“River is coming over,” Everly says as I’m heating up dinner.
I scowl.
“Piper said it was fine.” She sticks out her tongue at me.
“He’s not allowed upstairs.”
“I know, I know. We’re going to watch a movie.”
“What movie?”
“The new Ryan Reynolds, but you’re not invited.”
“We should watch it in the theater room.” Ash has a kick-ass media room with a projector and theater seats that rarely gets used in favor of his living room.
To be fair, the TV in there is almost as big.
“No. Creepy. You can’t third wheel it with us.”
Piper walks in, her hair wet and soaking the white fabric of her T-shirt. She goes to the fridge and grabs a Diet Dr. Pepper. “Third wheel what?”
Everly turns to her. “Please tell him he can’t watch a movie with me and River.”
“You can’t watch a movie with them,” she says so matter-of-factly like her word is the end-all.
“Thank you.” Everly smiles smugly. “But will you still get the movie going in the theater room?”
“What are you watching?” Piper asks as she pops the tab of the can.
“The new Ryan Reynolds one on Netflix.”
“Oh, I haven’t seen that yet,” Piper says, eyes going wide with excitement. She bites at her bottom lip and we both look at Everly.
She groans. “Ugh. Fine, but you two have to sit in the back, far away from us.”
River shows up as I get the movie ready. He and Everly take seats in the front row with a blanket. I grind my molars. I know the blanket trick. I used it myself many times to cop a feel without getting caught.
I go to the thermostat and crank it to eighty-five. His balls will be so sweaty he won’t even think about letting her touch him.
Piper sits in the back with a big bowl of popcorn in her lap. The wet spot on her shirt has grown and I can see the outline of her bra.
I settle back into my seat. It’s weird if I don’t sit next to her but being this close is difficult. She’s dating someone and has made it very clear that she is only here to help with Everly.
She props her long legs up on the seat in front of her.
“Were you raised in a barn?” I ask with a playful smirk, without looking directly at her.
“My feet are clean.” She wiggles her bare toes which just draws my attention back to her smooth legs.
The shorts she’s wearing ride up high on her thighs. Piper always did have great legs. I remember just what it was like to slide my hand up them, and what it felt like to have them wrapped around my back.
I wipe a hand across my brow. Fuck, it’s already hot in here.
Everly hits the lights, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful to not be able to see Piper.
I move around trying to find a comfortable way to sit here, not see her legs, but also see the screen. I was looking forward to seeing this movie but now I can’t focus on anything but the smell of Piper’s shampoo and her pink toenails.
I don’t particularly like feet, but Piper’s are sexy as hell. I’d suck on each one… I groan too loudly and try to cover it with a cough.
She leans closer and the tips of her wet hair brush against my bicep. “Do you want some popcorn?”
I make the grave mistake of looking at her. Her face is inches from mine, and those dark blue eyes that always remind me of the deep ocean are big and wide and aimed right at me.
“Sure,” I say, not breaking eye contact even as she hands me the bowl.
It isn’t until her lips curve up that I grab a handful of popcorn and look back at the screen.
She doesn’t move away and the left side of my body tingles with awareness. I glance up at Everly and River. They’re quiet, faces forward, but she has her head resting on his shoulder and his arm is around her shoulders. His fingers stroke up and down her arm.
“Give me this,” Piper whispers, taking the bowl back from me. “You look like you might chuck it at his head.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“What’s he possibly going to do in here with you fifteen feet away and ready to pounce?”
“If his brain is anything like mine was, the options are endless.”
She laughs softly. I look over at her and smile back. I wonder if she’s thinking back to all the times we fooled around when we were with other people. Neither of us cared where we were or who was watching—we kissed and held hands, and sometimes even felt each other up while we were at a party or out with friends.
Back then I figured it was because we saw each other so infrequently that we had to make up for it while we were together, but now I wonder if that was just how crazy we were about each other. And if it’d be like that now.
My gaze drops to her lips and holds. Adrenaline and want courses through me. She’s right here, the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about, and I can’t have her.
I lean onto the armrest on the opposite side to put some space between us and continue to shoot daggers at River.
When the movie is over, Everly walks out with River, leaving me alone with Piper.
“This was fun,” she says.
“Yeah.” I kill the projector and hit the lights. Fun, torturous—same thing.
“I should get to bed.” I hitch a thumb over my shoulder and then turn to go before I keep staring at her or do something incredibly stupid like ask her to dump her boyfriend and go out with me.
“Wait.” She jogs to catch up with me. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.” I slow down.
She looks at where Everly and River are hugging in the doorway. His hands are dangerously close to her ass. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“Yeah, all right.” I raise my voice. “Ev, time to wrap it up and get to bed.”
I’m pretty sure Piper laughs at me, but I barely hear it over Everly’s annoyed grunt.
“Night,” I say in a nicer tone, then follow Piper upstairs and into her room.
“It’s actually about your sister,” she says, shutting us inside and then going to sit on the edge of her bed.
There is absolutely no way I can get on that bed with her, so I cross my arms at my chest and lean against the wall. “Is something wrong? Is she giving you a hard time?”
“No,” she says quickly. “I adore Everly. Truly.”
I relax a fraction.
Piper lowers her voice. “She confided in me this morning that she was considering going to college this fall.”
“Really?” I drop my arms and push off the wall. “That’s great.”
“Yeah, it is, except…” She bobs her head side to side. “I might have screwed it up.”
“Doubt it.” I move closer to the bed.
“She was worried about not having extracurriculars, so I got her on stage crew with the theater group. It’s after school until five, and I’d pick her up and everything. I probably should have asked first, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I don’t see a problem with that.”
“The problem is the kids were giving her a hard time when I picked her up today. I don’t know why or what was said, but she said she didn’t want to go back.” She looks so apologetic and guilty.
“High schoolers are assholes. We both know that. I’ll talk to her.”
She picks up a piece of paper I hadn’t noticed on the comforter next to her. “This is a list of all the colleges within a three-hour radius that are still accepting admissions, as well as the last date she can apply.”
I step forward and take it from her. It’s a long list and my head spins with the names and dates, some as soon as the end of the month.
“I included a few near your mom, too, at the bottom.” Piper shrugs. “I wasn’t sure what the situation was there.”
“Thank you for doing this, and for looking out for my sister so well.”
“That is what I signed up for,” she says with a playful laugh. “At this point I owe you for all the car repairs.”
“If you’d let me pay you, then I wouldn’t have to find other ways to show my thanks.”
“It isn’t necessary. I really like Everly. Hanging with her isn’t a job. I want only good things for her.”
I nod and swallow around the lump in my throat. I can see the sincerity on her face, and I feel the impact so deeply.
She stands in front of me. “I want good things for both of you.”
It’s torture not to reach out and touch her.
She links her hands in front of her and looks at them as she speaks. “I was angry and upset when we ran into each other again, but it was so long ago. I shouldn’t have held it over you all these years.”
I thought it was hard to be around her when she hated me, but I was wrong because this is so much worse. Hate kept a line drawn between us.
“Break up with your boyfriend, Piper.”
“Wha-at?” Her voice breaks on the word.
I invade her space. She doesn’t step back. “I want good things for you too.”
“Okay.” A line forms between her brows.
I allow myself only to brush my fingers against hers. It’s the smallest contact. Not enough, but still so fucking good.
“Break up with him because I’m what’s good for you.”
