I’m sitting in the classroom three days after feeling Piper’s body pulse around me and it’s the only thing I can think of. When we finally took the final step in our relationship I knew what I need to do. Later today, I’ll head out with Preston and buy a ring. As much as I want to ask her father’s permission to propose, I know he’ll refuse me at every turn, so the next best person to go to would be my best friend.

Piper’s still young, and I’m not going to steal her away from her family, but I want to claim her forever. I love her, and pushing her away for so long was my mistake. I’ve lost years I’ll never get back, but she’s accepted me at my worst, and I know she’ll love me forever.

Her eyes meet mine across the room, and I offer her a smile. She’s so good with those kids, and I can’t help wondering if we’ll ever have a few of our own. One or two. Perhaps more.

She’d look so beautiful pregnant, swollen, and glowing while she’s carrying our children.

“You okay there, Mr. Kingsley?” Her gentle voice snags me from the visions in my mind.

“I am,” I tell her, rising to full height, pulling her closer. “I was just thinking I’d love to take you home for dinner.”

“We can order in,” she tells me innocently.

“I wasn’t talking about food,” I whisper in her ear, making her shiver in anticipation of what’s to come.

“Behave yourself,” Piper admonishes me, swatting my arm and leaving me at the stereo to curate the music. She smiles at the students, all of them looking up at her like she’s an angel. She is. The way she moves about the room, light on her feet, fluid in the way her body dips and rolls, showing the kids how to count the beats, to hop onto their hands from a low stance is mesmerizing.

My phone vibrating drags my attention away from the beautiful woman to a message that stops my heart. I didn’t think I could run away from my past, I didn’t even think I could forget what I’d done, but it seems it’s caught up with me and when I glance up at Piper once more, I know I have to leave before she finishes her routine. I can’t explain what’s going on, but I need to fix this before the shit gets near my perfect girl.

* * *

“You did what?” Preston’s voice is livid, rage drenching every word he spits down the line at me. I didn’t have a choice. He knows it as well as I do.

“Dude, you know your father had a hand in this. He hates me,” I tell him. I’m met with silence. He does know the truth. Nobody else would’ve had me packing my bags and heading back to Los Angeles faster than Mr. Beaufort himself.

“I’ll figure it out,” he informs me. “In the meantime, just message Piper and tell her you haven’t in fact fucked off and broken her heart again.”

“I will, as soon as I get back to our apartment.” I hang up before he can give me another earful and take the turn off to the building we’d been living in while we were in LA. The large three-bedroom place had been our home for four years, and when we left, one of the guys we’d lived with offered to take it off our hands with the agreement that if we’re ever back in town, we’d have a place to crash.

My phone buzzes again, and I know it’s Piper. I don’t have to look at the screen to see her name glaring at me, accusing me of doing what I promised not to do. I’ve fucked it up again, and this time, I doubt she’ll ever forgive me.

Once I pull into a parking spot, I exit the car and make my way to the elevator. The second floor apartment was the easiest access for me, and the guys both decided they’d be happy to share it with me when we moved out here.

When I reach the door, I unlock it and shove it open. The living room greets me when I step inside, along with silence, informing me that Logan isn’t here. Shutting the door, I shrug off my hoodie and grab my phone from my pocket. Like I thought, Piper’s name is burning a hole through the screen.

Sighing, I hit call and press the device to my ear. On the second ring she answers.

“Where are you? Are you okay? Preston said you had to leave,” she tells me breathlessly, and I picture her running around my apartment looking for me. Her breathing is harsh over the line and I’m certain she’s panicked.

“I needed to do something out here, sign some documents.” The lie feels like poison on my tongue, but I can’t tell her why I’m really here. If she knows, she’ll never forgive her father. As much as I dislike him, I want her to have a relationship with him one day. If I can just get the charge brought against me dropped without worrying her, then we’ll be fine.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she questions, hurt evident in her voice, and it cracks my heart in two. “I could’ve come with you.”

“No, it’s something I need to do alone, Piper. Please, just let me do this. Can you wait for me?” This time, I’m the one begging. I’m pleading with her to give me time, to wait for me like she waited before. And she did. She fucking waited four years for me to return and claim her like she was always meant to be mine. I don’t know how long this will take, or how much she’ll be able to offer me, but I wait for her response, my heart thudding violently in my chest, making my ribs ache.

There’s a heart-wrenching agony in loving someone and leaving them. It can sting, it can hurt, but it’s when you lose that someone, when they can no longer give you another chance, that’s when it kills you.

The same way the words from my doctor's mouth broke my heart and mind when he told me I’d never have both my legs again, this torment of not knowing how to fix what I did is haunting me. And Piper’s father knows it.

“Ryder, you know I’ll wait forever for you,” she finally tells me. “I just need you to do something for me.”

“Anything—”

“Don’t tell me you’ll do one thing and then act out another. Don’t promise not to break my heart and then shatter it all over the goddamn floor.”

Her anger is warranted. I messed up. I did promise her I’d never leave, but this time I had no choice. It was forced on me.

“The next time I look into your eyes, I’ll make a promise, Piper, and it will be for life.”

I hang up, leaving her to ponder on my words while I walk into the small office we set up while I was recovering. All the documents that were signed are in there, and I know if I’m going to clear my name, I’ll find what I need in here.