Read Online One Penny: A Marked Heart Novel by M. Sembera, Margaret Civella - Free Book Online Page B

to talk me through things like this."
    Penny held up her hand saying, "I swear Charlotte..."
    "Anyways, I jokingly suggested we do that and he acted like I was asking to chop his hands off."
    Penny was well aware of the fact that her brother and roommate enjoyed each other. She'd even walked in on them once and what she witnessed was incredibly psychologically scarring. The fact of the matter was, friend or not, the subject of her brother and sex was never to be discussed.
    Frowning, Penny replied, "Please stop talking now."
    Charlotte gave a slight huff saying, "Fine, I'm going to call Liv."
    "Thank you!"
    As Charlotte stood up and walked to her room, Penny was relieved the conversation was over.
    ~
    Twenty minutes into their drive, Auggie pulled down a gravel road that led to an old country house with a wraparound porch. Wondering where they were, Seth hadn't had the nerve to interrupt Auggie's shouting to ask where they were headed. Unsure if Auggie was talking to him or to himself when he banged his palm against the steering wheel saying things like 'That woman is gonna kill me' and 'She is outta her damn mind'.
    When they pulled up to the house, Seth saw Liv and Kieran sitting on a porch swing. As they got out of Auggie's truck and headed toward the house, Seth was almost certain Liv was on the phone with Charlotte. She took one look at Auggie, cursed at him and walked inside with her phone to her ear.
    Without getting up, Kieran laughed, "What'd ya do?"
    Auggie reached down and shook Kieran's hand griping, "Stood my ground," before sitting down on a chair next to the swing.
    With a wide smile, Kieran shook his head at Auggie before giving Seth a nod saying, "Pull up a chair, man."
    Glancing around the porch, Seth found a chair and pulled it closer but not too close to them.
    While Auggie and Kieran seemed to discuss what happened earlier that day without giving any details, Seth felt a little out of place. He was dressed to have lunch at his parents' house. Not that it was a whole lot different from what he normally wore, but between his crisp button down tucked into his khaki's with a perfect crease down the center of each leg and dress shoes, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Although Auggie wore a button down also, his sleeves were rolled halfway up his forearm and it looked like it had never seen an iron. And Kieran wasn't even wearing a shirt, making an awkward situation more uncomfortable than it already was.
    It wasn't long before Liv came back outside carrying a bottle of whiskey and four glasses. The three of them watched as she walked to the round wooden table next to them.
    As she set them in the center of the table, Auggie teased, "Comin' around to our side?"
    "Your dumbass brother's on his way," she shared before laughing, "You boys can't hang with me."
    "Is that a challenge?" Auggie questioned.
    Liv blurted, "Ha!" before saying, "Not with you."
    Auggie shot her the finger as she winked at him and headed back inside.
    Kieran was the first to stand and pull up a chair up to the table before sitting down. After Auggie did the same, Seth followed suit. They sat there silent for a moment. After wondering why they were just sitting there, he assumed they were waiting for Braden when a brown El Camino pulled up next to Auggie's truck. Shuffling up to the house Braden made his way onto the porch. Before he reached the table, Kieran held his hand up.
    "Go apologize to Liv."
    "For what?"
    Kieran shrugged, saying, "Doesn't matter. You pissed her off. Now go apologize."
    With a loud sigh, Braden turned and headed into the house as Seth noticed Kieran nudge Auggie and smile.
    There was instant shouting and cursing inside the house before Braden ran back out onto the porch. Auggie and Kieran started to laugh.
    Seth couldn't help but laugh too as Braden moved his shoulder around complaining, "She hit me with the damn broom."
    Their laughter subsided as Braden took notice of Seth and pointed at him with a curious expression