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He took off down the stairs, and shame soured my mouth, not because I’d just lost my best friend, but because I knew it was worth it. She was worth it.
Marcus screamed out for Piper the second he got down the stairs. He didn’t sound worried; he sounded furious. Blood rushed through my ears, and my heart pounded in my chest at the idea of her being blindsided by him. It was one thing to agree to tell him; it was a whole other to be caught. Determined to get to Piper first, I took the steps two at a time. I glimpsed Marcus’s back as he crashed out the front door, still screaming for his sister. He’d calm down eventually. He’d always been quick to anger but was equally quick at being rational. It was the years of hockey ingrained in him that caused him to turn to aggression before rational thought. Great on the ice, fucking awful in the real world.
I pushed through the crowd, taking advantage of my size to clear a path as I looked for her. The dance floor was packed so tight there were no spaces between their bodies, just a jumble of limbs moving together in rhythm. Piper hated crowds, hated feeling trapped in any way, so I made my way to the backyard patio, fully expecting to find her there curled up on her phone, but I was met with an empty space.
I placed both hands on my head, trying to sort out where she’d gone.Shit. I headed down the street toward her house, the last place I could think she’d be. I jogged the block and stood in front of her lawn. The windows were dark, so instead of going through the front door, I circled around the back. There was a quietness, the only sound from the pool jets, and the only light was the moon reflecting off the water. With quiet steps, I made my way to Piper’s window.She had to be here.
I let out a relieved breath that she’d left it open and crawled through the tight opening. I was getting too big for this. The room was empty, only the faint smell of green apples still lingered.
Desperation tightened my lungs. I needed to speak with her first, to let her know that no matter what happened with Marcus, I would choose her.
I punched her number on my phone, and paced her room while it rang, hanging up at the sound of her voicemail. I dialed it again, but still got no answer.
Fuck. My fingers sped over the keys, sending her a text.
Me: I need to talk to you asap. Meet me at your place.
I waited for another fifteen minutes before I headed back to Jax’s, determined to find her, but just as I got to the front door, Jax came flying out of nowhere.
His chest heaved, and his expression was distorted as he called out for Piper. Jesus, my heart cracked at the sight of his red-rimmed eyes as tears pooled in the corners and his voice cracked around her name.
I grabbed him by the shoulders, and he struggled to get free. “Jax. It’s me. Fuck, Jax, look at me.”
Startling gray eyes pierced mine, and the tears he’d been holding back flowed over his cheeks and dripped down his jaw. “I have to find Piper before someone tells her. I have to tell her.”
“Tell me what’s happening.” Panic filled my veins with ice and sent my heart pounding in my chest. Seeing him like this was like being flayed alive, every one of his rasping breaths like a layer of my skin being removed with the heaviness of his emotions. Distantly, I saw people running down the street and a large crowd forming at the corner. Fear clenched my teeth firmly shut, no longer sure if I wanted to know. Clearly, something horrible had happened, and dread made bile rise in my throat, thinking about Piper’s parents.
Jax pleaded, “Help me find her.”
“Wh…why do you need to find her?”
His gaze flashed from determination to pain. His brows pulled together, and his jaw clenched like he didn’t want to deliver this blow. “It’s Marcus.”
It would’ve been less of a shock if he’d have shot me. It didn’t make sense. “No…no. It’s okay, you’re wrong. I just saw him.”
His chin trembled, and he turned his head to the side, and the weight of the world descended on my shoulders, crumbling everything I’d known.
“He was in a car accident down the road.”
“No…” I stumbled back, unwilling to believe what he was saying. “He was just here.”
“I saw him, Lucas. I saw him.” Jax put his head against mine and said the words that broke me apart. “He’s dead.”
“No.” My feet were moving before I could consciously make a decision, and I crashed through the crowd, needing to see what they did. Needing to see that Jax was wrong. That he’d made a mistake.
When I cleared a path, the wreckage of a two-car head-on collision appeared in front of me, and my stomach dropped at the sight of crumpled green steel. Piper kneeled beside the open driver’s-side door, head bent over the twisted frame, and her body shook with her sobs.
I took a step closer, needing to wrap her in my arms and hide this from her, but froze when she cried.
“Marcus. You said we’d have more time.” Her voice broke, and she sucked in a breath. “You can’t leave.”
Nausea climbed my throat, and I bent forward with the need to puke. Fuck. I did this. He was angry at me when he took off. Guilt racked through me, and I took a step back. My gaze traveled over Piper’s silhouette, committing every line to memory before I turned and walked away. She would never forgive me.
TEN
PIPER
ONE WEEK LATER
