PIPER DREAMS
Make It Happen
Amélie S. Duncan
Published by Amélie S. Duncan
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Copyright © Amélie S. Duncan, 2016
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All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior permission of the author or publisher. This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real people or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All books, songs, song titles, mentioned in the novel Piper Dreams: Make it Happen are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
CHAPTER ONE Brody
CHAPTER TWO Piper
CHAPTER THREE Piper
CHAPTER FOUR Brody
CHAPTER FIVE Piper
CHAPTER SIX Piper
CHAPTER SEVEN Piper
CHAPTER EIGHT Brody
CHAPTER NINE Piper
CHAPTER TEN Piper
CHAPTER ELEVEN Piper
CHAPTER TWELVE Brody
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Piper
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Brody
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Piper
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Piper
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Brody
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Piper
CHAPTER NINETEEN Piper
CHAPTER TWENTY Piper
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Brody
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Piper
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter One
Brody
I TOOK A drag on my one hundred and ninety-five-days’-old cigarette. It was stale as fuck, but I’d expected it to be. I had given up smoking the day Mia left me. I found quitting easy to do too because I was ready to give it up, especially when she told me she was pregnant. I had decided, then and there, I would do whatever I could to keep them with me. I would give them the love I’d missed growing up. Not that my parents were awful. They dutifully raised, clothed, and educated me to eighteen. I just wasn’t part of their plan. They never hid they didn’t want me. At times, I wondered if they loved me. They never said. But then there are other ways to show love. My dad did invest in my business, and I was grateful for that, but now I don’t think that was enough, and I wonder what I could have been if I’d thought they’d loved me growing up.
I wasn’t completely without love. Cole, his parents, and Seren all told me they loved me. Mia had said she loved me too, but she didn’t. For my child, I would’ve done better. My child would’ve been loved.
I had thought I was blindsided when I lost Mia and my child. It took me this long to realize I’d seen things the way I wanted to see them back then. Mia didn’t hide her hate and resentment for me once she let it out. I was the one still holding on to the dream. Mia deserved to go towards the life she truly sought, so I let her go. Though her leaving and losing our baby broke my heart.
Now my heart was breaking all over again. As I’d smoked my cigarette, I’d thought back on what had just happened. I’d watched the woman I loved; Piper, my Sprite, leave me.
As she’d prepared to leave, I’d thought about walking over to where she was and taking her off that old man’s ride. From the cold glare he gave me, he wasn’t going to make my taking her easy. He wasn’t alone either. He was with his Journeymen brothers.
Growing up in Los Angeles, I was familiar with the name though they were small time as far as motorcycle clubs went. But that didn’t make them clean. They were definitely dirty. And the more I thought about it, I didn’t want my Sprite anywhere near them.
For a minute, I considered chasing after her, like I had in the maze last night. This time, I wouldn’t be her wolf when I captured her. We’d be alone when I marked every inch of her body and claimed it as my own. She’d be all mine, and I’d keep her with me. I wasn’t going to do that though. I blew out the smoke and sighed. Not because I was afraid of getting a beat down. Hell, I wouldn’t be the only one checking in the hospital if I did.
I hated turning Piper over to her friend Jorge, I stood back and let him take her because he was taking her back to college and her life. Piper was young and not just in her age. Although she was only three years younger than me, she had dreams, plans, and goals she’d set out to do. Whether she achieved them or not was up to her, not me. What was up to me was not to get in the way of her getting there. I’d be damned if she ended up regretting her life because of me. That was why she needed to move on. She was an optimist, my Sprite, right up to the very end. She wasn’t letting me go easily. Loving wasn’t easy. Letting go of Piper wasn’t easy, but it was right.
I took a last drag on the cigarette. My mind still thinking about the way she left. She gave me a little wave just like she did after we first met in Boston. I remember thinking her beauty was the bewitching kind. She had a wildness about her too. I caught a glimpse of it the first time I came into contact with her. When she fell into my arms at the gas station, she didn’t even try to get away from me. She gazed up at me and leaned in, willing me to stay. Her soft flesh pressed against my body, and disappointment swept her facial features when I let her go.
Somehow, she had found me again, later that night, and ended up on the road with me and the Biker Babe’s, on their bucket list across America. She filled every corner of our trip from the East Coast to the Midwest. She filled that space in my heart that I didn’t even know anyone could reach again. Wiping my hand over my face, I looked down the road after her. I could still make out her blonde hair billowing beneath the helmet now. Just like the fast speed with which she rolled into my life. She rode out.
I took a minute to get a hold of myself before walking over and stamping out the half smoked stick into the over-flowing smoker’s genie. I took that moment to get rid of that old pack, too, my reminder to let go of whatever or whoever didn’t want what I had to give, and to stay within my boundaries. So I wouldn’t be vulnerable or turn into a regret again. Piper didn’t regret me. She’d told me she loved me, and I’d crushed her heart. She told me I was enough for her. That part wasn’t easy to let go of. But I had made my decision and needed to somehow move on.
