“So what are you going to do?” he asked.
“Nothing I can do. I may not even be returning anyway.” I stared down at my hands.
“Yes, you will. We’ll find a way.” His phone went off, and I watched him read a text message. He looked back at me and gave me a smile like he wanted something. “Nora said there’s a low-key party in Farmingdale tonight. There will be a band playing.”
“I don’t want to go to a party,” I muttered.
“You haven’t done anything social since you got back here. Are we not exciting enough for you now?” he complained.
I groaned. “You know that’s not true. I’ve been tired from work.”
“True. Sorry.” He went back to texting. “Nora promises lots of wine and ‘pretty guys.’” He rolled his eyes.
I gave a small smile. “Tell her I live with two pretty guys.” That got Eric’s head turning my way. He gave me a grin. I guess he could hear through his headphones.
“I’m not telling her that,” Jorge said.
“I’m not ready,” I replied.
“You gotta start somewhere,” Jorge said. “Please, Pipes.”
My phone chimed with an incoming text message from an unknown number.
It’s Cole. Seren’s Fiancé. We’re getting married in Vegas. You’re invited. Reply back and we’ll add you to the list
I pursed my lips. Sure didn’t feel inviting to me. Why was he contacting me anyway? Were the three of them getting married? I knew that wasn’t possible, but I did know Brody was a part of their “we” and that was enough to make my heart ache. I deleted his message.
Jorge was waiting for my answer.
I plastered on a smile. “Alright. Let’s get ready.”
*
I CHOSE ONE of my mother’s designer maxi dresses and sandals to wear to the party, spending a little extra time on polishing my nails. I brushed my hair into a high ponytail. Even in this style, it hit the middle of my back. I needed to cut it, but I was still keen to donate my hair to locks of love or give it to Riley if she still wanted. If any of them were still talking to me. I hadn’t heard much from them since I returned. Except a thank you for the updates and photos. Then again, I hadn’t put much effort into keeping in contact either. All because they reminded me of Brody. Who was probably planning an illegal three-way marriage with Seren?! Okay. I was exaggerating. Even so, I still wanted Brody for myself. Though now, it was obvious he had moved on with Seren and Cole. I needed to try to move on too.
Once I was finished getting ready, Jorge exchanged places with me and came out wearing a rust-colored shirt that went well with his eyes and blue jeans. His dark hair was styled messy chic. All in all, he still looked like a clean-cut teen idol to me.
“Looking good,” I complimented him. He actually blushed a little! I would have made fun of it, but he looked so happy. I chose not to spoil it.
“So do you, Piper,” he replied. He held out his arm, and I took it. And with a back wave to Eric, we left to meet Nora, who, for some odd reason, had agreed to be our designated driver for the night. Anyway, she’d arranged to pick us up near our dorm parking lot. June weather was now in full swing, so it wasn’t too bad outside to wait. But as it turned out, Nora was punctual and pulled up to pick us up within seconds. She got out of the car and tilted her head down on approach.
What was up with her? I wondered. And then I realized I was holding onto Jorge’s arm.
I let go of it like it was hot. “Hey.”
Jorge did one better. He kissed her, to chase away her doubts though he hadn’t told me they were serious. When he let go of her she was breathless, and all pearly teeth. “Hello.”
Jorge opened the back door for me to get in. As I moved to sit down, I almost crushed the beautiful box with a decorative ribbon between the seats. I turned to Nora questioningly.
“Oh, it’s a birthday party, but you don’t have to bring anything. It’s something to include in his homeless project,” Nora said. She handed Jorge the car keys. Apparently, he was the driver to the party. He helped her settled inside and got behind the wheel of the car.
“What homeless project? I’d love to get involved,” I asked settling in the back seat. “I wished I’d known; I would have brought something too.”
“We did invite you to come over and stay with us,” Nora said. “If you had you would have met the guys from the fraternity house down the road that are organizing it.”
“Frat parties are not Piper’s thing,” Jorge spoke up for me as he turned onto the highway.
