Page 66 of Patrick

“Shhh.”

I pull him inside my old bedroom and close the door. “What are you trying to do? Dad might walk in the kitchen any minute.”

“And you don’t want him to hear about your big secret affair with Sofia Rossi.”

“No, I don’t.” I push a hand through my hair, the mild throb in my head starting to ramp up.

“What about Pammy? She seems nice, and you’re just using her? Or is it Sofia you’re using?”

“Neither. Pammy is pretending to be my girlfriend to help us out—and don’t you dare breathe a word of this until I can straighten it out.”

He opens his mouth and then closes it. “Are you shitting me? Really?”

“It wasn’t my idea. But Sofia was desperate once you found out about us.”

“Shit. You know I like Sofia, right? She’s cool. Smart and…”

“Hot.”

He nods. “She’s always been nice to me. Helped me out once when some guy was picking on me.”

“She has a heart of fucking gold and…” I’m falling for her. Hard. Because all I do is think about her and the next time I’m going to see her. Today.

I hear a knock on the back door, and I know it’s Pammy. Right on time. “I have to leave now. Just do me a solid and don’t say anything. If you have a problem with that, talk to me first. I should be the one to tell Dad, not you.”

He nods. “Don’t wait too long. This is a small town.”

“Luckily we’re not in town. We’re at UNH.”

He laughs. “You think that matters? You think you’re the only ones from town at UNH?”

Fuck. He has a point.

I push open the door in a rush to let Pammy in, but Kathleen beats me to it.

“You arrive at the exact time you promised.” Kathleen glances at the kitchen clock—a red rooster we’ve had hanging on the wall since before I was born. “On the dot.” She smiles, and I step around her, grabbing my bags near the door.

“I’ll get these,” Daniel says, taking the bags from me. I let him even though it rankles.

We go outside, and Mom and Kathleen follow with pillows and blankets and load Pammy’s car.

Dad hands my phone to Pammy. “I’ll put you in charge of this. I trust you’ll make sure Patrick follows doctor’s orders.”

Pops comes outside and lights up his pipe, eyeing Pammy while we wait for all the stuff to fill the space in her trunk.

“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Jennings.” Pammy smiles at him.

Pops nods. “Call me Pops and don’t be a stranger.”

Shit. He never asks non-family members to call him Pops. That’s not a good sign. When he finds out we’re not really dating, he might be pissed enough to either shoot me or disown me.

Not hanging around for any more bonding moments, I open the driver side door and usher Pammy inside while she waves and says her good-byes.

We finally take off, and I lie my head back and close my eyes against the shitstorm that just happened and try not to be angry at Pammy or Fifi. After all, I’m the one who signed up for the crazy the second I agreed to see Fifi, to get to know her, and most of all, when I became addicted to her sweet body in my arms⁠—

“I’m sorry.” Pammy’s whisper is as quiet as a mouse peeing on cotton, but her words blow up my thoughts, leaving nothing but a heavy blanket of guilt behind. I turn my head.

“It’s my fault. I dragged you into this mess in the first place.” I pat her hand on the steering wheel to reassure her. “I’m the only one to blame. I’ve made a shit ton of bad decisions.”