Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(53)

“No shit? Dude, that blows, but I told you Reese was a man-eater. Hell, even she will admit it.”

Phillip ran his hands through his hair. “I know, but I thought maybe I was different. She didn’t act stuck up when she was with me. We laughed. We had a great time. The sex was so f*cking hot, and I liked her, even with her clothes on. I mean, that has to mean something, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Well, to her it didn’t.”

Erik shook his head. “Sucks, dude.”

“We have so much in common. We talked about everything. It wasn’t always about sex, and I just don’t get it. I don’t understand. Why aren’t I enough for her?”

Erik didn’t say anything for a moment and then asked, “You love her or something?”

“Or something,” Phillip admitted, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

Erik sucked in a breath. “Damn, that sucks. I know what Piper did to me. Absolutely destroyed me emotionally, in a good way, but I thought it was a bad way. Anyway, you know the story, but Piper is soft while Reese is hard. That girl has some issues. I hate it for you, man, but this might be the one to let go.”

Erik was right. “I know, but I can’t. I can’t let her go; I can’t do anything, because all I do is sit here and try to figure out how I could make her see that I am worth the chance.”

“Why work to make anyone see, dude? It should just happen.”

“True, but did Piper give up?”

Erik looked away and slowly shook his head. “No, she didn’t.”

“And I don’t think I can give up on Reese. I ‘or something’ her.”

Erik chuckled. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I have no clue. If I knew, I wouldn’t have spent the last two weeks wrecked beyond repair.”

“Hey guys.”

Both men turned to see Piper smiling at them. Dimitri let out a shriek, and her smile grew.

“Baby, I didn’t hear you come in,” Erik said, getting up to greet her. She had been at the spa with her sister Harper, and maybe Reese.

“Snuck in on y’all. What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing,” Erik said dismissively as he wrapped his arms around her.

“How long have you been standing there?” Phillip asked. Uneasiness settled in his stomach as Piper looked over at him with a grin that told him she had been there for a while and heard everything he said.

But all she did was shrug her shoulders and say, “I just got here. Why, what were y’all talking about?”

Fuck. She heard him.

“Nothing, baby. Mmm, you smell good,” Erik said, running his nose up into her hair, causing her to giggle.

“Stop,” she said halfheartedly before looking at Phillip. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing,” he said, noting that she wasn’t fighting to know what they were talking about, which confirmed that she heard them. The only thing he wondered was what that meant. Would she call Reese? Should he ask her not to?

Damn it. What should he do?

“Why don’t we go out? I have a babysitter, and I think Audrey and Tate want to go.”

“Sure,” he said, even though he had no desire to go out. Claire was home tonight; he should go and sit with her, but she was studying for mid-terms and said she couldn’t be bothered. That was why he was at Erik’s, to give her peace, and maybe that was good because the more Piper kept smiling, the more he knew he had to get her drunk and find out what she heard.

And then beg her not to tell Reese.

And then ask her what she thought he should do.

Because he had no clue.



“Nice of you to answer my calls!”

Reese let out a breath. “You called six times in a row. Then you were smart and called me from Erik’s phone, so yeah, I answered. I’m guessing everyone is okay?”

“Oh everyone is fine, why are you screening and ignoring calls?”

Reese shrugged, pulling her sweatshirt down. “No reason, just being lazy. Been working hard, we have Chicago coming up for competition.”

It was all a lie. She was tired and being lazy, but Chicago wasn’t the reason she was ignoring everyone calls. Chicago may be huge for the studio, but it was a cakewalk for her dancers. They always dominated, and she was actually surprised that Piper seemed to believe her lie.

“That’s cool. Yeah, I thought maybe you were upset or something.”

“Why would I be upset?”

“You sound upset, and I haven’t seen you in two weeks.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy. I’m fine. Great even. Ready for Chicago.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m glad, but it would still be nice to see you. What have you been up to, other than working?”

Absolutely nothing.

“Oh you know, the regular stuff.”

She laughed. “Do I even want to know how many men you’ve been messing with?”

Zero, but who was counting? Oh no, wait, she took that back, Ben and Jerry counted, right? That was two!

Reese laughed to cover up the fact she wanted to cry. She never cried. Never over a guy, except for Kevin. He was the only guy she had ever cried over as an adult, and then Phillip comes along and it was like he ripped her apart when she told him to leave. Why did it hurt so much? Why did she care? She told him to leave and instead of living the way she had been, she had been holed up in her apartment. She was a sad excuse for a single woman.