Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Kaye shook her head, her knuckles stark white as she gripped the counter. Blood trickled from the side of her mouth as she bit her bottom lip, moaning in ecstasy. A part of me wanted to push her until she screamed so loud that she’d have the entire house barging into the bathroom. I had her right where I wanted, blissed out and completely at my mercy. My pretty girl was desperate for my touch, my tongue, my fucking love. I realized an irrefutable truth: Kaye Cavendish would always be mine. No matter the time or distance, nothing could tear us apart.
“No one else will ever make you burn with unbridled passion and desire.”
I sucked her clit into my mouth before letting it pop from my lips. “Tell me, Kaye. Tell me who you belong to?”
“Yours. I’m yours, Piper.”
“And I’m yours.”
“You gonna ditch the groupie?” Shiraz asks, pulling me from my memories.
“I already did. That girl slurped way too loud.”
Shiraz’s husky laugh filled the space. “You sure that was the real problem?”
I shrug. “I like to eat, and that girl made me lose my appetite.”
“You know you’re a shitty liar, right?”
“The truth isn’t much better. It’s kind of fucked up to be stuck up on the first girl you’ve ever loved. A girl I haven’t seen in ten years. A girl I’m not sure wants to be with me. I mean, sure, she reacts to my touch, but goddamn it, she fuckin’ walked out and never looked back. Who walks out on someone they claim to love?”
Shiraz tilts her head and smiles sadly, her dark curls falling to the side of her shoulder. “People don’t always leave for selfish reasons. Sometimes, people leave to survive or because they have no other choice. Sometimes, people leave to save the ones they love.”
Shiraz’s words weigh heavy on my chest. She knows the realities of needing to escape more than anyone. Her mother risked her life to escape Iran with her. Her father wasn’t a good guy, and the laws in that country ensured he would have gained custody of Shiraz, banishing her mother from ever seeing her again. A part of me feels like shit, moaning about a girl I loved and lost ten years ago when I know others have been through so much worse.
Shiraz rises from the chair and steps toward me. She places her hands on my shoulder, steadying me. “Piper, sometimes life doesn’t happen the way we want. There are moments that change the trajectory of our lives in deep and complicated ways. Sometimes, we get a chance to set things right. Don’t impede your happiness. You aren’t a teenager anymore, and neither is she. Talk to her. See if she feels the way you do.”
“What if she doesn’t want me?” Fear pricks my heart because my question hits on the profound truth of it all. I’m scared of rejection, of her walking away from me again.
“Then you move on.”
I allow Shiraz’s words to permeate in my very being. Words that echo the truth of the matter but also tilt my world and threaten to shatter my fragile heart.
I look my friend directly in the eye and lay my biggest fears bare at her feet. “I’m so scared she won’t stay.”
CHAPTER 11
Kaye
Iavoid Piper for a week. Instead of watching the shows, I hide in my hotel room or on my tour bus. As much as I long to hash out our twisted history and work out the lingering pain of the past ten years, I fear a conversion will boil over and make things worse. But after a week of stewing by myself, I realize that to get what I want; I have to put myself out there and risk being decimated into a million pieces.
“I know I’m the worst person to give you advice, but you’ve gotta jump in order to fly.”
I turn my head and look up at Marley in his gas mask. “Yes, but the idea of plummeting to my death has me hesitating.”
Marley drapes his arm around me, bringing me in for a quick hug. “If things go south, we’ll be here to pick you up. You’re not alone. Remember that.”
I nod as Lifeless Lies finishes their last song and steps off the stage. Piper is laughing until she spots me standing in the shadows.
“What did you do with my groupie?” she asks.
Following my talk with Marley, I reached out to a manager friend and had Sonya join their tour bus. I needed that girl as far away from Piper as possible. I knew their relationship was a ruse to get under my skin, but I also hated her touching Piper.
“I made sure she had something shinier to play with.”
“Good for her.” Piper chuckles as she moves past me. “I was getting bored with her, anyway.”