So I went back into the hospital and Seren. I owed a lot to Seren and Cole. They’d patched me up and brought life back into me after my failed relationship. We had plans to make our own family. Then life happened, and Seren got diagnosed with breast cancer. And even with that on her plate, she lifted me up out of my self-pity and filled my life with meaning. For that alone, I loved her and our friendship. I needed to tell her the good news. Cole was on his way back home. She was resting when I left. But when I reached her room now, I found her yelling.
“I’m sick of being your pin cushion. No more blood. No more tests!”
“I’m only following the doctor’s orders, Ms. Monroe,” the nurse said. She tightened the tourniquet on her arm.
Seren looked pale and drawn. Her eyes, still red-rimmed. It was clear that she had reached her
breaking point. She was seconds away from ripping out the tube from her arm and running out of the hospital. I stepped up to where she could see me but instead of making her calm down; she became tenser like she expected me to side with the nurse.
“I don’t care. I’m not staying in Chicago. They just took blood a couple of hours ago. I want to leave,” she hissed.
“You can take more this time, but that will be her last one. Please tell her doctor we are checking out and will be following up in Colorado Springs. If he has a referral there, he can let me and her fiancé know. He will be meeting us there soon.”
Seren’s face lit up like Christmas lights. “Cole?! They found him?”
She relaxed on the bed, and the nurse took that opportunity to continue filling her little vials of blood and labeling them.
“I got a message from him today.” I took out my phone and showed her.
“Does he know we are going to Colorado? Will he be able to fly there from San Diego? What time is he arriving?” she babbled.
I held up my hands. “One question at a time. I just got the message. I haven’t responded yet.”
“I’ll do it,” she enthused and reached for my phone.
“You can’t type with one hand. I’ll type the message.”
“Fine. Please tell Cole we are with the group in Chicago, but now will be heading straight to your house in Colorado Springs.” Her eyes looked too big for her face. “I don’t want him to know we are in the hospital. Please don’t tell him I’m sick.”
I blew out a breath. “You know I can’t do that. I don’t lie to him or you.”
“I’m not asking you to lie; I just want to be the one to tell him. Please. I don’t want him to worry. It will ruin his homecoming. I’m feeling better. I was just tired and sad before.”
The nurse slightly hesitated before she placed the last sample on the tray.
My pulse picked up. “Everything alright?”
She painted on smile. “I’m sure it is, but Dr. Mason is thorough. I’m finished now. I’ll alert the doctor about the samples and your discharge request.”
“Sorry for being mean,” Seren said to her.
The nurse patted her arm. “It’s okay. I know how awful it is to stay here, but you’re still mine for the night. So I expect you to eat and get some sleep.” She turned to me. “There is a fold-out bed if you want it.”
“I’ll be alright. Thank you.” She nodded and left.
I went and sat down on the bed. “Now that she’s gone tell me how you’re really feeling?” I wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She fell back on the pillow. “Fine. I just hate hospitals.”
My stomach sank. I wanted to push her for more, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.
“I’d like for Cole and me to get married soon,” she said quietly.
“He’d love that,” I replied. And he would. Cole would’ve married her after the first week they spent together. She wanted to give their relationship time, back then.
“I’d like to invite everyone, including Piper, and before you say you don’t think that’s a good idea, she’s still our friend. I want her and Cole to get on better terms too after that call. I want them to be friends and for her to be comfortable at the wedding.” She met my eyes. “I want her there. I need her there.”
I didn’t understand why she wanted this so much. I wanted to argue with her, but she was sick. And this was her wedding. Besides, I didn’t want to ruin their new friendship. Yet I didn’t know how I could be just Piper’s friend. So I answered. “Go on and invite her, but wait until Cole gets here. Just try not to be too upset if she can’t. She has work and school.” Or because of me, since I broke her heart. And mine.
Seren erased the message she had poised for Piper and rubbed my arm. “Sorry.”
I nodded and took the phone back. Rising, I plugged in both of our phones for charging and sent off a quick message to Doc to keep our bikes until I arranged for them to be delivered to the house in Colorado Springs.
I took a deep breath. I was really going back. My mind drifted off and got tangled up in the past. That was until Seren called me back by saying. “TV then sleep, boss?”
“A little TV. You need to rest,” I instructed before handing over the remote control.
She flipped through the channels before choosing some Vampire show that she got overly excited about. We watched the show together, and I let myself relax a bit. Well, I did until her body only allowed her to stay awake as long as the first set of commercials. Was she just tired? I wasn’t sure. I left the show on for a while longer. Then I tugged off her wig and wiped over the sweat from her head with a cool cloth. She didn’t even stir. I watched her for a while before slipping off into my dreams where everything was right.
