“Oh, fuck! Perfect John’s the bad guy!” Roman hissed part way in as he squeezed my shoulders and I swatted him.
It was a weird film and was probably one of the easiest acting gigs John had taken thus far – she says like she has any idea about acting! By the end of it, all I could do was blink in confusion.
“What did you think?” Roman asked me, the arm around my shoulder stretching out.
I was still blinking.
“Piper?”
“I’m not convinced that was worth my first blow job…” I muttered to myself.
Roman snorted. “Well if it makes you feel any better, love, no one was going to think it was your first time.”
I stared at him open mouthed. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment, Lombardi.”
“No, me either.”
We looked at each other for a second, then both burst into laughter.
I let my heart flutter happily as I looked at him. I’d long stopped reminding myself we were just friends. Because, that was all we were. And quite honestly, I didn’t need to put a label on what we were because whatever it was, it was perfect the way it was.
h
Roman had snuck me out of his house and into mine at around four in the morning, which hadn’t given me a lot of sleep before I was supposed to meet Hadley and Celeste at Lacey’s at eleven and look somewhat respectable.
Hadley had a whole day of shopping planned – because we had so many options! – and Celeste and I were always told that required plenty of prior caffeinating. Plus, the boys had their out of school sports on Sunday mornings and we usually quite enjoyed having a bit of a perve as they went by.
But that Sunday, I was just sleep deprived and not interested in perving on the boys as I dropped into the seat at our usual Sunday morning seat outside Lacey’s.
“There she is. On time, as usual,” Hadley scoffed with a smile.
“Yeah, hi,” I breathed.
“So, how was your boring night in?” Hadley asked, giving me a very unimpressed glare.
I nodded. “Fine. Found a new John movie–”
“I can’t ‘til next weekend.” Hadley got her phone out and started scrolling through it.
I blinked for a moment, then realised she meant the same thing she always did and it was just me who wasn’t up with anything just then. “Right! No. I don’t think you’d like it.”
Hadley’s hand dropped to the table and her phone with it. “What?”
“You mean we don’t have to watch this one?” Celeste asked in mock-awe.
I looked at them both. “Firstly, no. It was…weird. Secondly, does it actually feel like I make you watch his movies?”
Celeste shrugged. “No more than Hads makes us go shopping. You know, it’s something we do together.”
I nodded. “Okay, great. Sure.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, given I wasn’t enamoured by Hadley dragging me around the shops. Although, I did like spending time with my girls.
“Besides, it’s not like we weren’t at home either,” Celeste added, throwing me a smile.
“Yes, but my night wasn’t boring,” Hadley said.
“Uh huh. Remind the class what you did again?” I asked.
Hadley shifted in her seat. “I at least watched a movie from this century.”
I spluttered a laugh as I looked at the menu. “Some of John’s movies are from this century! And I watch other movies, too.”
“Sure, you do,” Hadley said disbelievingly. “Remind us again, what was the last movie you watched without your perfect John?”
“Drive Me Crazy.”
“Not a Rom-Com.”
I thought back. “The Lodgers.”
“You what?” Celeste asked.
I shrugged. “It’s a horror.”
There was silence and I looked up again.
“What?” I asked.
“Horror?” Hadley asked, her eyebrows drawing together.
I nodded. “Yeah. That okay?”
Celeste and Hadley shared a look then both leant towards me.
“Babes, Mason wouldn’t make you watch horror movies…” Hadley said slowly, like it was a defence in and of itself, and I knew to what she was referring.
I rolled my eyes. “Roman and I are just friends. Just. Friends. Or, do you two always have hot sex when you watch a movie together?”
I was going to ignore the part where Roman and I were known to have hot sex when we watched movies together.
“Well, I know horror always puts me in the mood,” Hadley said, matter-of-fact but also completely tongue-in-cheek.
“What?” Celeste and I laughed.
Hadley shrugged. “I dunno, something about the blood. Reminds me of being a woman.”
I snorted in a completely undignified manner and all three of us dissolved into giggles.
Talk shifted and moved between topics ranging from periods to school to clothes to makeup to food, littered with talk about boys, uni in Melbourne or Sydney, too many waffles, and a steady stream of caffeine.
So when Mason walked past and we realised it was something like almost two, it was less surprising that Mason was clean and wearing normal clothes as opposed to his sport uniform.
“Mason! Mason!” Hadley yelled through her most recent giggle fit.
He turned and found us, throwing a huge smile and wave our way. “Hey!”
“Come join!” Celeste said and I nudged her under the table.
“Ow,” Hadley said pointedly and nudged me back as Mason walked over.
“What are you girls up to?”
“Oh, just girl time. You know how it is,” Hadley said pleasantly.
Mason’s eye shone. “Oh, sure. Yeah, we have girl time all the time. Face masks are important, you know. And, Simon does a great pedicure.”
We all laughed.
“Cute. We can do girl time without the face masks and the sexy pillow fights, thank you.” Hadley shook a finger at him. “We watched sport once.”
“Oh, the cliché, Hads,” I snorted as I shook my head in my hands.
