Page 30 of Holding Penalty

Itold myself I was crazy as I drove the way here this morning.

There was no chance that Piper—a girl I hardly know, and who’s more or less hated me for most of the time we have known each other—would run away from the altar to get into my truck.

But I also told Piper that I’d be in that parking lot in case she did, and I try to be a man of my word.

Now that we’re on the highway and Piper’s sitting next to me, the wind blowing through the open windows and ruffling her wedding dress, the whole damn world feels crazy.

It’s damn hard to keep my eyes on the road with Piper sitting next to me in her white wedding dress, perfect makeup, and her hair done up like she’s … well, like she’s about to walk down the aisle.

The thought sneaks into my head that maybe it’d be damn hard to keep my eyes on the road with Piper sitting next to me no matter what she was wearing.

She’s only been in this truck while wearing fancy dresses with perfect makeup and hair. I wonder how it would feel to have her next to me wearing something more casual. Like cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt. The image flashes in my mind, but I chase it away, because I shouldn’t be half-hard while driving a girl away from her wedding. Something about that just seems wrong.

“What are you supposed to do after you abscond from a wedding?” Piper asks.

There’s a note of freedom in her voice that makes my chest feel light.

That’s how Piper’s supposed to sound. She’s not supposed to sound constrained, like she did the last time I talked to her. She’s not supposed to sound like she’s doing something just because she doesn’t have any other options.

I can’t say I knew Piper well for those two years we lived next to each other, but I sure as hell knew enough to know that’s not her.

“I don’t know,” I answer. “My own broke up before we made it this far.”

I feel Piper’s gaze on me. “You were engaged?”

“Surprised someone could put up with me that long?”

I expect Piper to enthusiastically agree. But instead, she asks, “What happened?”

I work my jaw, getting ready to answer. “Found out she’d been cheating.”

In my peripheral vision, I can sense Piper’s lips tug down. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“Well, some people don’t find out until after the wedding. Guess we’re the lucky ones.”

The laugh that pops out of Piper’s mouth is dripping with enough irony to fill the bed of my truck. “Oh, yeah, lucky us.”

Piper’s phone starts going crazy with notifications. “Looks like they’ve discovered my absence,” she says.

I grunt in acknowledgment.

“I really should talk to my sister and my mom. I mean, I don’t want them to think I was literally kidnapped. Could get you into trouble if I’m spotted in your truck in that case.”

She slyly nudges me, and the contact has my stomach twisting in a way I didn’t think it was capable of at this age. I just grunt again.

I try to tune out Piper’s conversation as she assures her mom and sister that she’s okay. I might be her getaway driver as she runs away from her wedding, but I don’t want to stick my nose in too much of her business. What I pick up is that she tells them she found out Crew was cheating, that she can’t go through with the wedding, and that she’ll talk more later because she needs space.

After she hangs up, we’re silent for a while as my truck eats up the empty road in front of us.

“How are you feeling?” I ask.

“Hungry.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Sorry. It’s just, I was the same way. When Bridgett and I broke up. I thought I’d be mopey all day, have no appetite. But I was starving. I ordered a large pizza with mozzarella sticks and ate the whole thing in one sitting.”

I’ve never told anyone about that before. Never really talked to anyone about what happened between Bridgett and me at all.

Piper laughs, too. “Look at us, bonding over being cheated on. How pathetic.”