Since the last weekend at the lake, I’ve gradually started putting distance between myself and Piper. Seeing her is a little like putting a cupcake in front of a kid and saying look but don’t touch. Simply put, Piper Lawrence is my temptation. Everything about her entices me. Once she put the brakes on anything else happening between us outside of friendship, I needed space.
That space will be put to the test this weekend since its Halloween. While we’ve seen each other at school, as co-workers, we haven’t been social in over a month. I have been opting to work on the house instead of attending family dinners, much to my mom’s chagrin.
Today is the school’s fall festival. I know Piper is in charge of the cake walk while I volunteered to work on setup. The cake walk was my favorite part of the school carnival when I was a kid. We thought we were cool because unlike the little kids playing musical chairs, we had the cake walk. The joke was on us though, a cake walk is essentially musical chairs just without the chairs and the winner walks away with a cake.
Tonight, I’ve opted to stay with the cowboy theme I’ll be wearing tonight but a scaled-down version. Dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt, I put on my Stetson before heading into the gymnasium where the festival is being held.
I see a few of my students and their parents on my way to the cake walk. The fact that I have compared Piper to cake and temptation is not lost on me at this moment. From a distance she stops me in my tracks. Dressed in all black, she has on a large witch’s hat with feathers hanging off the ends. Only, it isn’t what she is wearing that stops me. It’s the way she is crouched down talking to a little boy. Smaller than most of the kids, this little guy is dressed to the nines as Darth Vader. Piper is smiling at him like every word he says is the most important thing to her.
She’s beautiful. Time away has done nothing for me. Her laughter wafts across the room and hits me in the gut like a bullet. After a few minutes she stands and catches my eye. Her smile grows a little bigger and she waves. I wave back. God, I’m such a pussy. I’m standing here in the middle of the elementary school gymnasium dressed as a damn cowboy waving at the pretty girl.
“Hey, Mr. Sullivan. Wow, Miss Lawrence sure is pretty. Is she your girlfriend?”
I look down at one of my students.
“She sure is pretty. No, Will, Miss Lawrence isn’t my girlfriend; she is my friend though. Would you like me to tell her you think she’s pretty?”
“What?! No way! I’m going to the fishing booth. See ya!”
I laugh and walk over to Piper.
“Miss Lawrence, you’re a very pretty witch.”
“Well thank you, Mr. Sullivan. You’re a pretty snazzy-looking cowboy. Jacob, this is Mr. Sullivan. He is your sister Clementine’s teacher. Mr. Sullivan, this is Jacob Thorne and Mrs. Honeycutt.”
I shake Mrs. Honeycutt’s hand and turn my attention to Jacob. “Don’t mind Miss Lawrence, Mr. Vader. She is obviously very confused as to who you really are.”
Giggles come from beneath the mask as he pushes it up over his head. “It’s me! I’m Jacob Thorne, silly!”
“Oh, my mistake. You sure do make a great Darth Vader. Are you having fun, Jacob?”
“Yep. Mrs. Honeycutt said she is taking me to the fishing game. If I win I get to take a fish home! Did you know that? Clem will probably make me keep my fish in my room but I don’t care. It’s going to be awesome!”
Jacob’s enthusiasm is contagious and I’m considering joining him to catch my own goldfish. Before I can contemplate this odd thought, Mrs. Honeycutt excuses herself and Jacob. Alone with Piper, I suddenly feel awkward.
“How have you been, Ben?”
“Good. You?”
“I’m good. You’re lucky you don’t have to leave here to get ready for tonight. I’m a little frazzled. I haven’t even seen my costume. I can’t believe I let your sister make it for me, sight unseen.”
“Wait. You haven’t seen it? Are you nuts?”
“Why, have you seen it? Oh my God! What did she do?” Piper looks around, almost checking to see if anyone can hear us before she lowers her voice to a whisper. “Am I going to look like an extra in a porno?”
Her words combined with the look of horror on her face have me laughing so hard I’m crying. “No, I haven’t seen it, but it’s Ash. The likelihood you’ll look like a stripper or porn star is pretty good.”
A groan from her has me putting my arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, you’ll have your very own Village People and Neo to protect you.”
“Not helpful,” she says, burying her head in her hands.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but is the cake walk happening?”
I feel Piper tense immediately. Before I turn to the voice full of contempt and attitude, I give her a little squeeze. Once I turn to face the condescending woman who has obviously affected Piper, I’m not surprised to see Felicity Remington-Thorne.
“Oh, Ben. I didn’t realize that was you. Is something wrong?” Suddenly the tone has gone from one of contention and annoyance to saccharine sweet.
