by Tabatha Kiss
“Nothing,” she answers.
I don’t like her eagerness in concealing it. I’ve played more than enough contact sports to know what she’s trying to hide. “That’s not nothing, Piper. You didn’t have it the other night. Who did that to you?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “It’s nothing, Kai.”
Perhaps coming along for her safety wasn’t the worst idea in the world after all. “Piper...” I stand up and stare down at her.
“What?” she glares up at me with her little blue daggers.
I’m not about to sit here and let her lie to me about this. I reach out and brush her hair aside again. She withdraws from my touch, but I’ve got her trapped between myself and the seat. I fish my fingers beneath the neck of her shirt and I see the bruise, purple and spotted blue, traveling down to her collar bone.
“Excuse you!” She grips my hand and forces me away.
“How did that happen, Piper?” I ask, seething.
“None of your business, Kai.”
I stay in place above her. “How did that happen, Piper?” I ask her again.
She heaves an angry breath. “It happened during sex, Kai.”
I pause. “What?”
“There,” she says, staring up at me with spite in her eyes. “Now you know. Your stepsister is a total nympho. Happy?”
My eyebrow twitches along with my cock. “Kind of.”
She sighs and raises her magazine again. Her eyes scan another page, obviously pretending to ignore me.
Piper fucking Lynch. I was wrong about her this whole time. Here I was, laughing at Shawn for even suggesting that she’s anything more than an innocent virgin…
I sit back down across from her, feeling the sudden sting of rejection at the very idea that someone else has gotten inside of her first. “So, you like it rough, huh?” I say. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“I like it a lot of different ways,” she says, her eyes locked on the foreign written word in front of her.
I shake my head. Piper speaks some pretty decent French, but she doesn’t understand a word of German — or so I believe. What else don’t I know about her? What else has she hidden from me since we were kids? She’s not even trying to hide the bruise anymore. It’s prominently on display, her hair pushed back behind her neck where I left it. “You shouldn’t let guys do that to you,” I say.
She breaks her silence with a scoff. “Excuse me?”
“You could get hurt.”
“If a man goes too far, I say something,” she says. “If he continues, I leave. It’s all very simple.”
The experience in her words gives me chills. “Still…”
She looks over at me with an angry twitch. “I’m not going to change just because it makes you feel a little uncomfortable.”
“I’m not asking you to,” I explain. “I’m just suggesting you be careful.”
“I am careful.”
My eyes drop to her neck again. I want to say something more about the giant bruise creeping up towards her fucking face, but I keep quiet. I try to imagine what kind of man caused it, but I push that thought away faster than it formed. The idea of her with someone else, after obsessing about her for so long, hurts in ways I don’t expect.
Piper quickly exhales and lets the magazine slip from her hand. “You’re being a little hypocritical, don’t you think?”
“Over what?” I ask quickly.
“Oh, please...” She raises an eyebrow. “I know all about your little bet with Shawn, Kai.”
My heart sinks, but I don’t want her to see that. “I didn’t strangle the girls in our class, Piper,” I argue.
“No, you just collected and traded them like baseball cards,” she bites. “But you’re wasting your time here, Kai. You’ll never get a full set.”
I stare back at her. Sexy and Playful Piper is gone. This is Evil and Vindictive Piper. The more familiar Piper. “You sound awfully confident about that,” I smirk.
“We both know there’s only one reason why you came on this trip and it sure as hell has nothing to do with my safety,” she says, her voice unwavering. “Let me be crystal clear about it right now. It’s not going to happen.”
“You say no an awful lot for a self-proclaimed nympho.”
“Even in Germany, Kai.” Her lips curl. “Nein means nein.”
“And for the record, your Daddy didn’t send me here to keep you safe,” I blurt.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, he just didn’t want his little slut of a daughter getting passed around the entirety of Eastern Europe.” She stares back at me with a bright blue fire and I know the instant the words leave my lips that I’ve gone too far. I choke on my tongue. “That didn’t come out right—”
“Oh, yes. Please tell me how that was supposed to come out,” she says with her voice laced with ice.
