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“Piper? You okay?” Even over the background noise, I could make out the rising panic in his voice.
I wanted to say something funny. Something that would let me talk to him while I walked but wouldn’t let him know I was upset. “Oh, come on, can’t I call you just to check in?”
“Don’t lie to me. Where are you?”
I swallowed hard, the concern in his voice melting me further, leaving me wide open for the mortification of what happened tonight. “Can we not talk about it?”
There was a long pause on the other end before he answered. “Sure, Killer. Just tell me where you are.”
“I’m walking down Camber Street. Just talk to me until I get there, ’kay?”
“Walking home from where?” His voice held an edge to it, one that told me he wouldn’t believe me if I lied and said Shana’s.
I huffed out a breath, readying myself to hear it from him. “Nero’s restaurant.”
“Were you on a date?” His words came out strained, almost muffled, and my chest squeezed, wanting so badly for it to mean something. But in the eleven years since my house burned down and we became neighbors, he’d given no signs that he’d ever wanted to be more than friends.
But whenever I got close to saying anything to him, he’d always disappear for a bit, just long enough for me to chicken out.
“Piper?”
I groaned. “Yes, I was on a date.”
“With who?” He sounded so genuinely shocked that it felt like a punch to the gut.
“What, you don’t think I could get a date?” I tried but couldn’t stop the hurt from escaping.
“No, Killer. That’s not…that’s not what I meant. It’s just…”
“It’s just what?” I ground out the words, anger behind them.
Lucas laughed, and I startled to a stop. “I just didn’t think anyone at our school would have the audacity to go after you after Marcus threatened everyone.”
It was annoying but also not news to me that my brother, the star hockey player of our high school, had put an off-limits sign on me. Hell, I’d spent an entire summer dateless while all of the guys went out with different girls every night. The only thing that made it suck less was I wasn’t interested in anyone. Not anyone who was interested in me, at least.
That was until we graduated and every puck bunny in a twenty-mile radius was all over Lucas, and my goddamn heart couldn’t take it. It’s not like I thought he was a virgin, but seeing him chase every single girl over the last month had my stomach churning. Lucas never looked at me like that, never chased me.
But Jayden had. From the second we’d met at the coffee shop, he’d actively pursued me. He asked for my number, set up the dates, and texted first. I still wasn’t sure if I’d ever liked him or if I was just so excited that someonewantedme. Or at least I thought he did.
“He didn’t go to our school. He’s older.”
“How much older?” Lucas’s voice was hard through the phone.
“Old enough that he bought me a glass of wine tonight.” Images of what I did with that glass flooded my brain, and I sniffed in a tear-filled breath. They weren’t sad tears; they were frustrated, slam-your-fist-against-the-wall tears.
Lucas’s voice softened immediately. “Shit, Killer. What happened?”
I inhaled slowly. “I’m fine, okay? Just…just tell me about your day.”
“You don’t sound okay. Tell me what happened.”
Frustration, pain, embarrassment, and mortification all boiled to the surface, threatening to overflow my restraint. I fought against the feelings as I turned right at the street corner and tried to answer. “He—”
I collided with a firm chest, and I screamed, stumbling backward.
“It’s okay. It’s me.” Lucas chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, pulling my face into his chest. My heart sent blood rushing into my ears, and I sucked in deep breaths of his familiar sandalwood cinnamon scent. I molded myself into him, letting the steady rhythm of his heart calm mine as he ran his hand up and down my spine in slow motions. It took several moments for my heart to stop pounding against my ribs before I was able to pull back from him. “You scared the crap out of me.”
He didn’t let go of my shoulders, still providing some support, and lowered his voice. “I can see that.”
