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“Doesn’t sound bad so far.”
“I haven’t gotten to the part about our family. They speculated that Orlando has a secret girlfriend. There’s a lovely mention of you being the richest unmarried woman in Boston. And I believe the writer called Quinn a shrew and me a notorious playboy.”
“Youarea notorious playboy,” I pointed out.
“That’s not the point. There’s now a poll going where people can bet on who I’ll bring as a date to the ball, and rumors about Orlando’s secret girlfriend are all over social media.”
“No offense, but this sounds like a you problem brought on by the fact that you sleep with women who have big mouths.”
“It’s not that.” He tucked his phone back into his pocket. “This article just pointed out how very wealthy and unmarried we all are. It’s worse for the two of us—they’ve started rumors that Orlando is unavailable and Quinn is… undesirable.”
I winced. “Well, hopefully Quinn means it when she says she’s not interested in dating.”
“Piper.”
I knew what he was saying. Every person who wanted to marry into riches or fame would be trying to charm Nacio and me, trying to convince us they loved us when what they really loved was our money and family name.
“Can we just go for our run and worry about this later?” I asked.
“Denial and avoidance. I love it.”
We ran together until sweat coated every inch of my skin and my head finally cleared. I wasn’t really upset by the article. I was more… disappointed that this was still my life. I was tired of living like this. But when I ran, really ran, there was no room for anything but the euphoric burn of my muscles and the air in my lungs.
By the time we got back to the house and showered, the rest of our family was up. I came down to the kitchen to find Mamma and Papa both sitting at the island. Papa had his laptop open in front of him, probably emailing with one of his mentees, while Mamma watched over his shoulder.
“Do you want coffee?” Nacio asked from where he was pouring ground beans into the machine on the counter. His hair was wet, dripping onto the shoulders of his T-shirt, and I could almost see what girls saw in him that made them okay with being his hookup for the night. Almost.
“No, I’m good.” I moved to the fridge.
“Mamma, did you hear we’re famous?” Nacio asked.
“We’re famous all the time,” I said, grabbing an apple and hopping onto the counter beside the fridge. “And it’s August. The ball always brings us extra attention.”
“Speaking of the ball, are you bringing anyone, Piper?” Mamma asked.
“Nope.” I took a bite of my apple.
“What about taking Robert?”
I leaned back against the tile wall. It used to bother me when my parents tried to set me up. Then I dated a few boys I thought cared about me before I realized what they were really after. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t me.
After breakup number seven, I started understanding my parents’ desire to find me a husband who wasn’t after my wealth, one who was equipped to handle my life and would put my needs above the money and status. The only problem was that none of the men they’d suggested had impressed me. And I wanted a husband I loved.
I made a face. “Robert wasn’t my favorite. I appreciate you trying to find me a date, but I don’t want to deal with it.” They knew I always went stag to these events. And they tried to convince me to take a date every time.
“You know showing up alone is asking for men to approach you all night.” Nacio picked up his coffee, his other hand already typing away on his phone.
“Thank you for that very helpful input,” I shot back.
“You’re welcome.”
I rolled my eyes. “What are you even doing here? Didn’t you move out like five years ago?”
“Piper,” Mamma admonished.
“I wouldn’t want to deprive you of my presence just because I don’t live here anymore.” Nacio glanced up from his phone to grin at me.
“Could I perhaps have your presence at the ball?”