“He’s right. They’re not my thing,” I mused. Jorge and I laughed for some odd reason, but we did that sometimes. Once we stopped, Nora spoke up.
“Well, alright, but some of the guys are really hot,” she said.
“Oh are they?” Jorge teased her.
“Not as hot as you,” she said with a huskiness to her tone.
I gagged inwardly. But once again, I was envious. I wanted my own hot guy. I wanted Brody. We hadn’t driven far, but as the car slowed down and I looked out of the window at where we were at, I immediately wish I had stayed home. We weren’t at just any frat house. We were at the one I hadn’t been to since freshmen year. Matt Carson’s.
“Why didn’t you tell me we were going here?” I complained. “Now I’ll have to catch the subway back to the dorm.”
“This is his frat? I wouldn’t have brought you here,” Jorge said with annoyance.
“Forget it. I need to speak with him anyway,” I grumbled.
“If he steps out of line, we’ll all leave,” Jorge assured, and Nora agreed. His word enough for her.
Jorge opened my door while Nora collected the present. The rest of the neighborhood was mostly Victorian homes that had converted into apartments. I got out and looked over at a particularly lovely one across the street.
“It’s beautiful,” I said to Jorge as he stood next to me.
He leaned over to my ear. “In five years I will have a house like this.”
“Good. You can give me the Auntie suite. I’ll get a cat,” I joked.
“No, Piper. You’re definitely main house material,” he said softly.
We were led by island music and people crossing the lawn toward the back of the house, and the backyard. It was mostly taken up by a small stage and a band where a few of the party-goers were already dancing. In fact, the place was packed. Tiki lights and fake palm trees marked the outskirts of the place. There was a portable, brightly-colored bar.
“I’d like to go over and hand over the present,” Nora said, as she motioned towards the crowd at the deck where there was a food banquet with plates and small tables for eating. “You’re welcome to come along, Piper, or you can mingle.”
She was being polite, but it was clear as water she wanted me away. So I shook my head and told them, “Go on. I’ll go dance.”
Jorge frowned, and I followed his gaze over the growing crowd. “Keep your phone on.”
“I will,” I said and took out my phone and held it up for Jorge and once he was satisfied, Nora took his hand and half dragged him off. Before I could put it away, my phone lit up with a new text message from an unknown number.
“I’m sorry again. I’ve said it many times before, but I hope you will accept it now that we have to work together :) Matt
I rolled my eyes. And so it starts. Matt Carson.
“Was that my message?”
I looked up and found Matt in front of me. I remembered thinking he was hot the first time I saw him. I’ve since grown immune to his attractiveness, either that or bitter—one or the other. Honestly, he was pleasant looking, in a classical way. He was athletically built and stood over six feet. He was blonde and blue-eyed. His face was angular shaped with high cheekbones and freakishly absent of pores.
He had two plastic cups in his hands and held one out to me. “Wine?”
I frowned, but reluctantly took the cup and sipped. It was alright.
“You look too beautiful to fr
own,” he mused.
I frowned more. “Thanks for the drink.” I turned to go, but of course, he stepped and blocked my escape.
“I’m glad to see you here,” he said.
“My friends thought to surprise me tonight. I wouldn’t have come if I knew the party was here and you’d be here.”
“Ouch. That was harsh.” He said pretending to be stung in the chest. That almost made me laugh, but I held it in and stopped moving to listen to him.
“I’ve apologized to you over and over again…I am sorry, and I’m happy you came. This was for my birthday and the homeless project I’m heading.”
My brows raised. “You’re heading the project?”
“Yes. I’m not the asshole you met freshman year. I’ve grown up a bit,” he said smiling brightly at me. “I’d love to tell you all about it.” He looked around at the cluster of people dancing and drinking around us. A few dirty looks came my way from a few women who weren’t hiding their lust for Matt. One even came up and thrust her boobs into his face. He laughed it off but sent her back to the party with a playful pat on the backside. How kind of him. He stared at me, and his smile wilted a bit. He pushed his hands through his hair.
