She nods, “Okay,” and my heart ceases to beat for a moment. I need to calm the fuck down. It’s time and I need to man up. Grow some balls as Preston would say.

“I’ll drive,” I tell her, rising from the chair, not giving her a chance to respond. My keys jingle in my hand as I grab her rucksack.

“I just need to turn the lights off and lock up.” Her voice quivers. I notice it immediately. She’s nervous. So am I.

“Okay.”

Once we’re in the car, she stares at me for a moment before smiling. “You really did look good with the kids.”

“They’re good.”

I turn on the stereo, flicking through songs before I find the one I want and pull out onto the road. I can feel her eyes on me, burning through me with questions I can’t answer just yet. It’s been a long time since I did this, confessed what I am to someone. But then again, the last time I did, it was only Preston. There wasn’t anything more he could say because he was there, he knew before I told him.

Anxiety riddles through me, eating away at the strength I’ve been mustering up to tell Piper. It feels as if we’ll never get to my place as I weave through the early evening traffic.

“So,” she starts as we pull up to a red light. “Did you ever think of me when you were away?”

Her question squeezes my heart. My chest painfully tightens when I realize the one time I didn’t think about her was when I got into the car that night and I had my arm hanging around the shoulders of a stranger. It lasted for a good ten minutes. Those moments play over and over in my mind, and I regret every fucking second of it.

“Piper—”

“No, you know what, don’t tell me. I just… I don’t know. I just feel like the stupid teenager who believed your promises.”

I pull away from the light, gripping the steering wheel because I want to shout at her. I want to tell her I love her. To tell her that every moment I was away, bar those few, she was the only person I wanted and needed. To explain that my love for her never fizzled out, it never wavered.

To tell her that even though I had fucked another girl before I met her, she is the only one I will ever want, now and forever. But before I can tell her that and confess my feelings, I need her to see me.

“You’re not stupid, Piper.”

“Am I not?” she questions quietly, her voice so low, so sad that it knocks the breath from my lungs. I did this. I made her feel so wary because I took all the love she gave me and I didn’t give her anything in return.

“No,” I bite out, casting a quick, furious glance her way. “Fuck, Piper, can you quit with the shit until we get to my place because I can’t focus on the road when you’re spewing bullshit.”

“You’re angry, but not at me,” she observes and she’s right. I’m angry at myself for hurting her all those years ago when I should’ve laid my fucking claim on her, but she was too young. Far too young and innocent for me. But what makes it so different now?

“I am angry, because I fucked up with you,” I tell her, my stare glued to the road because I can’t meet those inquisitive eyes.

The song changes, and “Echo” by Jason Walker starts and I know this is not the type of song I need right now. That we need right now. I reach over to change it, but her delicate hand is on mine in an instant.

“Leave it.”

“Piper—”

“Listen to it, Ryder,” she pleads and I can’t deny her anything, so I do. By the time I pull up to the apartment complex, the song ends and I park in my designated spot. Not moving, I stare out of the window, waiting for her to say something, but she sits beside me in silence.

I push the door open and round the back, tugging her door open. I offer her my hand, which she takes. I lead her into the building, into the elevator, still holding on to her hand as if she’s a lifeline and I’m caught in a raging storm.

The ding startles me and the doors slide open, spitting us out into the hallway, and I turn left toward the door. Unlocking it quickly, I release Piper’s hand, feeling the loss of her the moment the contact is gone.

“Make yourself at home,” I tell her, following in behind my sweet girl. Because that’s what she is. Mine. She’s always been mine. Since the moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew there was no other woman for me.