Chapter 13
Austin
Piper greeted me at the door with a smile. The Amazon behind her was scowling.
“Hey, Austin.” Piper gestured to the Amazon. “This is my friend, Cerise.”
I gave her a bright smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Cerise.”
Women swooned at my smile, but not Cerise. Her arms remained crossed in front of her chest, and she gave me a curt nod before saying, “I can’t say the same.”
“Cerise has been my best friend since high school,” Piper added.
That explained a lot. “Now I see why you look like you want to disembowel me.”
Piper turned to hug Cerise. “I’ll let you know if I’m going to be out later than expected.”
“Andy won’t hold off on making dinner forever,” Cerise warned.
“I know,” Piper assured her. “I’m not about to miss out on rib night.”
We said our goodbyes, and while Cerise didn’t threaten me, I could tell she wanted to.
“Does Cerise live with you and Andy?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s engaged to Andy,” Piper replied as she sat in the car.
I moved around to my side and started up the car before asking, “She hates me, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Piper replied with a laugh. “My parents were so caught up in what they were dealing with, they didn’t even realize something was bothering me back then. Cerise was the one who listened to me complain about what an asshole you were.”
And cry. She hadn’t said that last part, but I knew I’d broken her heart.
“Did you ever tell your parents what happened?” I asked. It seemed unlikely. What teen girl wants to tell her parents about something like that?
“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “They don’t even know I found out about my mom’s affair before they told me.”
“They told you about that?” I asked in surprise.
“My parents were honest about what was going on and why they were separating,” she explained. “My mom doesn’t know that you saw her with your dad.”
“She doesn’t?” I asked. “I always figured you or my dad had mentioned it to her.”
“It was just that one time with your dad,” Piper explained. “You probably think she’s lying, but I believe her.”
“I didn’t say she was lying,” I pointed out.
“But you were thinking it,” she argued.
Her assumption pissed me off, but I couldn’t decide if it pissed me off because it meant she had that little faith in me, or if I was pissed that she recognized how pessimistic I could be. It was hard for me to believe her mom had only slipped that one time. I’d grown up in a household where my dad was constantly fucking around. My mom went from pretending he wasn’t fucking around to having her own affairs to punish him, not that he’d cared.
I knew there were good people and good marriages, but I tended to assume the worst.
“Are you trying to decide if you should argue with my assumption?” she asked.
I shook my head before responding. “I’m not the most optimistic when it comes to relationships. My parents had a really messed up marriage. In the last fourteen years, I’ve only dated women after bad breakups. I see the bad but never the good.”
“Why do you do it?” she asked. “Why do you play the role of the rebound guy? I’ve seen the stories about you. For a long time, I suspected you did it to avoid committing to anyone. Those women are using you, so you don’t have to feel guilty about using them.”
“That’s a good guess.” Most people believed that was my reasoning.
“But it’s not the real reason, is it?” she asked.
“No,” I admitted. “Everyone thinks they know why I do this, but I’m not always sure I understand my reasons. My friends all say I’m doing it as penance for what I did to you, and that’s part of it, but there’s more to it.”
“You do this because of me?” she asked. “That’s crazy, Austin. It’s been fourteen years. I haven’t been suffering all this time. You hurt me, but I moved on.”
“And I should move on. That’s what you’re getting at, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“You wouldn’t even speak to me until recently. I never got a chance to apologize or try to make it up to you,” I pointed out.
“What’s the other reason?” she asked.
“I don’t want to end up like my dad,” I confessed. “What if that’s all I’m capable of?”