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“I know that,” Piper ground out. “I told all of you I wasn’t right for the part, and you kept fucking pushing, so now we’re about to find out if someone who’s never been in love can convince everyone that she’s in love.” The words were a jackhammer to Leo’s brain, and he gaped at Piper as she moved to leave.
“Wait.” Leo latched onto Piper’s arm with a grip firm enough to stop her, but not so much that she couldn’t leave if she was determined to. “You’ve never been in love?”
“I don’t feel like being made fun of today, okay?” Piper’s eyes were pleading for him to stop, but he couldn’t. Not because he wanted to make fun of her, but because he wanted to know how it was possible that she had dated so many people and never fallen for any one of them. The curiosity launched its way out of his throat before he could take it back. Even if it wasn’t true love, he could see her thinking in a naive way that she’d been in love with some of the assholes she had dated in the past, so how had she never felt it? Then again, he knew how it was possible.
“No one should make fun of you for not falling in love, Piper.” It came out as sincere as he could make it. He dropped his hand away from her arm when he noticed he was still holding on. “I haven’t been in love, either.”
“You haven’t?” She seemed genuinely shocked by the statement, which gave Leo a modicum of solace that he wasn’t completely unlovable, even to Piper Hartrick.
“No, but it’s easy to make people believe that you’re in love. It’s the same way you’re good at faking it when you smile.”
Piper let out an indignant sigh. “There’s the insult.”
“I’m serious. You have a tell when you’re smiling for real. Your nose crinkles at the bridge, and your eyes get all squinty, like you can barely hold them open because you’re so happy.” Leo cleared his throat. “And when it’s not real, well, then it’s not nearly as defined, and it’s missing that sparkle people get in their eyes when they’re truly feeling it.”
Piper just stared, blinking for several agonizing seconds before she finally spoke. “So, then, how do I pretend to be in love?”
“You do what I do. You study other people. It’s the same thing psychopaths with no emotional bandwidth do to blend in.” Leo laughed.
“Ah, so you’re finally admitting to being a psychopath?”
“I’m admitting that I know what love looks like on other people.”
“And what does it look like?” Piper relaxed, her body language no longer looking like she was gunning for a quick exit.
“It’s a bunch of little things.” Leo considered what he could say to get his point across. “It’s the way my mom comes home after a long day at work and wants to tell my dad every single thing that happened to her even though they work at the same grocery store and have for years. It’s Wes snatching Sam’s grandfather’s watch to take it to get it fixed as a surprise just because he knew it would be important to him. It’s—”
“My uncle smiling every time my aunt scream-sings to emo music in the kitchen while she cooks,” Piper added.
“My brother cleaning his wife’s windshield every time they go to a gas station and drawing a heart on the window with the filthy squeegee water.”
“Thea kissing Yuri on the cheek when whatever awful dad joke he told didn’t land. It’s…” Her face fell, and she shook her head, looking up at the ceiling for a second. Whatever she was about to say completely snapped her out of their conversation. “It’s the little things.”
Leo almost asked. Almost begged to know what she was about to say. Whatever it was, it had Piper looking like she was on the edge of tears. That was the kind of emotion they needed in the show. The kind that took over and consumed you the way his emotions seemed to skyrocket every time Piper was around.Usually, the emotion was anger, but lately, it was starting to feel more like desire.
Instead, Leo offered a word. “Exactly.”
“So, then, I’ll just study other people who are in love.” Piper wouldn’t meet Leo’s eyes any longer, and that made him feel desperate to keep the conversation going.
“And maybe, for Sam’s sake, go watch The Promenade so you know how to kiss,” Leo teased. “I don’t think cherry stems are an accurate test for that.”
“I don’t need lessons.” Chin lifted, Piper flicked her lavender-tipped hair dramatically over one shoulder, her mood lightening and vibrant color returning to her face.
“Practicing with Elliot?” Leo quirked a brow. He had no right to even ask, but his mouth ran off without permission. After each of their rehearsals, he had watched Piper and Elliot leave together, always laughing and bouncing ideas off each other the way friends and lovers do.
“Elliot?” Piper’s face screwed up in confusion, and she shook her head. “If you seriously think we have time for anything but set design when we’re together, you’re insane.”
“Elliot’s a cool guy,” Leo said. And why he felt the need to push it, he had no idea.
“You kiss him, then. I don’t have that kind of time. Maybe he could teach you a thing or two. You probably need help in that department.”
Leo barked out a laugh. “No, I really don’t.”
“I bet you’re all wet and sloppy.” Piper lifted a pointed finger and waved it in a taunt in front of his mouth.
“Get your finger out of my face, princesita.” He snatched her wrist and pulled it down to her side but didn’t release his grip.
“I bet you’re selfish,” she continued.
