Temptation (The Hunted, #1)(30)

"Penny, are you..."

I didn't hear the rest of her sentence because the door had closed behind me. Keeping my hands on my stomach I walked to the bathroom. If there was one thing Melissa hated it was hearing about bodily fluids. This would make her stop bugging me. I sat in the bathroom stall for ten minutes before heading back to the room.

I groaned as I entered our room and plopped down on my bed.

"Penny?" Melissa sounded concerned.

"I really don't feel well. I just ruined a toilet," I lied.

"Oh my God, Penny. You're disgusting. Please spare me the details."

"I don't even understand how all of that was in me."

"Ew! Stop. Please, Penny. You're grossing me out."

"Sorry, I just really don't feel well."

"Okay, okay. Just stop talking." Melissa walked over to the fridge and pulled out a ginger ale. "Here, hopefully this will help." She opened up the top and placed it on the desk by my bed.

"I'm really sorry I can't come." I lifted the soda and took a small sip.

"Don't even mention it. Look, you should probably get some sleep. I'm just going to get ready there." She tossed some things in her backpack and lifted it over her shoulder. "Anything you need before I go?"

"Will you let Tyler know I'm sick? And that I'm sorry that I couldn't come?"

"Yeah of course."

"Thanks, Melissa."

She picked up the trashcan and put it next to my bed. "Just in case. Feel better, Penny!" she said with a smile and hurried out of the room.

***

Shark Tank was all I needed to be happy on a Friday night. Well, that and thoughts of Professor Hunter. I had already picked out my outfit for tomorrow night. And Melissa was right, there were butterflies in my stomach. They just weren't for Tyler. I was a little nervous to see Professor Hunter again, but mostly I was worried about dinner. I had practiced saying "I just want water" in the mirror. He couldn't know I was under 21. Not yet. Not before we had explored what this really was between us. I just hoped he wouldn't press the issue.

The sharks were starting to get irritated with each other. Just as Kevin O'Leary went on a rant about his elite wine club, my phone buzzed. I picked it up and swiped my finger across the screen.

Tyler: "Hey, I'm sorry to hear you can't come tonight."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, Tyler," I responded. "Some other time," I added and pressed send.

Tyler: "There is something you can do to make it up to me."

I laughed. "And what might that be?"

Tyler: "Come let me in."

Me: "Wait, what?" Shit, is he here? He was supposed to spend the night having fun at the luau and meeting someone else. What was he doing here?

Tyler: "I'm standing outside Sussex. Melissa told me this was your dorm. Hopefully she didn't lie to me."

I jumped out of my bed, pulled on a pair of sweatpants over my pajama shorts, and put a bra on under my tank top. I was such a bad liar; this was going to go horribly. He would probably know I wasn't sick. I pulled a few tissues out of their box, wadded them up, and tossed them around the room.

Crap. I had an upset stomach, not a cold. I grabbed all the tissues and shoved them in the waste bin. I picked up the dirty clothes off the floor and put them into the hamper. I smoothed my hair down and looked in the mirror. This was a disaster. I quickly slid on my slippers and went to go let him in.

Tyler smiled when I opened the door. "Hey, Penny," he said.

"Hi, Tyler. I really don't feel well."

"That's why I'm here. Friends help each other feel better when they're sick." He emphasized the word "friends."

"But I don't want to get you sick."

He pretended to cough. "I haven't really been feeling very well either."

"It's my stomach," I laughed.

"Oh. Well, my stomach has been really upset too. So we can just be sick together." He walked through the door I was holding open for him. "So, where's your room?"

I laughed. "If you insist." I walked back up the stairs and he followed me. I opened the door to my room and let him in.

"So remember when I promised you that our next date would be sweatpants, popcorn, and a movie?"

"Tyler..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. This isn't a date. But..." he rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a bag of un-popped microwave popcorn. "I figured since you were sick you might be wearing sweatpants." He looked down at my legs. "And I was correct. I made sure to wear some too." He was wearing dark gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He put the popcorn in the microwave and pulled a DVD out of his bag. "And I brought a movie."

He really was a sweet guy. "Tyler, I can't ask you to miss your party for this. Melissa made it seem like it was going to be lots of fun."

"Trust me, there is nothing I'd rather be doing." He handed me the disc. I looked down and saw that it was The Princess Bride.

"This is my favorite movie."

"Yeah. I'd be lying if I didn't confess that Melissa told me. But I already owned it, because I like it too." He smiled at me as he pulled the popcorn out of the microwave, then sat on the end of my bed.