25. Piper
PIPER
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Jackie Anne: @Theo Murf Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why aren’t you at your coffee shop???
Comments:
Kerry Winsor: Wait, he’s not there?
Hu Gh: I knew it. He quit. Kids never take things seriously these days! That’s why I always drink Tammy’s sludge.
Tammy Jane: You wanna reword that, old man?
Hu Gh: Fuck you.
Grace Day: Whoa, maybe we should all calm down.
Hu Gh: NEVER TELL AN OLD MAN TO CALM DOWN!!! I’VE HAD THREE CUPS OF SLUDGE AND I’M READY TO FIGHT.
Henry Connor: @Tammy Jane Do us all a favor and switch him to decaf, please. He’s under doctor’s orders to only have one cup a day.
Hu Gh: THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY! I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!
The next morning, I bounded out of bed, going through my morning routine with vigor. I walked out of the apartment early, eager to see Theo, even if we wouldn’t be talking until far later.
Even the line was short, and I hopped right into it.
That was when I saw that Kelsey was manning the front alone.
Theo was nowhere to be found, but as far as I’d heard, he never took days off. He had to be in the back. I would see him later.
“Hey,” I said when it was my turn.
Kelsey did a double take when she saw me. “Oh, hi. I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“You didn’t?”
“Yeah, I thought . . .” She shook her head. “Never mind. Want a drip coffee?”
“Yes, please.” I looked toward the back. “Where’s Theo?”
“Wow, getting right to the point, huh? No asking how I’m doing?”
“I care about how you’re doing! Sorry, I just—”
“You don’t have to explain.” She smiled, but then it faded. “And Theo isn’t here today.”
I blinked. “What? I thought he didn’t take days off.”
“That’s what I thought too. I had a feeling you’d been the one to change his mind, but maybe he finally crashed.”
Or maybe I pushed things too far last night.
He’d seemed to be in good spirits when he left, but I knew he could easily have been hiding it from me. I’d held him hostage late into the night.
Maybe he’d simply put on a brave face.
My shoulders fell and my mood deflated like a balloon. “Y-yeah. Maybe.”
Kelsey stared at me, no doubt seeing my emotions right on my face. “It’s probably nothing! Seriously, I doubt there’s anything you could do to offend him.”
Last night, I’d been the version of myself that I wanted to be.
Did he not like it? Did he go against what he promised and pushed himself for my sake?
Still, I didn’t want Kelsey to see just how much this hurt. Or at least, see it more than she already had.
“Right. He’s probably just resting.” I handed over my card. I couldn’t wait to get my drink and go hide in my apartment.
“There’s a drawing class at the library today,” she said as she got my drink. “You could distract yourself.”
“I’m fine.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes. “It’s okay if you’re not. But you did want to hang out with the girls. You could get a little bit of writing done here and then go.”
I bit my lip as I considered it. As much as I wanted to spend all of my time with Theo, I also knew that was unhealthy. He might have been the one person I could touch, but I also needed to make more friendships than I currently had.
I didn’t feel great after finding out Theo wasn’t here for the day, but I’d felt far worse.
And I didn’t need to mull on it.
“You know what? I’m gonna go.”
Kelsey smiled in approval. “Good. Let me know how it is. I hear the drawing classes are very fun.”
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into the meeting room of the library and there was a very old man entirely naked.
“Oh my God.” I immediately covered my eyes. “I’m so sorry. I must be in the wrong room.”
“You here for the drawing class?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you’re in the right place. This is a nude class.”
Goddammit. No wonder Kelsey said this was fun.
I was going to kill her for this.
“Oh, hey, Piper.” A woman’s voice broke me out of my embarrassment and I turned to see Grace. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but she didn’t seem shocked. “Welcome to Strawberry Springs.”
“You all came to a nude drawing class?” I asked.
“To be fair,” a woman with brightly colored hair said, “usually it’s hot people from other towns.”
“I’m hot!” the man said.
“You’re traumatizing the newbies!” she snapped back without missing a beat.
“This is unfortunately a pretty normal thing in Strawberry Springs,” Grace explained. “I think we’ve all seen Hugh naked many times. Still was unexpected, though. Do you wanna do something else? We can still hang out after Mollie and Wren get here.”
“N-no. This is fine.”
“It better be. I’m not getting paid enough for this!” Hugh griped.
“Is it fine?” Grace asked me, ignoring Hugh.
“Yeah.” I finally lowered my hand and slowly looked at Hugh. He had an uncountable number of wrinkles and a massive dick.
But I’d watched a lot of porn. I was no stranger to the male anatomy.
“I can definitely do this,” I said.
