Say You Still Love Me(122)

I fight the tears but they win, streaming down my cheeks. After seeing Kyle every day for almost an entire summer, this is goodbye. For now. “You’ll call me, right?”

“Yes.” He reaches up to wipe a tear away with the pad of his thumb.

“I’m so sorry.” Not only has he lost his job, but that fine will eat into his savings.

He sighs. “What are you sorry about? This isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, but . . . I’m still sorry.”

“Piper!” my dad calls again. He begins marching back toward the parking lot, expecting me to follow.

“Come on, I’ll walk you.” Kyle takes a step forward.

I hesitate. “There? To him?”

He shrugs. “What’s he going to do, hit me?”

I grab my sleeping bag and pillow, and together we trudge across the front lawn. How long ago it seems now, that early summer day when Mom dropped me off here, reluctant and bitter.

Now I would do anything to stay. Anything to see Eric running around—naked or otherwise. Anything to be curled up in bed next to Kyle right now, where I should be.

Why did we have to be so stupid?

Darian is waiting for us where she met my father. Her face is drawn and tight. “Piper, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asks. “Alone?”

Kyle unloads my sleeping bag from my arms and continues on, my anxiety rising with each step that he takes toward the SUV.

Darian hands me an envelope. “This covers your pay up until this morning.”

“Thanks.” My gaze falls to my running shoes. “I’m sorry.”

She sighs heavily. “No . . . I’m sorry. Kyle and Eric were always a handful. I was na?ve enough to think I could handle them. I shouldn’t have allowed them back this year. Or I should have gotten rid of them after the first incident. If I had, Eric wouldn’t be lying in a hospital room.”

As much as I wish the same for Eric, I’m glad she let them come back—I can’t imagine not knowing Kyle, not having these memories—but I don’t voice that.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I haven’t talked to his parents yet. They’re still on their way from Erie. It’s quite a drive. But he was conscious, which is a good sign.” Her eyes drift over to the parking lot. “Your father. He’s a tough one, isn’t he?”

“Especially when he’s angry.” And he is facing off with Kyle now. Oh God. “I should go—”

“I’m not that much older than you guys. I remember what it was like to be young and in love. You can’t think of anything else. Nothing else matters. It’s all-consuming.” She smiles sadly. “And it feels like a part of you dies when you’ve lost it, a part you’ll never get back. But you will.”

I frown, wondering what she’s getting at. I haven’t lost Kyle. Sure, we’ll be three hours away from each other, but we’ll make it work.

I’ll make it work.

“I really wish this had gone a different way, Piper. I’m . . . very disappointed. You are a good counselor. I would have liked to have seen you here again next year.”

“I would have liked to have come.”

“I hope, if nothing else, you’ve learned from this.” She hesitates, but then wraps her arms around me. “Take care of yourself. And make better choices. That could have been you tumbling down those rocks.”

With that, I rush toward Kyle and my father. By the time I reach them, Kyle’s face is ghostly white and pained.

“Let’s go,” my dad commands. “It’ll be almost four A.M. by the time we get home.”

“I need a few minutes—”

“Piper.”

“Just a few minutes!” My voice cracks as I bark back, setting my jaw with defiance, though I tack on a “Please.”

His lips are a thin line. “I’ll take those.” He holds his hands out, staring intently at Kyle.

Kyle hands him my things, which he promptly passes to Eddie.

“You have two minutes to say goodbye.” He climbs into the SUV.

I grasp Kyle’s hands. “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before.” Kyle smiles, but I know it’s forced.

“Here.” I reach into my back pocket and pull out the stack of paychecks. “I signed all of them over to you.”

He’s already shaking his head. “No, I can’t—”

“Take it! Please. I don’t need it and you just lost a week of pay. Plus, this way you can afford to call me and come visit.”

His jaw clenches as he gently pushes my hand away. “I can’t, Piper. Thank you, though.”

This is it. I throw my arms around Kyle’s neck, my eyes watering again, panic seizing my insides. “I don’t want to leave you,” I whisper.

His arms tighten around my waist, squeezing me.

I pull away, just enough to press my lips against his, ever conscious of my father’s gaze from the backseat.

Kyle hesitates at first, but then he’s the one deepening the kiss.

“I love you so much,” I whisper against his mouth, crying now.

He blinks away a sheen in his own eyes. “I love you, too, Piper. Always. Remember that.”