Page 72 of Black Roses

chapter twenty-seven

piper

I stare at the sweaty girl in the mirror, watching her keep a punishing pace on the treadmill in a futile attempt to run from her past. Run from him.

It’s ironic really, how fittingly accurate this is. I’m running on a treadmill—a device that by its very nature keeps you from moving forward.

It’s better this way. He’s a rising star. I’m a train wreck. He has a daughter to raise. He doesn’t need a girlfriend who clearly needs parenting herself.

He has a daughter to raise. The words bounce around in my head as I struggle to keep that fateful day from overtaking my thoughts. I don’t think about it. Ever. Except on one day every year. And today isn’t that day.

I turn up the pace, making it impossible for me to think of anything but breathing.

Then I see her in the mirror, approaching me from behind. I don’t miss Charlie’s disapproving look when she spots my distance on the digital display. Our reflections have a stare down, then her lips start moving quickly, undoubtedly scolding me in her sister-like manner. But I can’t hear her over the loud music so I point to my earbuds and shrug.

In slow motion, she dramatically raises her arm, pressing her finger on the button controlling my speed. She glares at me with a raised brow while repeatedly pressing the down arrow until the belt below me stops moving completely. Then she steps up on it, getting right in my face before ripping the earbuds from my ears. “Fifteen miles, Piper? Are you fucking crazy?”

“I do run marathons, Charlie. This should come as no surprise to you.” I step off the machine, finding a towel to wipe my face.

She huffs and grabs me by the elbow, pulling me out of the hotel gym, all the way back up to our room. She doesn’t say a word. Not until we are standing in front of the door. She holds her palm out. “Key,” she demands.

“Where’s yours?” I ask.

“Lost it.”

I roll my eyes and take my key card out of my back pocket, handing it over to her like an obedient child. She looks pissed. Nobody wants to be on the bad side of pissed-off Charlie.

She opens the door, pushing me through and guiding me over to the bed. “Sit.”

I look down at my brand new sweat-drenched workout clothes and ask, “Can I at least shower first, Mom?”

“No. You can’t. Sit your stupid, skinny, stubborn ass on the bed and listen to me.”

“You forgot steaming, as in mad,” I say.

“Mad?”

“Yes, Charlie. You sold me out. You’re the only one who could have known where I would be. You told him where to find me. Why did you do that?”

“Because you needed to hear the truth, Piper. When you were sleeping, he called me and explained the whole thing. The man jumped on a plane and flew across an ocean for you. And he did this knowing the worst parts of you.”

“Not the worst,” I say, my eyes meeting the ground.

“The worst,” she repeats. “Everything else was just circumstantial.”

“How could he ever see me the same way, Charlie? After he knows it was me on that bed. Having an orgy with multiple boys.”

“God, you are so fucking dense!” she yells. “Can you not see that man loves you? He loves you despite all that shit. Hell, maybe he even loves you because of it. You’re a survivor, Pipes. But until now, you’ve been surviving by running. Running from New York. Running from men. Running from yourself. It’s time to stop.”

My fingers lightly trace the outline of my bracelet. “I don’t know if I can, Charlie.”

“Yes. You can. And I’m going to give you the push you need to do it.”

I eye her inquisitively. “What have you done?”

“It’s not what I’ve done. It’s what I’m going to do. I’m leaving, Piper.”

“Leaving?” I tilt my head back to better study her face. “What, are you going to Australia with that douchebag after all?”

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