Piper: A Last Score Spin Off

by K. L. Shandwick

  When he slid the rough material over my butt, his warm hands replaced the contact as they traced their path down my legs and I shivered as a jolt of electric delight traveled through me.

  Once my jeans were on the floor, he lifted me possessively onto his waist, wrapping my legs behind him, holding me tight.

  “Deep down I know you want me, Piper.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. “I can feel how much you want me when you look at me, but the thought of you with someone else makes me feel desperate—irrational. You’re mine, you hear?”

  My heart swelled in my chest until it felt tight at his incredible confession. It was everything I needed to hear.

  Pressing his lips to mine, his kiss was everything from soft and gentle, to overwhelming and suffocating, and all the tension from the previous half hour suddenly ebbed into insignificance as Simon proceeded to claim every inch of my body as his.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A text alert came in as I wandered back into the room from my morning shower. Simon was naked, his towel having parted when he sat on the edge of the bed to check out his phone. Sliding his phone, he selected a number and made a call.

  Whoever was on the other end must have started talking because he smiled, but there was something in the way he did it that instinctively told me he was listening to a woman. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just did.

  Hearing me come through the door his eyes flitted over to mine. His smile widened, and I knew that one was for me, then he dropped his gaze to the floor and continued to listen to the call.

  “Hm, is that so?” he asked in a playful tone, “We’ll see about that.” I felt my body stiffen defensively, my gut twisting more in suspicion than curiosity.

  All the work we’d done the previous night to regain the closeness we shared felt short-lived as my chest tightened in a feeling that was difficult to describe.

  “I should get in tomorrow night around 8pm.” For some reason he looked anxious for a moment as he listened intently to whatever was being said and a nervous chuckle escaped as he glanced toward me.

  Instead of smiling again, his eyes lingered on me but his face looked serious as he chewed the inside of his cheek and continued to listen. Breaking eye contact, his face became solemn, and he ran his fingers through his hair.

  He flopped back naked on the bed with his knees wide and his feet still on the floor. “Five to seven days?” he asked, his body relaxed in all his nakedness as he flashed a smile. He snickered again at whatever the caller had said. “Sounds like a plan. Anytime, sweetheart. I promised. I could do with a couple of days R'n'R in the sun.” Sweetheart? Anytime? What the hell?

  His affectionate comment toward someone else stung, and I instantly empathized with his position the previous night about Kerr, because despite hearing only snippets of their conversation out of context, it was enough to hurt me.

  I tried to reassure myself I was being irrational, but from they had said, they had made arrangements to go somewhere together and I wondered if the invitation he was receiving meant I was starting to lose him.

  My chest felt tight, my heart heaved, and I realized I no longer had a crush on Simon, I had fallen in love.

  Insecurity swept through me and I questioned whether I’d been foolish to give my heart to someone with so much sex appeal, women literally threw themselves at him. Women who had far more to give and could steal him away in the blink of an eye.

  Preoccupied by my last thought and struggling to calm my racing heart, I moved quietly around the room and dressed, pretending I wasn’t interested in his call.

  My heart stuttered and clenched when I realized the timeline for his trip clashed with my opening gig. As his conversation continued my insecurities grew and it felt as if Simon had even forgotten I was in the room.

  “Don’t worry. Whatever comes up, we’ll deal with it together,” he told her. “I’m sure I will be,” he relied through a chuckle, in answer to something else said. By this point it took all I had not to turn and give him a questioning look, and I’d have given my two front teeth to have known who was on the other end of the line.

  Sliding my feet into my panties, I pulled them up and then quickly grabbed a t-shirt and sweater from my suitcase. Slipping them over my head, I then pulled on a pair of jeans. Spinning around, I sat on a small chair by the window, putting on some socks and shoes.

  I shot a quick glance to Simon who by this time had one foot resting up on the mattress, his leg bent at the knee, and was smiling like a deranged chimpanzee as he stared at the ceiling.

