She pulled back, a question in her eyes. But I didn’t want to talk. She had a game to get back to and I wasn’t ready to let her get away from me again. I kissed her this time, a deep growl of satisfaction rumbling in my throat. Twice. Three times, I kissed her before pulling away for the last time and resting my forehead against hers.
“Better,” she asked.
“You have no idea.” I didn’t know how I felt about the fact that I was more breathless than she was.
“I have to go.” But she didn’t let go of her grip on my shirt at my waist.
“Yeah. Okay.” I pressed one last kiss to her lips for luck and then pulled all the way away. Questions I wasn’t prepared to answer burned in her eyes. I let her go and watched as she hesitated for a moment.
“Someday you’re gonna owe me an explanation,” she said and then jogged away through the doors to the gym.
I followed at a much slower pace, waiting for Luke and the other guys to exit the locker room and trying to slow my Piper induced heavy breathing, all the while knowing she was right. I did owe her an explanation and I’d give her one. As soon as I knew what it was.
Finally, everyone exited the locker room.
“Good game,” I congratulated the group at large with high fives and fist bumps.
“Dude, we’ve gotten too used to playing with you,” Luke commented as we all settled in to watch the girls game. I wondered if he could tell I’d just spent the last five minutes making out with his sister.
“Yeah, man, we’ve adjusted our game to accommodate your greatness.” Noah gave me a slap on the back.
“Whatever, you guys played awesome.” We’d had this discussion more times than I wanted to deal with. They were relentless. It didn’t help that I wasn’t forthcoming with my reasons for not wanting to play on the team but was willing to play a pickup game any time, anywhere.
“Yeah, but we’d be unstoppable if you were playing, too.” Jared wasn’t above stroking my ego. He, Luke, and Noah were my biggest fans as well as the biggest pains in my ass.
“Let’s just watch the game, man.” I shook my head, but couldn’t stop the smile on my face. In a few short weeks, these guys had become better friends than anyone I’d known in Colorado. They might hassle me, but what kind of friends would they be if they didn’t?
The buzzer sounded announcing the beginning of the girls’ game. Piper stood in the center of the court, knees bent, ready to jump for the tip off. The ref threw the ball high and Piper leapt into the air, the tips of her fingers touching the ball before the girl on the opposing team could get a hand on it. The ball sailed in the air until one of Piper’s teammates snagged it. She dribbled the ball toward their goal and the game was on.
As much as I didn’t want to, I found myself falling for Piper more and more every day. The temptation was there. Each day, I sat beside her in AP Bio and across from her at lunch, finding I’d been drawn in. Hourly, I caught myself just watching her, mesmerized. And I wasn’t just affected physically, although it was that, too. But it was something more. I loved her smile. Her easy manner of relating to other people around her. The gracious way she dealt with those who treated her like crap.
Just thinking about that got my blood pumping again. Between being in a constant state of wanting Piper and a constant state of wanting to beat the living hell out of her tormentors, I was a mess. I hadn’t done anything about it, though, because I hadn’t figured out how to do anything without arousing suspicion about my relationship with her. It blew my mind that the other guys at school didn’t see what I saw in her. How she didn’t already have a boyfriend was beyond my comprehension.
She was gorgeous. Not only was her face pretty and her hair like luxurious, fiery gold- her body was freaking amazing. She was strong and lean and curvy and I couldn’t stop thinking about her legs.
I never even knew I was a legs guy until Piper. And now it was the first thing I looked at. I haven’t even considered any of the girls throwing themselves at me at Eastridge Heights- none of them could get passed my legs test. Piper had set the bar too high and ruined me.
I had to stop thinking like that.
“Jeez, Luke!” Noah’s outburst brought me out of my thoughts of Piper. “Stop being such a douche.”
“Just sayin’, man. Maybe Tierney’s got something going on, hiding under all those nerdy clothes.” Luke waggled his eyebrows and Noah, who sat on the bleacher behind him, punched him hard in the back.
