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“Do you want to go out with me?” Sasha took a rag and wiped at some spilled mystery liquid on the bartop.
“I…” He snapped his eyes shut in defeat. She was right. He just wanted to high-tail it out of the bar before something terrible happened. He could feel that something looming in the air, as if Piper’s voice were going to set the entire room aflame. “I’m just gonna go home. Have a nice night, Sasha.”
The song finally ended as Leo made his way back to his table to grab his hoodie. He snuck a glance at the stage, where Piper was walking toward the narrow staircase in her death trap shoes. Leo’s hand twitched as he watched her get to the first step. He scanned the bar, hoping someone would do the respectable thing and assist her, but not a soul got up from their seat. Sam and Wes were in a very spirited argument about heaven knows what and brushed him off when he tried to get their attention.
“Fuck,” Leo cursed under his breath as he stomped closer to the stage.
Piper looked like a glass breakable teetering on the edge of the highest step. The nagging voice in the back of Leo’s head—which usually sounded like one of his parents—said chivalry wasn’t limited to only the people you liked. And yet, Leo found himself stalking toward the side of the stairs and holding his hand up to Piper with a scowl.
“I can do it myself,” Piper bit off.
“You’re going to break an ankle. Or an arm. Or your neck.” Leo sliced his pointer finger over his neck and made a gagging sound for effect.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She gripped the railing harder and carefully made her way onto the first landing, which wasn’t enough of a ledge to hold an entire foot.
“I mean, death seems a bit drastic, but if you accidentally broke a couple of fingers right now because you’re too stubborn to accept help, it would be amusing.”
“I’m fine.” Piper took another few steps without grabbing his outstretched hand, smiling when she only had one step left. “See?” Stepping forward one last time with misplaced confidence, Piper slipped off the last step and stumbled forward, trying to regain her balance, arms flying about at her sides. Leo took one step in her direction and caught her under her elbows to stabilize her.
“The last step is always covered in alcohol and whatever else people are drinking.” Leo smirked. “They’ll probably be sued at some point for not putting up a Slippery When Wet sign.”
“You could have mentioned that,” Piper snapped.
“Mmm, but where’s the fun in that?” He dropped his hands away from her body and stepped back to look at her. “You think you can make it to your table without falling on your face, or do you need me to fireman carry you over my shoulder, princesita?”
At first, the thought of Piper’s body bent over his shoulder with her dress hiked up around her hips sent a pang of need through Leo’s chest that he didn’t want to examine. It wasn’t like it was the first time he had ever imagined Piper bent over something, except he was usually standing behind her in those daydreams as they spewed curse words at each other in a fervent round of hate sex. Luckily, the realization that her whole ass would also be on display to half the bar if he did toss her around like a sack of potatoes was a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.
“I’ll keep my dignity intact, thank you.” Piper snorted.
A snide breath of laughter left Leo’s lips. “Oh, I think you lost that a long time ago.”
“You’re a real dick.” She trudged past him and paused just in time to lift her foot to stomp on his toes. It was a bold move, but a fruitless one. She wound up too much for him not to know exactly what she was about to do. Boxing had trained him enough to know when he was going to take a hit. He sidestepped her easily.
“If you break my toes, who’s going to help you walk upright?” Leo asked.
“I hate you,” Piper snarled.
“And I hate you,” he snapped back. “So glad we can finally agree on something.”
“Your ego is the size of Texas.”
“My ego is what got me to where I am.” Leo angrily folded his arms over his chest. “Try having to work for anything, Piper. All you need is a fake smile and the world hands you whatever the fuck you want.”
Piper’s face was as red as a tomato, and she looked away for a moment before meeting his eyes with a newfound fire. “At least I don’t treat people like shit just to make myself feel better.” And with that parting blow, she turned and walked to her table.
The deep, choppy breath of air Leo inhaled didn’t help him regain his center. It took several before he felt at equilibrium again. Piper was on the wrong side of this argument. He was sure of it. He had snide remarks, he could admit that, but since high school, she had been nothing but nasty to him. They had been in opposition from the moment they met. A large assumption on Piper’s part had snowballed so far out of control that every second after, they had been in constant battle. Back then, Leo had refused to explain himself on principle, but now, he wondered if everything would have been different if he had just said something. There was no way to backtrack and course-correct when they had so many years of arguments and clashing opinions under their belts. The best thing he could think to do was to avoid Piper at all costs. And that was going to be rather difficult with the way Sam and Wes were looking at him from across the bar with hope in their eyes.
Six
PIPER
All you need is a fake smile, and the world hands you whatever the fuck you want.
Leo’s latest dig at Piper’s character rang in her ears like the aftermath of an explosive. She wanted to march back over to him, offer him her most dazzling smile, and petulantly say, “There. Now, since that’s supposed to give me whatever the fuck I want, I’d like my parents back, thank you.”
She wasn’t completely out of touch with reality. It was easier to get what she wanted because her family had the means to do it. The major difference between herself and Leo was that Piper would never step on people to get to the top. She wouldn’t walk into a room, claim superiority, and demand to be treated with respect. Her respect was earned.
“They’re talking about you,” Talia interrupted Piper’s seething with a nod over to where Leo, a guy named Sam from one of Piper’s classes, and another guy she didn’t recognize seemed to be in some sort of an argument.
