The shift of Piper moving in my passenger seat had me coming back to reality. I poked her again.
“Do you remember the way my lips felt on that spot behind your ear? Or how about the way your body fit so perfectly in my hands? Your soft skin rubbing on my rough calluses. Do you remember that, Piper?”
She was breathing faster, focusing her attention on anything but me. “Knock it off, Ollie.”
I knew I was pushing her buttons, making her sweat in the passenger seat of my car. My chest was heaving with a hunger for her. Even as Piper threatened to take away the one thing I held under lock and key, I still found myself craving her. I enjoyed watching her squirm.
“Admit it, Piper. Say it out loud. If you’re going to blackmail me, you might as well play dirty.”
The way her lips felt on mine that night was forever branded into my brain. We were sloppy and desperate. Lips on lips, skin on skin. Piper and I were forever different after that night. I never thought I’d see her again.
And yet, here we were, stuck inside a car together with her basically blackmailing me.
“You forced me into playing dirty, Ollie. If you would just leave this alone, everything would be fine.”
My voice was low, hoarse. “Admit it, Piper.”
Her hand rested on the door handle as my pulse thickened. I wasn’t even sure why I wanted her to admit it. I knew it was her that night, and she knew it was me. It didn’t matter if it was said aloud, and yet, I wanted to hear it.
The cool air sliced through the car when she opened her door. It was a welcome break in the hot-and-heavy feeling, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook. “Fucking admit it, Piper.” My own voice surprised me. It was rough and demanding, laced with anger.
At the last second, with her leg hanging out the door, Piper snapped her head over to me. Our eyes locked. “I’ll admit it if you stay out of this and keep your mouth shut. This is my thing. My business. I don’t want anyone to know.”
My chest actually ached as the word tumbled out. “Fine.” No. Not fine.
Piper’s tongue quickly darted out to lick her lips before the words flew out of her mouth. “I know it was you at the Wellington Prep party. I remember every minute of how it felt with your hands on my body. But that also means I know who you truly are, Ollie. And I swear to God, I’ll tell Christian everything if you don’t stay out of this. I’ll tell him you’ve been racing, too.”
I felt the muscles in my face go lax as she stepped all the way out of my Charger and slammed the door so hard it made me clench my teeth. Disappointment washed over me. I thought I would have been happier to hear her admit it. I thought a feeling of euphoria would have rained down on my shoulders. I thought it would have given me back the feeling of control, but that was not what I felt at all.
Piper was being blatantly ruthless.
She didn’t want my help with whatever the hell she got herself mixed in, and maybe it was time I listened to her. After all, she just threw me a curve ball.
“I’ll tell your secret.”
Fine, Piper. You fucking win.
Chapter Nine
Piper
Twenty seconds.
I was giving myself twenty seconds to breathe before I had to put on a brave face in front of my friends and act like everything was A-okay. How I went from being at Eric’s party on Friday with them, to seeing my brother bloody on the bathroom floor, to some sketched-out race in the boonies with Cole and Ollie by my side, to school on a crisp Monday morning, I had no idea.
I scanned the entrance of English Prep as I sat in my driver’s seat while students zipped through the parking lot to park their high-end cars before the first bell rang. It was chaotic on the outside of my car, but if I just sat inside and stared at the wrought-iron doors and lush greenery covering the stone on the school, I’d feel safe.
Calm.
The outside of my car depicted what I’d felt all day yesterday: chaos. I wasn’t sure when it’d happened, but I was in way too deep with my brother’s shit. The urge to run and tell my parents was strong, almost deafening, but I knew they wouldn’t do anything. It was on the tip of my tongue when they FaceTimed me last night. My father continued to ask if everything was alright, and after the third time, I almost gave in. But then, Tank’s words sounded in the back of my head, and I lied again. The sad thing was that I couldn’t even blame my parents for not wanting to help Jason. He had screwed my parents over more times than I could count. He’d screwed over everyone. Even me. If you looked up the word selfish in the dictionary, Jason’s face would be beside it.
But yet, here I was, stuck in the deep end, waving my arms frantically, all while my brother was tied like a chain around my ankles, dragging me under the water each and every time he messed up and begged for me to save him. He knew I’d help him, because it was what I did. I tried my hardest to fix people. It was a fault of mine. I recognized it, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop doing it. I wanted to fix Jason so badly. I wanted things to go back to normal.
A sigh left my mouth as I opened my car door and stepped out, lugging my backpack behind me. The early morning breeze floated around and caused goosebumps to rise on the skin peeking between my knee-high socks and the hem of my plaid skirt. I scanned the courtyard, noting that Hayley wasn’t here yet, and neither was Ollie—not that I was keeping track.
My stomach burned each and every time he crossed my mind yesterday. Things got heated between us Saturday night, and when he’d sped away from my house, I felt sick.
I was certain he truly hated me for what I’d said. I’d blackmailed him. I threw something in his face that I shouldn’t have, but it was the only way to make him stay out of it.