“Lab. Partners. That’s all Tierney has going on.” Noah’s face was red.
“Whatever, man,” Jared piped in. “You know what they say about the shy ones- they turn into the wild ones.”
“You guys are all assholes.” Noah crossed his arms over his chest and ignored them, eyes on the game.
“We can’t all be like Drew, here, with half the girls in the school panting after him.” Grayson, who sat next to Noah, stuck out his tongue and panted like a dog.
“Just half the girls?” I asked with a smirk.
The guys laughed, just like I wanted them to.
“I was just trying to make myself feel better,” Grayson said.
“Hey, are we having a party this weekend or what,” Zeke asked between slurps of his soda.
“It’s football season. They’re responsible for all the parties,” Mateo replied, his head low over his phone typing furiously with his thumbs.
“Really? You guys go to the parties the football players throw?” I was surprised. I’d never seen such a divided school. Football vs. Basketball. It seemed like they hated each other. Imagining the football team being cool with the basketball players showing up at one of their parties seemed ridiculous.
“It’s all diplomatic when it comes to paying for the keg. We split the year into thirds. Football takes the first third. Then us. Then baseball.” A.J. ticked the seasons off on his fingers as he explained.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” This school was nuts.
“It’s tradition, my man.” Noah slapped his hand down on my shoulder. “I’ve lived here my whole life. My dad graduated from Eastridge. He said it’s been the same since he was in school. And then he lectured me about under aged drinking.”
“You go to the parties?” Noah was a cool guy, but he was a stress bomb waiting to happen. I kept wondering when the dam would burst and the man would completely combust. It surprised me that he went to parties.
“Are you joking? Noah’s our resident voice of reason. He keeps us all from getting kicked off the team. There’s never been a more diligent designated driver.” Grayson threw his arm around Noah’s shoulders. Noah shrugged it off with a frown.
“I’m just messing with you, man.” Grayson took a sip of water and spit a stream of it out at Noah.
“Dammit, Gray! Knock it off!” Noah shoved Grayson down the bleachers. Everyone laughed. Well, everyone but Noah.
“Yeah, if you ever need a second dad, Mr. Perfect, here’s your guy,” Luke continued to needle Noah, but Noah seemed to take it better from Luke.
“One dad is plenty, thanks.” If they only knew.
“Let’s go, Pipe! Get that rebound!” Jared shouted, jumping to his feet and everyone’s attention went back to the game.
We watched and cheered until a timeout was called. Piper and her team were up by five.
I nudged Luke with my elbow. “What about Piper? She go to the parties with you guys?”
Luke turned away from the court, his full attention focused on me. I met his gaze head on. Piper was his sister, I got that he was protective of her. He hadn’t come out and said anything to me about Piper, but I knew he had his suspicions ever since we all went swimming and it had only gotten worse since the day I helped her out with her girl issues and we ended up snuggling on her couch.
He shook his head. “No, Piper hangs out with us on the court and she’ll watch movies or play video games with everybody, but she doesn’t hang out like that.”
“Like what?”
Luke sig
hed, his eyes darting to where Piper sat on the bench, nodding to whatever the coach was saying to the team. “You’ve seen how it is with Piper, man, like that day at lunch?”
I nodded. That day at lunch had just been the beginning of what I’d seen Piper deal with. “What’s up with that, anyway?” The game had proceeded, but Luke and I continued to talk in hushed tones. I didn’t know who was listening and I didn’t really care. I knew the team sitting around me cared about Piper.
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been like that since we were little. She grew tall when all of us stayed short. She got made fun of hard core and even though a lot of the boys caught up to her, they never go over it and have been jerks ever since.”
“Jerks.” I snorted. Jerks was a nice term. “Why doesn’t anyone do anything about it?”
Luke shrugged again. “Like what? No one ever does anything physical.”