“Did you intend to watch sport?” Mason asked as he did a piss-poor job of hiding his smile.
“At first, no,” Celeste admitted. “But, then we realised how hot they were and decided we could suffer through watching half-naked men for a little while.”
“Oh, and it gets better,” I muttered and Mason laughed.
“What were you watching with half-naked men?”
“Some kind of wrestling?” Celeste guessed, totally clueless.
“I think it was the gymnastics at the last Olympics,” I offered. “So, not quite half-naked–”
“But, gorgeous.” I’m not sure if Hadley’s words counted as a purr, a breath, or an obscene grunt to be honest.
Mason pressed his lips together as he nodded.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” I said, barely containing it myself.
He shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t dare,” he spluttered.
“Why don’t you sit down and tell us what real sport is, then?” I asked him, pushing the last chair towards him with my foot.
He dropped into the chair and slid into the conversation seamlessly. Nothing was different than it had been a few minutes before just because he was sitting there. It was simple and easy. I mean, I still had to keep a lock on my filter and think about what I said before I said it. But I actually managed some half decent conversation with Mason, curtesy mainly of Hadley and Celeste and their ability to just constantly talk.
Sure it might have annoyed me sometimes and made me feel more claustrophobic than I already was in my own skin, but I actually admired that about them most days. I certainly considered it a flaw that I couldn’t easily make conversation with people when it was necessary, let alone when I wanted to.
“…and then… And, then, Piper sent him an email!” Hadley giggled.
I shook my head. “Yeah, it w
as a bit sad.”
“A bit sad? Major sad. Did we actually think we were going to make it onto Big Time Rush?” she asked as Celeste giggled and I avoided looking at Mason.
I shrugged noncommittally. “No, I s’pose not.”
I looked up and saw Roman across the road with Rio and Steve. Rio was the first one to see me and he gave me a curt nod and salute with his cigarette. I saw him mouth something and Roman turned around.
But, whatever humour Rio’s words had put on Roman’s face was gone as he looked at me. I waved and he gave me an even more curt nod than Rio had. I watched Rio smirk and elbow Roman as he said something. Roman replied to him tersely, threw me a stony look, and turned around.
Hadley’s foot connected with my shin and I jumped.
“What?” I asked, taking my eyes off Roman and turning to her.
“I asked what was up his arse.”
I shrugged. “Who knows? Time of the month, probably,” I muttered.
“What?” Celeste asked, completely confused.
“You mean he’s regular or…?” Hadley petered off.
“Regular. Sure.”
“Why don’t you go see what’s up?” Mason asked.
I shook my head. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“If it was Hads or Celeste, would you check on them?”
I looked at Mason and sighed. “Yes.”
“Good. Then, go.”
“I’ll see you guys later,” I grumbled with a wave and jogged across the street. “Roman!”
He looked at me just long enough for me to know he’d heard me and was purposefully ignoring me.
“You and your lady had a falling out, Lombardi?” Rio teased.
“Always a pleasure, Rio.” I smiled, sardonically.
He threw me a wink. As usual, he seemed to be looking at me like he didn’t trust me, but found me amusing all at the same time. “Best see what she wants, mate. You can catch us up.”
Steve jutted his chin towards me in goodbye and Rio gave me another smoky salute before they dropped their boards and skated off.
“Lombardi!” I warned as he dropped his board.
“What?” he spat.
“Well, aren’t you pleasant today?”
“How’s your girls’ day going?”
“Fine. We never actually got to the shopping part, but that’s fine by me.”
“Carter one of the girls now? You going to braid each other’s hair and tell each other secrets.”
“Have I ever braided your hair?”
His anger fell as he looked at me in complete confusion. “What?”
“You’re the only person I’ve told any secrets to lately. Have I been braiding your hair? What makes you think I’d possibly be into braiding while I’m baring my soul?”
His confusion vanished and that hard anger was back. “I’ve got to go. You should get back to Carter.”
“Roman.”
“Piper?”
He looked me over, the epitome of nonchalance and arrogant defiance. I frowned at him.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“This funk.”
He shrugged. “Just a funk. Nothing to talk about.” His eyes slid behind me and then back to his board.
“Are you sure? Can I do anything?”
“Nah. I’ll be peachy.”
I hadn’t seen him be just this dark, blustery Roman in a while and I wondered why he was making a reappearance now. Maybe there’d been more repercussions than I’d seen for his fight earlier in the week? The bruises were still fading even if he’d seemed more relaxed until now.
He shrugged. “It’s just a funk. We get funky. Carter’s waiting on you.”
“Well, he can wait. I’m waiting on you to talk to me. You were fine this morning. Did something happen?”
His eyes slid away again and when they found my face he was giving me his best smirk. “You know me, Barlow. Like clockwork. Haven’t had a good brood in a while. Probably shouldn’t go ruining my image and whatnot.”
“Uh huh. Okay. Well, when you’ve decided you don’t want to be an arsehole anymore, we can not talk about it if you want?”
