Page 134 of On My Side
Ren
Playlist: Never Let Me Go | Florence + The Machine
Audrey’s been gone less than forty-eight hours, and I'm already dead inside.
I’m pathetic.
“You think you’re in love with her, then?” Will asks, cursing as he’s hit with a blue shell.
I know he’s talking to me in an attempt to distract me from the race. He always does, and usually I’m better at ignoring him and not giving him what he wants.
But he isn’t usually asking about Audrey.
“I love her,” I say, like it’s the most simple, straightforward thing in the world. And in a way, it is. “She’s it for me.”
“But are you ready to be a stepdad…fuck.” Unlike me, Will can’t multitask, and slips on a banana peel. I smirk as his chosen character, Donkey Kong, flails in distress, watching Mario, Waluigi, and Daisy speed past.
“Sucker,” I snicker. “But, I mean. I’m not marrying her tomorrow.”Though I would. “And Piper and I have a good relationship…”
“You piece of shit,” Will interrupts, shaking his head in disgust as I cross the finish line, securing first place.
“I parent you and Leo more than I’d have to parent her,” I joke, picking up my phone. “Speak of the devil, she just texted me.”
Piper
i’m outside your apartment building
let me in
Ren
new phone who dis
Piper
what if it was an emergency? what if i was dying and you made jokes and ignored your girlfriend’s only child?
newsflash, renny boy
she’s picking ME
I bark out a laugh as Will crosses the finish line, finishing in a respectable eleventh place. He looks at me questioningly and I show him the phone.
“This is the kid?” he asks, eyeing the screen like it has cooties.
“Piper,” I affirm as my phone starts ringing. I smirk to myself before answering. “Are you dying?”
“Yes,” Piper answers without even a hint of a beat. “I’m dying of Leia withdrawal. Let me in.”
“The lock is broken on the front door, and I’m in apartment 3A. You can take her to Annika’s for the night if it’s okay with her parents,” I sigh, knowing exactly what she wants.
The door squeaks as she pulls it open. “Wow, if I were a serial killer, you’d be dead,” she says, sounding way too pleased by the idea.
“Well you’re not, so—” I roll my eyes when I realize she already hung up on me. She’s banging on the door less than twenty seconds later.
“We have a custody agreement! Don’t make me call my lawyer!” Piper shouts between knocks.
“Door’s unlocked,” I call, and she pokes her head in, brow furrowed.