  For someone so into me only a few hours before, it was as if I became invisible as soon as his call connected.

  Once dressed I had no idea what else to do, but I wasn’t going to sit there like some third wheel while he rudely flirted with someone else on his cell. To save face, I took out my cell, and I sent a text to Kerr.

  Me: Coffee in the lounge downstairs, pretty please?

  Kerr: Is your caveman still waving his club?

  I smiled even in my bad situation because even though Kerr had been angry when he walked away the evening before, I knew he hadn’t held Simon’s outburst against me.

  Me: Don’t worry about him. He’s not invited. I replied. Silencing my cell, I slid it into my back pocket.

  Swiping the keycard and my purse from the dresser, I headed to the door and let myself out without looking back or telling Simon where I was going. If his call had him so engrossed, I had no problem in entertaining myself. The last thing I’d let any man do was to make me clingy or needy.

  Kerr was already sitting on one of the plush leather couches in the lounge bar scrolling through his tablet when I came into view. When he saw me coming, he stood up to greet me.

  Glancing past me he drew me in for a hug. “I’m not going to get the shit kicked out of me for saying hello, am I?”

  I scoffed, feeling embarrassed for how Simon had behaved toward him the previous evening and sat down heavily on the couch. Kerr sat down next to me and eyed me with concern. “Everything okay?”

  I shrugged. “I guess so. I just had to get out of the room for a while,” I said not wanting to voice anything until I was sure there was a real problem.

  “That doesn’t sound great since he only got here yesterday.”

  I shrugged again. I know right?

  “What’s wrong? Did he do something? Has he hurt you?” I narrowed my eyes as I stared at Kerr, annoyed that he would automatically think that of Simon. The one thing he definitely wasn’t was violent. There had never been any vibe from him that had made me feel threatened or uncomfortable about my personal safety.

  Searching the ceiling, I shook my head as a lump of emotion suddenly clogged my throat. Don’t you dare cry, Piper. Am I being oversensitive? Do men have open conversations with other women all the time and I don’t know this? I don’t even know how to react without sounding suspicious or jealous.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Then I’m sure it’s something,” Kerr countered. “If Mr. Hot Shot Rock Star is still in your bedroom and you’re down here with me, it isn’t nothing,” Kerr countered.

  I sighed. “I’m certain it’ll sound stupid if I say it out loud,” I argued.

  “If you were upset enough to leave the room, then something has hurt your feelings. If you removed yourself from his presence because of him then it’s not stupid.” Kerr’s concerned eyes searched my face, and I felt vindicated for stepping away.

  I considered what he said for a few moments. “It sounds crazy but after we left you we argued… then we made up and… well…”

  “You had angry dirty make-up sex,” Kerr stated, turning to smile pleasantly at the waitress who had arrived with the coffee and pastries he had ordered. Mortified, I immediately blushed and wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I stole a warning glance at Kerr that told him to shut up and he chuckled, “Aaa…dorable,” he teased and pointed at how pink my cheeks were.

  I huffed, “Do you want
to know or not… and keep your voice down,” the end of my sentence was quieter than the rest.

  “Yes of course I do. Sorry, go on.”

  “When I came out of the shower this morning he got a text from someone and he immediately called her back. I’m sure it was a woman he was talking to… well, come to think of it, she did most of the talking and he listened, but it was almost like I had ceased to exist once she was on the line. I felt invisible.”

  “Invisible?”

  “Yeah, like he laid flat out on the bed fresh from the shower and had this long conversation.”

  “You’re this worked up because he made a phone call?”

  “It wasn’t that he made a phone call… it was how he was… how it made me feel. I was uncomfortable even being there,” I explained, sounding exacerbated from the lack of how to describe it.

  “Well, fuck, if you were with me I wouldn’t be wasting my time talking to someone else on the phone.” When I heard his reply, I had the slightest hesitation because of what Simon had said the evening before. I shook it off because Kerr was very straightforward, and I was sure what he said was only siding with me.