“We can go to my room,” he said once he was back in front of me.
“No way. I think I’ll go dance or eat. Happy birthday and good luck with your project,’ I moved past him, and he let me but fell in line with me as I walked toward the bar.
“That came out wrong. I really want to talk about the project with you. I promise I won’t touch you. We can go in front of the house if you prefer. There are people there too, but the band is going to start playing out here again, and it will get noisy.
Professor Gilmore put us together. You’ll have to find a way to work with me. So give me a chance?”
“Okay. I’ll listen. But, I’m here with—”
“Nora Carmichael and her boyfriend,” Matt said.
“They are not a couple,” I replied. Or were they? Jorge would’ve told me. Right? I drained my cup, and he chuckled.
“Alright. But this is a party. I came to enjoy it.” I followed behind him and then stopped and turned around. “How did you know I came with Nora?”
His lip twitched. “I asked her to invite you.”
I didn’t know what to do with that information. But I followed him to the front of the house and up to the wide porch where there were a couple of unoccupied lawn chairs. He went away and got another two more cups of wine and handed one to me before taking a seat next to me.
“Are you taking Spanish this summer to prepare for Argentina? I’m taking Spanish and Arabic. I also hope to be adept in conversational French and German before graduation,” he said.
I licked my lips. “I took Spanish throughout high school, but I should look into studying again.” Fuck. I hadn’t even thought about it. I took out my phone and typed in a reminder.
“You should and try to study other languages. Global journalism is competitive. I mean with all the social media. You got to stand out,” he said.
He was right. If I wanted this enough, I needed to work ahead. I looked up and found him a little closer to me. I scooted away casually and took another sip of my drink. “Please tell me about your project.”
“It started with me being asked for help, on my way home by a man named Roger. We ended up spending the day together, and he introduced me to some of his friends. It grew into meeting and me bringing things to them on the weekends. I learned their stories and wrote a series of articles. I submitted them everywhere. One appeared in the Boston Globe a few days ago,” he said proudly.
I knew right then why Gilmore had put me with Matt. He jumped in feet first. He thought about the story as well as got involved with the people he was creating the story about. He thought bigger and submitted his work to news agencies. He had confidence. He was a leader.
I bit my lip. What had I done with my summer? The second I left the biker babes I had returned to my box. I hadn’t tried to do anything extraordinary or seek out ways to get myself involved.
No that was unfair. I’d tried to survive.
“I’m sorry if I’m boring you,” Matt said calling my attention back to him.
My lips curved upward. “You’re not. In fact, I’m highly impressed. Have you spent some time researching the issues? I’ve followed some research, and some have correlated the problem with mental health. What are your next steps?”
“I haven’t thought…it’s new. We have organized funding. Some of the stories are related to mental health. What are your suggestions?” he asked.
“Maybe do a research study related to mental health. Check the organizations around the area and find out more about their funding. Follow up with some more articles and see about what and where housing and already established organizations are experiencing a deficit.”
He gazed at me intently. “We have just started reaching on the local level, but I love your ideas.”
I smiled. Maybe I had misjudged him.
“So now that we cleared the air, could you tell me more about your connection with Russ? I’ll admit I was envious when he told us that story about him and your parents. I mean, you have a personal connection with the Russ Gilmore.”
I stiffened. “That story is just that, a story. I’ve no special connection with him.”
“No. I didn’t mean it in a bad way—”
“I understand perfectly. You think I got a leg up because of my parents and that’s why I’m in the top ten. You’re wrong. I wasn’t chosen. I was tasked to prove myself.” Although I was angry, I told him all about the first part of my summer with the biker babes. The more I spoke, the more I missed them. When I stopped speaking, he stared at me.
“I misjudged you again, Piper. I completely underestimated you, too. I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “Please give me another chance? I’m really not that bad. You intimidate me. I tried to impress you. I don’t know why I can’t talk to you.”
