AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re back in town?” Harden came to stand directly in front of Piper, entirely too close for Leo’s comfort. With his hand still on Piper’s waist, Leo took a step back, and she followed.
“Just for a funeral and for Christmas.” Piper’s answer was so short and to the point, Leo thought that might be the end of the conversation. Unfortunately, not only could Harden not get a hard-on, but he also couldn’t read a room.
“You’re doing another funeral for your parents? That’s weird,” Harden said. Piper stiffened under Leo’s arm, and the immediate anger that coursed through his veins made him want to throw punches first and ask questions later. His fist balled up at his side.
“No, you dick.” The first person to speak was surprisingly neither Leo nor Piper, but Sam. “But Pipes, if you want to throw your parents another funeral, I’ll go because I’m not an asshole.”
“Damn,” Emma chortled next to Sam.
“Jesus, who died?” Harden scoffed and pointed between Emma and Sam. “And who’s the witch and the beanstalk?”
“God, you’re exactly the same person you were in high school,” Leo grumbled. “My abuelita died, and Sam and Emma are our friends.”
“And the witch would be happy to conjure up a spell for you,” Emma pointed her finger like she was already spellcasting, “to swap with Leo’s grandma.”
Harden laughed like Emma was joking, though everyone else knew there wasn’t an ounce of humor behind her statement.
When Piper finally spoke up, her voice was so small that it felt like a blow to Leo’s heart. “Harden, we have a lot to do, so if you could—”
“So, what? You two are dating now? You hated each other in high school.” Harden questioned Leo only, gesturing to his hand around Piper’s waist and leaning forward to touch her shoulder. “Don’t you want a real man?”
The red plaguing Leo’s vision was just calm enough for his fist to not meet Harden’s face as each word slipped out of his mouth with deadly precision. “Get your fucking hands off her. And if you interrupt her again, I won’t be nice about it.” Thankfully, Harden let his hand fall to his side as Piper started to speak.
“I changed my mind about Leo because he’s not a bad person. You are. And we don’t have time for your bullshit, Harden, so please fuck off to whatever swamp you crawled out of.” Piper stood taller, and Leo was proud of her for holding her ground but completely taken aback by her not outright declining that they were together. He liked it way too much, and he wished she would have just drawn a line in the sand again instead of leaving open a window he wanted to crawl right through.
“At least I’m not five foot nothing,” Harden said. Leo rolled his eyes. He was five-seven on a good day. Back in high school, Leo might have cared more about a barb at his height from a taller guy, and yes, Harden was at least six-one, but Leo could still flatten him like a pancake. Harden didn’t look like he used his arms for anything but swinging his daddy’s golf clubs. Piper was still several inches shorter than Leo, but he didn’t mind that he didn’t have to stoop too far to reach her lips.
“I’m way taller than Leo,” Sam chimed in. “But ask me if I want to go against someone I’ve watched beat the shit out of their punching bag for the last four years.”
Meanwhile, Emma had started murmuring an incantation under her breath like she was legitimately casting a spell, hands slowly rising as if to summon a demon. She most certainly would have been burned at the stake at the Salem Witch Trials. It should have been a dead giveaway that she was fucking with Harden given her raised hands both proudly displayed middle fingers, but he looked like he was going to piss himself. All the anger fell away from Leo’s muscles, and humor replaced it. By the time Sam joined in on the chant, Leo was desperately trying to hold back his laughter. Theatre kids were nuts, and he loved them.
Piper carried on with the conversation like nothing at all was happening behind them. “Besides, I don’t think you should be talking about the length of anything, Harden.” Leo finally let his laughter slip out in a breathy cackle that he tamped down by smiling and kissing Piper’s forehead.
“Whatever. You're all freaks,” Harden snapped and turned around to leave. When the aisle was finally relieved of his presence, Emma and Sam broke out into cheers as Piper smiled and leaned into Leo’s hold.
“Finally! I seriously thought we were going to be stuck in frat boy purgatory forever,” Emma groaned.
“Dude does not know how to read the room,” Sam agreed. “What was that nonsense you were chanting?”
“It’s from Hocus Pocus,” Leo answered for her. He’d know lines from a classic movie like that anywhere.
“My parents used to make me watch that every Halloween.” Piper giggled, her nose wrinkling and eyes squinting from how wide her smile was. Leo had never seen her mention her parents and follow it up with a real smile before.
“I memorized it when I was little because I’m a freak.” Emma took a step toward the shelf and pulled down a box of strawberry Pop-Tarts. “It felt good to fight back against someone like that.” She lifted the box in the air, her shoulders held back in determination. “But I might need a little extra edge if I’m going to turn in Professor Hornbill.”
Fifty-Two
LEO
Christmas didn’t feel as destitute as Leo thought it would. After Abuelita’s wake, which they had successfully turned into a celebration of life—in his grandmother’s case, a tamalada with loud music and card games that lasted until well into the night—the holidays felt lighter. Even when they weren’t together, knowing he was just a ten-minute drive from Piper’s house relaxed him. And when December thirty-first rolled around and she showed up to be his New Year’s kiss a little after midnight, Leo had been ready to argue his case again on why she shouldn’t be out driving that late until he saw Colin’s round glasses and the wave of his hand out the car window before he drove away. They had spent an hour under the stars and another hour outside her house, kissing in Leo’s brother’s conversion van, until she finally dragged herself from the bed, much to Leo’s chagrin, when someone—probably Walker—flicked the front lights on outside her house.
Piper made everything better. That was why when they returned to campus and Emma’s sexual harassment report garnered zero response from the administration, Piper was the one to come up with an idea to speed up the process. Leo shouldn’t have been shocked by her ingenuity, but with Emma’s and then Moreno’s permission, the plan was formulated, and safety in numbers became the new play.
“This is fucking insane.” Emma held a stack of fliers in her hand with their show poster printed on the front. The entire cast and crew of Guys and Dolls was spread throughout Fletcher’s campus in the most high-traffic areas. The four headliners and Leo stood in front of the Condor Building on campus where the main stone path split in two. Canvassing wasn’t necessary considering Moreno’s wife posted to her socials that she was attending the opening, but it was a good excuse to start a war.
“We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” Piper reiterated to Emma for the millionth time. “Maybe it’s not a good idea.”
“It’s a great idea,” Leo said.