“Really?” the other woman asked. “You’re my kind of girl. I’m Jade.”
“Piper. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been meaning to come to the shop, but I’ve been busy with . . .” I struggled to come up with a good descriptor. “Crippling anxiety.”
“Join the club, girl.” Jade rolled her eyes. “And it’s fine. We get to meet now. Even if it’s under weird circumstances. You should’ve come last week. That lady was so freaking beautiful.”
“I’m beautiful,” Hugh griped.
Both women sighed.
“Why don’t you come set up near us?” Grace offered. “You can have the corner and I can move my station to give you plenty of space.”
God, I loved her. She was so sweet.
“Thank you. That’s perfect.”
Both women asked me basic questions about where I was from as we waited for Mollie and Wren to arrive. They got there right at five, both of them racing to cover their eyes when they saw who was waiting for them.
“Hugh?” Mollie complained. “Why?”
“Oh, I need bleach,” Wren added.
“Welcome,” Jade called. “Sorry to draw your attention from the naked old man, but we have a new friend.”
Both women’s eyes went wide and they rushed over.
“You’re out and about!” Wren said. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I figured it was time.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve done all of your introductions,” Hugh grumbled. “I’m getting cold and my dick is shrinking! Hurry up!”
“Jesus Christ,” Mollie muttered. “I think my eyes will be scarred after this.”
“It’ll at least be a good story,” I said before picking up a pencil. “Wait, do any of you know how to draw?”
When the class was over, we lingered in the library, taking over one of the rooms to chat. I had my awful drawing of Hugh, while Jade kept hers too, saying she would show it to anyone who dared to cross her.
Mollie, Wren, and Jade all threw theirs away.
If I did manage to smooth things over with Theo, I wanted to show him my drawing, if only for his reaction.
Worst case, I could use it to deter visitors from my door.
But thoughts of anything else were few and far between.
I was so focused on my new friends that it was hard to even think of Theo.
I learned that Mollie was preparing for blueberry season and Wren was working on a new, larger apartment next door to Jade, who couldn’t wait to see who moved in.
Grace had a one-year-old who was adorable, and she loved fashion.
Besides Joey and Mitch, I never had friends. But each woman welcomed me with open arms, never pushing me further than I wanted to go. They were all close, but they didn’t seem closed off like a lot of the girls I’d known in high school.
This didn’t feel like a clique. It felt like a family.
“So,” Jade said, leaning in. “I hear you’re a writer.”
“Kelsey, huh?” I asked. I had a feeling she’d told them about what was going on with Theo too, but they hadn’t brought it up.
“Yes. She texts us sometimes, and we’re still trying to get her to join our girls’ night.”
I nodded. I could tell she liked it here, but she didn’t want to get attached. I only hoped she found a place she did want to get attached to eventually.
“I’m an author. I write romance books.”
“Does the library stock them?” Mollie asked. “They stock nearly everything.”
“They do.”
“What’s the name?”
“Danielle Pepper.”
Mollie went to write it down, but Wren tipped the room into chaos. “First one to get them gets to check them out.” Then she darted out the door.
The rest of the women tripped over themselves racing out of the room. I laughed and let them go. A few minutes later, they were back, each of them holding a different one of my books in their hands.
“This is you?” Wren asked.
“Yep. They are.”
“You’ve written so many!” Mollie added.
“The covers are so cute!” Grace said.
“Thank you. I don’t get to choose everything about the covers, but my publisher does it well.”
“Holy shit.” Jade was already nose deep in her book. “These are smutty as hell!”
“And there’s that too.”
Mollie, Wren, and Grace all huddled together to read the scene. Their jaws dropped simultaneously.
“Damn, girl. Is this based on your life?” Jade asked.
“People can write about different things that aren’t their lives,” Grace gently reminded her.
“I’d like it to be my life,” I said slowly. “But I’m very much single. And a virgin.”
I fiddled with my nails as I waited for them to laugh at or judge me. Most did. It was either that or pity.
None of it happened. No one missed a beat.
“Damn, I wish I was this good at writing sex when I was a virgin,” Jade said. “Congratulations. Are you trying to stay one or are you eager to get rid of it?”
“Wow, what a question,” Mollie said with a laugh. “You can tell us if you’re uncomfortable, by the way. We’d never make you answer.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’m not shy about it. And I’d love to not be a virgin anymore. But it’s a little hard with the touching thing.”
Unless I went for the one person I could touch. If he even wanted to talk to me.
My face fell before I could stop it.
“We can help you!” Wren said immediately. “I’m not sure how to work with a fear of touching, but we can figure it out.”
“Oh yeah. Are you in therapy? Do you have it for everyone or just men?” Jade asked.