When We Fall (Take the Fall, #2)(48)

“And I’ll be damned before I allow that f*cker to get anywhere near Piper again. She’s too trusting and vulnerable,” I add.

Rowan’s eyes become round. “You’re in love. Holy crap, you’re in love with my best friend.”

I can’t deny it, yet I can’t agree with it, either. I get up from the table and take my plate to the sink. “Thanks for dinner. Sorry I can’t stay for dessert. I have to go after Piper.”

“Tell her you looooove her,” Rowan shouts as I make my way to the back door.

Easy for her to say. She’s been in love with the same guy since she was born while I screwed as many girls as possible until I went to prison. Giselle and I didn’t have a serious relationship. Everyone thought we did, but I never gave a damn about her and she sure as hell didn’t care about my feelings.

As I walk outside, I spy Piper’s BMW in the drive. Either she walked home or is waiting on me.

“Took you long enough,” she says, emerging from the shadows.

There’s just enough light from the sunset that I can see the tracks of tears on her face. Shit. I made her cry. I’m no better than her family.

“Wasn’t sure what to say exactly,” I admit.

“Shouldn’t matter. You should have come after me.” Sniffing a little, she looks away. “I keep doing the chasing. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

“Is that what this is about? You want to be pursued?”

She shakes her head. “No. Yes…do you know how hard it is to constantly pretend that it doesn’t matter you’re not good enough?”

“Yeah, I think I do.” Especially when it comes to her.

“I meant with me—do you have to worry about living up to or surpassing an ex-boyfriend of mine’s reputation or hold on me?”

“No, I don’t,” I say slowly. Is that what she thinks? That Giselle still holds sway over me?

“That must be nice, because I do.” She looks at me, misery in her eyes. “You yelled at me in front of your sister and Seth because you’re still pissed off at a guy for what Giselle did to you.”

I take a step toward her and frame her face in my hands. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you—you’re completely right about that. However, if you had stuck around, you would have heard the real reason why I was so pissed. I was scared as f*ck, Piper. Mark Williams isn’t a piece of shit because he f*cked my ex. He’s a piece of shit because he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“I don’t understand. He’s creepy but harmless.”

Clearly, she doesn’t have a clue about his reputation, and I’m more than a little relieved that she doesn’t, yet scared shitless at the same time. “Mark has a certain kind of reputation with women.”

She rolls her eyes. “So do you.”

“It’s not the same, kitten.”

“Because he’s from The Oaks like me?”

I dust my thumb across her bottom lip. “Not at all.”

She snorts in disbelief. “Yeah, right. Even your sister is a snob when it comes to people from there. It’s like I’m an anomaly or something.”

“Not an anomaly—you’re precious and mine to protect.”

“I don’t need protection from the world.” She pulls away from me, but I grab her arm before she can go.

“He doesn’t listen when women say no, but I can’t prove it. I can only go by what I’ve stopped from happening and what I’ve heard. It terrifies me that he would take advantage of your sweetness.”

Her lips smash together. Piper doesn’t ask me why I can’t prove it. She knows the imbalance of power in my life and, as someone who went to college to become a social worker, she knows all too well why women stay silent.

“Why didn’t you say so instead of yelling and making me feel like crap?” she asks.

“Because when I get scared, I get pissed, and that’s how I share it with the world.”

“Try something different next time, like talking and asking questions. I made a promise to be truthful to you because I get that it’s a very big deal. But I need the same kind of consideration from you. I don’t like being yelled at in public, or in private, for that matter.”

“I can’t promise not to get upset, but I can promise to work on my reaction.”

Her pretty eyes search my face. “That’s fair.”

I hate arguing with Piper, but making up with her could be something we both enjoy. “Since neither of us had dessert, how about we go home and I feed you ice cream in bed?”

“How about I lick it off of you instead?” She runs a hand down my chest. “Or I can let you lick it off of me?”

Just like that my dick is hard, and I’m ready to throw her over my shoulder. “Why not both?”

She takes my hand. “Ladies first, right?”

I smirk at her. “Always.”





Chapter 15





Jase


As soon as I get to the shop the next afternoon, I grab Emmett and pull him into the office. “We need to get shit straight.” Yeah, Piper suggested a meeting to write down goals, but I’m liable to stab Emmett with a pen instead.