Page 146 of He's The Reason Why

“Can we talk about this?” Blake asked. “Please?”

“Not now.”

After the interview, Piper shook hands and smiled and posed for photos all the way to where Romi had her car waiting. She left without looking at Blake, because if she looked at him, she’d want to talk to him. If one word came out, a thousand would follow, and she wasn’t ready. Not yet.

The rest of the week was a flurry of activity that included a shared private jet to New York to doTheLate Show, with more rounds of interviews for the morning talk shows, followed by stops in Dallas and Chicago before finally returning to LA.

She sat beside Blake through every question, and they both pretended nothing had happened even when they were asked about it. She maintained a professional, polite attitude when they were in public, and when they were in private, she put on headphones and tried to pretend he didn’t exist.

As the week went on, it grew increasingly difficult to ignore him. Blake obviously wasn’t sleeping.The Night Showhost had commented on the dark circles under his eyes. They’d joked that it was due to the constant parties ever sinceScorchedhad topped the box office.

She wasn’t sleeping either, but she’d learned how to hide the evidence so nobody could tell.

She was exhausted and emotionally numb by the time she got home late Friday night.

Being so close to Blake physically hurt. It made her heart jump when she saw him, and when she went back to the hotel alone, she ached from the space between them.

She couldn’t take much more of this, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She was set to head back to Nevada on Sunday.

Piper expected to find an empty house since Lizzie had gone back to the Belhurst and Mattie was off to the island for the weekend, but Della met her at the door with a glass of wine and a comforting shoulder to lean on.

They cuddled up on the couch and watched TV, though Piper didn’t pay the show any attention until she realized Della had put onJake’s Day Off, starring Blake Ryan.

He looked young, bright-eyed, and cocky.

She glanced sideways at her sister. “What are you doing?”

Della blinked with feigned innocence. “Nothing. I like this movie.”

“I thought you were mad at him.”

“I got over it.” Della shrugged and returned her attention to the screen. “I kind of feel for the guy. I’ve been where he is. I’ve been the one you’re giving the freezer treatment to, and it’s not fun.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Have you actually had a conversation with him since the premiere?” Della cocked her chin up. “When you get mad, you spout off like an angry tea kettle. When you’re hurt, though, it’s cold-as-ice silence. Just out of curiosity, did you ever let him have it?”

Piper shook her head. She couldn’t muster the strength to argue with Della because it was all true. She was quick to anger, and quick to let people know about it.

Hurt, though, was much harder to admit, and much harder to heal.

“Think you can forgive him?”

Piper got the feeling that question wasn’t just about Blake. “I’ll get over it. I have to. We still have to work together. Besides, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It just…caught me by surprise. It’s fine. I’m used to being second best.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Della turned off the movie and facedher. “I’m done letting you think that. What I did to you was beyond selfish, but it was never aboutyou. Dad died and…I was messed up, okay? My head wasn’t on straight. But never did I ever,everthink you were second best, and it’s killing me that you feel that way. So I’m setting the record straight. You hear me?”

Piper stared at her baby sister.

Della had never said it like that before. She’d never mentioned that Daddy’s death had been harder on her than they’d thought. When Piper thought about the timing of it all, it made perfect sense that Della had acted out the way she had. Her heart had broken, and she’d tried to put it back together by going out on her own. She ran away from their grief as a way of not dealing with her own.

The grudge Piper had held for so long melted.

“You know,” Della said, “I could tell when you two sang that love song that it was true. You love each other. Isn’t that worth giving him a second chance?”

“You can’t tell that from a video.”

It had gone viral and had over three million views now. Her next three VIP concerts were already sold out because of it.

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