My eyes slid over to the skate park situated next to us and I smirked when a certain someone caught my eye and proceeded to fall off his board.
“Dude! You totally had that! What happened?” his mate, Steve, called.
“Dunno, man. Accident.” He looked at me and I could picture the humour in his eyes even though he was a little too far away for me to see it properly.
I looked down to hide my laugh.
“Oh. My. God! He’s following you,” Hadley hissed and Celeste leant in to join in on the conversation.
“He’s not following me,” I sighed.
“He is!” Hadley smacked my leg like I wasn’t already giving her my full attention. I waited expectantly for her to stop and continue. “That’s why you’re so paranoid about Mason!” She might have continued but she also kept hitting me.
I blinked as I grabbed her hand. “I’m what now?”
Hadley grinned like she’d discovered my big secret. And, for a second, I thought maybe she had. But, then she looked between Mason and Roman. I followed her gaze and I don’t think I’d ever actually made such an obvious comparison between the two of them.
I wasn’t sure what conclusion I drew.
“You’re worried Mason won’t ask you out before Roman does. Then you’ll have to decide between them. If Mason gets his act together, you’ll have extra ammunition to say no to Roman.”
I frowned at my best friend. “Firstly, there is no competition between the two of them. Secondly, I am perfectly capable of saying no to Roman Lombardi without going out with someone else.”
Hadley waved away my ‘excuses’. “Hey, Roman!”
“Yeah?” he replied as he lazily skated around. I’m sure it wasn’t actually as easy as he made it look, though.
“Ask Piper out!”
Well, because that didn’t cause a chain reaction of hilarious events.
Over at the skate park, Roman spun too quickly and legitimately fell off his board. Which meant he and it both slid down the ramp thing and wiped out Jake, dropping them both in a heap of confusion. That, in turn, set off Steve and Rio. One of whom fell down all on his own in a fit of laughter and the other joined the pileup.
On the grass, meanwhile, Mason looked at Hadley which meant he ran into Simon, and Marty crashed into the back of them both. The ball flew to the right where Craig and Henry raced to mark it, running into each other as they did so. And, Tucker just plain fell over in the middle of a clear zone, by himself, for good measure like the good sport he was.
“You see what you did there?” I asked with a sigh.
“I doubt any one woman has ever had such power…” Celeste gasped.
Roman and Mason both shot up from their respective piles almost comically. I was sure Roman thought there was some other game afoot; suspicion rippled over him. Mason, bless him, was just white.
“You want me to what, Miss Reynolds?” Roman asked, the slight panic on his face was novel.
“You scared, Roman?”
“Scared? No, sweetheart. More confused. What makes you think I want to go out with Barlow, there?” he asked. He managed to get back some composure as he picked up his board and climbed out of the bowl thing.
I had to force myself not to move when I saw he was limping. I think I was the only one who surreptitiously noticed the look he threw my way and I hoped my look of apology was only seen by him. I practically read his mind saying ‘no apologies’ before he turned back to Hadley.
“Humour me, skater boy,” she replied, leaning back on the table we were sitting on and crossing her legs. “Ask Piper out.”
He crooked an eyebrow at me, then looked behind him to Mason. When he turned back to me, I didn’t like the shining look of resolve in his eyes. After our conversation of a couple of weeks ago – God, no it was only last Friday – I didn’t want to know how thick Roman was going to layer it on.
“I didn’t want to have to do this in front of everyone, Barlow. But, I guess there’s very little choice now.” Roman shrugged and, even I had to admit, he looked very sincere. The self-conscious rub of the back of his head helped and I forced my face and heart to stay neutral. He shrugged awkwardly and I thought this was almost better than the words he’d used the week before. “Do you want to go on a date with me some time?”
I made sure not to look at Mason to see his reaction – Hadley would have that covered, anyway – because that was a dick move. Mind you, the whole thing Hadley had orchestrated here was a dick move.
I smiled as sickly sweet at Roman as I could manage. “Not if you were the last human being on the planet, Lombardi.”
“Ouch. That’s pretty definitive, man,” Rio said with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
Roman smirked at me, his eyes full of humour. He pulled a cigarette out and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. “Thank, fuck. Now that’s over with… Miss Hadley Reynolds!”
Hadley jumped beside me and I swear I felt her vibrating in excitement. “Yes?”
“Barlow tells me you guys need a ride on the weekend?”
Hadley sat up straighter and flicked her hair back. “We do.”
“Sweet. Well, let me know if you find one. I need one, too.”
With that, he gave her a sinfully sexy grin, dropped his board and skated back into the bowl. I coughed to cover my snort as I felt Hadley deflate beside me.
“Should have known better. No good, wanking…” she muttered and I laughed.
My eyes fell on Mason, whose arm was being plucked by Simon to get back to their game. I gave him a shy smile and found myself biting my lip. He threw one last look after Roman and back to me, a self-satisfied smile growing on his face.
“Is it just me, or does Mason have a little more pep in his step now?” Hadley asked with plenty of pep of her own. Seemed Mason wasn’t the only self-satisfied one.
