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The moment I see him, I feel even sicker than I already feel. I roll the paper towel into a tiny ball and clench my fist around it. “Hey, babe,” he says, giving me a kiss on the cheek. Piper half raises her weary head from the counter and cocks an inquisitive brow. “I’m just going for a quick shower. Any coffee?”
“I-I was just making some,” I reply, fumbling over my words.
“Awesome, I won’t be long. Better make it strong. Mr. Personality out there needs a hit of caffeine, stat,” he jeers smugly.
I blanch.
Sam walks down the hallway whistling happily while I tighten my fist. The moment he’s out of earshot, Piper lifts herself from the counter and wiggles her pointer at me. “You had sex.”
It’s not a question, but rather a statement. I see no point denying it. “Yup.” But that’s all I can say. I don’t want to elaborate, or talk about it in general because I just want to forget it happened.
But of course, Piper has other ideas. “That’s it? Yup?”
“Yup,” I reply, spinning around. I fumble with the coffee maker as she presses.
“Nah-uh. What happened?”
Hoping to evade her with humor, I commence, “Well, when a man likes a woman, he sticks his…”
“Luce, cut the crap. What aren’t you telling me?”
There are a lot of things I’m not telling her, like how I have feelings for the man she just hooked up with. “It was fine, Pipe. Can we change the subject?”
“Fine?” she says, disgusted. “Fine is what you say when things are not fine. Fine is not the word you use to describe sex. What happened? I thought you’d be out there singing, ‘the hills are alive with the sound of mmm I just got laid?’”
“Looks like you thought wrong,” I reply with bite. I really don’t want to talk about this because the more she pushes, the more I’m bound to breakdown and tell her everything.
“Lucy Eva Tucker, look at me.” Sighing, I turn around, proud of myself for keeping the tears away. “What’s wrong?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. We had sex and well…it was kind of, sort of very, very awful.”
Her mouth hits the floor. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…I feel like I had sex with the Energizer Bunny.”
“Ooh.” She makes a pained face. “Sex sprain?”
I rub my head. “No, more like a brain sprain.”
“I don’t understand. What happened? I thought he was stellar in the sack?”
“He was, but…” I draw a blank because I can’t tell her it sucked because there was no feeling behind it. It was mere screwing to get off. Well, for Samuel, not for me.
She fills in the blanks. “But what? He forgot how to fuck, too?”
“Piper! Not so loud.” I gesture with my hands for her to lower her voice.
“Screw him. Actually, on second thought…” She backtracks, scrunching up her nose.
There is a big, fat elephant in the room that needs addressing but I don’t know how. While we’re on the topic of sex, I suppose I could ask her how it was with Saxon. But do I really want to know? Her rumpled appearance points to one hell of a night.
That has me turning back around and silently making our coffee. As I’m waiting for it to percolate, I gaze out the wide, triple paneled window above the sink, lost in thought. A figure stalking across the yard catches my eye, ending my moment of serenity.
Saxon looks livid. He has a garbage bag draped over his shoulder but makes no use of it as he kicks a beer bottle across the grass. As it hits the wall of the dining room and shatters, I jerk back, stunned. I watch as he slams the bag onto the ground, mumbling something under his breath.
Sam did say he was cranky, but this appears to be beyond cranky. I quickly reach for a mug and pour the boiling contents into it. Just as I turn and ask Piper if she wants sugar, I see that she’s sound asleep on the counter. That explains why the questions stopped.
Composing myself as best as I can, I push open the backdoor, carrying Saxon’s hot coffee in hand. The early morning sunlight is blinding, so I squint, shielding a hand over my eyes. The closer I come to Saxon, the clearer it becomes that he’s incredibly mad. Did he have a fight with Samuel? And if so, over what?