“Nothing is wrong, thank you for your concern. Clem, you look lovely.”
“Of course I do, Mr. Sullivan. I’m a princess. Mother, I would like a cake now.”
“Just a minute, Clementine. The adults are speaking. I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Felicity Remington-Thorne,” Felicity says to Piper, extending her hand.
“Yes, Felicity, I know who you are. I’m your son’s teacher and you and I grew up together.”
“Really? I don’t remember you.”
I look at Piper to make double check that smoke is not filtering from her ears as she puts her sweet-as-pie smile on and looks from Clem to Felicity before she responds. “I can assure you we did. Now, Clementine, how about you and I find a few more participants and we’ll get this cake walk happening.”
“Oh I don’t want to walk; I just want a cake.”
Before Piper can retort I step in. “Clem, that’s not how it works, but it’ll be a fun reward if you win. How about you run and find a few classmates or kids from other classes and we’ll get a round going. Piper, why don’t you make sure you have the music cued.” Once I’ve sent Clementine and Piper off, hopefully avoiding a meltdown by one and a cat fight by the other, I turn to Felicity.
“Ben, you look quite handsome. The cowboy look suits you.” This woman has got to be kidding me. She’s practically petting me as she purrs her words at me. Removing her hand from my bicep, where she’s managed to caress me into the uncomfortable zone, I side step her as I see Clementine making her way across the room with a few kids.
“Thanks. Look, Felicity, you did grow up with Piper and maybe you could be a little kinder to her now than when we were kids.”
“Piper? Who is Piper?”
“Piper Lawrence? The woman you were just rude to and the one who is your son’s teacher.”
“That’s Pathetic Piper? No way! Wow, she must have paid big bucks for a makeover.”
I’m momentarily stunned silent as I process what has just been said. Managing to corral my anger at the insulting words this woman has said, I return to the spot I just vacated so there is no question she can hear me. “Do not call her that. Ever. Do you understand? That is cruel and not appropriate behavior for a woman and definitely not a mother to a young girl. I’m going to walk away now, please do not be rude to Piper.”
Instead of staying at the festival, I’ve decided to leave and put some distance between myself and what just happened at the cake walk. Piper told me that Felicity had been awful to her growing up but I didn’t know the extent of it until that moment. I’ll never understand the cattiness of some women and frankly don’t want to understand it. I lost my temper a little but I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone speak to Piper that way.
I have a few hours before we’re all meeting at Country Road. Plenty of time for me to get out to the house, work off whatever has me behaving like a caveman. A few hours swinging a hammer should help release some of the frustration and tension.
I managed to work myself into exhaustion and contemplated blowing off Halloween all together. I’m not sure if it’s the idea of spending the night with my friend Piper or the ridiculous amount of text messages I’ve received from the guys that has me parked in front of Country Road. To top it all off, I’m dressed as some throwback version of the Cowboy from Village People. When we first joked about reliving a Halloween of our youth, I wasn’t expecting everyone to be this pumped, but damn if they aren’t.
Ashton has been cutting and sewing until her fingers bled for weeks. She not only made her costume and Piper’s but she helped spruce up both mine and Owen’s. Unsurprisingly, Jameson didn’t need help with his Neo look; then again, a pair of sunglasses and black coat aren’t the hardest costume to put together.
Owen is living out his childhood dream as a policeman. He explained that every year his mother forced him to dress as a clown when all he ever wanted was to dress as one of the men in blue. This was his chance to live that childhood dream so he turned to Ash for “flare,” whatever that is. Landon completed our band of misfits in a no-nonsense construction worker look. Which, is also his everyday wardrobe. Basically he’s dressed up as himself. Why couldn’t I have wanted to grow up to be a teacher and not a cowboy? Maybe I’ll tell my students to keep this in mind for their future Halloweens.
Yep, together we’ll look like half of the Village People even though that wasn’t the plan. Ashton did an excellent job on our costumes and insists we are all going to rule the costume contest. Considering I’m getting here closer to the end of the night than the beginning the chances I’ve missed out on standing on the stage being judged for my costume is pretty high. Thank goodness.
Before I can even open the door I feel the music pumping through my body and know the place is likely packed. Not looking forward to mindlessly searching for my friends, I sent a text to Owen when I parked. A quick check of my phone confirms he hasn’t responded.
