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I want to fucking murder the kid but can’t because he was just caught in Piper’s drive-by, thinking kissing a random guy would drive her point home and make me leave.
“Ah, boss?” Toby says, looking confused and embarrassed.
“I’m in the mood to dance. Would you like to dance with me?” she says, pulling him to the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the room.
But before she gets very far, I hold up one finger at a mortified Toby.
“Give me a second, Toby. I’ll bring your dancing partner right back.”
Before either one of them has a chance to say anything, I lift Piper off her feet and place her over my shoulder.
“PUT ME DOWN!” she shrieks, no longer caring that everyone in her office sees us together.
She kicks and curses all the way to the door leading to the stairwell.
“Now we have some privacy. Isn’t that better,” I ask with a smug smirk, placing her back on her feet.
“What is wrong with you?!” she yells, pushing me away when I try to wrap my arms around her.
“Me? What’s wrong with me?” I snap, my own rage starting to bubble through. “I’m fucking trying my hardest here, and you act like it’s nothing. LikeI’mnothing.”
When she squints her eyes as if my words have caused her further pain, I know that my Piper is somewhere hidden inside this devil of a woman whose only intent is to drive me insane.
I venture to take a step closer to Piper, and she turns her head away, trying to conceal the tears starting to form in her eyes.
“Just talk to me, love. Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours. What are you scared of?”
“YOU! I’m scared of you,” she bites back, tears now streaming down her cheeks. “Don’t you see? I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this.”
“Piper,” I plead, grabbing her face in my hands only for her to slap them away.
“Just… leave me alone, Trent. Pack up your shit from my house and leave me the fuck alone,” she orders, heading to the exit door.
“You don’t mean that, Piper. Stay here with me, and let’s talk about it.”
Eyes shut, Piper presses her forehead on the door and shakes her head.
“You’re not listening to me,” she whispers. “I don’t want this. Any of it. Why can’t you respect that?”
A lump forms in my throat when I hear how defeated she sounds.
“Piper, let’s just talk this out,” I beg.
She turns her head to the side, her crystal-blue eyes filled with so much despair that it physically hurts to witness it.
“That’s just it,” she stammers, wiping away her tears. “I’m done talking, Trent. I’m just… done.”
And with that parting remark, she exits the stairwell, leaving me alone in the cold to pick up the pieces of the heart she just broke with one word.
Done.
Chapter 25
Piper
I’ve always loved coming down to the Cape to spend the holiday season with the Moores.
But this year, my heart is just not in it.
