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“And no one will see us when we look like this.” Emma tossed her hair over her shoulder triumphantly.
All of them were clad in fully black outfits, and Piper had the genius idea to mix one of Thea’s black eyeshadows with water to swipe under their eyes. They looked like criminals straight out of a Charlie Chaplin film, but the hysterical laughter that ensued after they got a good look at themselves in the mirror was worth it. Emma was having fun, and that was all that mattered.
“On three?” Piper asked. When Emma and Thea both bobbed their heads, she started the count. “One… Two…”
“Wait!” Emma interrupted, jabbing her finger toward the opposite end of the parking lot. Piper looked out her window to see Leo in black joggers and without a shirt on, running along the sidewalk. Her mouth parted slightly as she watched him swipe his fingers through his hair and slow his run as he got closer to his apartment. He was just close enough for her to see the glistening sweat coating his skin as he passed under a street light.
“Jesus,” Piper whispered, entranced by the way Leo’s muscles worked, imagining the way they had moved earlier that day when he was on top of her and begging her to keep quiet. The rustling in the back of the car snapped her attention to the present, and she realized just how close to the car Leo was. Thea and Emma had already both ducked so he wouldn’t see them. “Shit!” Piper frantically pulled on the lever to throw the back of her seat down and ducked under the window while clutching at the food on her lap.
“See something you like?” Thea snickered beside her.
“Shut up,” Piper hissed. Emma had completely lost it in the back seat, covering her mouth and wheezing with every breath. “He’s attractive, okay? Leave me alone.”
“Is he,” Emma gasped for air, her face red and contorted with laughter, “gone?”
“I refuse to look again,” Piper grumbled.
“Don’t worry,” Thea announced with an air of importance. “I’ll save you from objectifying him.” She poked her head up from where she was hunched over and made the static noise of a walkie-talkie with her mouth. “The sex god has entered the building, I repeat, the sex god has entered the building.” Emma wheezed harder as Piper reached for her door handle.
“I hate you both.”
Forty-Two
PIPER
The night spent gorging herself on pizza and Thea’s baked goods made Piper feel almost hungover the next day. She needed coffee before she died. Judging from the way Thea and Emma were still sprawled out on the couch and out cold when Piper snuck out of the apartment that morning, they were both going to need something to fix the kinks in their necks when they woke up. Piper’s solution to that was also coffee. After leaving the sleeping beauties a note to meet her in front of the Condor Building before class, she drove straight to the coffee house on campus.
“Piper?” The barista called out her name, and Piper stepped forward to grab the carrier full of coffees and the sack of breakfast sandwiches she had ordered, pinning the bag under her arm so she could hold the drinks with two hands. If she ended up spilling a drop of coffee, her morning mission would be all for naught. Liquid gold was not to be wasted.
“Thank you!” Piper smiled and tipped her head to the side in lieu of a wave.
Everyone seemed to avoid Piper on the way to the Condor Building, as though word had gotten around that she was a klutz and they were worried she would take them down with her. Her careful balancing act succeeded all the way to the front steps before someone slid their hand under hers and the drink carrier. Fight or flight kicked in, and she thought about dumping one of the coffees on the thief before she realized the warm hands cupping her own were helping, not hindering.
“Do you want me to hold some of this?” Leo asked when Piper met his eyes.
“Actually,” she adjusted her grip, “one of the coffees and a breakfast sandwich is for you.”
Surprise sparked behind Leo’s expression. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Piper gave an awkward shrug. “I was already picking stuff up for Emma and Thea, and I get coffee there every day, so. Have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“I haven’t eaten anything this morning. Thanks for thinking of me. Which coffee’s mine? Where’s your sugar-infused frap thingy?”
“Oh, they’re all peppermint lattes,” Piper explained as Leo took one of the to-go cups out of the carrier. “I didn’t know what Emma wanted, but I know Thea’s order by heart. They were really busy at the cafe, so I thought it’d be easier for them to make a bunch of the same thing. Plus, my order is a little more complicated, so I didn’t want to take up even more of their time.”
“Do you like Thea’s order?” Leo narrowed his eyes on her as he took a sip.
“It’s all right. Mint in coffee is a bit weird to me.” Piper shrugged and carefully held out the paper bag for him to take his sandwich.
He did, then took the entire drink carrier off her hands, holding it out so she could take her own drink. “So, you just ordered something you didn’t really want because it was easier for someone else?”
“I don’t dislike the drink. It’s still pretty good,” Piper argued.
“But it’s not what you wanted,” Leo countered.
“It’s coffee.”
“Can I go with you tomorrow to get coffee?” he asked.
