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Leo brushed off his knees and tipped his head from shoulder to shoulder. Without saying a word, he walked over to the black backpack he had thrown on the table when he arrived and pulled out a thick white packet of papers bound together with a binder clip.
“Rehearsal is at six tomorrow.” He tossed the packet on top of Piper’s textbook. “I checked your schedule with Thea. You’re free. Memorize pages twenty-two through forty. I already highlighted all your lines. We aren’t practicing your musical numbers tomorrow, but you’ll need to download those and study them as well. I know you aren’t familiar with it, but Guys and Dolls is a widely popular musical, so you can find the soundtrack on any major platform where you stream music. The sheet music is in the packet as well. Feel free to purchase the movie, too. Since you’re springing for the set design, I’m sure you can afford it. After rehearsal, you can meet Elliot, the lead on set design.” Without the briefest of glances her way, Leo zipped up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and turned on his heel to walk away, leaving Piper staring after him dazedly. When he reached the end of the row, he looked over his shoulder with a sinister smile. “Happy studying, princesita!”
Piper watched Leo disappear behind a shelf and stared into the empty space there for an inordinate amount of time before picking up the packet and smacking it against her forehead repeatedly as punishment.
She had just gotten fucking played.
Eleven
PIPER
“I’m mad at you.”
Thea broke free from her liplock with Yuri on the couch when Piper stormed into the house. “Is this because of Leo?” Thea asked.
“Why would you tell him my schedule, Thea? Why?” Piper came to stand in front of her best friend, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised. “Do you want to give a serial killer or a Mormon my address while you’re at it?”
Yuri shifted on the couch. “This seems like a conversation for—”
“I’m fucked, Thea! Fucked!” Piper bulldozed over Yuri’s attempt to escape and slid her bag off her shoulder, ripping out the massive packet that Leo had bestowed upon her. She threw it, a little forcefully, at Thea’s torso but missed and hit her smack-dab in the middle of her forehead instead.
Thea winced, then picked up the packet. “Um, ow! How many times have we talked about you throwing things? You have terrible aim. It’s a wonder how you ever played soccer.”
“I wasn’t very good.” Piper shrugged.
“And what am I looking at?” Thea thumbed the packet.
“Guys and Dolls?” Yuri asked, peeking over Thea’s shoulder. “I love that musical!”
“I’m now a freaking headliner.” Piper gritted her teeth.
“I thought he was going to ask you out on a date. I didn’t know,” Thea deflected.
Piper ran a frustrated hand through her hair. Her fingers caught in a tangled knot at the bottom, and she had to fight to pull them free. “I can’t believe you. I don’t want to date Leo! You were there when I dumped my drink on his head.”
“I was there, and it was all very hot. The ice felt like a metaphor for cooling off, if you know what I mean. Plus, Leo is fine with a capital F.” Thea grinned, then turned to Yuri. “Sorry, honey.”
“Oh, no worries, I’ve seen the guy. Your assessment is accurate. Plus, I’m very secure in all of this.” Yuri gestured from his head, where his crew-cut brown hair matched his sharp jawline, all the way down to his crotch, and then gave an extra jerk of his hand toward his junk for emphasis.
“Ew! Now is not the time to talk about your Russian Beast,” Piper groaned.
“If I’m being honest, I love that my dick has a reputation.” Yuri grinned.
“The reputation album is actually about your dick,” Thea tacked on.
Piper wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I hate you both.” She didn’t, not in the slightest, but they both knew that. While Piper didn’t allow herself to love many people, Thea was one she had to fight against loving too much so it wouldn’t be as painful when they inevitably went their separate ways after college. And Yuri treated Thea in a way that reminded Piper of her parents. She couldn’t have it for herself, but she was happy that her friends had that kind of love.
“Okay, why didn’t you just say no to doing the role?” Thea asked. Piper bit her lip and looked away, mumbling sheepishly under her breath. “You caved, didn’t you?”
“Well, not exactly. I kind of negotiated?” Piper’s voice cracked at the end of her sentence.
“I love negotiations! What did you get? You should have asked me. I probably could have gotten you a better deal.” Yuri, a pre-law student, frequently acted as if he were Piper’s lawyer. His advice was usually helpful—or it would be, if Piper ever found the courage to barter with her teachers.
“I, uh, get to do the set design.” Again, Piper had murmured it, as if making the words feel smaller would make the problem go away.
“So, let me get this straight, you’re mad at me because you agreed to the part and volunteered yourself for the set design?” Thea folded her arms over her chest. “We both know Leo would have just convinced you to do the musical with or without your availability. You don’t know how to say no to people.”
Piper searched for a response, but came up empty-handed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she turned and fell back beside Thea on the couch. “I’ve been swindled.”
