Page 105 of Just Friends
“Hey,” she answered quietly.
I took a step closer. “I’ve been looking all over for you, Pipes.”
My use of her nickname didn’t go over well with the crowd. One girl clucked her tongue, another defiantly lifted her chin, and another rolled her eyes. Arms were crossed and death-stares were cast my direction. Yup, they hated me. And I’m sure they had good reason to hate me, too. But whatever, I wasn’t here to changetheirminds.
“Here I am,” Piper said, gesturing at herself as if to say,so whatever you’ve got to say, say it.
But before I could speak, Austen jumped in. “Hey, wait. Where’s your red pocket square?” she asked me. “You know youhaveto wear a red pocket square to the dinner, right?”
Instinctively, I patted at my empty suit jacket pocket. “Oh, ah, yeah. I forgot to pack it.”
“Oof.” Emma’s pained expression suggested I’d made a terrible mistake. “Jax, I know you’re still new-ish to the team and all, but Mr. Sullivan is a stickler for detail. He’s not the guy you want to be disappointing, trust me.”
“Yeah, probably not a good idea to piss off the guy who signs your checks,” Ainsley quipped dryly.
Reavo, Hathaway and Dane had already torn me a new one for not having my pocket square tonight. But the girls were relishing their chance to punish me for hurting their friend, so I didn’t say a word; I let them get their shots in.
“I know,” I said when they were through. “I fucked up.” I turned to Piper. “I’ve fucked a lot of things up lately. Which is why I’ve been looking for you, Pipes. I need to talk to you about something important. Can we talk?”
Piper’s friends didn’t have to say a word for me to understand exactly what their stony expressions meant:Whatever you want to say to her, you can tell her in front of us.
Hell, that was fine with me. That was kinda my plan, in a way.
“We can talk here, if you want,” I said.
But Piper gave a nod towards the balcony doors across the room. “Let’s talk out there.”
“Sure. That works.”
She’d looked classy and beautiful sitting there on the couch—but I had no idea how simplystunningshe was in that shimmering dress until she rose to her heels. Her perky breasts bounced and jiggled when she moved. I tried not to stare, but the parched lump in my throat demanded I quench my thirst. But herlegs,man. Wow. My eyes stayed glued to every inch of those long stems as she confidently strutted past me, heels clicking boldly on the floor. I spun and admired the view from behind and watched her walk away. She left the doors open and waited for me on the balcony.
The girls shared a giggle at my expense. They could plainly see how stupefied Piper’s sparkly little dress had left me.
“You’re not here to play mind games with her, are you?” Ainsley asked me. “Be honest.”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all.”
“Are you gonna go after her, then?” Austen asked. “Or are you gonna just stand there and stare at her ass?”
“Right.” I started to move for Piper, but Emma stopped me.
“Hey, wait, Jax.”
“What’s up?”
“Whatever you want to say to her—just make sure it comes from the heart, okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks, Emma. I was planning on it.”
“Good,”the girls agreed.
28
Piper
On the balcony, I looked over a blood orange sky and watched the last sliver of sun as it slowly slithered behind the horizon. The day’s heat had cooled off from its sweltering afternoon high, but the lingering humidity promised to make me break a sweat in a hurry—or were my nerves responsible for that?
My pulse thumped in my neck. I had no idea what to expect as I waited for Jax to join me. All I knew was that the Jax who showed up at Katerina’s door looked like a completely different person than the scared-speechless boy I’d spilled my heart to just half-a-day earlier.
