PIPER
Waves roll against the shoreline of Cooper’s Beach, mixing with the soft music drifting from the white marquee tents set up along the sand.
One thing I can say about Arthur Lockwood is that the man has good taste. He also knows how to throw a good party. Today’s event is more laidback, set right on the beach.
Servers weave through clusters of wealthy guests carrying champagne and tiny silver trays of hors d’oeuvres while photographers linger near the entrance, pretending they’re here for the charity event and not the gossip surrounding half the people attending.
People like me.
I arrived ten minutes ago and am walking on thin ice.
Levi and I have been the talk of the city again. But this time, the paparazzi really did a number on us. Letting things slip that weren’t supposed to.
I’m meeting Levi here. He returns from his trip to Japan today.
Like the week before, it’s been a week since I saw him. The biggest differences between that time and now are that I’ve been living in his house. And we slept together.
Apart from the text he sent me earlier today checking in about tonight, I haven’t spoken to him.
“Oh my God.” Ellie Mae rushes up to me and grips my arm so dramatically she nearly spills her drink. “Miss Piper Andrews, you and your sweetheart are officially the talk of the Hamptons.”
I laugh off key. “Please don’t remind me. I’ve been trying to escape.”
She laughs brightly, entirely unbothered. “Honey, it’s already everywhere. There is no escape.” Unfortunately, she’s right.
“I think it’s amazing you and Levi have moved in together.”
There. That’s the latest in the ongoing soap opera known as my life.
The whole of New York thinks Levi and I have moved in together. The news broke a few days ago, and thanks to Marlene and the library, Aunt Bess and the rest of my family know, too.
Everywhere I’ve looked, there have been headlines and blurry paparazzi photos plastered across entertainment pages and gossip accounts online.
I found pictures of Levi and me walking through the harbor together getting coffee. Of boxes being carried into his house by the movers and of me entering and leaving said house.
Apparently, there have been photographers outside the house at several points and even following me around. I didn’t notice a damn thing.
I’m horrified and deeply embarrassed.
“Why didn’t you guys tell us you were moving in?” Ellie Mae chortles.
“It was just so… sudden,” I say, trying to sound casual.
Ellie Mae waves a dismissive hand. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s exciting news.”
Easy for her to say. But at least she looks delighted by all of this.
“You two are beautiful together,” she gushes. “Arthur and I were saying it all through dinner the other night.”
I laugh nervously because what exactly am I supposed to say?
The problem is… I don’t even fully know what Levi and I are.
Being with him was like nothing else. It shifted us into something more.
But I can’t walk around with my head in the clouds just because we had a night of amazing sex.
A warm breeze lifts my hair, and Ellie Mae loops her arm through mine.
