PIPER UNZIPPED THE dress bag and stared at the sequins. Her head was so full of words, thoughts, feelings that it melded together, becoming a white noise hum.

The other girls bustled around the hotel suite, stowing bags, prepping other garments. The next four days would be a gauntlet of air brushing, posing and pretending she wanted to be here. She hadn’t been able to pause and consider what her actions should be. There was too much she had to do, and that was before Gideon’s bombshell.

Her stomach knotted up at his name and her throat constricted. She swallowed, but her mouth was dry and the only thing she could taste was the bile from earlier. People had stared, others had whispered, while she carted in her stuff for the con. Word was spreading. It often did. This wasn’t new.

“Earth to Piper.” Tamara waved her hand in front of Piper’s face.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and turned.

The rolling rack was assembled, and the clothing freed from bags. The luggage was mostly gone, save for Piper’s. Her room was across the hall from the suite. The pre-con prep was mostly over.

The other girls stared at her, their befuddled gazes mirroring Piper new mode. She could hear the guys in one of the bedrooms flipping channels on the TV.

How long had she been standing there?

“What’s wrong? You’ve been out of it.”  Miranda peered at her, gaze narrowed.

“Nothing,” Piper said. She didn’t think about the reply, she just spoke the word. Truth was, she wasn’t ready to deep dive into everything she’d discovered since coming home from the cruise.

“You sure? Because you’ve been weird.” Rashae sat on the sofa and took a long pull from her water bottle.

A rhythmic knock at the door distracted the other girls from Piper.

“That must be Ellie.” Tamara walked across to the suite door and opened it.

Piper retreated to the windows where she could stare at L.A. spread out around them.

“Thanks. I thought I’d never make it.” Ellie huffed and puffed.

“Good lord, are you moving in or something?” Tamara laughed.

“And I thought I packed a lot,” Rashae said.

“You didn’t see how much she crammed in that cabin with Piper.” Miranda snickered.

“What the hell happened yesterday?” Ellie asked.

Piper could see Ellie’s reflection in the glass, staring right at her. The other girls went quiet, and once more the focus was back on Piper.

She didn’t know how to answer that question. A lot happened, but where did she begin?

“Piper, I swear to God, if you don’t start talking...” Ellie jabbed her finger in Piper’s direction.

What did Ellie have to be angry about?

Piper turned, frowning at her friend. Ellie’s features were tight, her cheeks sunken and eyes blazing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Piper said slowly.

“What the hell did you do to Gideon?” Ellie hung her purse on the clothing rack but never took her gaze off Piper.

“What did I do to Gideon?” She gaped at the other woman.

“Yes.” Ellie took a step toward Piper.

“Wow, wow, wow.” Tamara planted herself between Piper and Ellie. “I think we all want to know what’s going on, period. Why don’t we sit down? Clearly a lot has happened since we got off the boat.”

Ellie’s accusatory glare burned through the white noise until a thought bubbled to the top.

What had she done to Gideon? What about her? He was the one who wanted to pop in and out of her life, tell her he loved her and then disappear again. She was tired of the yo-yo relationship. If she kept seeing him, even as friends, she’d never be able to find someone for herself.

“Come over here and sit with me, Piper.” Miranda patted the cushion next to her.

Piper crossed the room and sat on the oversized arm chair with Miranda. The guys seemed to have picked up on the incoming tidal wave of girl stuff and had closed the bedroom door, giving them some privacy. The other three girls settled on the sofa, and four sets of eyes were aimed at Piper.

“Ellie, what the hell are you talking about?” Rashae leaned forward and peered at Ellie.

“I had that thing yesterday, remember?” Ellie’s gaze flicked to Rashae, then back to Piper. “I’m there, the party started slow, there weren’t a lot of people there besides the PR firm’s other clients, network people, the usual. And then who walks in? Gideon.”

“I thought he was a party kind of guy?” Tamara asked.

Ellie’s throat flexed and her unwavering gaze faltered. She stared out through the windows for a moment.

“I found out recently that my new clients—bosses, whatever—are using the same PR company as some of our favorite assholes. Adam...and Carl.” Ellie pursed her lips and Piper could hear her teeth grinding.

“Are you sure you want to keep working for these guys?” Tamara asked.

“I think after yesterday’s flop, they’re going to fire the company—but that’s not the point. I’ve worked for people who hired this company before and the drama there never changes. Carl has only gotten to be more of an asshole than he used to be. Knowing Gideon’s history with Piper, it’s not rocket science that mixing those two would be a bad idea.”

“Carl was there?” Piper folded her hands together. Carl hadn’t hidden his hatred of Gideon and had even tried to blame their breakup on him.

“Yes. As soon as I saw Gideon I told him he had to leave, then Carl shows up. He punched Gideon in the face. Well...it was kind of a punch. He made a fist. Gideon punched him back. Beer and glass was everywhere. It’s on YouTube and Facebook. Carl hasn’t pressed charges, and I bet the only reason he can’t is because it would mean admitting he broke parole.”

“Holy shit,” Tamara muttered.

“Is Gideon okay?” Piper asked.

“Okay? I think he’s pretty wrecked.” Ellie kept staring at Piper. “What the hell did you do to him?”

She took a deep breath, her thoughts humming louder as the timeline fit together.

Gideon had left her place and gone after Carl. Maybe not intentionally, but he’d wanted their paths to cross. Where was Gideon now?

