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Alexis
Micah’s parents are amazing.I’d seen them at the Memorial Day party at the Palmers’. I’d watched them interact with their sons. I knew then the relationship they had with their kids was something admirable. They not only loved their children, but they also respected them. Supported them.
But feeling that support and love directed at me was mind boggling.
I was terrified to meet his parents. There are still times I don’t feel I’m good enough for Micah. That we’re too different and he deserves someone more on his level. I’m working on it, but it’s a tall mountain to climb.
The way his mother looked at me. The smile on her face. The sparkle in her eyes. How deeply I felt her approval.
I’d never felt anything like it before.
Except when Micah looks at me.
At first, I tried to brush it off as a family trait. But I didn’t feel it when his dad looked at me.
Don’t get me wrong, I can tell his dad likes me, approves of me, but it was obvious how much his mom loved me when she smiled in my direction.
All. Day. Long.
Which is why I attempted to avoid her the entire party until we had to leave. Piper promised to stay by my side, to run interference any time she approached, but she kept disappearing.
“You’re pulling a Brady,” I whisper in her ear as I slide up next to her.
I’ve been looking for her for twenty minutes. She wasn’t inside. She wasn’t with Lo or Kendall. And then suddenly, I turn around, and she’s standing near the bar, talking to Max.
Max, of all people.
He doesn’t talk to anyone. Ever. Least of all, Lo’s friends.
What was even stranger was he was smiling from ear to ear. Tossing his head back and laughing like Piper just told the funniest joke on the planet.
Piper is a great many things... smart, organized, caring.
One thing she’s not is funny.
She tries, don’t get me wrong. Some of her jokes and comments can bring a laugh. She has her moments, just like the rest of us.
But a head-thrown-back laugh? No.
Never once.
Which meant one of two things. Max was at that perfect level of intoxication where he’s not too drunk to comprehend what’s going on around him, but he’s had just enough that the stupidest shit is funny.
Or he’s overplaying the scene.
Considering the fact he was currently chugging a bottle of water, I’m guessing his alcohol content had nothing to do with his laughter.
“What are you talking about?” Piper asks, her voice cracking as she turns away from me.
She’s a shit liar. Just like me.
“I mean you disappeared. In the middle of a party. Up and vanished without anyone noticing. The only other person I know who can do that is Brady.” Stepping in her line of sight, I find Piper with her eyes diverted toward the ground. “Talk to me.”
“I will when I’m ready.”
“Where did you go?”
“Nowhere.” She lifts her head to make eye contact, and I can see the lie in her eyes. I also see the mix of emotions she’s feeling right now.
