Page 63 of Places I've Never Been

Mattie hung up. “Dammit.”

She hit Piper’s number. It was eight in the morning in Los Angeles, so she half expected the call to go directly to voice mail.

Instead, her sister picked up on the second ring, looking far too awake for the hour in a black studded cap and a white tanktop. There was a microphone behind her, which probably meant she was in a studio session.

“Hey, Mattie Cake. How’s the beach?”

“It’s fine. Good, actually.” She squinted at the background. “What are you doing up and functional this early?”

Piper glanced behind her and waved at someone. “Give me a few, okay?”

She turned back to the camera. “I’m practicing some of the voice-overs for the animated thing.”

“I thought that didn’t go into production until next year?”

“The animation doesn’t, but the rest of it is already in the works. They’re using me as a model for the character animation so the voice work gets done first. I’m going to be an actual princess.” Piper wiggled her eyebrows.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Mattie teased.

Piper stuck her tongue out at her. “Anyway, it’s a fascinating process. I kind of pushed my way in at the beginning so I could see how it’s done.”

“Of course you did,” Mattie said with a laugh. She felt sorry for the poor animator who tried to stand in Piper’s way. “And they couldn’t say no to Piper Bellamy now could they?”

“No.” Piper bared her teeth. “I might bite. Besides, I just want to make sure I get it exactly right, which I think they appreciate. So what’s up?”

Mattie took a deep breath. “I think I screwed up.”

Piper’s happy expression morphed into concern. “What’s the rock hound done? Are you okay? Should I send in a team to get you out?”

“No.” Her lips twitched at the idea of a SWAT rescue team being deployed on her behalf. “I’m okay. It’s not him. It’s me. It’s all me.”

“Oh, good. So what’s going on?” Piper relaxed and leaned back against the wall.

It was such a long story Mattie didn’t know where to start. Finally, she blurted out the main thing that kept invading her thoughts. “I kissed him.”

Piper’s eyes widened, and a slow smile crept onto her face. “I see.”

Mattie groaned. “I shouldn’t have done it.” She propped the phone up against the lamp and picked up a pillow to hug.

“Why the hell not? He’s hot. I’d kiss him too if I was there.”

“I’m supposed to be a professional, that’s why not, and now I’ve gone and made it all complicated.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Mattie Cake, there’s nothing complicated about this. He likes you. You like him. You kissed him and he kissed you back. Um, he did kiss you back, right?”

“Yes.” She buried her face in the pillow.

“Well there you go. So what’s he like?”

Mattie lifted her head and smiled. “He’s really into the music on a wholistic level. His voice is perfect. It’s rich and a little growly, and right in that sweet spot between bass and tenor.”

“Leave it to you to assess his music skills first,” Piper said looking amused. “He’s behaving better than Devon, right?”

“He started out being a little aggressively intense, but after I dumped him in the ocean he evened out.”

“You pushed him.” Piper blinked. “Okay, I’m going to need the whole story. Start with when you got to the island and finish with the kiss. Leave nothing out.”

Her sister listened without interrupting until Mattie reached the boat incident. Piper howled with laughter, loud enough for someone in the background to ask if something was wrong.

---