Chapter 4
NASH
It’s been an hour, and Piper’s drinking me under the table.
Yeah, she’s a tall woman, but I have no idea how she can consume this much alcohol.
Okay, I guess I do have some idea: the late and rowdy parties she regularly threw next door in college were probably good training.
I’m already pretty heavily buzzed, something I’m not used to. I rarely drink during the season, and it’s about to start.
So far, Piper’s just been unloading on me, venting about all the things she didn’t like about this Crew asshole.
I guess that’s standard when a relationship ends. Bridgett sure as hell went off on me when I confronted her after finding out she was cheating.
I don’t know if it lasted quite an hour, but she spent plenty of time letting me hear every aspect of my personality that dissatisfied her. Every reason that made what she did my fault.
Because I prioritized my career too much. Because I could never really open up. Because I was too distant. Because I don’t know how to share my life with another person. Because I never made her feel loved.
My throat is tight. I take another swig of my beer.
Piper was really on a roll running the bastard down, but a long sigh into her beer tells me that she’s out of steam. The way her pretty green eyes dim tells me that the reality of what’s happened is starting to sink in.
Wait, pretty? That word is never part of my internal vocabulary. Maybe I’ve drunk more than I thought.
“But if I actually call off the wedding next week, then—”
“If?” I can’t help but interrupt.
Her expression sinks even lower. Her shoulders slump. “It’s complicated.”
It’s none of my business, but I can’t help it: outrage beats behind my chest at the idea of her letting this guy get away with it and still marrying him.
“You can’t stay with a person who’d do something like that to you. Not for any reason.”
“More people than me will be affected if I don’t get married.” The way she says that word—me—sounds as if her own wishes are the last thing playing into her decision.
“Some family expectations bullshit?” I ask. The Piper I know wouldn’t let herself be pressured into marriage over something like that. But then again, I don’t really know her, do I?
The idea of getting to know Piper better never appealed to me during the two years we spent living next to each other in college. Why does it suddenly sound … not so bad?
Must be all the beers and shots.
“No. It’s the bakery.”
My brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
She tilts her head and bounces her eyebrows in an annoyed gesture, like she’s gearing up to explain something convoluted.
“I have an inheritance that I need to be married to receive. From my late grandmother, who added that stipulation because she didn’t want me to never get married like my mom.”
Weird. I didn’t think things like that happened in the real world. “Okay,” I urge her on, still not sure what this has to do with a bakery.
“The owner of the bakery I work at is about to retire. She’s willing to sell the business to me at a reasonable price, which I’ll be able to afford if I get my inheritance.
She has some medical issues and needs her retirement nest egg as soon as possible.
If I get married, and get my money, everything works out for everyone.
Jeanette, the owner, gets to retire, and I get to own my dream business.
Instead of Jeanette needing to put it on the market and try to find a seller, which probably results in an amazing bakery that people in the neighborhood have loved for decades disappearing and being replaced by some corporate bullshit.
Not to mention everyone who works there losing their job. ”
“And that’s why you’re still thinking of getting married to a guy who cheated on you?” There’s more disbelief than understanding in my voice.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I need my inheritance to pull it off. And there’s only one way for me to get it: getting married.”
“You can’t get a loan?” I ask.
“Nope. Rejected everywhere.”
I can feel the excessive alcohol gliding through my bloodstream, loosening my lips. “Well … if we sign a loan contract, maybe I could—”
“No.” The word cuts me off so sharply I flinch.
“However much a local bakery costs to buy, I’m sure I could spare it. I think I’d trust you to pay it back.”
I have no idea how much money we’re talking about, and I’m not sure how much the constant barrage of beer and shots is affecting my judgment. But right now, I’d gladly part with a million or two rather than see Piper Dashwood actually become … ugh, Piper Bentley.
I grab my beer and pull down a big swig of it at the thought.
“It’s way too much money for you to give me just because you felt sorry for me one night. I wouldn’t feel right about it.”
“I thought you said you knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.” I throw her words from earlier tonight back at her.
She cuts me a hard look. “This is different. This isn’t a couple cheap rounds of drinks at a dive bar.
This is a lot of money. Too much for me to feel comfortable about taking just because you had to take care of me on one of the shittiest nights of my life.
Besides, you’ve drunk too much to be thinking straight about major financial decisions. ”
I roll my lips. I don’t know why, but Piper rejecting an offer of mine … it doesn’t feel good for some reason.
But I guess I get where she’s coming from. If that’s how she feels, I’ll respect it. After all, nothing makes you feel less respected than being cheated on. Nothing makes you feel less considered, nothing makes your own hopes and desires feel less relevant.
I don’t want to make Piper feel that way even more right now, so I drop it.
“The wedding’s next week. We’ve been planning it for ages. People have bought plane tickets to be here, booked hotel rooms. Calling it off at the last minute?”
She can’t seriously be thinking about still going through with it.
“I mean,” she continues, “I didn’t let him explain. Maybe it really wasn’t what it looked like.” She scoffs. “Even though I sure as hell can’t imagine what else it could have been.”
The thought of Piper giving this guy another chance after he cheated on her makes my stomach twist and brings a bitter taste to my mouth.
That’s easy to understand. Fuck cheaters. But what’s a lot harder to understand? Why the thought of her fiancé having a real explanation, being able to prove he isn’t guilty, and them making up gives me the same feeling.
Actually, the feeling that idea drags along with it might be even worse.
That’s so messed up that I order another beer-and-shot combo.
Mixing beer and liquor like this can’t be good, but this is a fuck it kind of night.
As I down the whiskey, my cock pulses at the idea of finding myself in a very different kind of fuck it scenario with Piper tonight.
I quickly chase the thought away. I should kick myself for even having it. She’s in no state for something like that. It would be out of the question.
Not to mention the fact that we can’t stand each other.
“Fuck, I just want to think about something else for a little while,” Piper says, rubbing the heels of her palms over her eyes. “I don’t suppose you have many conversation topics at hand other than hockey?”
“Not really.”
A negative feeling curls through me. That was another one of Bridgett’s complaints—one of the reasons why she was driven to do what she did, in her words.
Piper frowns and hums. “Anything amusing happen to you lately?”
I shrug. “Well, I did accidentally buy a petting zoo.”
Piper’s head whips to face me, her eyebrows shooting up. “Excuse me? You bought a petting zoo? Accidentally?”
The whole incident of what happened when I thought I was buying a large, secluded plot of land outside Austin has been one giant pain in my ass over the last couple months.
It’s caused me endless annoyance already and promises plenty more of it in the future. But as I start to tell Piper the story and see her eyes come alive, see her lips perk into a smile, hear her laugh in a genuine tone rather than a bitter and ironic tone …
Heaven help me, I’m almost glad it happened.