by AS Teague
“Nice throw pillows.” Pieters smirked as I led him into the living room.
I grimaced. “My…” What exactly was Piper to me now? She wasn’t just my roommate anymore. Our make-out session last night when we’d snuck out of my parents’ house early had proven that. Was she my girlfriend? It was probably too soon for that. Friend? We were way past friends now. Childhood tormentor? She’d always be that. Fuck, I didn’t know. What I did know was that I needed to figure it out, and soon. “Piper picked those out.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Your Piper, huh?”
“Don’t even start.”
He strode over to the living room and picked up one of the picture frames. Throwing his head back, he roared in laughter. “Jesus, Reed, is this you?” He continued to laugh, doubled over at the waist, his whole body quaking.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, snatching the frame from his hands. The picture behind the glass was no longer the stock photograph that comes with all frames.
My eyes widened. Apparently, at some point, Piper had replaced it with a picture of the two of us.
I glanced around at the other frames in the living room. She’d put pictures in all of them. Of the two of us. I wasn’t even sure where she’d gotten them from, and I was shocked that there were so many of just me and her. And it would have been sweet, except that the pictures were all terrible.
The one in my hand was from the Halloween that I was obsessed with the rapper Eminem. I was thirteen, had spent the entire summer memorizing every last one of his inappropriate songs, and that fall had declared I was going trick or treating as the one and only Slim Shady. The only thing I’d gotten right was the whole ‘slim’ part. I’d been pathetically scrawny and had looked ridiculous in my blue doo rag and fake gold chains.
Piper, on the other hand, had been the perfect Baby Spice. The two of us standing together, her arm thrown around my waist and grinning with her gap-toothed smile had looked ridiculous together, but apparently someone, probably my mother, had thought it was a look that needed to be captured.
He was still chuckling when I put the picture back where it was.
“Shut up, asshole. Like you didn’t look ridiculous as a child,” I grumbled, snagging another frame from the coffee table and bringing it to my face for inspection.
He came to stand behind me, looking over my shoulder. This picture was from my college party, the night I’d half-heartedly tried to tell Piper how I felt.
We were both smiling, but it didn’t reach our eyes. The sadness from that time in our lives radiated from the frame so strongly that I quickly put it down.
“Hey, who’s the babe?” my partner asked.
Jealousy, like I’d never experienced before, bubbled up and I whirled, pinning him with a glare. “None of your business,” I growled.
He threw his hands up in surrender, but the corner of his mouth tipped up. “Ah, so that’s Piper.”
“Like I said. None of your business.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Let’s just get this over with before she gets home.”
Pieters grinned, shoving a toothpick between his teeth. “What’s the matter, Reed? Worried I’m gonna steal your girl?”
I scowled at him. He was taller than I was by a head, and roughly the same size as Hampton. In his late thirties, he appealed to women of all ages, with his rugged good looks and that slow smile he used any chance he could. Yeah, Piper would probably take a moment to appreciate the man standing in front of me. But Mark Pieters was a womanizer. And there wasn’t a chance in hell that a man like him would appeal to her.
At least, I wasn’t about to give him the chance to find out. “You’re not her type,” I said dryly. “She doesn’t go for meatheads like you.”
He laughed again, sliding that toothpick from one side to the other. “Whatever you gotta tell yourself.”
He clapped his hands together. “All right, let’s get this shit over with.”
I grimaced, not looking forward to the task at hand, and motioned for him to follow me down the hall.
“Lawson?” Piper’s voice rang out, interrupting my train of thought.
“Is that her?” he whispered.
I dropped my voice to match his. “What are we, school girls and our crush just walked in?” I pushed out of my chair and rolled my neck.
We’d been going over surveillance tapes for the last two hours without a break and even though I’d hoped to be finished by the time Piper got home from the hospital, I was thankful for the interruption.
“In here, Pippie,” I called back.
Pieters chuckled. “Pippie, huh? She got long red braids now? I do love a redhead.”
I shot him a look that was enough to shut him up just as Piper trudged into the doorway of my office. She was dressed in her hospital scrubs and her stethoscope was still hanging around her neck. Despite looking like she’d just run a marathon for the last twelve hours, she was still gorgeous. “Lawson, I know we were supposed to go out tonight, but I’m beat.” She paused when Pieters stepped into her line of sight. “Oh, hello,” she said, painting a smile on her face. Turning her attention back to me, she apologized. “I didn’t know you had company. Sorry to interrupt.”
I opened my mouth to assure her that she wasn’t bothering us when he beat me to it.
Sticking his hand out, he took a couple steps toward her and plastered a shit-eating grin on his face. “Mark. Nice to meet you, Piper.” He glanced over his shoulder at me and winked. “Reed here told me you were pretty, but I don’t think he realizes how stunning you really are.”
I glowered at him as she took his large hand in her petite one and blushed. Her gaze flickered to where I was standing briefly, a humorous twinkle in her eyes, and then back to the man in front of her. “Nice to meet you, Mark. Reed didn’t tell me he worked with actual people. I thought it was just him and these monitors.”