“That was a dick move, bitch,” I laughed.
“I thought he was going to pass out,” Celeste agreed.
“Which one?” I asked.
“Both,” Celeste admitted.
“Well, maybe Mason’ll get his arse into gear now he sees you’re waiting on him,” Hadley said. “That lip bite didn’t hurt either. Throw him some more of that. Bit more smoulder in your eyes…”
Celeste joined her and I lost track of the ways in which I was supposed to lure Mason into asking me out because I was watching Roman. I wondered what it was about me that I seemed to have surrounded myself with people who thought Mason needed – as Roman put it – a fire lit under his arse. But like I’d said to Roman, I didn’t want Mason asking me out because he thought there was competition. If he was going to ask me out, then I wanted him to ask me because he wanted me, not because he didn’t want anyone else to have me.
And now, I’d put myself in a funk.
I hopped off the table and picked up my bag.
“I’m going to get the bus, bitches.”
Celeste and Hadley moaned, but I wouldn’t be deterred; I didn’t want to be around people and I didn’t really want Mason to ask me out after they were done because he thought I might change my mind about Roman – even though it had been a totally bogus ask out, but I guess only Roman and I knew that.
I hugged both my friends goodbye, slung on my headphones, and headed for the bus stop. I yelped when I felt an arm go around my shoulder and I smacked Roman for scaring me.
“Do you mind?” I asked, pulling off my headphones.
“Not particularly.” Thankfully, he kept his arms to himself. He flicked his cigarette butt away.
“How’s your ankle?” I asked.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“I’ll let you put your music on if you let me drive you home.”
I stopped walking and looked up at him. “As loud as I want?”
He hung his head back and sighed dramatically. “Yes.”
“All right.” I headed for his ute.
“I liked that trick back t
here.”
“Which one?” I asked.
“The one to help Carter find his sack.”
“I swear that had nothing to do with me,” I answered as I pulled my door open. “I think you broke Hadley’s heart, though.”
He grinned as we closed our doors in unison. “Tell her I’ll drive you both on Saturday if it makes her happy.”
“You? Go to a party and not drink?” I gasped as I plugged my iPod in.
He glared at the radio like it had betrayed him as he turned the car on and my music started, then glared at me.
“The things I fucking do for you,” he sighed as he started the car properly, completely disgusted by my music tastes.
“Eh, you love me,” I replied flippantly, looking out the side window.
“I certainly don’t hate you.”
“What a glowing review,” I scoffed.
“Well, I’m hardly going to agree. What sort of message would that give you?”
I snorted. “Okay. I will give you this one chance to say anything to me. A totally off the cuff remark which I will take purely at face value.” I slid him a look, interested to see what his response would be.
“Okay. One thing. Each. Anything. Total face value. And, we never speak of it again?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it?”
He grinned. “Shut up, I’m thinking.”
“All right, take your time. You don’t want to break anything.”
He huffed a laugh. “Face value? Then, I do kind of love you.”
I kept my gaze fixated out the window to hide the force of my smile at the knowledge our friendship really wasn’t one-sided. Because I knew Roman Lombardi, and I knew that there was nothing romantic involved in that – it was like when I said it to Hadley or Celeste – so, I felt completely comfortable in my answer.
“I kind of love you, too.”
“Oh, now that’s just copying. Boo! Get your own material, Barlow,” he teased, taking my hand. His tone was sarcastic, but his smile was sincere.
I laughed. “Fine. That not good enough for you? How’s this; I love that… ‘You say it best, when you say nothing at all’!” I sang along with the song. And, my voice was nowhere near as good as his – read; awful. But, my statement was no less true for the humour-value.
Roman laughed one of those pure laughs. “You’re a total loon.” He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
The song changed and I sang along in my head; I loved Tony Lee Scott’s ‘Take Me Away’.
Roman surprised me yet a-freaking-gain when he started singing along. And as far as I could tell, he got all the lyrics right. Even that line about the carrots…
“How the hell do you know that song?” I asked when it was finished, mouth agape.
He threw me a look and shrugged. “Dunno. What is it?”
“Um, a song so obscure I can’t find it on YouTube, Soundcloud, iTunes, anywhere…”
“Spotify?”
“Nope.”
“Radio?”
“Yeah, no.”
He breathed out heavily. “Okay… So I have a legitimate right to be embarrassed?”
I shrugged. “I think I found it in a box of CDs your mum gave me that used to be Paris’. She probably played it a lot?”
He nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Or, now is the time you tell me you have a penchant for obscure love songs?”
He smirked. “Maybe I’ve been inspired.”
I snorted. “Yeah, of course you have.”
We shared a quick, humoured glance and laughed.
And that’s just how it was with Roman; it was easy, it was simple, there was no second guessing, no wondering what I might have been doing right or wrong because I knew how to be. We just were.
Chapter Seventeen
More Than Two Beers Later.