“I said I’m fucking fine, Barlow! Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He huffed a breath, jumped onto his board and took off after Rio and Steve. I shook my head, wishing there was some way I could read his mind like he seemed to be able to read mine.
With a sigh, I headed back over to Hadley, Celeste and Mason. Thankfully, they were busy arguing about whether Zac Efron or Ezra Miller was more attractive.
“Piper?” Mason asked as I pulled my seat out. “Zac or Ezra?”
I smiled, more than happy to take my mind off Roman’s funk. “That’s a hard one.”
Chapter Twenty
Two Bruises, One Date and Zero Sleep.
“I’ve noticed Roman’s been going to school a lot more lately,” Mum called from the dining table where she was on her laptop.
Sure, Roman found himself on the school premises a lot more lately. I wasn’t sure that totally classified as going to school, though.
I grinned as I finished cutting the carrots, remembering the rendition of ‘Bleeding Love’ he’d done on the way home that afternoon. Whatever had been bugging him on Sunday, he’d seemed okay again since Monday morning. Although, he’d seemed tired and his car hadn’t been in the driveway next door the last couple of nights.
“Is there a question you wanted to ask in that statement, Mum?”
“I just wondered what kind of time you two were spending together?” she answered with a smile in her voice.
“The friendly kind,” I told her as I started peeling the potatoes. “That’s all.”
“That’s all?”
Why did we have to keep going through this? “Yes, Mum. Roman and I are just friends. Nothing more.”
“You spend a lot of time with a guy you’re just friends with.”
“I spend a lot of time with Hadley, too. Should I be dating her?”
“If you wanted to, yes.”
I smiled. “Right. Well I don’t want to date Roman, Mum. But, thanks.”
“How about Hadley?”
I snorted, “No. Thanks. I’m not really her type.”
I heard Mum laugh. “All right. Well, as long as Roman’s not stringing you along or going to hurt you.”
“Mum, I know Roman far too well. There is no stringing and no hurting going on, I assure you. I expect nothing from him.” Nothing than I’ve already found myself with.
“Well, you’ve certainly had a good influence on him, honey.”
“You make it sound like I’m working on a charity case.”
Mum chuckled. “Carmen said he’s so much better. He’s happier, he’s out less, he drinks less, he’s a love with Maddy.”
“It sounds like you two talk more than I’d like.”
“Well, that’s quite possible.”
“Hang on,” I said, putting my potato down for a second. “How much do you actually talk about Roman with her?”
“A fair amount, I suppose.”
“And about Roman and me?”
“Less.”
“But, Carmen does talk about Roman and me with you?”
She made an affirmative noise. “And, she says every improvement has been since you two started hanging out.”
I smiled to myself, knowing any attempt to tell her there was nothing to talk about would give her more reason to think there was something to talk about.
“Well, isn’t that nice. But, I doubt it’s got anything to do with me, Mum. Roman’s not that bad really, he’s just a little lost…”
“Well, that was the impression I’d had for years. But, Carmen seems to think you found him, hon.”
“Sure, I did,” I replied sarcastically, throwing the vegetables in the slowcooker pot with the meat so it was ready
to turn on the next morning. Although, that explained why Mum had been so chilled about Roman and I hanging out. “What are you doing in there anyway?”
“Looking on the real estate website.”
A chill entered my veins, but I acted nonchalant; it might not be what I thought it was. “Really?”
“Yep. I thought I’d see what sort of places there were for next year.”
“I’ll have a look later, okay?”
Mum was silent for a while, just the occasional typing or mouse click. I was just starting to hope she’d moved on to bigger and better things when I heard her make a little triumphant noise.
“Oh, here’s a nice little place. Central. Looks clean.” A pause. “Honey?” Mum finally called when it was obvious I wasn’t going to reply.
I mentally sighed, so over everything. I had Hadley in one ear nattering about applying to Melbourne and Sydney universities as well as Adelaide because, in her words, “if we’re moving away, anyway…” I had Mum in my other trying to get me to look at places to live when I didn’t even know what uni I was going to get into. If any!
“Piper?” Mum called.
I finished washing my hands in the kitchen sink and leant on the bench, “Yeah, I… I heard you. Can we not–?”
“Sweetie, they’re designed for students! And, you want to get somewhere nice. The sooner, the better!”
My heart raced, my breathing was shallow and my head was just raucous static noise. I looked out the back window and could almost see the lake. I could feel the calm that that elicited in me at the edge of myself as though it were waves lapping the shore. I threw a look back to where Mum was still talking, not really paying me and my lack of attention much mind at all. Back out the window. Back to Mum. Back out the window.
I was out the back door while Mum was still saying something about two bedrooms. I was averse to running at the best of times – I was averse to exercise in general, which was humorous given how often I felt the urge to run – but I needed to leave my problems behind. So, I ran. I ran down to the lake, the closest thing I had that could bring me comfort.
It was dark, but I didn’t really notice.
My leg hit something, but the sting didn’t slow me down and I hoped I wasn’t going to regret that later. A branch caught my arm as I rushed past, moving quite spectacularly for me and my usual level of fitness or lack thereof.
Accidentally Perfect Page 21