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“She’s an adult!” Talia argued. “And you said you liked Leo.”
“He’s still a twenty-something man with a high sex drive and—”
“Um, hi, I’m still here,” Piper interjected with a jerky wave of her hand. Her aunt and uncle snapped their heads up to look through the camera again as if they had forgotten they were still on the phone. Carter was silently wheezing next to her, his body shaking as he covered his mouth with his palm to try to hold back his laughter.
“Sorry, Piper. Your uncle will refrain from being an overprotective asshole now,” Talia stated.
“Hey!” Walker shouted.
“Nothing is going to happen with Leo. Nothing. I can guarantee that.” Piper crossed her arms over her chest in defiance then raised one finger in warning. “Not that if I wanted to you would have any say in it. And Walker, since when do you even have an opinion on Leo at all?”
“Since I—uh, I don’t know, really. Talia told me some stuff.” Walker looked away from the screen, coming off extremely suspicious, but Piper was too annoyed by the conversation to dig into it further. “Anyway, we’ll see you late Tuesday night, then? We’ll probably both be up no matter how late it is because I’ll have anxiety and Ponytail here will be reading smut.” Walker tugged on the high pony on Talia’s head.
“He’s not wrong.” Talia grinned.
“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” Piper agreed. The prospect of seeing her family again made her relax a little. Even if she had to endure six hours with Leo on the road, there would be a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
“Grab a bag of sunflower seeds like your dad used to eat,” Walker suggested. A pang of grief zapped through Piper’s chest at the mention of her father. It was accompanied by a memory of her sitting shotgun beside him in the car that was ultimately totaled in the accident that took his life. Cole was eating sunflower seeds and explaining, yet again, how they kept you alert and focused while driving.
“I will.” Piper nodded.
They said their goodbyes, which ended mostly with Walker and Talia describing all of the food that Talia and Amala were going to make for Thanksgiving dinner. Piper was assured that Walker would not be doing anything remotely involved with cooking and would be strictly chopping things or cleaning up. In the five years since her uncle had been married, despite Talia’s multiple attempts to teach him, he still managed to burn the majority of the things he cooked.
Once Carter hung up, he immediately rounded on Piper with a wide grin. “Okay, what the fuck is up with you and Diaz?”
“What? Nothing is up.” Piper hopped up from the couch to avoid her brother, but Carter called her on it a second later.
“You liar! Spill. And I don’t mean tell me all the nasty details.” Carter cringed, squeezing his eyes shut as if the mere thought of her ever getting laid were the most disgusting thing ever.
“Nothing really happened,” Piper said, then quickly backtracked. “I mean, we kissed—er, he kissed me. But it was just the one time, and it was a mistake.”
“Why are you freaking out so much, then? Did you kiss him back?” Carter narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.
“No! I—okay, I did, but it was an accident!” Piper chopped the air with her hand. “I hate him.” Carter started laughing, collapsing back into the couch like it was the most hilarious thing he’d heard all year. “I’m serious!”
“Dude,” Carter wiped under his eyes, “I’m pretty sure you don’t make out with people you hate.”
“I didn’t say we made out.” Piper pointed at him. Carter just curled his lips over his teeth, trying to keep from laughing further. “Fine! It was only a little making out. Like thirty seconds. A minute, tops!” Carter completely unfurled, doubling over and clutching at his middle. “It’s not fucking funny, Carter.”
“Colin, Pearl, and Coop are going to love this.” Carter heaved air into his lungs. “You’ve been complaining about this guy for years.”
“He’s an asshole!”
“An asshole you apparently like to suck face with,” Carter said. “Did you know I hated Stella before we started dating?”
“Really?” Piper’s expression softened.
“No,” Carter laughed. “But you should see your face.”
“Oh, fuck you! You’d probably like him. You’re both assholes.”
“You’re right, I probably should get to know my future brother-in-law.”
“I hate you,” Piper hissed.
“You seem to overuse the word ‘hate.’ Your words mean nothing now.” Carter reached for the bag of chips on the coffee table, and Piper leaned forward to slap at his hand, snatching up the bag before he could grab it.
“Only brothers who are supportive of my vendettas get chips.”
