Weeping Willow (Spanking Story)

Chapter 13: Penny's POV

I never considered myself to be a lucky person, but how unlucky did I have to be to end up on a date at the same restaurant as my brother? Especially if Owen was actually grounded. Who the fuck gets to go out on a date when they're grounded? He must have just been messing with me, because there was no way my brothers would let Owen do that, especially considering their over-the-top reaction to the whole fake cutting incident.

As I took the brisk walk home alone, the wind was blowing in my face, as if it were trying to prevent me from reaching my destination. But I didn't need the reminder; I knew that at this moment in time, home was not a very welcoming place, thanks to the pissed-off brothers who currently occupied it. This was all Owen's fault.

I meant what I said back at the restaurant: Owen was being an asshole. And it was all that stupid llama's fault, what with the way she clung to my brother with her paint-chipped fingernails and sweet-talked him into oblivion. Hopefully Owen would eventually come to his senses and kick Leah to the curb ... and if he didn't, I'd help move the process along ... but I'd deal with that at another time. Right now, I needed to worry about how the hell I was going to convince my brothers to let me off the hook for lying straight to their faces.

The fifteen-minute walk allowed me to prepare some of my talking points for the argument that was sure to ensue as soon as I stepped through the front door. There were three possible directions for me to take the conversation once I was inevitably asked to explain myself:

First, the lie: I did in fact go to Torryn's party, but while I was there, Caroline asked me if I wanted to go grab something to eat with Micah and one of his friends. I decided to go, but didn't tell my brothers out of fear that they'd say no, and I couldn't afford to make Caroline even more mad at me.

Second, the guilt trip: my brothers had kept me cooped up in the house ever since Cooper told Ben and Dana that I had self-harmed when I never had ... so I had to do something, I was going stir crazy from just going to school and sitting in my room when I'd done nothing wrong. It wasn't fair!

And third, the deflection: there had to be some sort of double standard for letting Owen go out on a date, while he was grounded no less, after I got in serious trouble for just casually dating Zach—no dates or anything.

I took a deep breath as I stalked up the driveway, knowing full well that at least one of my brothers was waiting for me on the other side of that door. And sure enough, before I could even stretch my arm out to reach for the front door on my own, the door swung open, warm air smacking me right in the face.

"Penelope Grace," Ben bit out, grabbing my upper arm roughly. I was yanked inside unceremoniously, the door slamming shut behind me. I hadn't been prepared for this; I hadn't had enough time to go over exactly what I wanted to say, though I wasn't sure it really mattered. There was nothing about this situation that indicated my brothers were going to listen to any spiel I had ready.

That didn't mean I wasn't going to damned well try.

"Ben, wait," I tried, removing my arm from his grip. I put my hands up, the classic "surrender", to let him know I was completely on the defense.

He only grabbed my arm again, more tightly this time, and dragged me into the living room. I hadn't been led by the arm in quite some time, and it made me blush with humiliation.

There, sitting on the couch, were my other two brothers, both with equally stony expressions. Well, Dana was looking more murderous at the moment, but their combined disappoint was nearly tangible. I was in huge, deep, perpetual shit.

All thanks to Owen the Asshole and Llama.

Ben let go of my arm when I was standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room, and sat on the couch with Dana and Cooper. This felt like some strange interrogation, and the spotlight was currently on me.