Chapter Eight Los Angeles
Piper drove the long way home.
He drove the long way because an hour on the freeway was the only place in his life he could clear his head, and the phone in his pocket felt like a live grenade he was on the verge of throwing out the window.
Traffic crawled as brake lights stretched across the freeway. The city moved past in fragments of neon and glass, and Piper kept both hands on the wheel, knuckles loose, posture controlled. Everyone hated L.A. traffic except Piper Ashton.
He could still feel Noah’s hands on him. Still feel the pressure of his body against his. The feel of cold tile against his back.
Piper exhaled slowly and reached for CarPlay, then stopped himself. The phone vibrated. He looked. Jayson. He opened the message. I saw the shots. You two look very convincing. He read it once, then again. Convincing, like a warning dressed as a compliment.
Piper read it a third time before setting the phone face down in the center console. The freeway opened briefly, then congested again like it always did in L.A. He shifted lanes, eyes still on the road.
Jayson had seen the shots already. Of course he had.
Joan, Jayson ok’ed this fucking shoot because it was good for my career and now he is playing games. Piper thought to himself.
Jayson had seen something beneath the surface.
Like he had noticed the same thing the photographer had.
The same thing the room had felt. The same thing Piper hadn’t been able to stop.
The phone buzzed again. Piper ignored it.
Three options: ignore it meant avoidance.
Reply meant weakness. Call meant compliance.
Piper called. Three rings. “Piper,” Jayson answered.
“You like the underwear campaign? This is on you if you have an issue.”
Joan, let’s keep it together. He can’t find out what happened in the bathroom. I can’t fathom what kind of punishment he will have planned for me.
“Relax, the photographs were professionally shot. Nothing in them was inappropriate,” Jayson replied.
“Of course not, sorry I came in so hot,” Piper replied.
Jayson’s tone stayed pleasant. “I’m not concerned about the photographs.”
“Then what are you concerned about?”
A small pause. “The way you looked at him.”
Oh here we go.
Piper’s hands gripped the wheel tighter, nails digging into the leather. “You’re reading things that aren’t there.”
“Am I?” Traffic slowed again. Piper tapped the brake, then accelerated smoothly.
“I’ve protected your career for years, paid you millions for your obedience,” Jayson continued calmly. “I’ve protected it from things that would’ve ended lesser players before the draft was over, I don’t do that without paying attention, Piper.”
“Nothing happened,” Piper said.
“I believe you. I simply want to make sure nothing does,” Jayson said. “You understand the terms of what we built together.”
Piper stared at the freeway ahead. “I understand.”
“Good.”
The conversation should have ended there. It didn’t.
“The campaign is extraordinary,” Jayson added. “The team outdid themselves. Enjoy the launch party tomorrow night.”
Piper’s teeth started to grind in place as the pit in his stomach grew larger.
“Piper one more thing…are you ready for this kind of attention?” Jayson said as Piper’s anxiety hit a ten.
“I can handle it, Jayson. Talk to you later.”
The line went dead. Piper drove another ten minutes before he realized he’d missed his exit.
***
His Beverly Hills mansion was dark when he arrived.
The sky was glowing orange with pollution.
Piper dropped his keys on the counter and stood in the kitchen without turning on the lights.
He loosened his shoulders, poured water, and leaned against the counter.
His phone buzzed on the marble. Unknown number. He stared at it. Then answered.
“What are you doing?”
Piper closed his eyes briefly. “Noah.”
“Yeah.”
Silence stretched across the room.
“You okay?” Noah asked.
“Yes.”
“Liar. You seem stressed.”
He let his breath out. “You call everyone you hook up with in bathrooms?”
“Only the ones I can’t stop thinking about.”
It hit somewhere he hadn’t prepared for. Piper walked toward the windows.
“That can’t happen again,” he said.
Piper hated what just came out of his mouth, but he needed to think responsibly.
“You’re still thinking about it,” Noah said.
“Yes.”
“Good,” Noah said in that cocky tone that pissed Piper off, but was now igniting something in him.
Piper let out a quiet breath.
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m not trying to help.”
Piper’s mouth moved before he caught it. Not a smile, but almost one.
He stood in silence again, neither of them rushing to fill it.
“We have the launch party tomorrow. I’m flying into LAX in the morning,” Noah said.
“I know. Let’s not be obvious,” Piper replied.
“That should be interesting.”
Piper closed his eyes. “It should be.”
“Good night, sexy.”
“Good night, Noah.”
The line went dead as he set the phone down.
He stood at the window and Beverly Hills didn’t care what was going on but Piper did.
He had spent years controlling everything and the troubling part wasn’t that this had slipped through.
The troubling part was that he’d let it, and it could destroy everything.