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I was hustled into the back of an SUV with Piper and Vi—minus the car seat Love Bug typically rode in, giving us more space since she was with her daddy for the day—while the other three took the second vehicle. Sending my cousin a disgruntled side-eye, I adjusted my skirt and put on my seat belt before Brady eased into traffic. “I’m kind of getting tired of everyone pushing me around today. I’m capable of getting into a vehicle on my own.”
Piper grasped my hand. “Sorry. I’m just ready for this night to be over. Cannon is going to be there.”
Violet gave a soft sigh on the other side of Piper. “He still hasn’t completely pulled his head out of his ass,” she said with regret. “Ignore him, Piper.”
“I’m used to it,” she muttered before giving me another regretful glance. “I really am sorry if it seemed as if I was pushing you around.”
“Yeah,” Vi agreed. “We’re all sorry, Doe. I swear we didn’t mean to treat you like that. We just wanted to spoil you, and you’re so dang stubborn. We have to get all bossy if we want to pamper you.”
“Is my stubbornness the reason why Jenner went behind my back and took the police chief job?”
She pressed her lips into a hard line. “I can’t tell you why he did that without discussing it with you first. When he told us what his plans were, I thought you were on board with the career change.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “He…” I paused, took a deep breath, and tried again. “He told you about it?”
But not me?
The last three words I left unsaid, but they hung between us as if they had been spoken.
Pressing a hand to her forehead, Violet nodded after a slight hesitation. “Yes, he spoke with Luca and me before he accepted the offer. He wanted our opinion and to make sure I would be okay with a replacement before he took the job.”
A feeling of betrayal hit me so hard it nearly knocked the breath from my lungs. Folding my hands in my lap, I turned my head so I was staring out the front window, unable to look at anyone for fear they would see the tears stinging my eyes. “Okay, then,” I choked out around the lump in my throat. “I guess that really tells me everything I need to know, doesn’t it?”
“Doe—”
“Don’t,” I snapped, then quickly lowered my voice. This wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Finding out I was the last person on my boyfriend’s priority list was a hard pill to swallow. Especially after everything else we’d been through. “I’m sorry.”
“Why the fuck are you sorry?” Piper demanded. “You have every right to be pissed off right now. How could he not tell you about his decision to become a cop? If he plans on spending the rest of his life with you, then that’s a conversation he should have had with you. Not everyone else. Aunt Marissa and Uncle Wroth. Pixie. Even Luca and Vi? For fuck’s sake, Doe. I think I even knew about his plans before you did. And I’ve been in New York. Jackson, Bryant, and LJ told my brother, who then told me.”
“Piper.” Violet attempted to intervene. “I don’t think for a minute that Jenner made the decision without considering Doe’s feelings. If anything, I think it was because of her that he took the job in the first place. To show her that he’s ready to settle down in one place. For her.”
“Are you telling me that if Luca got offered a starting position with, say, the Seahawks or the Patriots or the Texans, and he took it without even bothering to ask your opinion, you would be okay with that?” The blonde opened her mouth, but Piper cut her off before she could answer. “If he took it, and you were just expected to accept it, to pick up and move your home from Tennessee to a different part of the country, without being allowed to speak your mind, you wouldn’t have a problem with it?”
“That’s different,” Vi tried to argue.
“How?” my cousin gritted out.
“For one, Luca would never do that to me. I’m not saying I wouldn’t be on board with relocating, because of course I would go wherever he went.” Violet ticked off another finger. “For another, Jenner didn’t suddenly decide to pick up and move across the country. He made a choice to stay in West Bridge. To make it his home. He knows that Doe loves West Bridge—”
“Does she, though?” Piper tossed out. “Until recently, only a few people knew, but the citizens of that fucked-up town made her life a living hell. If I had to guess, the only reason she lives there is because that’s where her parents are. Where the farm she loves so much is. But if given a choice to leave, I bet you an entire summer of tour profits that she would jump at that shit with both hands and never look back.”
“Is that true, Doe?” my friend murmured softly.
Not wanting to answer, I shifted my gaze, but I didn’t meet her purple eyes. “I don’t feel like talking about this right now.”
“Doe—”
“Leave her alone, Violet,” Piper commanded. “As her friend, you should have told Doe what Jenner was considering. So many people should have spoken up so that she wasn’t blindsided by the man she loves taking on a career that could potentially get him shot at.”
“He could just as easily have been shot at as my bodyguard,” she countered.
Piper snorted. “Keep telling yourself that, princess. There’s no one stupid enough to shoot at your pretty little head. Not when they’ve seen your man rage out on the football field every Sunday. Face it, protecting you is a cushy job that requires little physical effort. The only thing your bodyguard needs is to be vigilant. Luca will take care of the rest by literally tearing any dumbass apart with his bare hands.”
“But—”
“We’re here,” I said with relief when Brady stopped in front of the restaurant where the party was being held. Wiping my damp palms on the skirt of my dress, I nudged Piper, and she quickly opened her door.
As soon as my feet were on the ground, I didn’t wait on everyone else. Instead, I walked into the restaurant, intending to find the bathroom and lock myself inside for a few minutes until I could gather my thoughts.