I took a deep breath. I had also underestimated him. “Alright, but now I want to join my friends for the party. I’m leaving tomorrow. I’m going to my Aunt’s farm for the rest of the summer.”
His smile disappeared. “I had hoped….Well, then you will just have to stay in contact with me by phone and email until you return.”
“And what happens when I return?” I asked standing.
“We spend time together,” he said like I had already agreed.
I smirked. “We’ll see.”
“You’re a challenge,” Matt said.
“I’m not to be won. You won’t ever win me,” I said with conviction.
He actually laughed at me. “Never say never, Ms. Rowe.”
Whatever. We walked back around the house, and there was Jorge. He took my hand and tugged me away.
“She’s here to party. We’re dancing.” He explained matter-of-factly over his shoulder to a shocked Nora and Matt. I happily followed Jorge as he guided me out to the crowd. Even when Nora and Matt appeared, Jorge stayed by my side. I loved him for that. The band started playing every beach party song invented. And we danced to every song one of them. Well, between those delicious plastic cups that Jorge got for us that we drunk down. Each one smoother than the one before, making the dancing epic. I even recognized a few of the party goers from school and chatted until Jorge pulled me back out on the dance floor. They were playing “Wipe Out.” Again?!
“Let’s tango,” I giggled and Jorge immediately moved us into position. Still we could only move a few paces before bumping into someone. We laughed.
“We own this dance floor,” I yelled.
“God. I wish you could stay the rest of the summer,” he said spinning me around.
I beamed at him. “Me too. This is so much fun.”
He stopped dancing and removed the strains of hair covering my face. Hmm. I thought I had a ponytail. I giggled.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, and I told him.
“I like your
hair down.”
I made a face, then zoned in on the almost empty buffet. “We should probably eat something.” He agreed and moved us over to the buffet table. There was a keg nearby too, and I pointed at it. “How about I get us some more?”
Matt appeared at my side. “No. I think you should eat and sit down.”
“You both should,” Nora said to Jorge. He continued to fill our plates, and we followed Matt and Nora over to a free table on the lawn. Jorge and I ate while Matt hosted from the seats across from us. Although Jorge appeared oblivious, while Nora steadily frowned at him.
“Jorge, are you staying over?” Nora whispered loud enough for us all to hear.
“Not tonight,” he said. “Piper’s leaving, and I’m going to miss her.” He was a little tipsy.
I was by now too. “I’m going to miss you more.”
“We can Skype,” Matt said.
“Why, so you can start another rumor? She’ll never fuck you,” Jorge said.
My jaw dropped open. “He knows that. Let it go.”
“Jorge. I’m surprised at you. Stop being rude,” Nora admonished.
“She’s right. I apologized. That was two years ago. Can you let it go? We are trying to see past it,” Matt said diplomatically.
“You weren’t there when she cried for a week. When she was being whispered about and mistreated around campus. My strong Piper fell apart,” he lightly touched my cheek.
My face heated. Freshman me, thought the world had come to an end. It was a buzz kill subject I didn’t need to live again right now. “It’s alright now, Jorge.”
“I should kick your ass,” Jorge said between clenched teeth.
“You should sober up,” Matt said.
“Maybe we should go,” I stumbled to my feet.
“Yeah, we should,” Jorge said and took my hand leaving Nora behind.
“Jorge. You can’t do that to Nora,” I said once we reached the street.
“Nora isn’t you.”
“Don’t do this, Jorge,” I said sadly.
“My dad was right. I have been your friend. We are friends, but I….I love you,” Jorge said.
I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up his hand. “I need to say this, and I know what you are going to say. You love Brody, and I’m your best friend. I will always be that for you, Piper. But I.…” he pushed his hair back. “I can’t not love you. My dad was right. I heard you were upset I dropped everything to get you here. I’d do it all again because I love you.”
Piper Dreams: Make It Happen (Dream Series Book 2) Page 6
