I haven’t seen Aiden in a couple of days. Penn had me follow him to some stranger’s house, telling me that he’s a good friend of his family and that he can fix her up. Turned out the guy is a big time M.D. and he seems to help Penn and his friends out a lot.

I didn’t put up an argument when I left her there. They both assured me that she would be in good hands and that she would make a full recovery, but that I had to give him the time and space to work on her.

As I lie on the floor in my living room covered in sweat and my mind racing in a thousand different directions, I can’t help but wonder if she’s getting better. I want to call and check on her even though I know I’m not allowed to, and it’s not like it would matter since I don’t have the doctor’s phone number anyway.

A knock on my door gets my attention but I don’t move from my spot. There’s only one person I want to see right now, and I know she’s not better yet; she can’t be. Not after the way Max left her.

“Fuck off,” I call out.

The knock comes again; harder and louder.

“I said fuck off!” I shout at the top of my lungs.

“Open the fucking door,” comes the muffled reply.

I let out a laugh and roll over onto my stomach, push myself to my feet and sigh heavily. Once I get to the door, I run a hand back through my hair, then pull it open and lean against it.

“I have Aiden’s money.”

I look into Penn’s eyes, then lower my gaze to the fat envelope in his hand. With a nod, I take it from him, then attempt to close the door again, but he pushes it open.

“Um. She’s doing a lot better,” he offers nervously. “Doc says she’s healing up pretty fast.”

“Thanks,” I say with a nod, attempting to close the door again. But Penn’s persistent in his visit and he uses his foot to prop the door open.

“Are you okay? I mean, I haven’t heard from you in days and when we went our separate ways the other night you looked absolutely fucked.”

“I watched my best friend get beat to a goddamn pulp, so you’ll have to excuse me if I wasn’t as friendly as you hoped,” I reply through grit teeth. “Now, if you don’t mind, I really want to be alone.”

Penn looks like he’s been slapped in the face, yet I don’t find it in myself to care at the moment.

“Yeah. Sorry. I’ll uh … I’ll go then,” he says quietly, turning away from me and walking back toward the elevator.

Great. Now I feel like shit twice over.

“Wait. Penn? Do you want to help me with something?” I ask, leaning out of the door. My piece is due soon and I can’t put off finishing it any longer, but I know I can’t do it without help.

“You sure I’m not intruding?” he asks curiously, taking a step back in my direction.

“Positive. Come on, I need your help.”

Penn grins widely as he enters my home and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t give a shit about what his reaction will be to my work.

“What do you need help with?” he asks.

I walk back to my room and toss Aiden’s payout onto my dresser. When I turn around, I damn near walk right into Penn, who’s smiling at me wickedly.

“Not that,” I mumble nervously.

“Oh.”

His face drops and a small smile creases my lips. He looks so damn disappointed right now that I kind of feel bad.

“Maybe after?”

“Cool,” he says happily. “So, what do you need help with?”

He crosses his long arms over his chest and I take a deep breath. I’ve never been apprehensive about what I choose to do for a living, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Aiden’s already slipped during a conversation, but I just don’t know how he’ll handle actually seeing my work in progress.

“I need to finish my project. I have to take it to the owner tomorrow night,” I explain.

“I’m not very artsy, but I’ll do what I can,” he replies enthusiastically.

God, I hope he can keep a fucking secret.

“Alright, let’s go,” I say with a nod, motioning for him to follow me back into the hallway. I press the button for the elevator doors to open and once we step inside, Penn sighs heavily.

“What’s the matter?” I ask him curiously. He sighs again, tilts his head to the side, and as the elevator begins to crawl to the third floor, he grabs me around my waist and shoves me back against the wall.

“Whoa, there,” I say with a quiet chuckle, holding my hands up. “I surrender.”

Penn smiles, leans forward and brushes his lips gently against mine but he doesn’t kiss me.

“Just giving you something to think about for later,” he says softly. “Is it working?”

That should be a give-in at this point. I’m sure he can feel my hard dick pressed against his body, but Penn seems to be the kind of person that needs verbal confirmation.

“Obviously,” I reply, moving his hand to my dick. Penn lowers his eyes down to the prize in his hand and bites his lower lip. “But not right now,” I say as soon as the elevator doors open. “Now, we have work to do.”

Penn grunts, a sulking expression on his face as he follows me to the workshop door. I don’t open it right away, though, because I need to prepare him for what he’s about to see.

“Do you remember when you asked me what kind of art I do, and I told you that I work with textures?” I ask him, shuffling my feet nervously. Penn nods and waits for me to continue. “I’m very proud of the work I do and if this isn’t something you can handle then tell me as soon as I show you the piece and we can part ways right then and there. I won’t force you to help me with something you may not be able to handle, but I also expect that you’d be able to keep my little secret.”

He grins mischievously and tilts his head to the side. “Took you long enough to find that chick. I’m pretty sure I’m good with secrets.”

My eyes soften as I return his smile with an even stare. I don’t have it in me to admonish him for thinking that this is anything like the Little Julie situation. What’s inside is alive and going through a transition that no one other than Aiden has seen. It may be harder on him than he may understand, but if he’s willing to help me, he needs to be able to keep the secret.

I run a hand over my face before I relent and turn back toward the door, unlocking it and pushing it open.

“Welcome to hell,” I say over my shoulder as I lead the way into the room.