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“Ooo, they are.” Thea wiggled excitedly in her seat.
“No, they aren’t.” No sooner did the declaration leave Piper’s lips than all three men started off toward their table. Talia let out a knowing hum, and Piper furrowed her brow, wondering what the hell any of them would have to say to her.
“Piper Hartrick!” Sam beamed once the guys were standing directly in front of her, as if the two of them had been best friends for years. Leo, with his arms crossed over his chest, looked even grumpier than normal, which was saying a lot considering he seemed to have a permanent resting bitch face.
“Sam—uh, I don’t know your last name,” Piper replied awkwardly, trying to figure out where the hell this conversation was going.
“Gosling. Like Ryan Gosling, but less hot.” Sam grinned. It was interesting that Leo was friends with this guy because from what Piper knew about him, Sam was pretty much the epitome of a golden boy Southern beau.
The other guy beside Sam waved. “And I’m Wes, Sam’s boyfriend. I don’t have a cool last name. It’s just Williams.” Wes matched his boyfriend’s wide smile.
“Like Robin Williams,” Sam suggested.
“Good point,” Wes agreed.
Leo didn’t budge or offer up any commentary, so Piper decided to snatch up the reins on the bizarre introduction.
“And he’s Oscar the Grouch,” she said, pointing at Leo.
Sam barked out a laugh. “That he is!”
“For the record, I’m opposed to this entire thing,” Leo practically growled.
“No one cares what you think.” Sam shot Leo a look that Piper couldn’t read before he turned his full attention to her. “Piper, have you ever performed?”
“Performed… what, exactly?” She was not even kind of tracking this conversation. One glance at Talia and Thea said that they, too, were trying and failing to suss out where the line of questioning was headed.
“Well, he doesn’t mean sex acts,” Leo huffed and then shifted an apologetic glance in Talia’s direction. Talia just lifted her hand in surrender and leaned back in her chair, amusement playing across her face.The tattletale inside Piper was secretly hoping that Talia would run back to Archwood and tell Leo’s parents that their son was a belligerent asshole.
“He means theatre. Acting. Everything in between,” Wes offered up.
“Uh, no?” Piper responded warily.
“See, like I said—no experience. I guess we have our answer,” Leo exclaimed and turned to walk away just for Sam to grab his shoulder and jerk him back into position.
“But you can sing,” Sam stated. His soft blue eyes were staring expectantly at Piper, and it made her feel a bit exposed.
“I mean, kinda.” Piper shrugged. She had a feeling this was leading somewhere bad.
“We want you to star in our play,” Wes jumped in. Piper blinked up at them in shock for several long seconds, trying to find the punchline of the joke.
“Just to be clear,” Leo raised his hand, “I do not want that, but apparently my opinion doesn’t matter even though this is my job.”
“Correct, your opinion does not matter.” Sam nodded and then tipped his head to Piper again. “So, what do you think?”
“I’m very confused,” Piper managed to get out.
Leo let out an elongated sigh, and both his companions glared at him before he shook his head and pointed at Piper. “They want you to play Sarah Brown in our production of Guys and Dolls. It’s a musical, hence the singing aspect. Sam is playing Sky Masterson, and Wes is playing Nathan Detroit. We have an Adelaide, but we’re missing a Sarah Brown because our leading lady ran off with her literal understudy, and now we have to replace both of them. These two idiots seem to think you’re perfect for the role.”
“Me?” Piper gawked.
“Exactly my thoughts.” Leo jerked his head toward Sam. “See, I told you she wouldn’t be interested.”
“Oh, but you would be amazing, Piper!” Thea joined the conversation, bouncing in her seat.
“I’ve seen that musical before,” Talia chimed in. “You’d be perfect.”
“Exactly! You have a sweet-sounding voice that’s very Sarah Brown,” Sam agreed.
