I hadn’t told Hadley about any of the past two weeks. I’d wanted to keep it just mine. Besides, how do you tell your best friend that you did something that she would think was totally out of character? I didn’t want her having a go at me and ruining something I’d enjoyed.
Had it been entirely sensible? No, not so much. Okay, probably not at all. Hanging out with the school’s resident underachiever was probably on the bottom of my bright ideas list. Having sex with him was probably at the top of my dumb ideas list. But, it had been fun and I didn’t regret a second of it. I was worried Hadley’s – or anyone else’s – reaction might make me, though.
Even so, as we pulled into the school carpark, the first bit of regret started gnawing at me. But, I knew I was just being stupid.
“You ready for this?” Roman asked, staring forwards.
“For what?”
“People are going to notice we drove to school together.”
I laughed to try and break some of the tension. “Just thought of that, did you?”
He scoffed, an almost-smile breaking on his face. “I suppose you did think of it and decided it was irrelevant?”
I nodded. “Yeah, well. It makes sense. We live next door to each other, getting the bus is a bitch and it’s winter.”
He nodded almost subconsciously. He seemed to have changed in the last two weeks. There was still the lazy charmer in him, but between the laughter he was more brooding, sadder. I had a feeling this was the real Roman Lombardi and I didn’t know how I could help. But, I wanted to.
As if he could read my mind, he shook himself and gave me his patented cheeky smirk. “Let’s do this, Barlow. Ready to cause a commotion?”
I grinned, for now shoving aside any concern I might have had for him. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand, Lombardi.”
“All you’re missing is the sunnies, Barlow.”
“I do like to be unaccommodating,” I chuckled.
We gave each other one more smile, then dropped out of the car and went our separate ways. Of course, by the time I got to my locker, the whole school was talking about how little Piper Barlow had driven to school with sex-god Roman Lombardi.
“So, got any news?” Hadley appeared at my shoulder.
“Missed you, too,” I said sarcastically, as though I hadn’t only seen her on Friday.
“Yeah, yeah. I missed you. Pleasantries over. What’s the goss?”
I rolled my eyes and closed my locker. “I was complaining about walking in the rain last term and Roman offered to drive us to school. There is nothing more to it than that.”
I’d never lied to Hadley, not on purpose and not outright – I’d spent the last week skating over the truth and dangerously close to lying without ever actually lying. But, it came far too easily for my liking.
“Really? And he remembered two weeks later?”
I shrugged. “Guess he’s not as stupid as he looks.”
“S’pose not, then. I wonder how many girls he slept with over the holidays?” she mused wistfully – and I so knew what was on her mind – as we wandered to class.
“Who knows?” I didn’t even want to begin to wonder.
“Well, him presumably.”
I smiled and ducked my head as I caught Roman’s eye in the hallway. “Presumably.”
Roman and I awkwardly interacted for most of the day.
Well, I felt awkward.
He seemed to be going about his usual day in that nonchalant way I’d almost forgotten he had; eyeing off girls left, right and centre, skating down the corridors, smoking on the oval, avoiding class like the plague. We caught each other’s eye now and then and I avoided the humour only noticeable in his eyes each time.
“I see Everest really didn’t give in to any climbers while I was away,” Hadley commented, harking back to our conversation the previous term, with a friendly elbow to the ribs.
And I shit you not, I jumped like the guiltiest person on the planet. But thank God, she didn’t seem to notice.
“No, that I didn’t. I told you last week I didn’t.”
“He’s still after you something shocking. Fuck, I could only dream he was after me that badly.”
I snuck a look at Roman as we walked into class and shook my head at him once. I wished I could believe her; but, Roman had had me. He didn’t need to be after me. So, why then did Hadley think he still was? Had his behaviour not changed at all? Surely he wasn’t such a great actor, it had to be that maybe I wasn’t just another of his nail and bails? Not quite to the degree of the others anyway. I was surely still a novelty, but he’d get bored soon enough.
Not that it actually mattered to me.
Because it didn’t. Because we were just friends who enjoyed each other’s company and sometimes had sex. When he turned around and got bored of me, then it was going to be okay because it was inevitable and I didn’t expect him to change for me. But, I was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
“He never was and he isn’t. Leave it, Hads.” I smiled as we sat down in our seats.
Despite being very near the classroom, Roman unsurprisingly didn’t turn up for class.
It wasn’t until I left the classroom for a short trip to the library that I saw him again.
Scanning shelves as I looked for the book I needed, I was pulled behind another shelf and a familiar pair of lips found mine. I let him kiss me for a moment, then I pushed him away gently.
“What are you doing?” I asked, smiling.
“I’m kissing you. Or, did you get hit on the head today?” He looked very concerned as he ran a hand over my hair.
I smiled and batted him. “This is weird behaviour for you, Lombardi.”
“I missed your touch. So sue me.” He shrugged and flicked his hair out of his eyes. But, I was pretty sure I saw through his nonchalant façade.
