43. Piper
PIPER
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Dale Garrett: You know what? My BBC has been safe and unused for months! Thank you all for finally leaving it alone and not breaking the lock.
Comments:
Piper M: Finally, I get to see a mention of the BBC in its full glory.
Jade Clark: PIPER!!!
Piper M: Yes?
Jade Clark: I just love you so much.
Kerry Winsor: GUYS! Keep your weirdness down! The group is gonna get banned!
Jade Clark: Okay, Ms. Arrest-That-Cat. We’ll be normal.
Kerry Winsor: They were my beautiful sunflowers! My babies!
Piper M: Don’t you have actual children?
Jade Clark: Get ’em, Piper.
The sun was barely peeking through Theo’s curtains when my phone rang.
Blearily, I reached for my phone with a frown.
Theo was already gone for the day, but I had a fuzzy memory of him kissing my cheek as he left.
At first, I thought he was calling to tell me something had happened, but there was another name on the screen.
“Joey,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“Piper, thank God.” He blew out a breath and I sat up. Sleep was the last thing on my mind now. His voice was tense in a way I hadn’t heard in years. “Where are you?”
“Theo’s place. What’s going on?”
“Uh, I need you. Like now.”
I blinked. Joey hardly ever asked for anything of me. He always wanted to be the rock in my life. If he said he needed me, then it was important.
“Yeah, okay.” I shook my head to try to wake up more. “I can come to Knoxville.”
“Really?”
I knew I would dread going into Knoxville alone on such short notice, but I’d manage. “Yes. Of course. You need me. Give me an hour.”
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll see you soon.”
Unease churned in my stomach as I threw on clothes. I sent Theo a message telling him about what happened before I made it to my car.
Fear made my throat tight, and I’d have to process all of this at some point. Being in the place where I felt so trapped didn’t feel great, but I was more worried about what could have Joey so upset.
My mind went over the things it could be as I drove.
He could’ve reconnected with his family. He could’ve had a fight with Mitch—something that hardly ever happened. My heart was in my throat for nearly the whole drive and my hands were shaky by the time I pulled up to their house.
I knocked on the door as I tried to keep myself together.
When Joey opened the door, he looked as disheveled as I felt.
“Piper,” he said. “God, I . . . You’re here.”
“What happened?” I asked as I walked in the house. “Are you and Mitch okay?”
“We’re fine. It’s not about us.”
“Then what is this about? You look like you haven’t slept.”
I wrung my hands, wondering if I could push myself and hug him. I’d never managed it before, but this seemed like a good time to try. I was a wreck from the drive, but if it would help, I’d do it.
“It’s about Theo.”
That pulled me out of my thoughts. “Theo? What about him?”
“I’m sorry. I hate to tell you this. But it’s bad. Very bad.”
“Wh-what?”
“Theo is not who he says he is.”
My stomach sank. Actually, all of me did. “H-how did you find this out?”
“His shop is registered under his name. His full legal name, and you left the documents of your dad’s arrest at my place. You were quoted saying he got drugs from a family with the same last name. And he matches pictures I found online.”
Oh, God. “Joey, wait—”
“I know this is a shock, but I think he’s targeting you. Have you told him about your past?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it. Scarlett had warned me that things could go wrong with me not telling Joey about everything Theo was.
“Hang on.” I put up my hands. “Let’s take a breath and think.”
“I’ve been up all night thinking.” He shook his head. “Piper, he’s from the family that sold drugs to your father. He’s one of them. You have to leave Strawberry Springs.”
“I-it’s—”
“Piper, I’m sorry. But I have proof.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“It’s true. If you’ll just look—”
“Joey, I know.” My voice came out loud, but I had to get him to stop.
“You . . . know?” he repeated it slowly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that someone came in that he knows. From . . . our past. I’ve known since then.”
“When did this happen?”
“When . . . when I called you panicking.”
Joey’s jaw dropped and his eyes popped out of his head. “I’m sorry, what? Why didn’t you tell me?”
I closed my eyes, my fear mixing with guilt. God, I should’ve handled this better. I wish I had. “Because you wouldn’t let me stay.”
“You’re damn right I wouldn’t have. It’s not safe.”
“It is safe.”
“No, it’s not!” I jerked back as his voice rose in pitch. “Piper, he’s from your past.”
“I know,” I repeated. I took a breath to try to calm myself down, but Joey took that as a chance to speak again.