“Piper…” A wave of nausea strikes me cold.
“You know what… never mind,” she says. “I’m bored.” She stands up and pulls the compartment door open.
I whisper her name again, but my voice is too low for her to hear it before she slams the door closed. Not that she would have stopped to listen to what I have to say anyway.
Fuuuuck.
Chapter 7
Piper
“Come on, Piper. It’s not that bad.”
I stare at Mandy across the tiny table of the diner car. “Yes, it is that bad. I came on this trip to get away from Belle Academy and Kai fucking Casablancas—”
“Calm down,” she warns softly as my voice gets a little too loud. Her eyes trace a halo around the room, reminding me of the other passengers scattered throughout the car.
I take a deep breath to try and relax myself, but it does very little calm my nerves. “I just can’t win with him…”
“What is it with everything between you two being some kind of competition?” she asks. “Why can’t you two just be?”
I lay my head down on the table and feel to the womb-like rocking of the train car shifting back and forth along the tracks. Why can’t Kai and I just be? I’ve asked myself the same question a million times before. Sometimes, for a brief second, I think it’s possible and then he opens his mouth and I’m reminded once again why we can never just be.
Mandy’s fingers trace through my hair, pushing it back away from my face and tucking it gently behind my ear. “Hey—” she says. “If them being here really bothers you that much, we can tell them to fuck off when we get to Munich. Okay?”
“I just don’t want too many complications later on,” I admit.
“There won’t be. I’ll make sure of it,” she promises.
I pull myself up. “Thank you, lady…” I tell her.
She smiles at me and I feel a little better. Mandy has been my most trusted confidant for ages. There’s no one else I’d trust to come with me on this trip and no one else I’d rather spend the remaining days of my old life with.
“So, what’ll it be?” she asks. “Do they stay? Or do they fuck off in Munich?”
I shake my head. “My dad will probably contact local law enforcement if we ditch them. Especially if Kai plans on squealing about this…” I brush my hair back and Mandy nods at the bruise.
“Well, maybe you two can find some common ground this week. Who knows?” she asks. “He’s really not that bad to have around and Shawn can be pretty fun… in small doses.”
I chuckle. “It’s pretty obvious he came along for you. You know that, right?”
She brushes her hand through the air. “I can handle Shawn Monty.”
“Yeah, I bet you can…” We smirk at each other and I sit back with a deep sigh. “I guess they can stick around for awhile… assuming Kai can keep his fucking cool.”
“You can always just throw him a bone and shut him up for good,” she suggests. “It worked for me.”
I stand up from the table. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, or else I’d have to tell you to fuck off in Munich, too.”
She laughs as we walk out of the diner car.
“Oh, thank Christ.” Shawn blocks the doorway when we return to our compartment. “Mandy, I need you to come with me and work that German word magic on the bartender for me again.”
“You mean politely asking for a drink in their native language?” she asks.
“Yeah, that.”
She looks over at me and I nod to show I’ll be all right. “Fine,” she says. “But I’m going to teach you how to do it yourself for next time. It’s literally five words.”
“I make no promises,” Shawn says.
They turn around and make their way back to the diner car. I linger in the compartment doorway for a moment. Kai sits inside with his eyes locked on the window. An orange sunset glosses the sky outside, the world just moments away from plunging into darkness. I finally step inside and close the door behind me. He doesn’t budge.
I sit down in my seat across from him, thankful that he seems hellbent on keeping quiet. Truthfully, his insult doesn’t bother me all that much. If I had a nickel for every time society labeled me a slut, I’d be able to finance this trip threefold. No, I’m more angry at the speed in which he went there to begin with. Somehow, I thought my stepbrother was a little bit more open minded than that, given his own sordid history. It’s disappointing, to say the least.