Instead of wandering around like a lost puppy, I decide to head straight for the bar to see Ashton. The closer to the bar I get, the less I want to be here. That is, until I see Ashton. Nothing my sister does surprises me but seeing her as Dolly Parton stops me in my tracks. Choosing to portray her favorite character from her favorite Dolly Parton movie, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
With her dark hair hidden beneath a platinum wig, Ashton is covered in head to toe pink. The feathers from her poor excuse for a robe fly around her like a cloud as she mixes a drink. She’s painted her lips fire engine red and her long acrylic nails look more like weapons. I shake my head as I notice she’s added to the bust of the nightgown she’s wearing. If it wasn’t Halloween, I’d go into big brother mode and toss a sheet on her to cover the parts of her she clearly hasn’t.
“Brother of mine! About time you got here. The douche crew is in full effect; you may need to save them.”
“Yeah, I’m not saving anyone except whoever may get stuck with those things in their face.” Gesturing to her ample, yet fake, bosom, I wink and take the beer she offers me.
“Oh please, this is every man’s dream.”
“Not mine. I’m done after this,” I say, signaling my beer. “I have to be up early to get out to the house.”
“Of course you do. You spend more time with that house than your own family. We’d like to see it one day, you know.”
I guess I should at least take my family out to the property. I kind of wanted to wait until it was closer to done than not.
“Noted. We’ll make plans soon, okay?”
“Deal. Anyway, the guys and Piper are over there on the upper level. It doesn’t look like I’ll get a break anytime soon so say hi for me.”
“Will do.”
Just as I turn to walk away I hear Ash call my name. “Hey, will you check on Piper? I think she’s upset or something. Maybe one too many shots, I’m not sure.”
“Was Dominguez here? Did he say something to her?” I feel the heat rising in me at the thought of that asshole upsetting Piper. Again.
“Whoa there, cowboy. Literally. He was here but it was fine. She’s just been really quiet and seems pretty down about something. Maybe you can just talk to her or something. I’ve got to go. Taylor can’t handle this by himself.”
“Sure. Oh, what does her costume look like? So I can find her?”
A very evil smile takes over my far-from-angelic sister’s face. “Oh you’ll know when you see her.”
That’s all she offers as she walks away laughing. It’s actually more of a cackle than a laugh. She should have dressed as Cruella de Vil. Shaking my head, I start out on my quest to find Piper and the guys. The moment I spot her I stop dead in my tracks.
Holy fuck.
My sister is equally my favorite and least favorite person right now. When we agreed to these costumes Piper was supposed to be dressed as a princess. In my mind she was going to be dressed in some sort of big poufy pink monstrosity of a costume. Hair piled high with a crown or something on her head. Of course, she’d look jaw dropping and exactly as a princess should. Maybe a little sexy in the cleavage department but that was about it.
What stands before me is far from that. She’s a princess, only instead of inspired by Cinderella she’s a modern version of Princess Leia. Golden bikini Leia. A princess that my dick obviously approves of.
Giving myself this undetected moment, only this moment, to take her in. I swear on whatever anyone wants me to swear on that as soon as I take in this beauty in front of me from head to toe I’ll go back to seeing my friend. My platonic friend. Screw it, I’m starting from the bottom and working my way up to those eyes.
Her long skirt just skims the floor as she stands there. It sits low on her hips, so that her perfect belly button draws my attention to a part of her body that suddenly causes my mouth to go dry. I visibly gulp as it becomes evident that Piper is not only an avid runner but must also spend a lot of time doing crunches. Mindlessly taking a drink of my beer, my gaze finds the swell of her breasts. Nestled in what some would call a bathing suit top, a top that should only be worn in private, I am stunned stupid. It’s a top that should only be seen behind closed doors and finding its way to the floor. My floor.
I may be a good guy, but I am a man in the end. And a liar since I basically told my sister not less than five minutes ago that I wasn’t a boob man. Which is technically true. I’m a woman man. I like women and don’t find myself attracted to one body part. Even with Piper this holds true, I’m a fan of the entire Piper Lawrence package. My dreaming self is to blame for the boob part.
Now that I’ve said boob in my head enough to make these jeans extra tight below my holster, I need to refocus. Forcing my gaze from the distractions at chest level, I linger for a brief moment at the clavicle. How does this woman make a collar bone sexy? I’m not sure, but she does.
When my eyes finally reach her beautiful face, my breath catches. Her lips are plump, like she’s been biting them, or even kissing someone, as she wraps them around the tiny straw in her glass. The thought of the latter option for their plumpness makes my blood boil. Her cheeks are flushed and I think Ashton is right. She seems to be a little more than tipsy and a lot more than distracted or unhappy. Looking down into the glass of amber liquid, she doesn’t seem to be aware of my recent assessment of her. Just as I’m about to turn back for the bar to grab her a glass of water in case it’s the former, she looks up and catches my eyes.
