He turns away, dismissing me, talking to the others and nodding a hello. Then, just when the tears beg to build because he can disregard me so easily, he breaks from the pack. Walking directly to me, I can’t stop the smile curling on my lips.
A smirk evident on his face, he confidently strides over to me, stopping a polite space away. “Piper.”
My name rolling off his tongue confirms it. My heart still belongs to him.
eleven
“TANNER,” I MANAGE TO SQUEEZE out in a normal tone.
He doesn’t ask permission, doesn’t wait a minute before breaking the space between us, his arms wrap tight around me. I nuzzle my head into his chest, my own arms disobeying me, gripping him tight. I inhale the scent of his light-citrus scent cologne. It’s not what I’m used to, which disappoints me. Has he changed. Then, I mentally chastise myself for thinking he’d be the same guy from two years ago.
When I take a step back, his lips turn down before his eyes move up and down my body in a painfully slow pace. Even though I shouldn’t, I welcome the attention. They always had a way of making me feel sexy, like I was a piece of candy just out of reach from his grasp. Just like that, I’m back to two years ago when our chemistry reached the highest level that neither of us could deny.
“You look good.”
He smiles, and I bite my lip.
“Strike that. You look amazing.”
My teeth nail down my lip a little harder, and I fear blood will soon ooze out.
He chuckles. “Glad I can still make you nervous.”
His amusement is a double-edged sword. I want to join in because he knows so much about me, but then again, I want to slap him for making my willpower weak from him just being him.
“Congratulations.” I ignore his compliment, wanting this conversation to veer away from looks and feelings. Pleasantries will sure keep my heart in check.
“I haven’t made the team yet.” He shoves off my comment.
“Your dad says you’re pretty much a shoo-in.”
“Well, things can change in a tenth of a second.” He raises his eyebrows.
I know he’s talking about us, not swimming.
“You’ll make it.”
“The last thing I want to talk about is swimming, Piper—unless we are actually in the water, playing a game of Truth or Dare.”
He winks, and I can barely contain my body’s desire to melt into a puddle. With the mere mention of Truth or Dare brings memories of his hands on me.
“Um . . .” Mute-stricken, I stand in the one spot, smoothing my dress down, fidgeting with anything that allows my vision to veer away.
“I’m not going to stand here and pretend that—” He stops.
I look up when Curtis comes along side of me. I watch Tanner’s expression change from happy and carefree to sad and tense as he notices Curtis’s arm gliding behind my back. He authoritatively grabs my waist, pulling me toward him. Tanner fixates on Curtis’s hand on my hip and then moves up to meet my eyes. This unfaithful feeling comes over me, as though, I’ve somehow cheated on one of them.
“Hey. Tanner McCain, right?” Curtis releases his grip on me for a second to hold his hand out for Tanner.
Tanner shakes it and then watches the hand return to rest on my body. “Yeah,” he mindlessly says. Then, he stands a little straighter. “You Piper’s guy?” He nods his head in my direction.
“Curtis. Curtis Zeker,” he introduces himself.
“Zeker and Son?” Tanner questions.
My head flies up with his mention. Why is he familiar with Curtis’s family’s firm?
“Soon-to-be Zeker and Sons,” Curtis says proudly, emphasizing the S.
“Oh, congratulations.” Tanner appears unimpressed, nodding his head a few times.
“I’ll be graduating—”
“That’s great, man. Sorry, but I gotta catch up with my friends,” he interrupts Curtis’s well-rehearsed spiel. Tanner focuses on me, disregarding Curtis completely. “You’ve gotta great girl here. Don’t blow it. I’ve seen it happen before, and man, does the bastard regret it afterward.”
Without even a goodbye, he turns around and takes a seat at the table with his friends. He immediately grabs a beer from the bucket in the middle of the table before twisting the cap off with his T-shirt and flicking it into the nearby garbage can. He clicks bottles with his friends, and they all congratulate Brad on his upcoming wedding. Watching Tanner portray an act of indifference brings tightness in my chest from guilt.
Then, the guilt transforms to anger.
Why should I feel guilty for dating someone else? He’s the one who destroyed what we built.
If only my heart would sync with the rationalization in my brain right now . . .
“So, that’s the infamous Tanner McCain, huh?” Curtis says next to me.
Unable to tear my focus away from Tanner, I answer, “Yeah.”
“I’m not impressed,” he sneers.
My head flies up, ready to defend Tanner, but I stop myself from coming to his defense and ignore Curtis’s comment instead.
“I’m going to go help my mom.” I step away from him.
“Are you okay?” He grips my wrist, and the force alarms me.
Tearing out of his grasp, I cock my head. “I’m fine. Just want to make sure she doesn’t need me.”
We silently question each other. He appears to be working through a tough math problem, and mine are interrogating what caused him to become angry.
“Okay.” He cocks his jaw out, not believing a word from my mouth.
Truth be told, he shouldn’t.
Evading into the safety of my house, I give a quick wave to Lana and my mom at the counter, getting the buffet ready.
“Piper, are you okay?” my mom calls out.
“Yep.” I jog up the stairs to my bedroom, lock my door behind me, and collapse on the bed.
I fight the tears threatening to break through my cement wall barrier I built after Tanner left. I push back all the emotions wrestling inside of me after seeing Tanner. I need to come to grips with this and find some sort of balance for the next few days. After crawling along the bed, I crouch on the ground by my window and peek out to all the people below me.
Opening the window a crack, I feel like I’m in high school again when I would spy on Brad and Tanner in the pool. Tanner’s laugher floats up through my open window, and my heart skips a beat. I watch his casual manner of tossing compliments off his shoulders and throwing them back to his friends. The way he handles himself is nothing short of amazing. It’s too bad that there’s a crap load of falsehood behind it. If I didn’t know the true Tanner, I’d assume he was the perfect male like everyone else does. But my heart doesn’t recognize those flaws—or dishonesty is a better way of putting it.
I lean against my wall, bringing my knees up to my chest, fighting with myself to gain some sort of composure. I got this. Standing up to my feet, I tell myself that I’ll see this through.
Throw yourself into Curtis, and Tanner will stay away.
The more he keeps his distance, the easier these days will be.
With my hand on the doorknob, I inhale a big deep breath right as a hard knock surprises me. In less than one second, my confidence vanishes.
“Who is it?” I say, my voice shaking.
“Bea! Open the fucking door.”
I twist the brass knob, and she strolls in, shaking her head at me.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Nothing,” I lie.
“Bullshit. Why are you hiding up here?” She plops on my bed until she notices that my window is cracked open.
I swear under my breath because I forgot to shut it. “I’m not. I needed to put on some lipstick.”
“Stop lying. Tanner shows up, and you disappear. You’re talking to me,” she says way too loud for my preference.