Mark held her hand for a beat longer than I thought was necessary, but I didn’t have the chance to tell him to let her go before she dropped his hand and stepped back. She turned her attention to me. “Don’t let me keep y’all.”
I shook my head and gave him a light shove. “We’re done for the day. Pieters here was just leaving.”
He looked back at me, his brows knitted. “We’ve only gotten through half of the—”
I cut him off before he said too much. “It’s a good stopping point. Besides, don’t you have a date tonight?”
I clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a pointed look. He finally got the hint and smirked. “Yeah, sure. Date.”
He turned back to where Piper continued to lean against the wall, her confused attention going back and forth between us. “So nice to finally meet you, Piper. Hope to see more of you.” He turned back to me one last time and the cocky motherfucker winked at me before giving Piper a chin lift and excusing himself.
Piper crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “Who the heck was that?”
I shook my head. “An asshole.”
“Oh, I don’t know. He seemed nice enough.” She grinned, toying with her name badge. “You think he’ll be coming by more often?”
“No fucking way,” I growled. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck at the thought of the two of them spending any more time together. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was bringing him back into my house, not with the way he’d been eyeballing her.
“You jealous?” she asked, her voice teasing me.
My eyes widened. How could she read me so well? “What? Of him? Not even a little bit.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, not convinced in the least. “Well, he was good looking. And knew how to give a compliment.” She shrugged.
Pieters may have been good at schmoozing women he didn’t know, but I did know Piper, and I could guarantee I was better. “Ah, yeah. He’s good at flattery.” I smiled, crossing the distance between us. Grasping her face gently, I pulled her close to me and kissed her forehead. “But I’m
better.” Her eyes fluttered shut and I took the opportunity to kiss each of her eyelids.
Her lips parted, a sigh escaping as she opened her eyes and gazed at me. “Oh, you are? Prove it.”
I stroked a thumb over her cheek and gently tilted her head back so I could look into her eyes. “I remember the very first time I saw you. You weren’t even a year old, and you were screaming—you did that a lot, you know?”
She giggled. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
I shook my head. “And even though your face was red, and you were making my ears bleed, I remember thinking that you were the cutest baby I’d ever seen.”
“Other than Georgia and Hampton, I was the only baby you’d ever seen.”
I feathered a light kiss on the end of her nose. “I spent all of my childhood on the sidelines, watching you and Hampton and Georgia.”
Her face fell and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She was ashamed, but she had no reason to be. “I’m sorry we didn’t include you more.”
“I’m not.”
Her gaze jumped back to mine and I shrugged.
“It may have been Hampton who made you laugh or Georgia you told all your secrets to, but it was me who got to enjoy it the most. I got to watch the way your nose crinkled when you giggled. I learned that when you thought something was really funny you tossed your head back. And when you said something you knew was going to make other people laugh, the second before it came through your perfect lips, your eyes would widen and become even more blue than they already are.”
“Lawson…” she whispered, her breath ghosting across my face.
“I also know you cry every time you watch a Disney movie.”
“They always kill someone in those stupid movies,” she grumbled.
“You cry, because you’re tender-hearted and compassionate. Which is why you’re going to be an incredible doctor.” I swallowed hard. “I know you miss Jack, and that you still feel guilty for letting him drive that night, even though you know there was nothing you could have done to stop him from getting behind the wheel.”
Her lips pressed together and she cut her eyes away from mine. I dropped one hand to her chest, placing my palm flat against where her heart was beating.
That night, I’d never been more terrified in my life as I was when I pulled Piper from the twisted wreckage that only moments before had been a Chevy Camaro. I thanked whoever was listening that her heart was beating then, just as strong as it was now. “And it’s okay to still feel that emptiness inside you where he should be.”
She looked back to me and returned my nod.
I chuckled. “I know you’re more confident than I could ever dream of being. And it comes so damn naturally to you. You never had to work at not being awkward and nervous. I’ve always admired that about you. I mean, you have to be damn confident to sing as loudly as you do. Do you know how many times I’ve jumped out of that chair, thinking that Seven was injured, only to find out it was you singing along to a song you didn’t actually know the words to?”
Even though her eyes were wet, she let out a small laugh. “I sing just fine, thank you. Maybe you should have your hearing checked.”
I shook my head. “You make dogs howl when you sing Mariah, Pippie.”
I brought the hand that was still over her heart back up to her face, and her fingers were wrapped around my wrists. I kissed each one of them and then finished, “So, I know exactly how stunning you are, Piper Kelley. And it’s not just your beautiful face that makes you the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. It’s all the parts of you, even the not so great ones, that make you an absolute knock-out.”
I pulled her to me so our bodies were flush and dropped one of my hands to her waist, the other sliding into her hair. With my tongue, I traced the curve of her jaw, kissing and nibbling my way to her ear. Pulling her lobe between my teeth, I nipped the soft flesh before whispering, “How was that?”
She sighed, arching her body into mine, and turned her head until our cheeks were pressed together, our mouths so close that even the slightest movement would fuse them together. “Not too bad, I guess,” she murmured. “I think you could do better, though.”
