Page 68 of Wrecked
“We know you’re just as good as us.” Rusty slid closer to Alex. “Shit, we’re sorry. We’ve been taking you for granted, expecting you to pick up the slack. Just because you’re the only one of us who’s good at all that office crap doesn’t mean we should leave it up to you, that wasn’t cool.”
She was hanging on by a thread. Hugging herself, Piper stared out the window. “Honestly, right now, I don’t…I don’t care. I just, I need some space.”
Alex squeezed her hand. “Piper…”
Deke turned to the backseat, speaking for the first time since they all got in the car with her. “Could you two give us a minute?”
Piper turned to her brother as the back doors opened and her sister and best friend climbed out. “I’m not in the mood for one of your lectures, big brother.” She watched the pair of them walk out the workshop door, leaving her alone with Deke. Traitors.
Deke squeezed her shoulder. “Talk to me, Pipe. Please.”
“I don’t need to talk to you about every damn thing. I’m a grown woman. You realize that, right? I don’t need you to look out for me. I don’t need you to fix my problems, and I sure as hell don’t need you to get involved in my love life.”
He frowned. “Love? Is that what it is?”
“Yes.” It always had been.
He sighed. “I know I can be a little…overbearing…”
She snorted. “A little?”
“Okay, a lot. But please, will you talk to me? Not as your idiot, overprotective older brother but as your friend? We’re still friends, right?”
She held his gaze. “Do you promise to ease off, to let me live my life, make my own mistakes?”
The muscle in his jaw jumped. “I’ll ease off.” His wide shoulders shifted under his jacket. He didn’t like the idea, but she knew he was finally listening to her. “Now will you talk to me?”
Her lids dropped, and she drew in a deep breath. She knew he was just trying to help. “Not much to say really. I’m in love with Cole, have been forever. You know that.” She shrugged. “I haven’t exactly hidden it very well, have I?”
Her brother shook his head. “You suck at subterfuge, sis.” A sad grin tugged up the corner of his mouth.
Wonderful. She rested her head against the headrest. “I had him for a little while, and now I’ve lost him. I pushed too hard and pushed him right out the door.”
Deke twisted to face her more fully. “Cole’s a troubled guy. Has been since his accident. But seeing you two together… Pipe, I could see the change in him when he was with you. I can see that he cares for you a great deal. He was right about one thing, though, you can’t fix him. The only one that can help Cole is Cole.” He reached out and slid her closer, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed the top of her head. “To be completely honest with you, I don’t know if he can…or if he’s willing to try.”
She clung to her brother, buried her face against his shoulder, and let the tears flow.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cole hunched over the bar, elbows resting on its sticky surface, and signaled for another drink.
How could he be so damn stupid?
He’d convinced himself he could have her, that his only obstacle was telling Deacon that he and Piper were seeing each other. That he could conquer the rest of it on his own—in his own time.
But now Piper knew what happened—what he’d done. That Adam’s death was his fault. It was bad enough she’d seen the scars he carried on his body, now she knew the extent of the ones he carried inside. He’d been kidding himself. Eventually she would have realized he was a hopeless case, that he was completely fucked up, and she’d walk anyway. He’d eventually drive her away.
The bartender placed a glass of vodka in front of him, and Cole downed it. “Keep ’em coming.”
The guy poured him another and headed to the other end of the bar. The look on her face when he’d pushed her away from him. The hurt. The betrayal. He shook his head and glared at the glass in his hand, fingers tightening. He wanted to throw the damn thing against the wall, crush it in his fist. Something, anything to release the anger, the frustration, the motherfucking powerlessness battering him.
“You drunk enough yet? Or do I have a while to wait?”
He kept his eyes on his glass, ignoring his friend. Talking was pointless. The shit going on in his head was enough to deal with. “Walk away, Deke.”
“So how long have you been sneaking around with my sister?”
Cole shrugged. “Save the big-brother bullshit. You don’t need to worry about me screwing up Piper’s life. I won’t be going back.”