“Piper? You okay?” Miranda rubbed her shoulders.

“No,” Piper replied.

“Did Gideon come see you yesterday?” Miranda asked.

“Yeah.” Piper swallowed. “I got home and Kobe came over to catch up. He was barely there a few minutes when Gideon showed up. I didn’t know he was coming, he was just there. He has a tricky job he’s trying to wrap up and things aren’t going well. They want him to—it doesn’t matter. These people want Gideon to do something, so they threatened to make all the old videos go viral again if he didn’t cooperate. He’s gotten lawyers involved, and it’s a mess. He wanted to warn me and help, I’m sure. But... Things got complicated.”

“They’re threatening you?” Tamara gaped at Piper.

“I’ve already been to the police to file a report. It’s all I can do about that for now. I’m betting people at the con will be talking about it, but whatever. That—it doesn’t matter anymore.” The crazy thing was, Piper meant it. Yes, the video’s existence was something she’d never be comfortable with, but she had come to terms with it.

“What? Am I hearing you right?” Rashae leaned forward.

“I watched all the videos yesterday after I told Gideon to leave.” Piper glanced up at the others. “The first time I saw most of them was during the trial. It was humiliating and violating and...it scarred me. Now? Who cares? They’re crappy, homemade videos that someone put out there to hurt me, and I keep letting them have that. I’m done. The videos are out there and I don’t care anymore. My problem, what I think that’s always hurt the most, is that someone I cared about violated that trust.”

“That’s deep,” Rashae said.

“You really think you’re over this?” Tamara asked.

“Over it? No, but I am dealing with it.” Piper had allowed those fears and her past to keep her alienated, from being happy. But not anymore.

“That doesn’t explain why Gideon was so wrecked yesterday,” Ellie said.

Piper swallowed and the tension in her shoulders increased.

“Gideon told me he loved me.” Piper grimaced. “For a long time that’s all I wanted to hear, then he finally says it and... It wasn’t about me, it was about him. It’s always been about him and what he wants.”

“What exactly did he say? Can you tell me how you remember it?” Ellie asked.

“We’ve been around this block with Gideon before,” Rashae said.

“What?” Ellie gaped at Rashae.

“He does pop in and out, and it’s not like he cares what that does to Piper,” Tamara said.

“That is so not what I got sitting in the car with him yesterday. You’re all crazy.” Ellie directed her stare at Piper. “Look, I’m telling you what he told me. He should probably tell you himself, but he’s not here. Gideon is madly in love with you. He didn’t say it in that many words, but it’s so obvious being around him that he’s head over heels for you.”

Piper flinched at those words. She wished they were true, wanted them, but she couldn’t allow herself to buy into it.

“Bullshit,” Rashae said.

“Then why hasn’t he done something before now?” Tamara asked.

“What I got from the verbal vomit in the car is that—he’s always cared about you. Then things with Carl happened, your friends abandoned you and he was the only one left in your corner. You needed a friend, so that’s what he became, but his feelings never changed.”

“If that’s true, why not say something?” Miranda asked.

“He wanted to, but he didn’t think that was what Piper wanted.” Ellie kept staring at Piper, and in Piper’s head, she heard Gideon’s voice. “He said that the longer things went on, the more he felt like he was betraying Piper. I asked him why he didn’t stop all communication forever and he said he keeps telling himself this time is the last, but it never sticks.”

Piper swallowed and stared at the carpet.

Last night things had seemed obvious. Gideon would shift back to work and they’d be back to how things were. If that was the case why hadn’t it happened already? She knew he was in talks about another job and they were down to negotiating the contract. Usually that signaled when he stopped socializing and dove into work, and yet they’d continued to talk even while she was on the cruise. Every day, sometimes multiple times.

Was she wrong?

The idea of being without Gideon for the rest of her life caused a deep, sharp ache in her chest. She cared for him. He’d always been in her corner, whenever she really needed him, he’d been there for her.

Had she gotten it all mixed up? Was his confession of love real? He was prepared to go to court over his client’s threats about her. He didn’t have to do that. There wasn’t anyone else who would go to bat for her that way.

Piper pushed to her feet and began pacing the suite.

She knew she loved him. That wasn’t the problem. Her issues came back to trust. She hadn’t given him the chance to repair that trust since they’d begun. At every turn, she’d assumed he would be gone, that history would repeat itself, and each time he’d come back trying to show her this time was different.

The day they’d meant to spend together, but didn’t. It was a technical communication glitch, but still. She’d assumed he was flaking and made other plans.

He’d shown up at her door how many times over the last two weeks just to hang out? To bring her a mixed tape or flowers? She hadn’t seen the difference because she was too focused on the past and trying to prepare herself for the future.

“I made a mistake.” Piper glanced around, searching for her purse.

“What are you looking for?” Tamara got to her feet.

“My purse. I need to go see Gideon, I need to...” Tell him she loved him back.

“Well, you’re out of luck,” Ellie said.

“Why?” Piper stared at Ellie.

“I just came from the airport. I dropped him off,” she said.

“Where’d he go?” Piper needed him here.

“To unplug and see his brother.”

“Which one?”

“He has more than one?”

“Three.”

“Oh dear Jesus.” Ellie winced.

“He’s got eight siblings,” Tamara said.

If Gideon was unplugging, if he was getting away from her and everything else, her only choice was to wait for him to come back.