I hold the dustpan as he focuses on sweeping the glass into it. He never looks down to me, and I desperately wish he would.
“It’s just odd, seeing one another.” I offer him an out, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
He glances behind us, confirming we’re alone. “It’s more than that, Piper. If I’d known you were involved with someone—”
“Brad didn’t say anything?” I ask, constantly double checking others aren’t coming in.
“No, but I’m not surprised by it.”
I stand up and dispose of the glass in the trash bag. Then, I bend back down to finish. He sweeps the remaining particles into the dustpan, and I silently throw them away. When he walks back into the kitchen, I’m staring outside at all the carefree people enjoying their night. Only a few are observant ones that can tell the turmoil I’m in.
“You guys don’t talk about me much?” I ask, turning around.
“No. I stopped asking about you a while back.”
He adds no more, and I don’t push it further.
I wash my hands and dry them on a towel before facing him. He’s leaning against the counter, his hands gripping the edge, showing the small muscles in his forearms.
“How’s Colorado?” I make small talk.
“It’s all right. I train most of the time.”
I raise my eyebrows at his comment, and he shakes his head.
“Not letting it go yet, huh?” he asks.
“You cheated, Tanner,” I solemnly say.
He shakes his head. “So, that’s it? You’re never going to listen to my side of this?” He pushes off the counter, stalking toward me.
“I don’t need to. You told me all I needed to know that day in your bedroom.” I slide over to the left to dodge his advance.
He follows, his body inches from mine. “Damn it, Piper. Why are you so stubborn?” He places each of his hands on either side of my body.
I rear my head back at his angry voice. “You failed more than me that day, Tanner. You failed yourself, and your team. It was a conscious decision,” I argue.
He cocks his jaw in disbelief. “My back. I was out. Brad—”
“I don’t want to hear your lame excuses.” I throw my hand in between our two heated faces.
I duck under his arm, but he grips my wrist, whipping me around. My eyes pin his hand on my arm, and he releases his grip. The anger in me that never went away surfaces immediately.
“They aren’t excuses,” he says through clenched teeth.
“Listen”—I hold my hand up—“let’s just get through our time here together. I’m sure we can be cordial, and after the wedding, you can go back and deceive people into thinking how hard you train and how you’re an all-around great guy. I’ll stay here and teach at the community college, and then I’ll marry some ordinary, everyday guy and pop out some kids.” I might be acting a little dramatic.
He walks toward me again, faster than I can move to escape. Caging me against the fridge, his hands press above my head. “You’re telling me that it’s gone? My body doesn’t burst fireworks in your body anymore? Me pressed against you right here”—he pushes his body flush against mine—“doesn’t make your heart beat faster, your breathing stagger, from the mere memory of me being deep inside you? When you dipped into the pool outside, floods of recollection from our Truth and Dare games, like when my fingers snuck under your bathing suit, doesn’t come to mind?”
His mouth is inches from my lips, and I hold a deep breath. With my panties wet and my heart pounding in my chest, I attempt to gather a speck of control before I grab his hand and guide it to where I want it to go.
“No.” I shake my head, my teeth nibbling on the inside of my cheek.
“Hmm.” Two of his fingers move down my arm, and he takes my wrist, resting on my pulse. “You’re a liar.”
“Oh, I’m not the liar,” I contradict him.
He shakes his head. “Piper, damn it. Let me explain.”
My hands land on his chest, and I push him away. “You had your chance two years ago.”
Here we are, back again to this carousel ride, with each of us on opposite sides. We’ll never be on the same side of this issue.
He holds his hands up in the air. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You ran. You stopped answering my calls.”
“What were you going to tell me? Sorry?” I roll my eyes and cock my head back and forth. “Sorry you got caught.”
“You know what? Screw it. I’m not even sure why I want you to know the truth.” He ventures out of the kitchen, out the back door, and away from me.
I suck a deep breath through my clenched teeth as my fingers ball and release at my sides. “Bastard,” I mumble to myself, walking over to the kitchen sink to peer out the window.
Tanner sits at the table with his friends again, and Bayli’s friends are already flocking like vultures. They have him surrounded, and I watch with distaste as his head pings from girl to girl as they drill him with questions. My palms tightly grip the counter.
“Piper?” My mom walks in from outside.
I quickly turn around, appearing innocent.
“Curtis leave already?” She opens the fridge, taking out her signature deviled eggs.
“Um . . .” I try to focus on what she just asked me. “Yeah. He says bye.”
I step away from the window and meet her halfway, but she continues moving back and forth from drawer to drawer.
“Mom.” I attempt to distract her, but she doesn’t turn around.
“Yeah, honey?” She busies herself with a few of the dishes in the sink.
“Do you need anything?” I rush over, placing my hands in the sink.
If she looks out the window, she’ll notice that I was staring at Tanner, and she’ll know her intuition about Tanner and me is right.
She grabs the dish in her hands. “No, silly. It’s five small plates.” She rinses the dish off and places it in the dishwasher.
Just when I think I’m in the clear, she grabs a dishtowel, staring out the window. She turns back to me and then out the window again. Her face falls. The corners of her mouth couldn’t look sadder.
“Piper,” she sighs. “Do you want to talk?”
“Not really. No.”
“You sure?” Her hip rests against the counter, and she places the dishtowel down.
“Yep.” I begin to step out of the kitchen. I’m praying someone will walk through the back door and interrupt us, ask for something I have to get them.
For heaven’s sake, where the hell is Bea? When I glance out the door, I see her laughing with Dylan. She’s practically in his lap.
“Piper?” Mom questions as though I’m sixteen and came in past curfew.
“Nope, Mom. I’m not talking about it.”
“Did he hurt you?” she cautiously asks the question.
I can imagine the nightmare running through her head.
“Who?” I play dumb to buy myself some time for someone to interrupt.
She cocks her head. “Tanner, sweetheart. Has he hurt you?” she repeats the question.
“No, Mom—not physically anyway.”
Her face blanks, and she walks over to me, cupping my cheeks with her hands. “Oh, honey. I knew something bad happened. You came home that weekend and stayed in your room almost the whole time. Then, Tanner never came home from Colorado. I hoped it was a fling, something short, that didn’t involve feelings.” She raises my head to examine my eyes. “That was naive of me. There’s always been something between you two.” Her hands move down to my shoulders, and she pulls me into a hug.
“It’s fine, Mom, really. Just because we didn’t work out . . .” I don’t finish the sentence. “I have Curtis.” I change my tone to be more upbeat.
My mom pulls back, holding my shoulders in her hands. Her face lights up at Curtis’s name. “That’s right, and he’s a great guy, Piper.”
“Yeah.” I refrain from adding in more. As much as I love my mom and trust her, I’m not about to cry on her shoulder about Tanner. Especially when he’s twenty feet away.
Luckily, Brad bursts through the door before stopping in his tracks. “What happened?” He slowly shuts the outside door and tentatively walks over to us. “Is Grandma okay?” he asks, leaning into us.