  “There you are,” Simon’s low, clipped tone cut into our conversation. “I figured you came downstairs to find something to eat. You must be ravenous after last night.” Simon glanced at Kerr, his eyes narrowing as he took him in sitting next to me.

  The ravenous comment felt loaded with emphasis, and it made me feel uneasy because I didn’t know if he meant because of all the sex we’d had or because neither of us had anything else to eat last night. I blushed at the thought he meant it terms of all we had done during the night.

  Kerr glanced at me and quickly looked away like he was trying not to notice, and Simon took my hand and tugged me up off the couch. Leading me to the one across from Kerr he sat me on his lap and put his arms around me. I glanced at Kerr then to him.

  “What time are you leaving today?”

  “I think around midday,” I replied and looked at Kerr for confirmation.

  “Yeah, twelve-ish,” he concurred. Simon huffed because I’d relied on Kerr and then looked at his wristwatch.

  “We’ve got less than two hours left until then. Do you want to go to breakfast?” I was in no way precious in my temperament, but I was still smarting from the way he’d ignored me and turned to Kerr.

  “Would you like to come to breakfast with us?” I offered, determined not to allow Simon to push Kerr to one side when I had asked him to meet me in the first place.

  Glancing to Simon and then to me, Kerr shrugged. “Nah, I’m fine here. You go spend time with your man. I’ll see you back on the bus.” A growl escaped Simon’s throat, and he flashed Kerr a dark warning glare.

  Kerr scoffed and snickered back at him like he’d taken it as a joke. Then he reached forward and stuffed a pastry into his mouth. When neither made any further comment, Kerr lifted his cup and secretly smiled around the rim of it before sipping the hot coffee.

  Pushing me to my feet, Simon stood up beside me and wrapped a strong arm around my shoulder. “Later, dude,” he mumbled, stroking his thumb across my bare upper arm and he turned us to leave. I was annoyed at the thrill that ran through my body as his skin touched mine given how annoyed I felt.

  “Later,” Kerr replied, and I felt slightly impressed that even though Simon was a famous rock star, to Kerr he was a man first and a rock star second.

  During breakfast, Simon was very attentive and made no mention of the call which had taken up so much of his time. I was dying to ask who he had been speaking with but my pride refused to allow me to do this, so I pretended not to care and quietly festered inside.

  Kerr’s comment from earlier about Simon making the call in the first place made me feel subdued and distracted, but Simon figured I was upset because we had to leave each other again.

  It wasn’t that I was afraid to challenge him, but I wasn’t sure I’d like the answer he’d give me either, and part of me also held back from doing so because of the way he had jumped to conclusions about Kerr and me.

  If the call turned out to be something innocent, I wouldn’t have wanted to give him the satisfaction of throwing my day with Kerr back in my face again.

  As we walked back to the bus, the atmosphere between us was stilted and even though he held my hand I felt a distance between us.

  “Where are you off to now?” My open question should have given him an opportunity to clear the air and tell me his plans.

  “I have to head down to the Bahamas to meet some people,” he stated flatly, and when I glanced at him he didn’t look at me as we arrived at the bus. He dropped his grip on my hand and my heart clenched at the loss of his touch.

  Stuffing his hands deeply into his pockets he rocked on his heels and tried to look at me. He didn’t inspire my confidence when he averted his gaze, my insecurities sent a jolt of electricity through me at his reply.

  I was literally getting on a bus knowing that the next time I got off it I would be following my dream, the one thing that had kept me and my mom going all those years, and suddenly I didn’t want to go. Something wasn’t right between Simon and me.

  Narrowing my eyes in suspicion I asked, “Is there anything wrong?” I offered this prompt to give him another opportunity to say what was on his mind. Shaking his head, he blew my question off, and my heart sank.

