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The repeated bob of Piper’s head was enough agreement to make him tip over the edge. Her fingers dug into his hips as she jerked and writhed underneath him. His muscles spasmed and his vision went hazy with abandon as he poured into her. They had gotten the timing exactly right this time, he thought, but he still felt a wave of insecurity. She was good at lying and had even told him point-blank that she knew how to fake an orgasm. Carefully, he rolled off her, his arms flopping around to pull his pants up. His limbs felt even more like jello than after a long workout with his punching bag.
When Leo finally managed to clear the fog from his brain and get enough air back into his lungs, he tilted his head to look at Piper. She had her eyes closed, her long eyelashes fanning across her flushed cheeks, and her dress was back in its original position. “Did I hurt you? I’m sorry.” He lifted himself up on his forearms to scan her for injury.
Piper’s eyes blinked open. “No. You didn’t hurt me. I’m just contemplating my existence and wondering when my self-respect went out the window.”
“Yours left in high school. Mine left the second you told me to get on my knees.” Leo shrugged. “Self-respect is overrated anyway.”
“Well, you’re still a dick, so there’s that.” She chuckled.
“And you’re still all rose-colored glasses and fake smiles,” Leo countered.
“I’m starting to think you’re really obsessed with seeing me smile, Leo.” Her teasing came with a genuine smile and a laugh that he would stash away for a rainy day if he could. Because she was right: he was becoming addicted to the way her face lit up when she was truly happy. “So… you said you wanted to keep—”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. Denying how badly he wanted her had gotten him nowhere the past week except constantly in his room letting off steam with his punching bag or his cock in his hand. Every day since having her, all he had been able to think about was Piper’s hot mouth against his and how soft her skin felt. “I meant it. As much and as often as possible, I want it.”
“I do, too.” The sigh Piper let out made his eyebrows rise.
Leo grimaced. “If you don’t want to, then just say so.” He jumped up from the floor, his eyes landing on a packet of baby wipes in the corner of the room. “I’m not forcing you to do anything. You’re acting like it’s a hardship for you.”
“I just said I do want to.” She got up from the floor, too, and took the wipes from his hand. “As long as we keep it a secret and it’s just sex.”
“What else would it be?” He wasn’t sure if he was asking himself or Piper that question, but he suspected the former. His brothers were right to flick him shit. The need for her body came with so many things other than just basic attraction now.
“Nothing, I guess, as long as we both know that,” Piper said.
“We both know that.” Leo nodded. Falling for her was a bad idea on so many levels. If he went down that rabbit hole, she would end up breaking his heart. He knew it. “And I’ll talk to Emma.”
“You will?” The smile that broke out across Piper’s face made his heart clench in his chest. Her nose crinkled, and her dimples popped with deep indents. “I won.”
“I feel like I won, but yes, I’ll talk to Emma. I’m not going to dive deep into her personal life, but you’re right. She’s never been this off before. Something’s gotta be wrong.” The smile on Piper’s face was replaced with a look of concern. “Do you need help with that?” He pointed to the wipes in her hand, his mind whirring with the idea of what helping would entail.
“I got it, Casanova.” She rolled her eyes. “Go talk to Emma.”
“All right.” He nodded and moved toward the door. “And Piper?”
“Yeah?”
“Sam will be at Wes’s tonight. Come over?” Leo choked down the frog in his throat. “I, uh—can’t make food or anything, unless you want a can of black beans or Top Ramen, which is what I was planning on eating, but…”
“Sex?”
“Yeah, I mean, I could eat something else.” He winked.
“I’ll be there at seven.” Piper laughed, shaking her head. He grinned like an idiot as he twisted the knob and barged out into the hallway with a little more pep in his step, already pulling out his phone to text her his address.
Forty
LEO
The theatre was mostly empty by the time Leo found who he was looking for. Emma sat on the very edge of the stage, directly in the center, looking out at the empty rows of seating. Unhappiness was written so clearly on her face that the lingering warmth he felt from his tryst with Piper dissipated on the spot, replaced by a sinking feeling. One that said that Piper was right, and he had been completely remiss and self-absorbed earlier to not have noticed that something was wrong with Emma. He approached her as one would a skittish horse, slowly so as not to scare her, when he took a seat beside her.
“Sorry,” Emma said. “I know I was bad today.”
“We all have our off days,” Leo reassured her. “I’m sorry I was an ass.”
“I didn’t bring my best today.” She swallowed and looked away.
“But why didn’t you?” He leaned forward to try to catch her eyes. “I’ve never seen you rehearse like that before. In the three years I’ve watched you on stage, I’ve never seen you… ” He trailed off.
