by Tabatha Kiss
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“It just feels so difficult right now. And impossible.”
“Nothing worth having comes easy,” she says. “If you’re not willing to put in the effort, then you never wanted it in the first place.”
“Mandy said the same thing.”
“Of course,” she gloats and places a palm against her chest. “She learned from the best.”
“He said you two have kept in touch,” I say.
She nods slowly. “…Yes.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“He asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t ask,” she replies. “He just wanted to know that you were okay and I wasn’t about to hang him out to dry.” She stands up from her bed and tosses her paper plate into the trash can.
“Mom,” I begin, “thanks for being so understanding about all of this. I know you never intended to come back here so soon.”
She inhales deep and looks down at me with kind eyes. “I’ve put my own needs ahead of yours before, Piper,” she says. “I don’t want to do it again.”
“Thanks…” I say.
“And besides,” she smiles. “I could use a bit of sun.”
Chapter 12
Kai
Piper fucking Lynch.
No, wait. It’s not her fault this time. This one’s on me.
I want her so badly, but I can’t wipe the bad memories away. I’m so accustomed to seeing her leave, I’m outright expecting it seventy-five percent of the time. The other twenty-five percent — you know, the times when we’re fucking — are the only times I forget the bad days ever existed and I completely lose myself in her.
Right now, the only thing I want to think about is the holy union of a stiff drink and my pillow. I won’t have to think about all of this if I’m blacked out in dreamland.
I slide my keys into the lock and open my dorm room door. Shawn lies in his bed on his back, bare-chested and grinning. I catch sight of Mandy’s brown hair against his shoulder out of the corner of my eye and I know exactly what I’ve walked in on.
“Oh—” I say, averting my eyes. “Sorry, Mandy.”
I pause when I see a tuft of red hair against his other shoulder and look up to see Mandy and Nina Brock lying in bed on either side of him, naked beneath his blue sheets.
“Ohhh,” I say. “Sorry, ladies,” I correct. I spin around to leave the room.
“Wait, Kai!” Mandy shouts.
I turn back to see her leaning off the bed, reaching for her jeans. Her naked breasts bounce as she scrounges for something deep inside her jeans pocket. “Here!” she says as she tosses me her room keys. “You can stay in our room tonight.”
“Oh! Yeah,” Nina agrees. “Knock yourself out, Kai.”
“How very considerate of you ladies,” I say. “Thank you.” I resume closing the door. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Kai!” The trio calls out.
The reality strikes me as their giggles travel through the door and invade my ears. “Jesus Christ…” I whisper as I pull away from the door.
Give ‘em hell, Shawn.
I walk down the hall in a daze to Mandy’s room. The anger and jealously finally hits me after I lock the door behind me. If Shawn fucking Monty can get his shit together long enough to lure two hot women into his bed, then surely I can get mine together long enough to be happy with Piper Lynch, right? Although, who am I kidding? That whole threesome was probably Mandy’s doing. Shawn’s not nearly ballsy enough to suggest it and Nina… well, I don’t know her that well, but she seems the type to be into it.
I plop down on Mandy’s bed and stare at the ceiling. It’s Friday night. It’s barely after nine and I’m already thinking about going to sleep. Could I get any more pathetic than this?
Don’t answer that.
***
“Hey, Kai…”
I open my eyes and slowly start to realize where I am. The lamp next to the bed flicks on and I see Mandy standing above me in a baggy sweater and shorts. “Hey…” I say as I rub my eyes. “What time is it?” I don’t even remember dozing off.
She sits down on the bed next to me. “Just after two,” she says.
I prop myself up on my elbows, suddenly very awake. “Need me to go back to my room?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t,” she says, grinning. “Shawn is a little busy with Nina.”
I nod. “Impressive,” I say. “What are you doing here then?”
“I wanted to talk to you,” she says. “See how tonight’s events played out.”
“They played out fine,” I say with a stiff yawn.
“Then where’s Piper?”
“Piper…” I taste her name. My tongue recoils from the bitter flavor. “Piper is off doing what Piper does best.”
“Which is?”
“Pissing me off, mostly.” She glares down at me and I let out a long breath. “Tonight’s events didn’t play out that fine.”
“What happened?” she asks.
I sit up and lean against the headboard. “Well, let’s just say the whole united front tactic only works when there’s actual unity between parties.”
She shakes her head. “You and Piper are so damn wordy,” she jokes. “What’s up with that?”
“I couldn’t say.”
“I’m assuming it was Piper that split the party?” she asks. I pause, reliving the moments over and over again before glancing back at her. “It was you?”
“You know,” I begin, “I thought having Piper back would make me forget all the bad times together. Or not even forget them, but feel okay with them, like they were a natural progression, something I had to live through to ultimately get what I wanted, but…”
“What the hell did you do?” she asks bluntly.
“I may have told her to leave again.”
She sighs with deep disappointment. “Seriously?”
“I immediately took it back and apologized,” I defend, “but at that point, she was just so fed up with me, she left.”
“Kai…” She shakes her head.
