“Hi,” I say, my face buried in her tweed jacket.
Mrs. Tweedle is wearing tweed. It’s like a Dr. Seuss book. The thought makes a laugh escape out of my mouth.
She pulls back, her hands still on my upper arms. “We didn’t know you were dating Curtis Zeker.” Her face gleams. “He’s quite the catch. The talk around the club is, you’ve snatched him up. He’s practically crossed off the list.” She smiles widely.
I want to say, don’t use permanent marker.
“He’s a very nice young man,” my mom chimes in.
I hate how much she loves Curtis.
“He is, and his parents are absolutely lovable. I went to school with his father.”
She continues talking, but I tune her out, silently throwing daggers at Brad, who’s now trying to cuddle up to Bayli to divert me
“Mrs. Zeker told me that just last night,” I add in, not sure why. Maybe I think I’ll piss Brad off if I’m friendly to his soon-to-be in-laws, who he hates. It’s a small payback for what he did to me.
“All the girls were devastated when his mom told everyone about Piper Ashby. Right, Bayli?” She looks at Bayli.
Bayli rolls her eyes and then looks me up and down. “Yeah,” Bayli says offhand.
“Yes,” Mrs. Tweedle corrects her daughter.
Bayli’s eyes roll back further.
“It was nice seeing you both. I have to make a phone call.” I begin to back up.
Then, Mr. Tweedle stands. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Piper.” He nods his head in my direction. “Zoe dear, we need to get going.” He begins following me out of the family room.
“Bayli, honey?” her mom calls out.
Bayli kisses Brad on the cheek.
“Oh, young love. There’s nothing better,” Mrs. Tweedle remarks.
Bile rumbles up my throat. How do either set of parents not see how unhappy they are?
I wait for them to linger in the foyer to say their goodbyes, and I sneak out to the patio. I’m happy to find a bottle of wine, still half full, on the table. Snatching it in my hand, I swing it off the table and walk over to the pool deck.
Without bothering with a glass, I bring the bottle to my lips and down a swig while taking a seat on the cement. As I admire the still water from the pool, the lights glow, illuminating the water. It’s enticing, and I want to jump in and submerge myself just to block out the noise in my head.
Everything I’ve believed for two years was dead wrong. Tanner’s the good guy. In all of this, he was a protective friend. I stand up, unable to remain seated, as the rage begins to boil in my veins again.
Why did I move on with Curtis? Two years ago, I should have allowed Tanner to talk to me, to explain himself. Then again, as he admitted tonight, he’s not sure he would have told me the truth.
I’m on the opposite side of the pool, pacing back and forth, when Brad walks out to the patio. My parents linger by the window, peering out, curious as to what’s going on with their children. But they don’t come out, giving us our space.
“Piper,” Brad says, steps over to me. He’s judging my level of anger right now.
By initiating the conversation, he is giving me the opportunity to guide if this will be a full-on physical fight, a heated argument, or a civil conversation.
He should have his fighting gloves on because I’m fuming.
“Brad,” I seethe through my teeth.
“Tanner talked to you?” he asks, taking a seat on the edge of a lawn chair.
“Yeah, he talked to me.” I tilt my head to the side. “You should have—two years ago.” I tip the bottle back, downing more.
“I was different then.”
This is his lame excuse for ruining my life?
“You were obviously a drug addict and loser for trying to get ahead without the sweat and hard work,” I spout.
He places his head in his hands. “I made a lot of mistakes back then. All I saw was the Olympics as my top priority. Tanner had already been accepted, and there was a miniscule amount of time for them to notice me. I panicked—”
I place my hand up in the air to stop his selfish excuses. “Save your pity act. I don’t want to hear it.” My feet shuffle along the cement, as I pace from frustration. I need to feel the cool water cocoon me. Plunging into the water, drowning myself in the silence, is so alluring at the moment.
“I’m sorry, Piper. I know you see me as a failure.”
“Damn right I do, Brad. Even if you take away the detail that what you did was not fair, you allowed Tanner to take the fall for your stupidity. You could have ruined his career. You were okay with that?” I stop right in front of him, getting my face into his.
“I told him not to do it. I said that I’d come clean, but he was convinced we’d get away with the lie, that I’d be able to swim and hopefully be asked to train with him in Colorado. He lied, and he was right. Coach slapped him on the wrist and hid the whole thing.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? He protected you because he was your best friend. And what did you do? You were going to let him take the fall and ruin him.” I step back, closing my eyes, because my voice keeps escalating, and I fear my parents will come out. If my fingernails dig into my palm one more time, I’m going to draw blood. “When are you ever going to stop thinking of yourself?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Piper. Why are you so invested in Tanner’s career? Why the hell do you care what we agreed on?” He stands up and walks until he’s right in my face.
For every inch he comes closer, I back up.
“What happened is between us. He’s my best friend. If you must know, I’ve apologized a million times. Told him we were lucky that nothing more happened, and I thanked him for what he did for me.” He digs his finger into his own chest, emphasizing himself. “He’s never once made me feel guilty for it. He’s taken my apology to heart, and he knows I hate that he put his career at risk. Tanner knows how sorry I am for it. So, the question remains, Piper. Why the hell do you care so much?”
Because your one act took me to a fork in the road, and I made the wrong choice.
“You can cut the crap about the integrity of sports and competition,” Brad adds. His arms cross his chest, his legs widen.
Releasing a breath, I mimic his form and glare him down. “It just pisses me off. That’s it.”
I go to walk by him, but he grabs my upper arm, swinging me back around.
“Ultimately, you know that you’ll have to choose between Curtis and Tanner. He told you the truth because he wants you.”
My shoulders deflate. “I’m going to put you in the middle of us, if it doesn’t work out.” I focus down on the ground.
I’m fairly certain Brad would allow me to date Tanner now because he owes Tanner one.
“Hell, I’m already in the middle of it.” He sits down, his eyes veering from me to the chair beside him.
When I reluctantly sit down in the chair, he grabs the bottle, taking a swig for himself. “Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll be awkward when the two of you are together. Might as well see what comes of it. Talk to me, Pipe.”
“Are you sure you’re ready to hear me out?” I ask, raising my eyebrow.
He nods and takes a hefty breath. “Shoot, before I change my mind.”
“Okay, well—”
He holds his hand up. “One more thing. No sex talk. Actually, no physical contact.” His head violently shakes as the thought revolts him.
“Okay. I ran away from him two years ago when it all went down. I was mad about the drug confession because that meant, as an athlete, he took shortcuts. But it was more than that. I saw the drugs as proof that he’d fail me in the future, that he would never be happy being anything but first.”
“Why should he be?” Brad interrupts.
I contemplate his question. “As long as I’ve known Tanner, he’s worked his ass off to get to where he is. He’s trained ungodly hours and kept his diet in check, for the most part. Swimming has been his life. When he told me the smoothie you took was mixed with his drugs, I shut down any future possibility for us. For some reason, I saw us living a life of lies, and I didn’t want that. He came after me more than once to explain, but I just assumed he would only have lies. I knew if I were in the same room with him, my body would weaken, and I’d cave, only to live a life of disappointment.”