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“You’re very good at it,” Piper said.
“One of my many talents.” Carter sat back and stretched out his long, muscular legs, clad in the basketball shorts he wore even during winter, and propped his feet on the coffee table, all while setting the chip bag in his lap like he was the king of the world. Piper snatched the bag up, the foil crunching under her fingertips.
“You’re so gross. Get your athlete’s foot off my table.” She shooed his feet, and he made a dramatic show of setting them back on the floor. “And is your other talent being a human garbage disposal?”
“Ask Stella what my talents include.” Carter smirked.
“Ugh!” Piper stuck out her tongue.
If there was one thing her brother was good for, it was making a sexual joke out of anything. It might be funny if she hadn’t grown up with him and didn’t know that he always chewed way too loudly and that his basketball shoes smelled like death incarnate. Growing up with three brothers meant Piper was accustomed to gross smells. Growing up with a younger sister meant being accustomed to loud screeching when Pearl came across said smells.
Cooper, though his shoes smelled a bit better than Carter’s, had an investigative streak that was equally as annoying as Carter’s pervy jokes. Cooper was the reason Piper got caught sneaking out of the house a few times during her senior year of high school. He had also drawn attention to her messy hair after an evening out with one of her asshole ex-boyfriends enough times to make her want to wring his neck. At one point, Piper was certain that Walker had begged Cooper to stop noticing things so he wouldn’t have to guess what she’d been up to. It always led to a discussion with Talia about how Piper should be more careful, or at least better at hiding her sexual activity.
“So, you’re really doing the whole play thing?” Carter asked, barely looking up from his phone as it vibrated in his hand with yet another text from his girlfriend.
“Yes, I’m really doing it. They practically begged me to.” Remembering the way Leo had looked on his knees, pleading with her to take the role, somehow made Piper’s brain jump right back to when his mouth was on hers, not just kissing her but unraveling her.
“I’ve never seen Guys and Dolls, but I assume that you’re the doll in this scenario.” Carter chortled.
“You’re hilarious,” Piper said with as much enthusiasm as Emma during their business class study sessions. “Sarah Brown. That’s my role. She’s a sergeant of the local mission.” She looked down at her hands, knowing exactly what Carter’s smug face would look like.
“Should I start calling you Saint Piper?” He laughed.
“She’s not always that good! She falls in love with a prolific gambler and gets into a fistfight at one point.”
“Ooh, saucy.”
“You’re such an ass.”
“Am I going to have to watch you make out with some dude on stage?” Carter grimaced, and Piper had to laugh at how weirded out he was given the number of times she’d seen him slobber all over his girlfriend's face.
Unfortunately, the thing her brain wanted to focus on—even worse than Carter sucking face with Stella—was Leo, pinning her to the shelf in the library and kissing her senseless. They hadn’t seen each other since the incident, but that was going to change at rehearsal tomorrow, when she and Sam were supposed to act out the very scene that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Sam would be easier to kiss. Her body wouldn’t take over like it had with Leo, but, either way, Leo’s eyes would be drilling into her while she practiced the scene, and that made her want to crawl out of her skin.
“Sam is very gay, so you don’t have to pull the protective brother act.”
“If it comes down to it, I can just pretend you aren’t my sister. That’s the beauty of being adopted.” Carter lifted his umber fingers and wiggled them for effect.
“God, I hate it when you make up stories about how we know each other,” Piper grumbled.
“Oh, come on, you’re no fun. I need new material.” Carter flashed her a toothy grin before he dropped his gaze to his vibrating phone again.
Thea was really the only person Piper had gotten to talk to about the musical apart from the cast and the occasional conversation with Talia and Pearl, so she was excited to explain it to someone new.But again, her brother’s phone seemed to be the biggest distraction of the century. “Will you put that thing away for two seconds?”
“It’s Walker.” Carter flipped his screen around as proof of the video call request before answering it. “Hey! I’m with Pipes.” Piper squeezed in next to Carter so that Walker—and, apparently, Talia—could see them both in frame.
“Good, you’re both here!” Talia chirped. “We were going to call you next, Piper.”
“Are we in trouble?” Carter teased.
“We’re just calling to see what’s up with Thanksgiving and to figure out what time you two are coming down.” Walker's mouth lagged for a second on screen before the image caught up to his words.
“Oh…” Carter didn’t make eye contact with the phone, his eyes also darting away from Piper.
“Carter?” Walker asked, catching on to his hesitation.
“You’re not coming home with me, are you?” Piper guessed. Clearly, Carter had Thanksgiving plans that had nothing to do with his family this year. The bitterness came out in her question, and she fixed it by offering Carter a sad excuse for a smile. Since their parents died, spending time with family felt more sacred and important to Piper than ever before. She knew Carter felt the same, but his time had to be split between the different people he loved. Stella was nice. Stella made him happy. There was no evidence to conclude that Stella was anything but perfect to Carter, but Piper’s gut feeling about her wasn’t a good one.
“Stella invited me to her house for Thanksgiving. It’s a whole thing.” Carter blanched, then quickly added, “But maybe I’ll bring her home for Christmas?”