“And this was after her father called her a whore to her face and Penny showed up out of the blue to rescue her.”
“Umm…” Mandy blinks her eyes a few times as the words set in. “What?”
“Yep,” I nod. “Long story short: Our parents don’t approve of us being together. Philip wants to lock her away and throw away the key. My mother will probably dip into my college fund to pay for therapy. And Pipes…” I sigh. “She did everything I asked her to do. I didn’t listen to her when she said it’d all go wrong and now… she’s probably thirty-thousand feet in the air, halfway to Moscow.”
“Well, I doubt that,” Mandy says. “She wouldn’t have come this far just to turn around after a few steps back.”
“You’re right, she wouldn’t,” I say. “Me, on the other hand…”
She sighs. “Am I going to have to beat the hell out of you again?”
“Maybe,” I answer truthfully. “I mean, how do I do it, Mandy? How do I forget it all and put my trust in her?”
“You talk to her,” she says. “You talk to her and you keep your cool. Be honest with her.”
“We’ve tried the whole honesty thing already. This is where it ended up.” I gesture to her bed.
“Well, try again,” she suggest.
I wipe my face with my hands, pushing all the way back through my hair. “I think I really fucked up.”
Mandy smiles. “She said the exact same thing to me about you.”
“She did?” I ask.
“Yeah. Kai…” She leans forward and places a hand on my shoulder. “If the two of you talked to each other as openly as you two talk to me about each other, then all of this would sort itself out.”
I chuckle quietly. “Man, you must really hate us,” I joke.
“Quite the opposite, actually,” she says. “I should get back…”
“Have fun.”
/>
“I always do,” she winks.
I watch her as she stands up and a smile crosses my face. I always thought of Piper as my sexual rival, but maybe she isn’t. “Just how many people have you slept with, Mandy?” I ask her.
“Oh, honey…” she smiles. “A lady never kisses and tells.”
“Does a lady fuck and tell?”
She pauses near the door. “Occasionally.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the next game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ Shawn ropes us into,” I say. “Come on, give me a hint. More than ten? Twenty?”
“This is going to drive you crazy, isn’t it?” she laughs. “Does someone else from Belle Academy outrank the great Kai Casablancas?” She twists the doorknob.
“You’re evil,” I say.
“Goodnight, Kai.”
“Goodnight, Mandy.”
She closes the door and leaves me to wonder alone.
***
It’s been a week since I’ve seen Piper Lynch.
In a way, it’s been pleasant. Almost quiet. A contemplative time-out. The ball, officially, lies in my court. She asked me to contact her. She’s given me the power over whether our relationship lives or dies.
I’ve been stuck here for almost seven days staring down a DNR notice, wondering if it’ll even be worth it in the end. Sure, I can keep our hearts beating, but how good will our quality of life be after so much damage has already been done?
I finish with my Friday morning class and head back to the dorm to start my weekend. Two tests and a quiz have kept me occupied for the last week and now, for the next three days, it’s going to be me, a dark corner, and my thoughts. It’ll be just like it was before Piper showed up again. I’m sure it’ll piss Shawn off plenty, but I can’t worry about his need to party while my heart hangs in the balance.
When I step into the dorm, I find Shawn lying on his bed in the dark.
“Don’t you have a class soon?” I ask him as I toss my backpack to the floor.
“Skipping it,” he mutters, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, cloaked in complete darkness.
I roll my eyes. “Ahh, jeez,” I say. I’ve seen this pose a half-dozen times since we moved into this dorm together. There’s only one thing that bothers Shawn Monty this much. “What happened?”
He sits up on his elbows and jerks his head to push his shaggy hair out of his face. “I think…” he says. “We broke up again.”
“You think?” I ask.
“I’m beginning to suspect that threesome wasn’t a great idea…” he says.
I chuckle. “Why not?”
“I did not consider the possibility that Mandy and Nina would enjoy each other’s company more than mine…”
“Seriously?” I blink. “Mandy and Nina?”
“I guess we know now why Nina wasn’t interested in you at all.” Shawn plops his head back down onto his pillow.
“Not every woman is attracted to me, Shawn,” I say, lending what little comfort I can. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
“Oh, please…” he says. “I’m a red-blooded, one-hundred percent straight man and I’d fuck you given the chance... There’s no way she doesn’t find you at least a little attractive, unless she fancies humans with genitals on the inside.”
I sigh and brush away the fresh mental images attacking my mind. “What did Mandy say?” I ask.
“I just need some time to figure things out,” he quotes. “We’re still friends.”
“So the same stuff she always says then…” I shake my head. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Shawn says nothing, but shoots me a thumbs up as I pull the door open.
Mandy freakin’ Black. She’s a total goldmine of great advice when it comes to everyone else’s relationships, but she can never seem to keep her own from crashing off the rails. Luckily, I’ve managed to bring these two back together on more than one occasion and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do it again.
I stare at my feet, thinking hard on what to say to Mandy as I stride down the hall. When I look up, I see Piper Lynch standing in front of me. We both freeze by Mandy’s door and stare at each other in a silent battle over who will speak first.
