Chapter Six
Piper walked through her front door to the sound of her ringing cell phone.
She found it on the kitchen counter and saw Sunny’s picture lighting up the screen.
She let it go to voicemail, not quite ready to deal with Sunny.
Honestly, she didn’t know if she wanted to hug or punch her best friend for meddling in her life.
The thing that rubbed her the wrong way was that Sunny was one hundred percent right about Tag.
If she weren’t so stubborn, Piper could have found out how wonderful he was months ago.
She smiled at the memory of Tag holding her hand on the car ride home and then sweetly kissing her goodnight on her front porch.
A part of her was grateful that Lorna no longer lived with her—she would have pestered her for all the gory details.
Piper wanted to keep them to herself for as long as possible, which was another good reason to avoid Sunny’s call.
She went to her fridge and pulled out the wine that the girls had opened last night.
She poured herself the last of the bottle and sank into her kitchen chair.
She wanted to go over every detail from her evening with Tag, but she found herself smiling like a loon and thinking about the way he kissed her.
She touched her lips, remembering the way that he sweetly kissed her.
He was so big yet gentle. His mouth was demanding, but Piper knew that he was holding back on her account.
She wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to.
Piper wanted everything that Tag had to give her and more.
Her smile faded when she realized that her front door was being unlocked.
The only people who had keys were Lorna and Sunny.
Lorna usually knocked before just barging in, leaving no doubt that it was Sunny who was there to snoop.
Piper stood in the entryway waiting for her friend to finally get in the door.
“Hey, traitor. I’m guessing you are here to make sure that I got home safely. You are such a good friend.” Piper couldn’t help the sarcasm that dripped from her tone.
“Pipe, you look hot, Mama!” Sunny turned the charm up but forgot that Piper was immune to her wiles.
“Don’t tell me how hot I look. I know exactly how I look, Sunny. You set me up!” Piper tried to be angry with Sunny, but it was hard to be mad over the fact that it was on her first date with Tag.
“So, how was your first date? Is he a good kisser? I’m guessing that he is—I mean, just look at him.” Sunny hugged Piper and twirled them both around. Piper laughed and swatted her friend away.
“Who says that I kissed him?” Sunny’s laugh filled the foyer.
“Well, the hearts in your eyes are a dead giveaway. And, your swollen lips are a sure sign that you were thoroughly kissed. He is as good as he looks, I’m right!
” Sunny jumped up and down, hugging Piper as if she had just won the grand prize on a game show.
“Oh, Piper, I am so happy for you—both of you.” It was impossible to stay mad at Sunny.
She was right, Tag was as good as he looked.
If it were possible, he was even better.
Of course, Piper didn’t have anyone else to compare him with, but according to all of Sunny’s second-hand tales, Tag was pretty much perfect.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Sunny. It was just a first date, if you can even call it that. I’m not sure that it qualifies as a first date if a pesky best friend pushes you into a room where a man is waiting.”
Sunny giggled at Piper’s account of what happened.
“I didn’t mean to push you into the room, but I had no choice.
Your panic made me panic, so I shoved.” Piper led Sunny into her kitchen, knowing that she wasn’t going to get rid of her friend without recounting all the details.
“So, tell me everything.” Sunny grabbed Piper’s glass of wine and took a sip, waiting for Piper to start her story.
Sunny was a good friend. Sure, she was nosey and pushy, but a good listener.
Piper couldn’t imagine her life without Sunny—she would be a hermit.
Sunny always seemed to know when Piper needed her; she was always there for her.
Plus, Piper wanted to share her amazing experience.
Sure, she was about ten years late to the dating game, but she finally made it, and she wanted to tell her best friend.
“He was incredible!” Piper squealed, a sound that she couldn’t remember ever making before now.
She felt like a teenage girl gushing about her new boyfriend.
Was that what Tag was—her boyfriend? She decided that she needed to calm down a little if she wanted to get through the whole story.
Piper grabbed her glass of wine from Sunny and downed it.
“Easy there, Slugger. I need you to tell me about your amazing evening, not drink too much, and pass out.” Sunny carefully took Piper’s glass and set it on the table.