No, Mandy. I don’t think common ground exists between myself and Kai Casablancas.
I pull a hooded sweater out of my bag and throw it over my head as a night chill reaches the compartment. It should only be another hour or so until we reach Munich and I can finally get a little space from Kai.
I sit back in my seat and watch the lush, green countryside turn dark shades of black.
“Your dad never said that about you.”
I look at him. “I know,” I reply. “You did.”
He opens his mouth to speak again, but the compartment door slides open and he sits back in silence.
Shawn struts inside with a box in his arms. A dozen or so bottles of beer shake about inside of it. “Oh, yeah!” he announces. “It’s time to have some fun.”
***
I sit back in my seat with my beer in hand, open but untouched, as the train sails smoothly down the tracks. Drinking has never been a favorite hobby of mine, unlike most other people my age. I find it dulls my senses a bit too much. I like to be razor sharp at all times, constantly aware of my surroundings and the people in them. Alcohol makes it difficult to maintain a stiff tongue as well, and when you have as many secrets as I do, this can pose quite the problem.
“You’re both going to USC, too, aren’t you?” Mandy asks Kai and Shawn as she takes another drink.
“Yes, ma’am,” Shawn answers. “I wanted to go out of state, but my mother would kill me if I went too far away. She’s still a bit attached.”
Mandy rolls her eyes. “My dad demanded it.” She shrugs. “But who cares? An art degree can be earned everywhere… and used nowhere.”
Everyone chuckles.
“If you know that,” I say, “then why not major in something that’s not worthless?”
“We can’t all be Ivy League Princesses, Pipes,” Kai jabs. I shoot a look at him. He’s staring at me with amusement teetering on the edge of his eyes. “And some of us,” he continues, “would rather live our dreams than fit into little boxes.”
“Is that what you think I am, Kai?” I ask. “A stuck-up princess stuffed inside a tiny box?”
He shrugs. “I think you’re not as full of surprises as you might think.”
I shake my head once. “You don’t even know anything about me,” I say.
“I think I know more than you think I do.” His lips curl into a smirk. “I think you just can’t wait to get out to Harvard and leave the rest of us common folk behind you. I mean, you’re prettier, you’re smarter, and just straight up better than the rest of us, am I right?”
His hostility brings me great pause. I’ve always considered Kai and I to be rivals, but I’ve never seen him quite this antagonistic towards me. “What the hell are you talking about?” I ask.
“Look at you right now—” he says, pointing to my hands. “You haven’t even touched your drink, as if it’s somehow beneath you or something.”
I heave an angry breath and bring the bottle to my lips. He laughs as I chug a heavy portion of it down my throat. “Happy?” I ask.
He leans forward. “Ecstatic,” he spits with sarcasm.
“Chill out, guys,” Mandy says. She lays a smooth hand on mine for a second, pulling my senses back in. “We’re all friends here.”
“But I think Kai has a point,” Shawn says. “We should use this time to get to know each other a little better.”
“I know where this is going…” Kai mutters.
“I say we get a little immature,” Shawn continues. “How about a game of accelerated ‘Never Have I Ever?’”
“Accelerated ‘Never Have I Ever?”’ I question.
“You drink after each question regardless of your answer,” Mandy explains. “It’s basically just heavy drinking during casual conversation.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course it is.”
“I’m in,” Kai says.
“I’m not,” I say. “You guys go ahead.”
“Oh, come on, Piper…” Shawn says. “You don’t have to maintain that prim and proper reputation anymore. High school is over, right?”
“Yeah, Piper,” Kai adds. “What are you scared of?”
I stare at him across the compartment. The gentle sounds of the train car rocking back and forth fill the silence between us. My omission earlier must have really rattled him. He wants to know more about what I’ve done and honestly, openly admitting my secrets to him gave me an instant sugar rush. The high has officially leaked out of my system and I’d relish in the opportunity to take in his stunned face once again.