I swear time stops for a fraction of a second. Suddenly the music is gone and the voices are a dull hum. The only noise I hear clearly is the blood pulsing in my ears.
Then a smile takes over Piper’s face and all I can think of doing is taking her out of here and kissing her until those lips are swollen from mine. I return the smile instead and walk toward her.
“Princess.”
“Ben.” Her voice is raspy as she sighs my name. That voice that is always honey sweet wraps itself around my insides and tugs.
“Well that is certainly some outfit you have there. I wasn’t expecting this princess.”
Rolling her eyes at me as she sets her glass on a nearby table, she laughs. “Neither was I. Your sister is a bitch. But I love her and didn’t have a backup plan. So, here I am. Princess fucking Leia. It’s awful, isn’t it?”
She begins to pat away lint from her skirt that doesn’t exist, fidgeting enough that I begin to worry that top will not contain her assets.
“It’s something, but it most definitely is not awful. You look a little tipsy there, Princess. You want a water?”
Furrowing her brow, she isn’t given an opportunity to respond before Jameson slaps me on the back and loudly exclaims how hot Piper looks. It’s my turn to shoot him a look through a furrowed brow. I can tell the moment my dislike of his comment registers because he slowly removes his hand from the spot on my shoulder where his hand landed.
“Sorry, Pipe. But you really do look hot. Where ya been, man? You missed some hot chicks tonight.”
“Excuse me, guys, I’m going to the restroom,” Piper grits out between her teeth before scurrying away.
Interesting response to a simple comment. Very interesting. Her reaction isn’t lost on me, or Jameson for that matter.
“What’s her problem? She’s been like that all night. The only time I’ve seen her look like she’s having any fun was just now with you two talking. I thought you agreed to only be friends?”
“We did. We are. I think she’s just uncomfortable in that outfit. Where are Landon and Owen?”
“They took off already. Twins.”
“Got it. No twins for you?”
“Twins? No. A girl? Yep. She’s saying goodbye to her friends before we take off. I just wanted to see if Piper needed a lift. Sasha isn’t drinking tonight and said she’d give Piper a ride. Ya know, before she gives me one.” Obviously his own favorite audience, Jameson is quite pleased with that innuendo.
“Really? You kiss your mom with that mouth? Shit, you kiss my mom with that mouth? You’re a dick, you know that?”
“Lighten up. I’m just kidding. But really, we’re going to take off. Maybe you should offer to take Piper home. She rode with us so she doesn’t have her car anyway. You know, maybe spend some time with your friend. And that costume.”
Without waiting for a response Jameson shouts to Piper that I’ll take her home and walks up to the girl who must be Sasha, scooping her up and causing her to let out a squeal as he starts carrying her toward the door. Another blonde in his long string of blondes. I guess when you have a type, you have a type.
“You don’t have to take me home, Ben. I can take a cab. That was the plan anyway.”
“That’s silly, Pipe. I’m already here. Besides, I am so over this costume and it’s only been on an hour. Should we tell Ashton you’re leaving?” We both look to the bar and see a line three people wide and at least thirty people deep and agree not to bother Ash.
As we walk out the door and start toward my truck I notice Piper isn’t as graceful as she usually is. “You okay there, Princess?”
“Yeah. I didn’t drink that much, I swear. I’m just not that graceful.”
“Well, come on then, let’s get you home.” I offer my hand to help her and am surprised when she takes it. Like each time before that she’s allowed me to hold it, I savor the feeling of her tiny hand in mine. I know this moment may end at any time. One day she won’t grant me this small gift and that will devastate me just a little.
“Ben?” she asks me as she slows her pace so I am forced to stop and turn to her, never letting go of her hand.
“Will you take me to your house? I don’t want to go home.”
“Piper, you’re drunk. You don’t want to drive all the way out to my house. Another time.”
I can’t believe I just told her no.
“I’m sorry. I get it. You don’t want to hang out with me.” Dropping my hand, she continues, “I’ll just get a cab instead. Have a good night.”
Before she can turn and take a step, I grab her hand back. This time I interlock our fingers and tug her toward me. “I want nothing more than to hang out with you, Piper.” A small smile takes over her face, making it hard to resist her. But I do.
“I’m not drunk, Ben. I may be a little tipsy, but by the time we get to your house I’ll be fine. I just don’t want to be alone. I’m tired of being alone. Please?”
“Woman, you are killing me.” A half smile appears on her face. Perfection. “Let’s go.”
“Yay! Okay, come on!” she shouts and drags me to my truck. Never letting my hand go.