“Anyone would think you’d gone soft for me.”
He frowned down at me. His presence was commanding, to say the least. It always was. Roman had a way of demanding your attention – his eyes were always fierce and intense, he radiated this combination of attraction and warning, and it didn’t hurt that he was so tall – and my attention was certainly demanded.
“I was joking. Relax,” I said, patting his chest.
He pulled away. “You want a ride home?”
I looked him over, wondering at his weirdness. “Well, I’d super appreciate it. But, I get if you’ve got other things to do.”
He wouldn’t look at me. “I don’t have other things to do.”
“Lombardi?”
“Barlow?”
“What is up with you today?”
His gaze flickered to me and away again. “Nothing. What’s up with you?”
“Well, aside from me feeling super weirded out and feeling like Hadley’s got some huge secret, nothing.” I didn’t feel like Hadley had a secret – if anyone had a secret, it was me – but I wanted to see if he was paying attention.
No surprise, he wasn’t.
I pulled him to face me.
“What is going on?”
“What? Nothing?”
“Come on, Lombardi. Even for you, you’re acting weird.”
“I’m not acting weird. You are.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure.” I shoved him out of my way and went back to my book search.
“How is Piper Barlow so okay with this?” he asked, following behind me.
“Okay with what?”
“With this. With us?”
“I wasn’t aware there was an us.”
“You know what I mean.”
“What can I say? You’ve changed me.”
“I don’t know that I like that.” He sounded legitimately displeased.
“Well, tough luck. What do you want here, Roman? I can either fawn all over you at school and make a fool of myself? Or, I can act like normal? Which I am. So…what do you want me to do?”
“Normal. Nor
mal is good.” But, his tone made it sound the opposite.
I sighed and turned back to face him. “Roman?”
His gaze flickered to me for a split second. “Piper?”
“What happened to honesty, huh?” I tried to get him to look at me again.
He shrugged away from me. “Fuck this,” he muttered, raking a hand through his hair.
“All right. You want to be a dick, fine. If you need me when you’re done, I’ll be around.”
He stepped in front of me and pressed me against the bookcase. “And, if I need you now?”
I smiled at him ruefully. “We’re at school, Lombardi…”
“I’m aware of that, Barlow. What’s your point?”
“We both know us being seen together hurts you more than it hurts me.”
“How is that?”
“People will think Roman Lombardi’s capable of dating.”
He scoffed. “Of course, because innocent little Piper Barlow couldn’t possibly be capable of not.”
I knew what he was thinking; last term he was like everyone else and believed it, but now he knew I was certainly capable of not dating.
“People want to see good in you, they don’t want to see bad in me. It’s just how it is.”
“People?”
“Girls,” I conceded. “Girls want to see the good in you.”
“And don’t want to see the bad in you?” The corner of his lip quirked like it did when he was trying not to smile. “I didn’t think they cared so much.”
I bit my lip. “Well, some of them. But, most just won’t like me being competition, I’m sure.”
“For me or Mason?”
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Has he asked you out yet? Or, did he not find his sack in Europe?”
“What is up your arse today?”
He opened his mouth and I stopped him.
“If you say ‘nothing’, I will hit you. We don’t lie to each other, Lombardi. That was the deal. We don’t have to talk about it, we don’t apologise for it, but we don’t lie. Remember?”
He sighed. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t know.” He dropped his forehead to mine.
I sympathised, really. But, now was not the time for this.
“I’ve got to get back to class. I’ll see you later?”
“You don’t want to be seen with me?” he asked, his tone dry. “Maybe a little bit of competition will light a fire under Carter’s arse.” His hand fell to my waist and he leant closer.
“Firstly, any guy who only wants me when there’s competition isn’t worth my time. Secondly, I don’t care if we’re seen together. I assumed you did.”
Well, I sort of did. But, not for the reasons he’d assume. I wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed I’d spent time with him or I’d slept with him. I was still worried people would spend hours berating me, making me doubt my decisions and just rain down on my parade. People finding out would ruin it, make me question him and myself, and the last thing I wanted was it being ruined. I wanted to keep feeling good about it, and about him.
“And, what if I only want you because there’s competition?”
I snorted. “You, jealous of Mason? No, I don’t think so.”
He looked at me seriously. “And, if I was?”
I looked at him seriously back. “Last term or this term?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does. Last term, your motivation is highly suspect. This term, you being jealous would actually be kind of cute.”
“Cute?”
I nodded, looking into his eyes. They were warm even though his face was stony. “Like you and Maddy.”
He grabbed me around the waist and I stifled a giggle against his shoulder.
“If you bite me again, Barlow, I may try to persuade you to ditch next lesson.”
I found his eyes again and saw him smiling at me playfully. “Well, we couldn’t have that.” I gave him a peck on the lips and wriggled out of his arms. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”
“So, I can see you around?”
“Lombardi, you can do whatever you want,” I chuckled, walking away from him backwards.