  As strong as my feelings were for him, it appeared clear Simon was going to do what he wanted. My only hope was that he knew if he cheated on me there were no second chances, no matter who he was or how I felt about him.

  The conversation felt guarded, I figured if I was supposed to know, he’d have spoken to me about it by now. His trip was either nothing, or he had chosen not to elaborate.

  “Have a good time then,” I said lamely. I felt weak for not calling him out, but I was being strong and I was determined not to cry.

  My heart felt crushed by the heavy weight in my chest at the thought Simon was about to do what Gibson was afraid of. More importantly, I felt distressed by how casual his behavior with me was, if his intention was to leave me to spend time with another woman.

  Stepping forward, Simon kissed me and it was loaded with passion and desperation. The bulge in his jeans pressed into my lower belly as he trapped me between his body and the cool metal panel of the tour bus.

  When he drew back and looked at me, the adoration in his eyes as he stared lovingly into mine conflicted with everything else that had happened since the call and I wondered if his eyes hid any lies.

  Fresh doubts swamped me, and I felt foolish to think I was different to all those other women he had been with. Maybe I was… for a while, but at the back of my mind the nagging uncertainty about keeping the interest of a man who had seen and done most things was always there. A lump grew in my throat and I swallowed hard.

  “Hey.” His voice was full of concern as he pulled back to look at me. “Eight days isn’t that long,” he said, reminding me how long it was until we saw each other again. A lot can happen in eight days. Wars have been fought and won in that time. What about my first ever live performance? If I mean that much to him what’s more important?

  Offering him a weak smile, I slid to the side and out of his arms. “I know. I guess I’d better get on the bus, I think they are only waiting for me.”

  Climbing the steps, I turned and looked down at him, my heart bursting with anxiety and fear at what I thought may potentially have been the last time he looked at me like he never wanted me to leave.

  “Piper,” he said with a sense of urgency. “Have fun, but don’t forget what I said about life on the road.” I knew he was warning me about Kerr. It was an unwarranted comment, and he had a cheek after what I suspected he was going to do.

  Hearing his comment irked me. “I could say the same to you,” I replied, my sassy side kicking in to warn him about his own behavior. Without gauging his reaction, I turned and climbed onto the bus without looking back.

  Mo
ments later, I glanced out of the window and he was gone. My gut clenched tight because he hadn’t hung around to see me off and my imagination about where he was headed went into overdrive.

  Tears welled in my eyes and I blinked rapidly in my attempt to prevent them from falling. Why didn’t I confront him about the call if it’s made me feel so bad?

  Kerr sensed I wanted to be alone during the trip up to Seattle and spent the journey Skyping with his girlfriend in his cubby bunk. For most of the time I could hear his low rich tone murmuring, but not what he said, other than the occasional, 'Oh. My. God, baby' or 'You gotta be kidding me', floating through the air.

  A few times I heard him laugh and it made me smile. Kerr made me smile. I sighed. This fact alone made me determined not to discard him as a friend just because Simon didn’t like it.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Late afternoon found us pulling into the secure area of the WaMu Theater in Seattle. If I had thought it looked big from the outside, it appeared huge on the inside. Stepping into the auditorium for the first time, I glanced around at the six-thousand-seven-hundred capacity seating and swallowed audibly as I scanned the vast empty-seated space.

  “Holy shit,” Petra muttered, glancing at Isiah who wore the same shocked face as she did.

  “Damn,” murmured Wyatt.

  “This is going to be awesome,” Kerr said to Austin who grinned back. I figured neither Kerr nor Austin had a nervous bone in their bodies because I was mentally freaking out inside.

  The presence of the star of the gig, Layla, had been everywhere when we had passed through the foyer: with posters, life-size cut out cardboard statues, and other memorabilia heavily evident, and the crew had set up her expensive backdrop and technical equipment on stage.

  Layla herself had yet to make herself available for her soundcheck, but her stage producer had met us at the stage door and after checking out the venue she escorted me onto the stage.