AllFreeNovel
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There’s one of our table, all of us gathered around one side while we smile up at Jasmine, who took the picture on Fran’s cell phone before gathering a few with the professional camera she was using for the evening. Another shows the look of abject horror on my face while Piper holds a plastic crown over my head, teasing like always.
The one of the two of us, pulled together on the dance floor, chests flush together, makes that pang hit again. Fuck. What is this?
It’s not regret. Not a lack of surety, or affection. It’s not pain or sadness. It’s not something I’ve ever really felt, and I search for the words.
Love. The word dings in the back of my head, lighting up like a neon display, captioned by the words “that’s what it is, you idiot.”
And I sit back in my chair, draining the last few remnants of my drink in a single gulp, ruminating on this feeling. Love. Is this what actually, truly being in love with someone feels like? A weight you carry around with you?
No, not a weight, I realize. A blanket. A cocoon of warmth. A secure, tight feeling that’s wrapped so hard around me I feel like I may explode. A clear, unwavering knowledge that the woman asleep in my bed loves me, truly, and has no problems showing me, showing the world.
I glance back down at my phone in my lap, looking at the way my arms grip Piper’s waist. It looks small and fragile in my long fingers, but I know she’s not fragile. I smile to myself - definitely not fragile. You can’t really see my face, but you can see hers, and the clear way she’s looking up at me as we dance.
That look. That’s a look I’ve never seen before. Not even on Olivia, I ponder.
That’s the way she looked at me when she said I love you for the first time, when I felt this feeling wracking my body that I hadn’t been able to place at the time. The vice grip those words placed around my heart. And the thought that I’m not sure I ever want to let this feeling go.
I manage a few hours of sleep, pulling Piper to my chest and breathing in her usual warm, sugary scent, until the alarm on her phone goes off and she blindly reaches for it between the sheets.
“It’s on the nightstand,” I groan, rolling away from her and rubbing at my eyes. She reached over further, finally turning off the electric pop music she’d set as an alarm tone. She yawns, scrolling on her Home Screen before looking at me.
“Morning.” She props herself up on her elbows, and I lean down to meet her halfway for a kiss. “Coffee?” Piper moves to pull the blanket from off of her body, but I wrap my arm around her, pulling her close again. “Fitz,” she says with a laugh, but then snuggles into my arms. “We need to get up.”
“We need to do a lot of things,” I agree, giving her a squeeze. She lets out a strangled sound, but I know it’s a joke because the squeeze was gentle, and she’s being dramatic to get a rise out of me. I lean my head forward, my lips next to her ear. “I can think of a few things we can do before we get out of this bed.” She laughs again, swatting at my arms as she untangles herself. “I’m hurt.” I press a hand to my chest. “Absolutely offended that you wouldn’t-"
A pillow comes flying at my face, and I barely have time to deflect it before she’s reaching into her overnight bag, making a beeline for the bathroom so fast I don’t have time to pull her back into bed with me, which is really where she belongs.
I’m on my third cup of coffee by the time we make it to the car, and Piper’s grumpy morning attitude has turned chipper as she drinks out of her travel mug, flipping through the pictures on my phone from the night before.
The phone buzzes in her hand, and she looks at it for a second before turning to me. “It’s your dad.”
“Hmm,” is all I say, and I put my free hand on her leg, my thumb smoothing over the stretchy fabric of her leggings. “What does he want?”
“To get lunch tomorrow.” She pauses. “With both of us.” I raise my eyebrows.
“What exactly did you say to him last night?” I turn into the parking lot at Windsor Park, following a line of cars filing into spaces down the long rows. “You never told me.” She watches as I back into a spot, waiting until we’re in park before she responds.
“I may have told him he fucked up, and took his grief out on you.” Piper shrugs nonchalantly, sipping at her coffee, and I just stare at her.
I would probably have continued staring, if the sound of something hitting my hood didn’t jolt me out of my stupor. We both jump, and look out the front window to see a group gathered in front of my car.
“You scared the shit out of me,” Piper says as she all but slams my door closed, feigning a punch at Alex’s arm. Like the rest of us, she’s clad in the same neon green shirt, only hers is half covered by the baby she’s wearing across her chest.
“No cursing around the baby.” Alex covers Mikayla’s ears like the infant can understand us, and Piper snorts.
“Like you didn’t say ten times worse changing her diaper last week.”
“It was a nasty one, ok?” Alex’s voice is defensive. “Also, these shirts are atrocious.” She gestures to the group around us - Nolan, Penny with Brett, their kids, Piper’s parents, Carla, Dylan, Vic, even Kyle, and a woman who introduces herself as Nolan’s mom, Vicki.
“It’s not like I designed them.” Piper pulls her baseball cap further down on her head and crosses her arms.
“Well whoever did should be drawn and quartered. This color isn’t flattering on anyone, and we look horrible.” Vic is not a morning person, I’m gathering.
“Yeah,” Kyle says with a yawn, throwing an arm around Vic and Carla. “But we look horrible together.”
“Aww.” Carla sticks a finger in his ear and he rears back, and that’s the attitude we go into the morning with, making our way across the parking lot and through to registration for the 5K. Piper hands us each our numbers, which are really just for show because not one of us is actually planning to run this thing. A group stroll through a beautiful park is how Piper sold it, and after several minutes of announcements and information, the shotgun start sounds, earning a wail from the once-sleeping baby in Alex’s arms.
“Fuck,” she says in a low voice, bouncing on her knees, “It’s ok, sweetheart. It’s just one loud sound.” We follow as she treds forward, the movement seeming to sooth the baby. “Now we just get to hear the sounds of sweat dripping down Mommy’s back, hm?”