“And hey—” Shawn warns. “As always, when the words hit air, they stay there. No repeating each other’s secrets. It’s a house rule.” He pops up his little finger and holds it out in the space between all of us. “All right. Come on. Four-way pinky promise. Let’s go.”
Mandy shoots her finger out and the two of them touch knuckles. “I’m in,” she says.
Kai does the same, his eyes laying soft on me. “How about it, Pipes?” he grins. “What happens on the train, stays on the train.”
What am I scared of indeed?
“Fine,” I say. I hold out my little finger and everybody touches digits to seal the pact.
Shawn rubs his palms together in excitement. “All right…” he laughs. “A game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ with Piper Lynch. This is buckle list territory right here. I’ll start.”
I bring my bottle to my lips and take a quick sip to hide my amusement. Kai continues his stare at me, easily seeing through my ruse.
“Let’s begin with an easy one,” Shawn says, his fingers wrapped tightly around his beer bottle. “Just to make sure we’re all on the same page in terms of experience. Never have I ever kissed a dude.”
I shake my head and take a sip. Mandy does the same.
“Okay, cool,” he says.
“Oh, I think we’re way beyond the basics here, Shawn,” Kai muses, his eyes locked on me. “But let’s fiddle with the baby steps. Never have I ever fucked a dude.”
Mandy slams back another sip while I slowly bring my bottle to my lips.
Shawn reaches out and slaps Kai’s arm. “Oh, good god,” he whispers.
Kai grins. “Your turn, Pipes. What haven’t you done?”
I tilt my head. “Well, I’ve never fucked a man in this room and I never will.”
Mandy sighs and takes a third sip.
Shawn flinches. “I just heard Piper Lynch say fuck…” he mutters.
I smirk at him as Mandy leans forward. “Never have I ever been in a three-way with two guys,” she says with a knowing glance in my direction.
“Rude…” I say as I raise my bottle.
“Hey, you targeted me with the last one.”
“Sorry, lady,” I tell her as I drink.
“It’s cool. We’re even now,” she says.
We look across the compartment and Shawn’s jaw is on the floor.
Kai exhales slowly. “What guys?” he stutters out.
“No one you know, I assure you,” I say, shifting my glance over to Shawn. “Let’s move on.”
He pulls his tongue back into his mouth. “Uh…” he thinks. “Hold on.” He takes a long, stiff drink.
“Pace yourself, Shawn,” Kai says. “I’m sure there’s plenty more. Right, Piper?”
I don’t answer. I sense an anger buried deep inside his tone. As curious as he is to know more of my secrets, he can’t stop himself from getting pissed off as my truth unfolds. He’s wanted me for so long now, this must be killing him. I lick my lips and let my sneer take over.
“Never have I ever been in a three-way with two girls either—” Shawn inverts the last one, lacking creativity.
Kai proudly raises his bottle and chugs a firm amount down his throat, no doubt thinking he’s the king of this round. Mandy and I glance at one another for a second before we each take a sip.
“No.” Kai points a finger at us, sensing our unspoken words. “You said you’ve never fucked anyone in this room.”
“I said I’ve never fucked a man in this room,” I reiterate slowly.
Shawn’s eyes dance between Mandy and me. “Jesus Christ…” he whispers, his eyes falling pleasantly catatonic.
“You two have fooled around?” Kai asks us.
“Twice,” I confirm.
Mandy shrugs. “Guilty,” she sings.
“You look surprised, Kai,” I note. I stare him down, his eyes on fire. “What was it that you said about me and surprises again?”
“How do people not know about any of this?” he asks me.
“Because unlike you,” I say, “I keep my fucking mouth shut and I don’t fool around with people that can’t do the same.”
He looks at Mandy. “Was this before or after we did it?” he asks her.
Mandy’s eyes sweep the ceiling as she searches her memory. “Before,” she answers. “And then again after.”