“And you’re dating him?”
“He’s more than his past, Joey.”
He shook his head, eyes wide. “He’s gotten to you then.”
“No, he hasn’t. Theo was horrified that our pasts are connected. He feels terrible about all of it.”
“That’s what he wants you to think!”
“No, Joey! Stop!” My voice was high as anger flooded me. I tried to keep it under control, but the idea that Theo was controlling me was ridiculous. “He isn’t manipulating me. I’m sorry that you found out this way. I should’ve told you, but this reaction right here is why I didn’t tell you.”
“Me?” He blinked. “How am I in the wrong?”
“You’re not listening!”
“Oh, I hear you, but you’re wrong. You’re staying here and that’s final.”
I let out a sound between a groan and a growl before speaking again. “You have to stop this!”
“Stop what?”
“Stop bulldozing me! Stop trying to protect me when I’m fine on my own.”
“You’re like a sister to me, Piper. I’m always going to protect you.”
“There’s a difference between protection and control.”
“Control? How am I controlling you?”
“You just told me to leave Strawberry Springs! You’ve been negative about me moving there the whole time.”
“And I had a reason to be.”
“I handled that.”
“Not well, considering you let him touch you.”
My jaw tightened. “You can’t keep doing this! Do you know why I moved out? Because of you, dude! You’re smothering me in the same way my father did.”
This time, he rounded on me. “Do not compare me to him!”
I winced at how loud he was. I hated loud voices, but I had to push past it. “I didn’t mean to. I just feel so restricted when you’re around.”
“And so the second you’re free, you go after a man who’s just like your father?”
I felt like I’d been slapped. “What . . . what did you just say?”
“Don’t think I don’t see it. The long hours? The whole bad-boy vibe he gives off? You’re into him because he reminds you of your childhood, Piper. And he’ll abuse you just like your dad did.”
I could only stare at him as I thought of all the things Theo had done for me and how gentle he’d been from the beginning. It was one thing to disagree. It was another to make Theo sound like him.
“How dare you.”
“I said what I said. I’ve thought it this entire time, but now I know.”
“You don’t know anything. You’ve barely seen us together.”
“I know he’s good-looking. I know he’s familiar, and you need that. But he’s not like you. He’s worse.”
“No, he’s not.”
Joey shook his head. “I can’t believe you. Is the dick that good?”
“Stop. That’s inappropriate.”
“It’s true. Nothing you say will change my mind about him.”
My heart raced, the pounding loud in my ears. It felt like my grip on reality was slipping, and that was the last thing I needed. “T-then I won’t talk about it. Maybe we won’t talk at all.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
“I am.”
“You’re choosing him over me?”
“Yes.”
Joey stared at me before shaking his head. “You’re making a mistake.”
“I hear you, but you’re wrong.”
“You’ll regret this.”
“I suppose we’ll see.”
His fists clenched, but I could see tears in his eyes.
Mine were wet too. This hurt. I hated every second of it.
But I had to do this.
My body was tight and I knew I couldn’t take much more. I needed to get home before I could fully feel everything that had been said.
I turned for the door.
“You’re really leaving?”
“I am.”
Joey let out a long sigh. “I didn’t want to do this, but you’re giving me no choice.”
Pausing, I looked back at him. “You didn’t want to do what?”
Joey was on his phone, jaw taut. He tapped the screen and then looked at me.
“Tell everyone who he is.”
“Wait, what?”
“I joined that Facebook group you sent me. I’ve been watching, and Theo always had a reputation for being quiet. Probably because he didn’t want people to know who he was. Now they do.”
I scrambled to pull my phone out of my pocket. The most recent post was from the person I considered my best friend.
And it said everything that Theo had tried to hide.
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Joey Hancock: I’m really sorry to be the one to tell you this, but there’s someone in your town that isn’t who he says he is.
Theo Murf is actually Theodore Murphy, the son of a family just outside of Knoxville that sells drugs.
He’s come to your town to hide, but has had contact with people who deliver drugs for his family.
He’s trying to make you all think he’s a decent man and hide his past, but you all should know a man like this doesn’t belong in your community.
*Comments have been disabled on this post.*
I could hardly believe my eyes. I had to read it multiple times and pinch myself to make sure I was awake.
“What the hell is your problem?” I asked when reality finally set in. “He did nothing to you. Or me, for that matter.”
