands are sweating, even in the cold water.

Penny tips her head back, staring up at the sky, still bright enough to silhouette the trees.

Quietly, she asks, “Did you really mean it? What you said to Cooper?”