I grunted before turning us, pressing her back against the wall and lifting, encouraging her to wrap her legs around my waist. The moment she did, I palmed the flesh of her ass with one hand and pulled her lips to mine.
She moaned as I teased my tongue across her bottom lip, nipping it with my teeth before sucking it into my mouth. She was still letting out breathy sounds of pleasure as I plunged into her mouth, my tongue greedily swirling with hers, taking everything she had to give. She was mine, her mouth was mine, and she didn’t know it yet, but I was hers.
I’d always been hers.
It could have been seconds or minutes or hours that we stood there, pressed against the wall, getting lost in the taste of each other. Hell, it could have been fucking years and it wouldn’t have been nearly long enough. But, all too soon, we were forced to come up for air and decide where the hell we were going next.
To the couch for TV and takeout?
Or to the bed?
Her chest heaving, she leaned her head against the wall. Her eyes closed, a faint smile played on her lips. “Yeah, that was better.”
I laughed, releasing my hold on her ass, and she slid down the wall until her feet were planted on the floor. Her eyes fluttered open and they were sparkling. “I have something for you.”
“Is it in the bedroom?”
She laughed, pushing at my shoulder. I took the hint and stepped away, following her as she made her way down the hall. “No, it’s in the kitchen.”
“Oh, on the table. I’m okay with that too.”
She didn’t even bother with a response as she grabbed a pink gift bag and thrust it to me. “I’m paying you back for my college tuition.” She beamed. “Open it.”
I shook my head. “I told you that you weren’t paying me back for that. Besides, unless it’s a check, this bag doesn’t feel heavy enough to have six thousand dollars in it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just open it.”
I pulled at the tissue paper, my attention less on the bag in my hands and more on the giddy excitement that was painting her face. “I don’t think you used enough,” I said dryly as I pulled at yet another sheet of the crinkly paper. When I finally got to the bottom, there was a pair of black socks that said ‘I make Nerdy cool’ in deep blue writing.
I pulled them out and held them in the air. “I think you overpaid.”
She laughed, her nose crinkling, and shook her head. “I had them made! Aren’t they awesome! I won’t give you any of my beloved socks, but if you need some, I’ll always buy you your own pair.”
I put them back in the bag and dropped it on the table. Wrapping my arms around her, I said, “I also make nerdy sexy, right?”
She laughed again. “If you say so.” Leaning into me, she tipped her head back. “I’m starving. Let’s order a pizza and watch a movie. I’m feeling generous today. I’ll let you pick.”
I nodded, guiding her to the living room. “Sounds good. While we wait, we can talk about these ridiculous pictures you put everywhere.”
27
Piper
I wasn’t sure if Lawson actually liked the pineapple and black olive pizza he ordered for us or if he was just trying to make me happy. But either way, I was happily stuffing my face full of the ooey, gooey deliciousness while he complained about the pictures I’d put out.
I chewed quickly and swallowed, nearly choking in an effort to defend myself. “What’s wrong with that one?”
He grabbed the black eight by ten frame and held it up to my face. “Do you see this?” He pointed to the image of me standing next to a tree in a prom dress, my hair upswept and makeup perfect.
I nodded slowly. “Yeeeeees…and?”
He moved his forefinger to the right and pointed at himself. “And do you see this?”
&
nbsp; I tried to contain the laughter, really, I did, but I couldn’t help myself and the giggle rippled out. I clapped a hand over my mouth, but that just made it worse.
“Exactly,” Lawson deadpanned. “Your laughter says it all. I’m getting rid of that one.”
It had been no shock to anyone that I’d gone to my senior prom with Hampton, even though he’d apparently been gay and dating my brother at the time. It had all made sense later, the way they’d insisted on taking a few pictures just the two of them with their arms around each other’s shoulders. We’d just assumed they were being dudes.
Lawson had made the unfortunate mistake of wandering downstairs while we were getting ready to go and Mrs. Reed had insisted he come out and take pictures with us. She’d apparently had a momentary bout of blindness, because he’d been in a pair of boxer shorts and tank top, his arms pale and scrawny, his knees knobby. He’d protested loudly, but when Mr. Reed had stepped in, his deep voice booming, Lawson had no choice but to do what his mother asked.
So here we were, immortalized in this frame, me in my six-hundred-dollar prom dress and Lawson in his Star Wars underwear and a muscle shirt that didn’t do him any favors. I pulled the frame from his hands and held it to my chest, my eyes wet from laughing hard, and gasped. “This one is my favorite, though!”
He just shook his head and took another bite of pizza. “Don’t be sad when it goes missing one day,” he muttered under his breath.
I dropped the picture back on the table and pulled a knee under me, angling my body toward his. “We just don’t have any recent pictures of us.” I lifted one shoulder, twisting my lips into a pout. “And I wanted to fill the frames with us. Luckily, your mom had plenty to choose from.”
“Are they all this terrible? If so, I’ve gotta have a talk with her. Maybe an unfortunate fire in her closet.”
I picked at my nails and admitted, “Well, I may have picked the ones I looked really good in.”
He just made a noise in the back of his throat and glared at me. I was still fighting laughter when a thought occurred to me. “Why does your mother have so many pictures of just the two of us?”
