Page 29

I can honestly say that my best friend seemed genuinely happy for the first time in years, and that was thanks to Colt and Lucy. Because while Mer always had figure skating aspirations, her biggest dream was to have a family.

Each time Mer told me about them in the coaches locker room, her face would absolutely light up, but I knew she was leaving out a specific person on purpose.

She rarely ever mentioned Kappy, even though I knew he and JP were always hanging around Colt’s house.

It actually sounded like Lucy was being raised by the three goons.

And while Mer always invited me out to join them, to the cider mill, to Sunday brunch, over to Colt’s for trick-or-treating, I always declined.

Because I already caught glimpses of him in the rink, making Lucy and her friends giggle hysterically while taking off their skates, busting into a game of suey with some teen boys in the lobby, and even biking on a Peloton up in the weight room.

Each time I spotted his dark hair, dimples, and tatted muscles, a familiar thrill bloomed in my chest.

It was shocking more than anything. Because I thought that little fluttering feeling was reserved only for young love. I thought butterflies were gone for good from my life .

Then again, maybe this feeling was just my body’s stress response and it was actually a bad thing.

Either way, I was sure that talking to him and being around him would only make the feeling grow, and I refused to play that dangerous little game with my heart.

So, I tried my best to keep my distance, which worked well, until Lucy’s sixth birthday.

“C’mon, please?” Mer begged on the phone the morning of the party. “Just come over right now!”

“But the party doesn’t start for hours,” I said, flopping over on my bed and staring out at the frozen edges of Lake Michigan. Carl sprung from his cat house and joined me for our morning snuggles. While living in my one-bedroom apartment was sometimes a little lonely, I truly loved the view.

“We really need help with the balloon arch, and you’re taller,” Mer said. “Please.”

“Please, Auntie P!” Lucy echoed. “We can’t reach!”

Auntie? I smacked my forehead. Damn, this little girl was already good at a guilt trip. “I’m not feeling that well,” I lied through my teeth.

“Piper, I just saw you yesterday, you are fine,” Mer deadpanned. “I refuse to let you miss out on any more fun just because you don’t want to see him .”

“See who?” Lucy questioned, making me squeeze my eyes shut.

“And we really need help with the balloons,” Mer repeated.

“Can’t Colt help?” I asked weakly.

“No, he’s sleeping in because he hurt his shoulder in the game last night. Now get your butt up and come over here,” she snapped, and then the line went dead.

My phone slipped out of my fingers to the bed.

She actually hung up on me.

We’d been best friends for over fifteen years and I think that was a first. The shock of that alone was enough to make me roll out of bed and drive over there.

_________

Still wearing pajamas, Lucy threw the front door open and gasped. “I love your hair, and your outfit, and your shoes!” she squeaked.

“I love you .” I chuckled while handing Mer an iced coffee over her little head.

At least someone appreciated my style. Clothes gave me confidence, and I knew if I was going to come face-to-face with Richard Charles Kappers the Third, I needed to dress to kill.

I chose off-black tights, thigh-high boots, a caramel colored mini-skirt, and a tight black top with a long peacoat overtop for the day.

My blonde hair was curled and coiffed, and I spent way too long on my cat-eye eyeliner.

“You’re a great hype woman, you know that? ” I told her, making her smile proudly.

We spent the next half hour twisting pink and purple balloons together to create a perfect little arch.

I was holding the last balloon when the doorbell rang.

My shoulders stiffened as deep masculine voices echoed in their front hallway.

Turning, I spotted JP. The last decade did him well.

His pronounced cheek bones and strong jaw fit his buzzed hairstyle, and he looked respectable in lulu dress pants and a simple button down.

Kappy, standing beside him, looked like an overgrown teenager.

He wore his slutty little earring, a fur-lined jean jacket, gray sweatpants, and a snapback on top of his messy hair.

I was glad he was sporting a mustache above his upper lip—I completely detested it, which made sneering at him easier.

Kappy opened the box he was holding, revealing pink sprinkled donuts, and he presented it to Lu. “For the birthday girl.” The grin he had for Lucy was different from any other smile I’d seen on his face. It was more gentle, endearing.

Lu giggled and snatched a donut. “Thank you, Uncle Kappy.”

Kappy rubbed her head, making her brown hair all staticky.

“Happy birthday, little Lu,” JP said, patting her head to smooth down her hair. “Where’s your dad? Shouldn’t he be up?”

“Not yet, but I’ll go get him!” Lucy yelled before dashing up the stairs.