“He hasn’t done anything yet. But now he never will. I have a feeling he’ll leave the second he sees this.”
I let out a sob, but I tried to shake it off. My breath was coming too fast and I felt like I couldn’t stand. Joey was right. Theo would have to leave when the town saw this. We’d talked about it many times.
There was only one thing that might make him stay.
“Take it down,” I said.
“No.”
“Yes!”
“There is nothing you can say to convince me to take it down.”
Joey’s phone was in his hand, and desperation was the only excuse for what I did next. I tore over to him, ignoring that this was the first time we’d ever touched, ignoring my own fears.
I needed that phone.
“P-Piper!” he said, his arm coming up to stop me. I collided with it and my heart jumped into my throat.
I pushed on.
“Give me the phone, Joey!” I didn’t recognize my own voice. It was filled with an anguish I hadn’t felt in years.
“No!”
I tried to pull his arm down, but he raised it high in the air. I tried to jump for it, but nearly toppled him over.
“Joey!” I cried. “Come on!”
“Get off!” This time, he pushed hard enough and I fell onto the floor with a thud.
I dimly felt the pain. I knew I’d be bruised, but I was too busy heaving.
This felt like a past I couldn’t relive.
But I was.
That was when the front door opened. New light spilled into the room and Joey used it as a chance to get away. I tried to follow, but my body had locked up. I couldn’t get enough air. I couldn’t move either.
Dimly, I recognized that I was sobbing.
“Piper?” Mitch asked. “What the hell is going on?”
“Mitch,” Joey said, his voice weak, “you’re home early.”
“Yeah, you said something was wrong.” He slammed the door behind him, which caused me to flinch. I’d heard many doors slam like that, and the memories of Dad coming home to take out his anger on me threatened to resurface.
No. I couldn’t let this happen. Not now. Not when I had something to do.
“Piper?” Mitch asked again. He knelt a foot away, his usual distance, but it was too close. I gasped and tried to move. “It’s just me. I won’t hurt you.”
But Joey had hurt me. No, it was worse.
He hurt someone I loved.
Blearily, I looked around the place I used to call home. I recognized every picture on the wall. I’d spent countless hours on their gray couch.
Now, it all felt wrong. It felt like a prison.
“We should get her to her room,” Joey was saying as my mind finally cleared enough for me to think. “She needs to calm down.”
“You’re not getting me anywhere,” I snapped. Slowly, I shook away the memories and glared.
“Piper, I did this to protect you. I stand by what I did.”
“What did you do?” Mitch asked.
“He . . .” My voice cracked. “He exposed Theo’s past to everyone in Strawberry Springs.”
“He’s a drug dealer,” Joey defended. “He had it coming!”
“He . . . Theo is . . .” Mitch blinked.
“Theo had terrible parents. He’s from a family that deals drugs, and then left. He made a new life, and Joey decided to rip that apart.”
“To protect you,” Joey said. “Don’t you see that?”
“I don’t need your fucking protection,” I snapped. “I can make my own choices, and if this is one you stand by, you’re not my friend.”
“We’re like family.”
“Yeah, like my birth family. Toxic as fuck.”
Joey reared back at my words, and I couldn’t regret them.
“Sorry, Mitch. But I have to go.” I gave him one last glance, taking in the horror on his face as he looked at his fiancé, and then I ran for the door.
When I got into my car, I wanted to scream and cry. I wanted to lose my entire mind.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for that
So I put the car into gear and forced myself to keep going.
I made it halfway to the highway before I had to pull over. My breath came out in heaves and I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road. I pulled over into a random, empty parking lot and locked the doors.
My chest was tight. It felt like I wasn’t breathing, even though I was. I couldn’t believe this had happened, but I also had no fucking idea what to do.
That made it all worse.
I sobbed as I leaned my head on the steering wheel. I cursed Joey. I cursed my luck. I cursed everything. Finally, I had things right. I was with a man I loved, and now . . .
Now he would be leaving.
Would he even say goodbye?
The pain hit harder the second I realized I had no idea what I was going to do. I needed to get back to Strawberry Springs and fix this, but would he even be there?
Or would he already be on his way out?
It didn’t feel like anything could calm me down, and it didn’t help that my phone was blowing up with calls from Joey.
I picked it up with shaking hands, considering turning it off or throwing it out the window.
Then I saw one text that gave me hope.
Theo
I’m going to this motel right outside of Knoxville. Meet me there.