19. Piper #2
We lie here in the quiet, both aware we’re playing with fire, both pretending we’re not scared of getting burned, but neither of us is brave enough to admit it.
It’s my last full day at the farm, and Christian’s been delivering trees across what feels like half the damn state since he left the bed this morning.
Turns out this little Christmas tree farm is so damn magical that everyone within driving distance wants one of these perfectly shaped trees gracing their living room.
I’ve spent most of the day wrangling kids hopped up on more sugar than should be legally allowed, while their parents keep apologizing while simultaneously shoving more sugar into their tiny hands.
By the time lunch rolled around, I was ready to lose my mind, but Preston saved me and let me help with the horses.
We brought out Roger and his sister, Mabel—names that stuck with me because they sound like a retired couple who argue over crossword puzzles and oatmeal.
There are half a dozen other horses scattered across the property, but Roger’s especially close to my heart after my morning with Christian.
But as I take a break and head toward the house, any peace I’d found evaporates the moment I see Travis’s car parked in the driveway, like a dark cloud ready to shit all over my last perfect day.
I storm into the house, and fuck me if he doesn’t look worse than our last encounter. The swelling’s gone down, but now I get the full, glorious view of the damage I left behind. His nose is bent slightly to the right—a beautiful, crooked little reminder that I don’t play nice when pushed.
Yeah, still not sorry.
“If you’re here to see your dad, he’s not around,” I say, arms crossed, bracing myself for whatever kind of bullshit he’s about to hit me with.
“Actually, I’m here to see you. Wanted to find out if you’re screwing my dad yet.”
“I’m not,” I bite out. “Now, if you’re done—” Travis starts to laugh, and suddenly he’s holding my red thong—the same piece of fabric I definitely, absolutely left on Christian’s floor last night, dangling between us like some weird sexual evidence.
Well. Shit.
“Do you wanna try that again?” The punchable expression on his face doesn’t budge. In fact, the smug prick looks ecstatic , like he’s just hit the jackpot and knows I’m about two seconds from losing it.
“Okay, you caught me. Now tell me, do I look like I give a single, solitary fuck?”
Because I don’t. Not about him. Not about his bruised ego or his petty little games, and definitely not about a piece of lace that proves what we both already knew.
“No, because you’re nothing but a cheap whore who’s spreading her legs for any guy in town who snaps his fingers.”
“Not anyone,” I fire back, cold as ice. “Just your dad.”
“You realize it’ll take one word from me, and he’ll drop your ass. One conversation about how I’m trying to repair our relationship, and you’ll be back down this mountain faster than you can crawl back into your panties.”
“You hate your dad,” I snap back, feeling the heat rising in my chest. “And by the way, for absolutely no legitimate reason other than the fact he simply exists.”
“You know nothing about it. Nothing about what my mom went through when he refused to stand by his word.”
“Oh, did poor little Meredith stop getting her pony rides and country club brunches covered?” I sneer. “Or was it that she gave it up to a man she thought she could trap and got pissed when he didn’t take the bait?”
And there it is.
That familiar flash of rage.
“Keep pushing me, Piper.”
“Oh, I’m begging you, Travis.” I step right up to him, tilting my head with a smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes.
“Go ahead. Hit me again. I fucking dare you. Because next time, I won’t just break your pretty little face.
I’ll leave you bleeding on the floor, wondering how the hell your daddy’s girl took you apart without breaking a goddamn sweat. ”
His jaw clenches, a muscle ticking beneath the shadow of day-old stubble.
“You might hate me, Piper, and, hell, maybe I deserve it.” Travis runs a hand through his disheveled hair, pain and anger warring in his eyes.
“I used you to punish him. I know I did. I paraded you around like a trophy just to watch it kill him inside. And then I—” He swallows hard.
“Well, you made me cross lines I’m not proud of.
But what you did? That’s so much worse.”
“Oh, please, I’m sure Mommy can get your nose fixed.”
“That’s not fucking it.” His voice cracks like thunder in the small space between us.
I arch a brow, folding my arms across my chest. “Okay, what terrible thing have I done now?”
“You’ve made damn sure my father will never look at me the same again.
Yeah, I made it hard—fuck, I made it impossible for years.
But maybe one day, I might’ve been able to find it in me to forgive him.
I might’ve been able to let go of the hate long enough to build something real with him.
But that choice was mine. It was always mine.
And now it’s gone because of you… because of him .
You two burned the last bridge I had before I ever got the chance to walk it.
He could’ve died an old man thinking his son didn’t completely hate him, but after this?
After you ? There’s not a fucking chance in hell. ”
All of his bravado and rage splinters, and what’s left standing in front of me isn’t a threat. It’s a man crumbling under the weight of a lifetime of bitterness. One he thought he could outrun until I became the thing that finally made it permanent.
“I’d understand this being unforgivable if you actually gave a damn about me, but you don’t. This is about your ego. It’s about you not getting to say you won.”
“I felt something real for you once, Piper.”
“Bullshit.” I spit the word like venom. “I was your golden ticket to being the world’s biggest asshole, and it blew up in your face because you were never even close to what I wanted.”
“That’s not true.” He half reaches for me, then thinks better of it, his hand falling uselessly to his side. “We had something. Maybe it wasn’t love, or anything close to that, but it was real.”
The worst part is that he’s not completely wrong. There was a tiny flicker of a connection that once felt like friendship and attraction, but it was built on lies and manipulation.
“Well, it died a long time ago.” I wrap my arms around my middle, fighting against the winter chill that seeps through my thin sweater. “Just go, Travis. There’s nothing left to say that’ll change any of it.”
“Fine, but let me make something crystal clear, Piper. If you keep this thing going with my dad, you’ll destroy everything.
His life. His future. The legacy of this piece-of-shit farm you’ve somehow fallen in love with.
He can’t have us both, and at the end of the day, I’m his flesh and blood.
You’re just a warm body helping him pretend he’s not past his prime.
If I force him to choose, and trust me, I will, it’ll never be you.
Do you really want to make him do that? Force his hand and break someone’s heart, including his own? ”
I say nothing. I can’t because somewhere deep down, I know this asshole has a point.
“You don’t sleep with your son’s girlfriend and walk away untouched,” he says, his voice softer now, but still just as cruel. “You come out scarred. And if you go all in with him, you’ll be the one holding the match when everything burns.”
I stand there, mute, because he’s right, and we both know it.