Chapter Two
Piper
I HELD ON tight to Hatchet’s sides as he rode us away from the hospital. He rode like he had the Devil chasing after him. Or the police, who would chase if they saw us, and they would have good reason, the way he sped and wove through traffic. Since he was on probation and not to leave California, you’d think he would be careful and try not to bring any attention to himself – well, no more than the noisy sounds Harley Davidson bike engines made, that was. But that wasn’t Hatchet’s style or the other Journeymen either, the MC he belonged to; the same one my father had been a member of, up to his death.
Taking the easy road wasn’t my late father’s way either. He told me he rode, and lived, chasing life and death. And he never felt as free as he did in the club. That freedom was something I’d had just a taste of on the road trip with the Biker Babes, and it was something I wasn’t ready to let go of just yet. That was the reason I took the risk and chose to ride with Hatchet, despite the fact that my best friend Jorge had a car I could ride in, to wherever we were going.
Where were we going? I hadn’t even asked that either. That was completely not like me. At least not the “me” I was before the road trip. Before Brody. All I knew was that I just wasn’t ready to be the old Piper again. I wanted to be Brody’s Piper for a little while longer. Even though I only got to be his for a few days before everything went to hell, they were some of the best days of my life. Throwing myself into his life and his arms; being his, I couldn’t have been happier. He was the first man I’d ever fallen in love with, and I believed he’d loved me back—had loved me.
He was also the first man to dump me. Well, he sort of dumped me. Okay, he dumped me big time. My ego was as beat up as my heart. Somehow or another, I hadn’t been dumped before. It could have been because I didn’t have time for long-term relationships growing up. After the divorce, my time was split between my parents. I spent the school year with my mom and the summers in California with my father and Jorge, who lived there at the time.
When some of the dates I’d had, turned into short-term relationships they were all ended by me, until now. Not that I was in a relationship with Brody. It was over before we ever had a chance. According to him, I still had more living to do. He hadn’t wanted me to give up my goals and regret being with him. He’d also made an agreement with his friends Seren and Cole. They were on their way to being a family. That was until we fell for each other. But in the end, Brody had made a promise and was sticking to taking care of Seren. Truly, Brody was being selfless, and that was just another reason I absolutely loved the man. He was beautiful inside and out. I believed in my heart that they could make him happy, but they couldn’t love him as I could. Nevertheless, his decision was made, and I had to pick up the pieces of my heart and return to my life.
Did I still have a life waiting out there for me?
I was due to start my junior year in Professor Gilmore’s advance course. His study-abroad semester was in the spring. I, along with the other lucky nine, would be traveling to a mysterious location in South America. But, that was no longer certain—not after the call to my mother. She’d fallen for Royce’s lies about me. She’d believed I was trying to break them up by se
nding photos of myself to him with threats of blackmail. After lying to her about where I was and what I was doing, I could hardly blame her for not believing me this time. My stomach flipped over. She had chosen Royce over me. He’d told me she would, but I hadn’t believed him. I had walked right into his stupid trap without even knowing any better. I’d handled it all wrong, and it was going to cost me. I regretted that, and not just because I may not be able to afford the next semester or have anywhere to stay. Shit. I had hit rock bottom at twenty-one. Yeah. I was feeling sorry for myself. If I didn’t, who would? Not anyone I was with presently. Jorge didn’t even want me to go on the trip in the first place, which was another reason I avoided going in the car. I would face his interrogation and dissension when we reached our destination.
I couldn’t wipe my eyes for fear that I’d lose my grip on Hatchet, but, at least he had stopped speeding. And from what I could make out from the signs, we were now in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was where the annual Harley Davidson bike fest, Jorge had told me about, was taking place. We were now turning off the highway and after a few lights, we stopped at a hotel chain near the Lake Michigan coast—an upscale hotel. The MC had advanced since the old days. I hadn’t recognized the members he brought with him, and he hadn’t stopped to do an introduction. Truthfully, when my dad was alive, he didn’t take me around his club often either. Mom didn’t want me there. She told me it was because she was scared something would happen to me. But when I got older her reason for keeping me sheltered away was because she didn’t want me to see my dad screwing whatever “desperate tramp” came through their clubhouse. Poor mom.
I sighed heavily. Mom.
Even though we weren’t close, I wanted her right now. I wanted her to tell me I’d survive my heartache. Why didn’t I have any girlfriends? I wondered. Oh yeah. Women suck. At least, the ones I grew up around did. The ones I’d tried to befriend. I was too much—too poor, too unpopular, or too overachieving. Or I ‘wanted’ their boyfriends. Truthfully, sometimes I did. I was young and immature. Hey, I wasn’t perfect. I did have some girlfriends now, Seren, Fiona, and I guess Riley. Well, I also had Aunt Luna, but she was with her new love. She’d probably think my negativity would jinx her “vibe.” I worried my bottom lip. So, I would just have to face the music and judgment of Jorge. I loved him and knew he cared about me. I also knew he wasn’t going to make this easy.
Piper Dreams: Make It Happen (Dream Series Book 2) Page 1