“Kiss you on the oval?”
I grinned and checked no one was watching. “If you wanted to ruin your reputation, yes. But somehow, I don’t think you will.”
He looked genuinely surprised, but pleased. “Oh, you think you know me so well, Barlow? How’s that?”
I grinned and gave him a wink. “Takes one to know one, Lombardi.”
“That it does.” He gave me a slow smile that warmed me up inside and out.
I ducked my head and hurried out of the library. When I skidded back into class, I had to force my face out of its ridiculous happy dance.
“Where’s your book, Piper?” Mrs Carstone asked, pleasantly.
I looked up quickly and felt the blush. “Uh, they didn’t have it…”
She smiled. “Ah, well. Maybe next time.” She pointed to my seat and I collapsed into it.
Hadley leant over to me. “Run into Mason, did we?” she whispered.
I grinned, but didn’t answer her.
Let her think what she wanted.
Chapter Fourteen
Not Asked Out. Twice.
Mason and Tucker had taken to sitting with Hadley, Celeste and me at Lunch. The rumour mill was furiously circling. If you believed everything you heard, Mason was going to ask me out any minute even though I’d secretly hooked up with Roman in the holidays but also couldn’t have possibly because I didn’t do that sort of thing and he was still talking to me so I must have been tutoring him or he was finally making a pass at Hadley through me.
My head spun just trying not to think about it.
Roman, of course, found it hilarious. But, he hadn’t gone near me at school since Tuesday. We parted at his ute in the morning and may as well not have existed to each other except for the usual level of interaction prior to the holidays until the last bell went and I met him back there.
He went through school with his stony expression exuding defiance, being yelled at by teachers, and Thursday I saw him and Rio running away from the building just before the fire alarm went off and we got doused by the sprinklers.
It wasn’t until Friday that I realised I hadn’t felt alone with my friends all week. I’d been happy for the most part and, when I wasn’t, hiding it wasn’t so much of an effort. I’d just had the epiphany and that had put me in a good enough mood when Mason caught up to me in the hallway at the start of Lunch.
“Hey, Piper. I was wondering if we could talk?” he asked.
I nodded as I shuffled with books in my locker. “Yeah, sure. I just need to run to the bathroom. I’ll catch up to you outside?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Great. Thanks, Mason.” I threw him a smile and dashed off. To be fair, it was only in hindsight that it occurred to me that he might have been about to ask me out and, in my defence, I had been desperate to go most of the previous lesson.
Either way, I was walking across the oval towards the group when Roman broke off from his friends and met me halfway. Absently, he put a hand on my stomach and ducked his head to my ear.
“Not causing trouble today?” I asked.
“Obviously not enough if you haven’t heard about it,” he answered ruefully, but his eyes were hard.
I smiled but was going to leave that where it was. “What’s up?”
“I have to go pick up Maddy. But, I should be back by end of the day,” he said softly.
I frowned at him. “She okay?”
“Yeah, I–” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I think so, but who knows. Mum just said I needed to go get her because she can’t get off work.” He took a drag of the cigarette I’d become so used to I’d stopped even noticing the smell – funny how he smoked so much but never smelled like it. “There’s a whole car seat thing and I
need to go now.”
“Are you okay?”
He turned his face to me. We looked at each other for a moment quite intently. Finally, he looked behind me again.
“No.”
I nodded. “All right. Need anything?”
He shook his head. “Not now.”
Even knowing Roman the way I did, I couldn’t see anything explicitly sexual in that. It was the Roman equivalent of ‘we’ll talk later’, only without the expectation that there’d be talking; we might just sit on the lakeshore and listen to music for a few hours.
“Okay. Well–”
“–I know where to find you,” he finished for me. “I know.” He sounded distracted, but not so much that he didn’t sound somewhat heartened by the knowledge I was there for him.
He shifted and I knew he was about to walk away. I put a hand on his chest. “Roman?”
He looked down at me. There was nothing in his eyes but stress and concern and that muscle in his jaw was twitching. I never seemed to know how to help him, not like he seemed to know with me. He seemed to know when I needed to be quiet, when I needed to talk, to be distracted, to laugh. When it came to him? I felt like the worst of all friends.
“Piper?” he asked back.
I blinked. “I can get the bus if it’s easier?”
He sighed and touched his forehead to mine for a split second. “No, it’s fine. I could do with some decent company this afternoon.” His hand tightened against my stomach for a moment, then he walked off.
I watched him for a moment, then shook my head and hurried over to the group. I plonked down onto the grass next to Hadley and crossed my legs, shoving my skirt between them so I didn’t flash anyone.
“Uh. So, what was that about?” Hadley asked.
I jumped and looked up to find the conversation was on pause and they were all staring at me. “What?”
“That, with Roman?”
I looked behind me. “Oh, he has to…do something. Might not be here to take me home is all.” I waved a hand. “It’s fine.” It was fine, wasn’t it? I mean, I was allowed to be friends with people…
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