Without Lucy in the room to ease the tension, my grip on the balloon tightened. A loud pop sounding like an explosion went off, leaving me holding scarps of latex.

“Sorry,” I grumbled.

“Piper the Viper, in the flesh,” Kappy drawled. He looked me up and down, but his face gave nothing away.

“Dick,” I deadpanned .

“Play nice, you guys,” JP warned. Strolling forward, he pulled me into a quick hug. “Nice to see you, Piper,” he said before wandering back to the kitchen with the box of donuts.

“I’m always nice,” Kappy clapped back.

I scoffed. I couldn’t help it. Of course he would think he was nice, when in reality, how many girls was he playing? He played me for years, and that was not very nice.

“I hate men,” I grumbled, then inwardly cringed. I totally didn’t mean to say it aloud.

Kappy pouted out his bottom lip in mock-innocence, looking exactly like he had in that dance club so many years ago. “Me too, baby.”

“No,” I snapped, wagging a finger at him. “No sexy eyes.” Taking one more look at him, I shook my head. “I can’t.”

Marching back to the kitchen, I heard his deep voice ask, “That didn’t go so bad, did it?”

Plopping on an island stool, I grabbed a sprinkled donut and listened in.

“Could’ve gone worse, I suppose,” Mer answered glumly.

“She’s staying for the party, right?”

Interesting that he’d actually want me to stay.

“Yeah, she might have to leave for Carl at some point, but—”

“Carl?” He sounded alarmed. “Who the fuck is Carl?”

I paused chewing. Was that a little jealousy in his voice? I licked the frosting from my lips. On second thought, maybe today could be kind of fun.

“She doesn’t have any pictures of a guy named Carl, I checked all her socials,” he said.

He checked? I almost cackled to myself.

“He’s her—”

The sound of his footsteps came closer. I smoothed my face into a look of apathy.

He stopped at the threshold of the kitchen and held both sides of the hallway. All the lightness in his face was gone. “Who the fuck is Carl?”

Taking another bite of my donut, I held up a finger while I chewed.

His jaw tightened with impatience, making it hard to keep a straight face.

“He’s my main guy,” I finally said, which totally wasn’t a lie .

Kappy scoffed as he removed his hat and raked his hand over his ‘90s boy band haircut. “What is he? Some kind of boring finance dude?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why do you care?” When I licked a finger coated with frosting, his eyes narrowed to my mouth.

He shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t.”

“Ah…okay.” Nodding, I smoothed off my seat and walked toward him, loving the sound of my high heels clacking on the tile.

I stopped right in front of him, trying my best to look unaffected even though his clean laundry scent was overwhelming.

While he was always muscular, his body matured in the last decade, and he may have even added a few inches of height.

When I looked up at his face, it seemed like he was holding his breath.

I gave him an amused smirk. “I think you already told on yourself, Dick.”

His eyebrows slammed down.

Before he could say another word, I smoothed away, screaming at myself not to look back with every step.

The rest of the party, it felt like we were playing that old game again. I knew I needed to stop. To stop looking at him, stop listening to him, stop saying things that I knew would mess with him, but I couldn’t.

Just like old times, Kappy somehow consumed all my attention. Because of him, I turned blind to everything else around me, which was how I completely missed an argument between Mer and Colt.

Not wanting to ruin the party, Mer secretly stormed out, and then Colt spent the rest of the party quietly badgering me for her address.

“Fine,” I finally said, pulling out my phone to share the address with him. “But you’re not gonna like it.” Despite begging her to live with me, Mer stubbornly stayed in her apartment with a broken door. “You better win her back,” I threatened with a glare.

“Don’t worry, I plan to,” he said with confidence. “I’m heading there now. Please don’t burn my house down, just stay away from Kappy, okay?”

“Maybe he should stay away from me ,” I muttered.

“Don’t worry, I’m asking you, I’m threatening him,” Colt murmured before storming away.

Sensing the tension left by Colt and Mer, we all stayed quiet. JP and I cleaned up, throwing away all the candy and cups left around from the party, while Kappy played with Lucy in the living room.

JP’s grey-blue eyes briefly darted to mine. “You hear from Ali often?” he asked in a strained voice, holding the garbage bag while I dumped trash in it.

I shrugged. “She’s still out on tour, why?”

“Is she…” He seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say. He rolled his shoulders back. “Is she happy?”

“Are you?”

He grimaced. “But is she…” he trailed off, too anxious to ask whatever he was going to say.