“Bullying isn’t just physical.” My blood pounded through my veins. I hated bullying. I’d seen enough of it with Kittie that I had a zero-tolerance policy of my own. I’d been tempted on more than one occasion to step in on Piper’s behalf, but hadn’t known exactly how to help.
The effects of the taunts she dealt with at school were devastating. Piper, this tall, beautiful girl, should be walking confidently, with her head held high. Instead, she walked the halls of Eastridge Heights with her eyes down and her shoulders hunched. She was a shadow of the girl I knew her to be on the basketball court. It made me sick.
“I know that. I do what I can, but I’m not around her all day. And the couple of times she’s gone to parties, she’s been the target of more unwanted attention than she could deal with.”
Everything Luke said had my hackles raising. It made me want to jump over the people in front of me and run to her side. I wanted to hide her in my arms and whisper in her ear how amazing she was until she believed it- so when I let her go, she’d never hide her face again.
“That’s bullshit.” My muscles bunched.
“We’ve got her back,” Jared said from Luke’s other side. I’d wondered if he was listening in. Jared could be an ass, but deep down he was a good guy. They all were for the most part and I calmed a little to realize Piper wasn’t alone in this.
But I made myself a promise then and there- no matter what, I had Piper’s back, too.
Chapter 17
Piper
“Hey, Piper. I wanted to talk to you before your next class starts.” Mrs. Kelly, the director of the art center where I taught pottery classes, stopped me before I had a chance to enter the classroom where I held class on Saturday mornings.
“What’s up,” I asked. I went ahead and made my way into the room knowing she would follow. Mrs. Kelly didn’t look anything like what I imagined an art center director would look like. I pictured a manicured woman with a pencil skirt and sharp heels when I walked into the art center the first time. Mrs. Kelly couldn’t be any more the opposite of that image if she tried. Where I’d imagined a pencil skirt and groomed haircut, she wore flowing peasant style skirts and had blonde dreads down to her hips. I’d never seen her with anything on her feet except a worn pair of sandals. Even in the winter. And she was beautiful. I doubted she was a day over thirty. Her skin was perfectly smooth and her golden-brown eyes were bright and cheerful- all the time.
“We have a late register for your intro to coiling class. I figured she was a bright kid and could catch up easily. I know you like to work on your own project sometimes after class and thought maybe it would be alright if she stayed this week and next week a little later and hopefully she’ll be where she needs to be.” Mrs. Kelly’s hopeful face met mine. “Would that be okay with you?”
What the heck? “Sure, that’s fine. We actually haven’t started working with clay yet anyway.”
Mrs. Kelly smiled. “That’s great. Thank you so much, Piper. You’ve really become a huge asset to the art center. We’re so lucky to have you.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, I tried to brush off her compliment even though it warmed my heart to have her say so. “I love it here and I’m glad to have a job that can work around school and basketball. So, I think it’s me that’s the lucky one.”
Mrs. Kelly just smiled like she knew something I didn’t. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Oh, before I forget, just one more thing. The new student is deaf. I know that will pose a difficulty-” she spoke over me when I began to tell her I didn’t know sign language. “But she is bringing an interpreter. A relative. A brother. Or cousin.” Mrs. Kelly frowned as though trying to remember something. “Well, I don’t recall what her mother said. Either way, she’ll have someone with her that can sign so I don’t think there will be any problems for either of you. But please,” she took my hand in hers, her eyes imploring. “Please, let me know if there are any issues, no matter how small.”
“I will,” I said, because what else was there to say. It seemed like any obstacle the new girl might have would be easily overcome. I was reassured that she would have someone she knew with her to help her feel more comfortable if she needed. “I think that will be great.”
Mrs. Kelly’s anxious face relaxed into a smile. “It will be. Her mother assured me the girl is very well assimilated and should have no difficulties. I knew I could count on you, Piper.”
With that she wished me luck with my class and breezed out the door, leaving nothing but the scent of lavender behind her.
