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Chapter Eighteen
Parental Politics and Blue Balls.
It was getting harder to feel okay with the knowledge Mason was going to ask her out.
After Hadley’s little stunt on Wednesday, it wasn’t so much a fire lit under his arse as it was some slow smouldering embers. He touched her more. They hugged. A lot. She’d already started kissing his cheek, now he returned the favour. He still hadn’t asked her out, but the bonfire party that Saturday would be the perfect time. Bit of liquid courage and Piper was your girlfriend.
It was a fucking shame that I was playing designated and was stuck staying sober.
“You just say, ‘Want to go out?’,” I heard Tucker’s voice.
I looked around the tree that was currently holding the majority of my weight and saw Tucker with his hands on Mason’s shoulders.
“Just walk up to her and ask her,” Tucker continued.
“I just walk up to her and ask her,” Mason repeated, and I could tell he’d had a few drinks. “Why is this so hard?”
Tucker laughed. “If it’s hard for her, then ask her out and do something about it.”
Mason frowned. “Piper’s not like that,” he said, as thoughlike thatwas the worst thing to be.
I managed to keep my snort in. If Mason thought Piper wasn’t like that, he didn’t know her at all. It wasn’t that I thought she’d just fuck any guy, but I would never dare suggest that Piper was or wasn’tlikethat. She got to be who and what she wanted, and no amount of demanding otherwise on Mason’s part was going to change that.
“Just go and ask her out,” Tucker said.
“I need another drink first,” Mason sighed.
Tucker put his arm around Mason’s shoulder, and they headed off for the esky. I kept my eyes on them, thinking this was it. This was the moment I lost her. She clearly didn’t want to think about it as choosing one or the other of us, and I didn’t want her to feel like she had to, but the reality was…more complicated.
Once it was official, her friendship with me became less acceptable. Not that possibly anyone but her and me knew exactly what our relationship involved but, if they did, they’d certainly ask questions. Had I been the kind of guy who could give her what she needed, then I wouldn’t have liked her having a relationship with another guy if that relationship was even half what she and I had.
The comforting silences and the sexual chemistry had become so interwoven in our relationship that I couldn’t see where one ended and the other began. What we were had to undergo a drastic change and I didn’t know how we’d actually do that.
Piper and Hadley were dancing by the fire the way they’d been for a good half an hour. I knew they were both drunk, so I wasn’t about to let them out of my sight. It wasn’t my first rodeo mixing alcohol and fire.
I saw Mason starting to walk towards her and knew this was it.
I couldn’t watch. I turned and headed into the trees.
She’d be fine by the fire for a few minutes. No doubt I’d hear the piercing, exciting squeals of Hadley in a few moments and that would be my cue to come back. Job done. Band aid ripped off. Everything changed.
Except, I didn’t hear Hadley’s excited squeal. Instead, I heard a noise behind and saw Piper had followed me. Not very well, but I had to think I was the only one she was looking for. I started heading for her, not really sure what I should say to her.
She stumbled in the dark and I caught her.
“You right there, Barlow?” I asked.
She looked up at me and gave me a smile that warmed the cockles in my blackened heart. I couldn’t find it in me to return it. Her smile fell as she searched my eyes.
“What’s up?”
I took a slight step back. “Just needed to stretch my legs.”
She nodded, then her hand was flying to her mouth like she was about to chuck. I wouldn’t have been surprised. Piper wasn’t well-known for her tolerance, and I’d watched how many she’d been throwing back. It was surprising she was still standing to be honest.
She looked up at me. “You’re lovely, you know?” she said, only slurring a little.
I huffed and couldn’t look at her. “More than two beers, huh?”