“I just needed to calm my nerves.” Piper smiled at Sunny.
“He was sweet and gentle and so understanding. When I told him that I had never kissed a boy before, he didn’t laugh at me.
I thought for sure he was going to bolt when I told him about all the firsts that I missed out on.
But I’m pretty sure that he knows enough about my past to know that I wasn’t a typical teenager. ”
Sunny nodded her agreement. “Well, a couple of summers ago, he asked me about you, and I told him. I didn’t think too much about it at the time.
I just thought that he was being polite.
I was dating Torren—if you can call what we were doing ‘dating.'” Sunny rolled her eyes at Piper’s expression of disgust. Torren didn’t date; he fucked his way through the town’s women.
Sunny was just a summer fling for a few weeks, and she was fine with that.
Torren had quite the “Love them and leave them” reputation around town.
“I am so happy that you and Torren didn’t end up together. You two are so similar that it would have driven everyone in this town nuts. You are both always so—happy.”
Sunny laughed at the disgust in Piper’s voice.
“Well, someone has to be happy, Miss Doom and Gloom.” Sunny yanked on Piper’s ponytail, pulling her in for a quick hug.
“Tag didn’t have an ideal childhood either, Pipe.
He and Torren’s mother died when they were just six.
Then their father abandoned them, not long after her funeral.
He just left those two little boys on their grandfather’s doorstep and took off.
They were raised by their grandpa. It must have been lonely for them.
” Sunny looked over at Piper, “You and Tag have a lot in common.”
Piper nodded, “He said something about me not being the only kid to lose parents. I didn’t know he was speaking from experience.
” Piper wiped her damp eyes. She cried more in the past twenty-four hours than she had all year.
“I’m scared to death, Sunny.” Her friend’s sad smile said it all.
Piper fidgeted with her mother's and father’s wedding bands that she wore on a chain around her neck.
She felt a bit uneasy. A large part of her wanted to freak out about everything that happened with Tag.
But that small, secretly optimistic girl who lived deep down inside of her wanted to be happy.
It wasn’t very often that Piper let that girl out because she learned the hard way that happiness usually faded quickly.
She wasn’t a changed woman after just one night.
It was going to take more than a first date and a first kiss with an incredible man to convince Piper to believe in happily ever after.
That was what dreams and fairy tales were made of, not real life and certainly not Piper’s life.
Tag decided not to give Piper the chance to change her mind.
He knew that a gossip session with Sunny and a night’s sleep would only give her time to think up reasons why they shouldn’t be together.
He woke at five in the morning and went for a run.
When he got back to his place, Aaron was waiting outside for him, stretching.
“Hey, I thought we could lift together. You up for a little competition?” Aaron was always turning everything into a competition. Tag had other plans for the morning, and they didn’t include lifting weights with Aaron.
“Sorry, something came up this morning.” Tag slapped his friend’s shoulder and made his way into the garage.
“Who’s the woman?” Aaron yelled after him.
“Who says there is a woman?” Tag knew that Aaron wouldn’t buy his lie, but he wanted to keep Piper to himself a little while longer.
“According to Sunny—” Aaron started, and Tag groaned. Aaron barked out his laugh. “As I was saying, according to Sunny, you and Piper had a little date last night.”
“Sunny needs to keep her nose out of my relationship with Piper. I would recommend you do the same, Aaron. I don’t want to mess this up.
I have been working to get a date with Piper for a year now.
” Aaron held up his hands in defense. Tag pointed at him, “Keep your nose out of my business.” He walked into his house, slamming the door on his friend’s laughter.
He knew that both Aaron and Sunny meant well, but he just didn’t want anyone fucking up what he had with Piper.
That included himself because if anyone could royally screw things up with her, it was him.
Piper woke with a start and groaned. Someone was banging so hard on her front door that she thought they would break it down.
Piper hopped out of bed and noticed that her ankle didn’t hurt, although it was still a little bruised.
She hobbled to the front door as fast as she could and answered in the t-shirt and panties that she slept in.
She didn’t even have time to pull on her robe in her hurry to open the door before whoever it was kicked it in.