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Hampton shuffled toward me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his large frame. “Pip…” he trailed off.
I allowed myself only a moment’s comfort in his arms before I pushed away. “You don’t get to do that. Not this time.”
He threw his arms to the sides. “Why can’t you be happy for me? I’m in love! You should try it sometime.”
“Uh!” I scoffed, my body jerking as though he’d physically pushed me. “I’ve been in love before.”
Lawson laughed and I snapped my head at him. “What are you laughing at?”
“You,” he said simply. “I can’t believe you still think your feelings for a gay guy were genuine.”
“Are you kidding me?” I glared at Hampton. “You expect me to live with this asshole?” Looking back at where Lawson remained seated in my chair, I seethed, “Offense intended.”
Lawson laughed again
, looking completely unbothered by my insult.
“I’m taking the dishes,” I told Hampton. “And the couch. And the TV in the living room. Let’s see you get to know your new husband on the floor.”
Lawson made a noise that sounded like he was choking as Hampton replied, “I’ve already gotten to know him pretty well on that couch. The floor sounds like a good place to try next.”
I’d walked right into that one and couldn’t think of a retort, so lamely I huffed. “Well, good. This table’s mine too. And I’m taking the laptop.”
Hampton’s eyes widened. “You can’t take the laptop! It’s not yours.”
“Yes, it is! I paid for it.”
“No, we paid for it together. Remember, when the storm hit and fried the desktop, we went in together to get a new one.”
He was right, we had split the cost evenly. “Well, I use it more than you. And I need it for school. And I’m the one being thrown out on her ass. So, I’m taking what I deserve.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You aren’t being tossed to the street. You’re going to be staying at Lawson’s place. Which, I might add, is a hell of a lot nicer than ours,” Hampton huffed. He was exasperated.
“Well, whatever. You’re still sticking me with someone I don’t even like!” I glanced back at Lawson once more. “I didn’t mean that. I like you. You know what I mean.”
He finished off the last of his beer and his lips curved around the end of the bottle. “Feeling’s mutual, Pippie.”
His words shouldn’t have stung. But adding to my confusion, they did.
With a groan, Lawson dropped his feet to the floor and pushed to his feet. “Well, this show’s been pretty damn entertaining, but can we get going?” He checked his watch and then murmured, “Got shit to do.”
Hampton cleared his throat. “You can take the laptop.”
“Yeah, I know I can,” I snapped over my shoulder as I grabbed it from the table and marched past the guys. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta get dressed. Apparently, I’ve got a long day ahead of me.”
Without another word, I made my way to my bedroom. Just inside the door, I looked around, my stomach dropping.
We’d lived here for five years, had turned this basic townhouse into a cozy home for the two of us. It was my own stupid fault that I’d never really thought about the fact Hampton and I weren’t going to always live together, had always just assumed this was where I would be until I found someone of my own. It wasn’t fair of me to expect Hampton to be there for me until I didn’t need him anymore.
But it didn’t matter that I knew deep down I couldn’t keep him as mine forever. I was still hurt that he’d kept so many things from me recently. And it was that hurt I held onto as I begrudgingly started packing my belongings.
10
Lawson
I underestimated the amount of time it would take to pack Piper’s stuff up, and before I knew it, it was damn near midnight and we were just pulling into my driveway. I was tired and Piper looked like she was about to drop at any moment.
“I don’t think I can unload your stuff tonight,” I told her, grimacing as I climbed out of the U-Haul.
