Tanner’s tongue slows, and his lips close. I inch forward, not wanting to stop the kiss, but his lips travel to my chin and along my jawline.
“Piper, you’ve—” he whispers.
“What’s up, guys?” Brad bursts into the apartment.
Tanner flies off of me as I push him away at the same time. He stumbles into the counter on the opposite side, and I quickly turn around, wiping my mouth.
“Nothing,” Tanner mumbles, casually walking to the armchair. “Just trying to find something to drink.” He plops down like he didn’t just ravish my mouth making me hungry for more.
I open the fridge and lean my head in, letting the air cool down my heated skin.
“Hi, Piper,” Taylor alarms me.
When I turn to her, her whole face is lighted up like a damn Christmas tree. My brother might be blind to Tanner and me, but it’s clear that she’s not. I’m assuming that she knows what they just interrupted.
“Hey, Taylor. I thought you guys were staying in at Brad’s apartment?” My voice is purposely loud, so my brother can overhear me.
“I’m sorry,” she quietly apologizes. “Your brother wanted to party a little more, I guess.”
We both know why they’re down here. My brother isn’t blind to Tanner and me, but Brad’s acting like he can stop the gas leak before it ignites.
“It’s okay. I’m probably going to go to bed soon anyway.” I shrug off the imposition, but when my eyes catch Tanner’s across the room, we share a glimpse of disappointment.
“Bed? No way are you going to bed,” Brad hollers over at me from the couch, giving away his perked-up dog ears on our conversation.
“I have nothing to drink,” I counter, throwing my hands up in the air for dramatic effect. He won’t stay without the presence of alcohol, and it’s too late for one of us to run out to the nearest liquor store.
“We don’t need to get sloppy drunk. Let’s play a game or something.” He sits up in his seat.
Taylor joins him on the couch. Man, he’s pulling all the stops to guarantee that Tanner and I aren’t left alone tonight.
“Let’s just go back upstairs,” she attempts to divert Brad. “You know, we haven’t done that thing I was telling you about.”
Her hand runs on top of his forearm, and her seduction proves successful when he shoots her a glance. Maybe I underestimated Taylor. She’s taking one for the team here.
I bite my lower lip, and Tanner leans back in the chair, putting one leg over the other one, while he tries to hide his glances at me.
“Nah, I want you to hang out with my two favorite people.”
Tanner and I cock our heads as Brad stands up and opens the media cabinet under the television. He pulls out Monopoly. Of course, he picks a game that will take the longest. The three of us played for five hours one time because I refused to go bankrupt. By the time we quit, Brad had passed out on the couch while I bankrupted Tanner.
Taking a seat on the floor as far away as I can from Tanner, I shake my head at Brad’s choice. “Really, Brad? Monopoly? What are we? Twelve?”
“Come on, Piper. I’ll let you be the dog.” Brad smiles like I should appreciate him offering the game piece that was never mine.
“She never liked the dog. She was always the thimble,” Tanner clarifies. He winks at me while scooting up to the edge of the chair to help Brad set up the game.
“I thought she was always the dog.” Brad shrugs his shoulders, disregarding that his best friend just schooled him on my preferred Monopoly piece when we were younger, and then he begins dividing up the money.
I underestimated Tanner, I guess he pays attention to the little things.
“Um . . . no, the culprit was usually Jimmy from down the street.” Tanner laughs.
I join in shortly after. “Remember that time he took it home with him, so none of us could have it?” I add.
Soon, Brad is reeling in laughter, too. “Tanner and I sneaked out that night and climbed into his window to steal it back.”
He slaps his knee, and Tanner points to him as though he forgot.
“You guys did? Why didn’t you include me?” I pretend to whine.
They look at each other, laughing harder.
“You would have told on us.” Tanner raises his eyebrows at me, calming down from his amusement.
“Yeah, you were always such a tattletale. Thank God you grew out of it.” Brad snickers and knocks Tanner on the shoulder to agree.
“It was payback for always making fun of my height. It’s not my fault I had inches on both of you.”
Tanner winks at me, his lips sliding into a crooked smile, and my body relaxes.
Brad turns to Taylor. “She was like the Jolly Green Giant.”
He laughs, and she cackles, making my hand itch to slap him.
“Then, you stopped, and we continued on.”
I tilt my head side to side with a sour look on my face. The memories of torment from when we were younger reminds me of times with a very different Tanner. He could be so cruel to me, always siding with Brad.
The laughter calms down by the time we have piles of money in front of us. Tanner grabs his usual race car, and Brad snatches the shoe. Taylor contemplates for what seems like hours until she picks the top hat.
“I’m starving, Piper. Don’t you have anything to eat?” Brad walks into the kitchen and rummages through my cabinets. “What do you guys eat around here?” he complains.
I crawl up to help him before I have to reorganize all the cabinets. Wendi, the control freak, won’t talk to me for a week over her stuff being moved everywhere.
“Why don’t you bring something down from your apartment?” I follow him around the kitchen, shutting cabinets behind him.
He opens the freezer. “Not even a frozen pizza.” He shakes his head in disgust. “We should have planned this after-party at our place.”
“You weren’t even supposed to be coming over. You were going to your apartment with Taylor, remember?” I counter.
He intently stares at me for a second, the easiness of the conversation quickly vanishing. Then, his eyes shift to Tanner and slowly back to me. My stomach churns, waiting for him to call us out. Did he notice a touch or a stare earlier tonight that turned him into Detective Ashby?
“I wanted to see what you guys were up to.” He stalks away from me and heads back to the couch. He leans over to kiss Taylor on the cheek before claiming the seat next to her again.
As his back is to me, Taylor gives me tight lips of apology. I’m starting to like her.
My feet remain planted in the galley kitchen. “I can order a pizza, Brad,” I tell him.
His face lights up.
“I’ve got Geppetoos on speed dial.” Tanner pulls out his phone and orders the pizza.
AN HOUR LATER, BRAD IS beating everyone’s ass at Monopoly, and I can’t stop yawning. Taylor is already curled up on the couch, having sold all her properties to Brad just to get out of the game. I wish the competitive side of me would taper down, so I could relax on the couch like her. Instead, Brad, Tanner, and I are deep in discussion about needing Park Place and Boardwalk to win the game. Tanner’s been holding on to the properties for dear life even though he basically only has the Railroads. There isn’t much hope that we can beat Brad, but neither one of us will hand the win over. All three of us are fierce competitors when it comes to even the insignificant things. Whether it’s a board game, a lap across the pool, or a silly bet of who can eat six saltine crackers in a minute, we don’t give up. Each of us thinks we know the right way to accomplish everything.
Snagging another piece of pizza, Brad piles it into his mouth before tossing money at me to buy another damn hotel.
“Don’t throw shit at me, Brad.” I chuck the red plastic piece at his face, and it bounces off his forehead before landing on the board. My testy side is getting the better of me. With the alcohol buzz dwindling down and my night alone with Tanner not happening, I’ve become ornery in the past few hours of playing.
Brad doesn’t respond but stares at me with intensity, acting as though he can intimidate me. Then, a small smile begins to form on his face. “Let me win, and your turmoil can be over.”