Page 24 of Make You Mine

Her eyes widened in shock, and she quickly looked at the table. “I know I messed up, but can we at least talk about it?” Her murmured question only made me angrier.

I wanted to leave, but knew I had to stay and at least let her know where I stood. We hadn’t spoken since I found out. “I really don’t think we have anything to say. I mean, nothing is going to change what happened.”

“We still have to work together, Piper.” She leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh.

“We don’t have to be here at the same time. Plus, email exists for a reason, okay?”

“We used to be friends.”

“Yeah, and then you screwed my boyfriend. What do you want me to say, Dana?”

“Wow.” She sat there blinking in shock. “That was harsh.”

“Harsh? Really? No. What was harsh was when Noah caught you banging Richard on my new chaise lounge on my back patio. Remember that?”

She looked away without answering.

“I thought you wanted to talk. Let’s talk about it. Yeah, I thought we were friends, but I was obviously wrong. Who started it? Did Richard come onto you first? Did you forget your old culinary school buddy when you were sleeping with him? How long did it go on?”

“I—okay, um, Richard, you know how he is. Richard was persistent.” Her voice shook as she stared at some point beyond my face. “I didn’t know how to handle it because I liked him too. We were just talking one night, and then things escalated.” Her eyes met mine, pleading with me to understand. “I never wanted to hurt you. I swear.”

“You didn’t know how to handle it? You could have said no. You could have walked away and talked to me about it. But instead, you betrayed our so-called friendship.”

“Piper, please.” Tears filled her eyes. “I wish I could take it all back. I hate that it happened this way. Please believe me. I didn’t mean to fall in love with him. It just happened.”

“Believing you doesn’t change anything. Did you think of me at all when you were pursuing a relationship with him while he was still with me? Did it feel good to know you were sneaking around with him behind my back while we were working together to open this place?” I spun in a circle, fully committed to the moment. Finally, exhaling as I let loose everything on my mind since I found out.

“No! I didn’t mean to. It just happened one night. It kind of exploded. We didn’t intend?—”

“You didn’t intend to fuck him? How does one accidentally have sex with someone, Dana?”

“Stop it. It wasn’t like that! We fell in love. You’re being crude. This isn’t like you. Please, Piper. Quiet down. People are going to hear you.”

“I don’t care who hears, and do not tell me to be quiet. I’m not the one in the wrong here.” I glanced behind myself at the window, seeing a few passersby pausing briefly before hurrying on. It didn’t matter. I had to get this off my chest. “Apparently, you don’t know me at all. Just like I never thought you were the type of person to sleep with another woman’s boyfriend. But here we are. And for the record, I’m mad at Richard, too. He is equally to blame for this situation. Unfortunately for you, he’s not here right now.”

“Why can’t you let this go? You weren’t right for each other?—”

“How would you know that?” I seethed. “You don’t know anything?—”

“He told me things,” she shrieked. “You weren’t getting along. You didn’t want to move in with him, not really?—”

“Oh. My. God. This is unbelievable. I’m done.”

“What do you mean, done? We’re partners. You can’t just quit.”

“I’m not quitting,” I bit out, shaking with fury. “I’m done talking to you. Like I said before. Email me if you have something to say.”

“Email you? Really? That’s how you want to handle this?” Her voice trembled as she tried to catch her breath. “I thought we were friends. I messed up. I’m sorry. How can you be so cold?”

“Seriously?” A bitter laugh escaped. “You think we can just go back to business as usual after this? You’ve shattered any trust I ever had in you.”

Tears streamed from her eyes. “I know I can fix this. Please, Piper. Don’t let one mistake ruin everything we’ve worked so hard on.”

“One mistake,” I laughed bitterly, turning on my heel toward the door. “This was a series of choices that made it clear that whatever friendship we had meant nothing to you. Don’t expect things to go back the way they were.”

“We have to work together. Please. Tell me what to do to make this right.” Her voice was barely a whisper. She acted like I was the one who had hurt her.

“There’s nothing you can do. I can’t pretend, and I don’t trust you. I’ll come in for the big projects like we planned, and we will communicate through email only. I’m not giving up on this place because of you. Don’t worry about that. If anyone is leaving, it will be you. I can buy you out. You’ll be free.”

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