Chapter Twelve
Ifeel likecrap.Piper forced herself to get out of bed the following morning, and her reflection confirmed it. She looked as though she had the worst hangover ever, and she hadn’t even got drunk.
She buried her face in her hands. Talk about royally fucking up. She’d said all the wrong things last night, but that didn’t excuse Mason. He’d been a complete arse.
No he hadn’t.He’d never promised her anything but a good time, and she had to give him credit for coming through onthat. It wasn’t his fault she now wanted more.
She dragged her fingers through her hair. She should’ve told him it was over when they parted last night. They obviously wanted different things, but she hadn’t been able to summon up the words. Because then it really would be final, and there’d be no chance of him ever changing his mind.
He’s never going to change his mind.Even if things were different, and hehadwanted to be exclusive, Colton was always going to come between them. Sooner or later Mason would discover why his brother had taken his bike that night. How could he forgive her for something like that?
How could I ever think we could really be together?A forbidden one night stand with her teenage crush that nobody ever found out about was one thing. But it could never be anything more. It wasn’t as though Mason could take her back to meet his parents.
She’d already met his parents.I see his parents every single year.They might love her now, in a low level kind of way, but if they knew what she’d been doing with their other son they’d be horrified. And if they ever found out she had finished with Colton on the night he died, they’d hate her.
Why did it have to be Mason Hunter who’d finally broken through the walls she’d erected around her heart five years ago? The one man she could never have a real future with. Except she already knew the answer.
It was because he’d stolen her heart back then, and she’d never truly got it back.
“Piper.” Her sister’s voice echoed through the flat. “Are you still asleep? You’re going to be late for work.”
She stumbled into her en-suite and had the fastest shower ever. Not that it helped with the headache or gritty eyes. She steeled her nerves and went into the living room, and just like she’d guessed, Peyton rounded on her. “Oh my God. You look wrecked. What’s the matter?”
She swung Alfie into her arms and gave him a hug, and avoided her sister’s curious gaze. “We had an argument.”That’s one way of looking at it.Easier than saying she’d just faced the fact that no matter how much she wished otherwise, she and Mason weren’t going to make it.
“Must’ve been some argument. What was it about?”
Alfie wriggled and she set him back on the floor before taking a deep breath and turning to her sister. “It doesn’t matter. Things can never work between us. I just lost sight of that for a while.”
Peyton stared at her. For a crazy second Piper thought she’d dodged a bullet. And then her sister spoke. “This is me you’re talking to, Piper Thomas. Did he dump you last night?”
It was ridiculous how much Peyton’s comment stung. “No, he didn’t.”
“So you’re seeing each other again?”
She wanted to sayof course we are. But was that true? “I don’t know.” It hurt to admit. And even though she didn’t have time for a heart-to-heart this morning she collapsed onto the sofa and hugged a cushion. “He said he’d call, but we both know what that’s code for.”
“Only after a one night stand.” Anyone would think Peyton was speaking from experience. “He wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t mean it.”
“This is Mason Hunter we’re talking about, Pey. Let’s face it. With our history it was never going to lead anywhere permanent.”
Peyton made a sound of disgust and joined Piper on the sofa. “I saw the way he looked at you. Like there was no one else in the room. Nothing like his creepy brother.”
It wasn’t the first time her sister had said something like that. But had Mason really looked at her in that way?
Not that it mattered. She knew him far better than Peyton, and Mason only wanted her for sex. They’d definitely confirmedthatlast night. If he’d wanted anything serious he would have invited her back to his place at least once during the last month.
I have to face it.Whatever they had was now over. She squeezed the cushion tighter but it didn’t help the dull ache in her chest.I’m not going to cry.But as the silence stretched between them interrupted only by Alfie pretending to be a helicopter, Peyton’s comment about Colton thudded through her mind. And finally she figured out why it was bothering her.
“He said the strangest thing last night. That he was sorry he wasn’t Colton.”
“You were talking about hisbrother?”
“No, of course I wasn’t. It was totally random. After telling me this was only a casual affair,”okay, I said that but he didn’t disagree,“he said something about not being a diamonds and flowers guy. I mean what’s that all about?”
Instead of looking confused, comprehension dawned on her sister’s face. “He saw the earrings on your bed.”
“What?” And then she remembered.Shit.Everything Colton had ever given her had been spread out over her bed, and Mason had seen it all. And never said a word.
