Page 13 of My Last Dance

He scoffed. “That’s just a joke.”

I rolled my eyes. I was not in the mood to fight with him.

But he wasn’t letting it go. “You do know that, right?” His eyebrows pinched together. He faced me head-on. It was the first time I’d seen him clean-shaven in a while. Even when briefly I saw him at Mer and Colt’s wedding, he insisted on keeping a mustache. Now I wished I hadn’t made fun of his stupid facial hair because he was way too good looking this way. He had the perfect jawline and cheekbones to be on the cover of magazines.

“Piper,” he said again.

My traitorous heart beat a little erratically at the sound of my name coming from his lips.

“You know that’s just a joke,” he pushed, his face looking a little pained. “Right?”

Fighting off a blush, I faced forward and rubbed my arms for warmth. “Can we just go?” I asked quietly. “My parents have a hotel in Detroit, you can just drop me off there.”

With a sigh, he shifted into drive, making the lights inside his truck dim. “So, what’s going on? Colt was half asleep when he called me,” he said, driving toward the airport exit. “He barked at me to go get you and then hung up.”

“Someone stole my purse, so I missed my flight.”

“Oof.” His face scrunched. “So, no money, no phone?

“Nope.”

“Is there anyone there to help you?” His dark eyes quickly flashed to mine before settling back on the road. “At the hotel?”

I shrugged. “I’m sure someone will.” To be honest, I just wanted to get to a comfy bed. I’d figure out the rest of this mess tomorrow.

“Why don’t you come to my mom’s place with me? You can use my phone and laptop to cancel everything there.”

“Cancel everything?” I asked, fighting off a yawn. His truck was comfy, I’d give him that, and it was the first time I’d felt any sort of warmth after a full day of travel.

“Yeah, put a freeze on all your cards and stuff.”

“But…” My eyes shifted to his side-profile. “I don’t know the passwords.”

His eyebrows tugged together. “Where do you keep the passwords?”

“In my phone.”

“Shit.” He cringed. “Well, we’ll figure it out. How about we go to my mom’s and sit down and sort it all?”

I shifted uncomfortably. As nice as that sounded, suspicion snaked down my spine. Why wouldhe, of all people, go through all that trouble for me?

“Why are you helping me, Kappy?”

He flinched slightly. “Still calling me Kappy, eh?”

“That’s your name, isn’t it?” I asked, feigning innocence.

He ran his tongue over his teeth in his closed mouth. “Not to you, it wasn’t.” His dark eyes bore into me for a second before he shifted his gaze back to the road again.

Awkward silence filled his dark truck. For the next few minutes, I leaned my head against the cool window and stared out into the dark Michigan night. The exhaustion of the day was quickly catching up to me, and I found it hard to keep my eyes open.

I’m not sure how long we drove before his voice woke me up. “Last chance before I decide, my mom’s or Detroit?”

The back of my head pounded with a headache as my sleepy eyes drifted to the split in the highway. “I… I don’t know,” I stammered. I used to be so sure of my every move, but lately, I was making all thewrongones.My confidence was fucking rattled, and I felt all sorts of discombobulated.

He nodded before easing to the right, toward the Canton exit, toward his mom’s house.

I hated to admit it, but relief caved in on me. As soon as he dropped me off, I was going to be utterly alone again, and deep down, I just wasn’t ready.

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