Fuck, she’s beautiful.
“Hey,” she finally says.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her. “I figured you’d be in Belgium by now.” I hate the tone I’m carrying. There’s no reason to sound so hostile, but for some reason, looking into her eyes right now is quite the chore.
“Well, you figured wrong.” She gives a friendly face, as if everything is chill as fuck. “I’m meeting Mandy for lunch.” She reaches out and knocks on her door. It opens quickly and Mandy peaks her head out. “Hey, lady.”
“Hey, Piper. I just need a minute.” She suddenly closes the door again.
“Hmm…” Piper hums.
“Have you heard?” I ask.
“Heard what?”
“She and Shawn broke up… again.”
Piper sighs. “That would explain the urgent message I got from her asking me to get down here as soon as possible.”
“It happens about once a month or so,” I fill her in. “I’m sure things will be back to normal in a few days.”
“Good.” She crosses her arms and leans against the wall with her eyes fallen on her feet.
The door opens again and Mandy steps out into the hall. “Let’s go,” she says quickly. She grips Piper’s arm and pulls her away.
“Mandy…” I call after her. “Can we talk?”
She looks back at me and wrinkles her nose. “Not right now, Kai.”
Piper shoots a confused glance over her shoulder. “See you later, Kai.”
I grit my teeth, unsure if I’m angry or happy with how casual her tone is. “Yeah, later,” I say back. I watch as she struggles to keep up with Mandy’s fast pace.
“What’s gotten into you?” I hear her ask as they turn the corner.
I stare at their door. I don’t want to return to Shawn empty handed, so I reach out and knock.
The door opens a few moments later and Nina smiles up at me. “Hey, Kai,” she greets. “Mandy just left.”
“I know, I saw her,” I say. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“What’s up?”
“Why does Shawn think he and Mandy broke up and the two of you are together?”
She scoffs and raises an eyebrow. “Dating one of you really is like dating all of you, isn’t it?” she asks.
“So, it’s true?” I ask.
“It’s a little true.”
“How little?”
“Look, Kai…” She leans against the door frame. “I don’t want to be rude, but… I’m not going to talk about this with you. It’s not really any of your business.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not,” she argues. “I get it. You guys are all really close and I’m sure any outsider is immediately considered a threat to Homeland Security, but I haven’t done anything wrong here.”
“I didn’t say you did,” I say. “I just want to get all the facts so I can help out my friends.”
“That’s really nice of you and all,” she says, “but maybe you should focus on your own love life for a little while, because from what I hear, you already have your hands pretty full.”
I open my mouth to speak, but she closes the door on me.
Empty handed.
I knock again and the door swings open.
“What?” she snaps.
“Have you ever thought about me naked?”
She stares back at me with annoyance. It feels so good, I smile down at her. “No,” she scoffs before slamming the door again.
Maybe Shawn is right. At least he’ll feel good about that for a little while until I can fix this.
Chapter 13
Piper
I keep silent as Mandy leads me outside. Whatever happened, it’s got her riled up good. Kai told me they broke up, but I’ve seen a Mandy break-up before and it�
��s never like this. She’s shook up to the core, but she usually shrugs off things like this.
Damn, Kai is handsome.
It was nice seeing him again, although I don’t much care for how casual he appeared. It was an act, I could see it in his eyes, but I don’t understand why he felt the need to be like that. Has he made up his mind? If so, why hasn’t he contacted me? What’s taking him so long anyway? He either wants me or he doesn’t. It can’t possibly be that difficult to—
“Piper…”
I look at Mandy. “What’s going on, lady?” I ask her.
She sits me down on a bench at the center of campus and avoids my eyes as she speaks. “I think I’m dating a girl,” she says.
“Okay…” I wait patiently for the punchline.
“Nina, specifically,” she continues.
“And what makes you think you’re dating your roommate?” I ask.
“Last week, Shawn and I had a three-way with her.”
“Whoa—” I grab her wrist. “What, when?”
“It was the night of your dinner party.” She looks at me with hesitation. “I didn’t tell you because I figured I’d wait a day or so until you and Kai worked out your stuff first.”
“Yeah, well…” I shake my head. “We’re both still waiting on that.”
“He hasn’t called you yet?”
“Nope. Complete radio silence — but forget about that. What happened between you and Shawn? Kai said you broke up.”
She nods. “It’s been tense since the night with Nina. I mean, it was a great night. We all had a good time, or so I thought.”
“I see where this is going…” I mutter, nodding slowly.
“He kept asking questions about me and her,” she continues. “Apparently, our moans sounded different when we did stuff without him and we both seemed a little too experienced with each other. You know — basic first-time three-way male nonsense.”
“He knows you’ve been with other women before,” I point out. “Of course you know your way around one.”
“Yeah, well…” She sighs. “That argument did little to dissuade his accusations of dorm room treachery. Anyway, we had a big fight last night and I was so pissed off, I… kind of went back to the room and Nina and I… got handsy with each other.”