The bonfire was raging and Hadley and I were dancing. I’d had a little bit much to drink, true. But, I didn’t think I was completely wasted.
I knew Roman was watching me, cradling his soft drink can to his chest like some sort of bodyguard as he leant against a tree. Which, to be fair, I probably needed when I was mixing fire and alcohol.
Just as I looked back to him, I saw him push off the tree, stretch his neck, turn, and walk off through the trees. I was heading after him before I knew my feet were moving.
“Pipe, Mason’s coming,” I vaguely heard Hadley say.
I patted her arm. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be back in a second.”
I hurried after Roman, wondering which way he’d gone. I stumbled a little on something in the dark and felt arms steady me.
“You right there, Barlow?”
I turned and gave him a big smile that he, for once, did not return. My face fell.
“What’s up?”
He shrugged. “Just needed to stretch my legs.”
I nodded and suddenly the motion was a little much. My hand flew to my stomach, but the nausea passed quickly and I looked back up at him.
“You’re lovely, you know?” I said to him.
He gave a gruff huff and looked out over my head. “More than two beers, huh?”
“What?” I asked indignantly, pulling away from him, which was a poor choice as my legs did not want to behave themselves.
He caught me again, easily.
“That’s how you respond to my niceties?” Although it did sound more like ‘nice-titties’…
He smiled at me then. “Barlow, you’re drunk as fuck. Do you want me to take you home?”
I grinned. “No! I’m having a good time for once!”
He laughed, “Are you sure?”
“Yes! Don’t make me go,” I whined.
“All right. Far be it for me to deny you anything you want, babe. Just ease off the alcohol, yeah?”
“You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my mum,” I grumbled.
He pushed some hair off my face and cupped my cheek. “No. I’m certainly not.”
I frowned as I remembered something. “You were right, you know.”
He looked like he expected whatever came out of my mouth next to be good. “I was right?”
I nodded. “I do like the way you look.”
Even drunk, I could see he was trying not to smile. “What can I say? Takes one to know one, Barlow.”
“But, I don’t sleep with you because you’re freaking gorgeous.”
“You don’t?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Why do you sleep with me, then?” he asked softly.
I looked into his eyes and it hit me just how much I felt for this guy. I mean not romantically, but everything else. He’d somehow burrowed into my very soul and I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it anymore.
But, how do you put all that into words? Especially when those words would be what he considered nancy wanker words.
I lay my hand over his heart. “Because of what’s in here.”
His hand went over mine. “Barlow…” His voice was a tense warning.
Shaking my head, I clarified, “No, not like that. Because you don’t expect me to be something I’m not and you’re always there for me. Plus, you are like crazy good in bed!”
He laughed and hugged me tightly. “Right back at you, love.”
I leant up to kiss him and was surprised when he pulled away.
“You’re meant to be here courting Carter. Not off in the trees with me.”
I frowned. “I–”
My words were cut off as I almost hurled. My hand flew to my mouth as I doubled over and I held a hand up to Roman to keep his damned mouth shut. Didn’t stop him laughing though.
“Right. I’m taking you home.” He took my arm gently and steered me back to the paddock. “Tucker, man!” he called out and Tucker turned with a quizzical look.
“Yeah?”
I wasn’t
surprised that Tucker was surprised; he and Roman weren’t exactly friends.
“Barlow’s had her limit, so I need to take her home. Are you okay to see Hadley home?” Roman asked and I noticed he was keeping a very stilted stance next to me.
Tucker looked at me, then back at Roman and nodded. “Sure, man. She okay?”
“She will be.”
The boys did some sideways-five-fist-bump-thing and Roman steered me to where he’d parked his car. He bundled me in, avoiding all attempts I made to kiss him while I giggled drunkenly.
As we drove home, I reached my hand over to his leg. But, he stopped its progress to his crotch. He held my hand tightly, his eyes focussed on the road.
After pulling into his driveway, he shut off the car, jumped out and was there to help me out before I fell out. I giggled as I came up hard against him.
“Hi,” I laughed.
He smiled, but I noticed he was still tense. His arms were around my waist and I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck. Before my lips found his, he turned his face slightly.
“What?” I asked.
“We’re not...” He sighed. “We’re not doing this now, Barlow.”
“Not doing what?”
“We’re not having sex.”
I ran my hand over the very obvious bulge in his pants and looked up at him sceptically. “That’s not what this tells me.”
He scoffed and pulled my hand away. “Yeah, that’s being vocal enough about this without you encouraging it, Barlow.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is we’re not doing this while you’re drunk. Especially not when you’re drunk and I’m stone cold sober.”
“So what?”
“So, I...”
“No lies, Lombardi.”
“I’m not doing anything that even has the potential to have you looking at me badly in the morning. We do this now and I would have to apologise, Piper. No matter what our rules are.”
Even drunk, I heard something in his voice that made me pause. For whatever reason, something was important to him. I pulled away and nodded.
“Okay, Roman.”
He sighed heavily and pulled me to him for a tight hug. I felt him kiss my hair and could have sworn he was shaking his head.
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