As I stood back and stared at her laughing and full of happiness, I didn’t really care if she wanted to pretend Saturday didn’t happen. That wasn’t an option any longer.
I was in this deep.
Hayley glanced up and moved her attention from me to my brother. She smiled shyly at Christian and mumbled something to Piper before pushing off the locker and coming over.
Piper’s head flew up and over to me, and I grabbed onto my backpack straps even tighter.
Hey there, Piper. Remember me?
Her eyes were wide as she froze in place. Her hand was still half inside her locker, resting on one of her books as her lips fell apart. I strode over to her, and even though everyone was pouring into the hallway, gathering their own books, it might as well have been only her in front of me.
“Hey,” I said, sliding up beside her. Piper straightened her shoulders at the last second and ran a hand down her plaid skirt. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and then continued gathering her books.
“Hey, what’s up?”
I held back a laugh as I rested my shoulder against the lockers. “Is that how you think this is gonna go?” Piper kept digging through her locker. Her bright cheeks were clearly evident, even through the fallen strands of her hair. “I don’t think so, Piper.”
She slowly brought her books to her chest and peered up at me with those forest-green eyes. I swore they grew even greener under the fluorescent lights.
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone already knows there’s something going on between us. You know that, right?”
She sucked her bottom lip in her teeth, and my eyes zeroed right in. I knew Piper was being innocent with her lip playing peek-a-boo in between her teeth, but I really wished she would stop. It was hot.
Piper moved her gaze around the hallway, and I knew without even looking up, that all eyes were on us. Which was perfect. Let them see me claim her.
“Everyone is looking at us,” she whispered as her head dipped. Piper wasn’t used to the attention. She was used to being on the sidelines, being nearly invisible. She liked it that way, too.
My hands dropped from my backpack, and they found her waist. I pulled her toward me. The only thing between us were her books that were clung tightly to her chest. “Good,” I whispered. “Let them see this.”
“See wh—”
My mouth was on hers in a flash. The clawing anxiety that had left its scratch marks on my back yesterday instantly healed. The softness of her lips, the warmness of her tongue—it did things to me. Things I couldn’t even put into words.
Once I pulled back, she gasped for air. Her eyes were wide, and that fire was burning ever so hot between us.
I reached up and tucked a stray hair behind Piper’s ear, and her eyes glistened. “That. That’s what I wanted them to see.”
A ghost of a smile fell on her lips. “People have seen you kiss a girl before, Ollie. What are you trying to prove to them?”
I cupped my hand around her cheek. “I’m not trying to prove anything to them, Piper. I’m trying to prove it to you.”
Piper didn’t mumble a single word, and I hated that I couldn’t tell what she was feeling. A bout of unease came over me. I’d never laid so much out on the line before. I’d never had a girlfriend. I had fucked girls, kissed them under the bleachers, and taken them in the locker room, but had a girlfriend? Never. It’d never even crossed my mind. Until now.
Piper waited a few more seconds before she reached up on her tiptoes and placed her lips on mine. It was a soft kiss, a chaste one, but when she pulled back and smiled, I was in awe.
She adjusted her books against her chest, and before she grabbed my hand and walked us over to our friends, she whispered, “I guess I just claimed you, too.”
Our fingers intertwined.
“But, Ollie?”
“Yeah?” I asked, glancing down at her.
“Don’t break my heart.”
Pride swelled in my chest. “Never.”