I took the few minutes I had remaining to set up the various stations. This would be our second class and we were actually going to begin making the items we’d spent time designing last week. The late comer would just have to make a decision more quickly about a design and might not even need to stay after to keep up with everyone else since we hadn’t really begun.
There were eight students in the class, including the new girl. I set out tools for each station and plopped hunks of clay wrapped in plastic on each table. I’d ask each of them to grab a spinning table, much like the one’s cake decorators use, on their way to their seats. And after setting out small sheets of parchment paper, everything was ready.
“Hi, Piper.” An older lady named Janice was the first to arrive. While this was a beginner’s class, I had students of all ages. I thought Janice was probably the oldest, in her seventies, at least.
“Hi, Janice. How was your week?” This was always a loaded question. Janice was a widow woman whose husband died just within the last year or so. She’d decided she had to stop moping around, her words not mine, so she’d signed up for my intro to pottery, which I taught over the summer. She’d liked it so much she thought she’d give coiling a try. Usually when I asked about her week, I got a rundown of all her ailments, what all of her grandchildren were up to, and an offer to set me up with her youngest son who still wasn’t married. I’d had to remind her, repeatedly, that I was still in high school.
Janice waved her hand distractedly in front of her. “Oh, just the usual.” She set her oversized bag on the floor beneath the table where she’d sat last week. A bright green skein of yarn threatened to topple out of it and I fleetingly wondered what kind of project she was working on.
Before Janice could begin recounting what’s been happening in her life since I last saw her, another of my students walked in. Brad was in college and that was about all I knew about him. He’d been quiet so far and Mrs. Kelly told me he’d signed up for the class as research for a book he was writing. Apparently, in addition to being a student, he worked as an independent author of spy thrillers. I had no idea what coiling had to do with a spy thriller, but had to admit I was glad he’d interrupted what was sure to be a long dialogue from Janice.
“Hi, Brad,” I greeted.
“Hey,” he replied as he quietly made his way to his seat. I couldn’t help but notice he chose one the furthest away from Janice. I wondered if she’d already tried to set him up with one of her granddaughters.
After that, the room filled quickly. Just as I was about to beg
in without my new student, she walked in the door- and my heart stopped.
No.
No.
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
A tall, slender, brunette walked in. She was beautiful and familiar and was followed into the by the best kisser in all of Eastridge Heights. I’d stake my basketball career on it.
Drew’s eyes widened a little when he saw me, convincing me he was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. What was he doing here? I hadn’t talked to him since he kissed me at the game last night. I knew he’d watched the game but he was gone before I got out of the locker room.
“Um, everybody go ahead and fill your cups with slip and get out a chunk of clay and we’ll get started in a sec.” Unable to take my eyes off Drew and his sister, I made my way to the back of the room where they both hovered waiting for further instruction. From me.
“Hey.” It was all I could come up with, I was so flustered. I knew how to react when I expected to see him. At school. Basketball. But here, at the art center, especially after last night, I was not prepared and all the emotions I’d learned to suppress in his presence came rushing through me, with debilitating attraction and extreme humiliation battling it out for first place.
Willing myself not to throw myself in Drew’s arms or worse- throw up at his feet- I stopped a few steps from them and attempted to collect myself before I did something embarrassing.
“Piper.” Drew said my name and moved his fingers at the same time. His sister glanced between us, confusion marring her pretty face.
“What are you doing here?” I still wasn’t getting it, why Drew and his sister were in my classroom.
“Kittie signed up for this class.” He continued signing and speaking at the same time and realization dawned. Kittie was my deaf student and Drew was her interpreter.
Wow.
I wanted to ask more questions, for instance why he didn’t tell me his sister was deaf, but there were seven other people in the class waiting for me to begin instruction and now was not the time to delve into the reality that I knew next to nothing about Drew and his life outside of school and basketball. Collecting what little wherewithal I possessed, I pointed to the last empty table.
Dating: One on One: Eastridge Heights Basketball Book 1 Page 11