Page 70 of My Last Dance

“Don’t worry, I plan to,” he said with confidence. “I’m heading there now. Please don’t burn my house down, just stay away from Kappy, okay?”

“Maybeheshould stay away fromme,” I muttered.

“Don’t worry, I’maskingyou, I’mthreateninghim,” Colt murmured before storming away.

Sensing the tension left by Colt and Mer, we all stayed quiet. JP and I cleaned up, throwing away all the candy and cups left aroundfrom the party, while Kappy played with Lucy in the living room.

JP’s grey-blue eyes briefly darted to mine. “You hear from Ali often?” he asked in a strained voice, holding the garbage bag while I dumped trash in it.

I shrugged. “She’s still out on tour, why?”

“Is she…” He seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say. He rolled his shoulders back. “Is she happy?”

“Are you?”

He grimaced. “But is she…” he trailed off, too anxious to ask whatever he was going to say.

“She’s not seeing anyone, if that’s what you want to know,” I added in a softer tone. I patted his shoulder. “Maybe you should reach out.”

Someone coughed, making me snap my neck over.

Kappy was leaning against the doorframe, his jaw tense and his dark eyes fixed on JP.

JP smoothed away from me and rolled his shoulders again. “Where’s the birthday girl?”

Kappy jerked his chin back to the living room. “Conked out, sleeping on the couch.”

“Oh, good.” JP nodded.

“Yeah…” He held up her colorful drawing: A cat with the nameCarlwritten above it in wobbly kid letters.Shit. “I think she told on you, Viper.” He lifted a challenging eyebrow.

Rolling my eyes, I shoved the trash can at JP and stormed to the front door. “I’m leaving.”

Kappy’s face dropped. “Piper, wait, we need to talk.”

Without looking at him, I grabbed my jacket and aggressively shoved my arms through the holes. “About what?”

“C’mon, you know what,” he said gently. “I’ll buy you an Espresso Martini. Mer says those are your favorite,” he drawled with an enticing smile, but it wasn’t working on me. “One drink, that’s all I ask. Please.” His brown eyes implored me, taking me back to when we were kids, and my stupid heart stumbled.

“Fine,” I snapped. “Onedrink.”

________

I watched as Kappy carried two Espresso Martinis through the busy bar back to our table, the glasses looking too delicate for his big hands.

“M’lady,” he said with a lopsided grin, gliding one glass across the bumpy wooden table to me.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

He waved to someone across the bar, and I took the opportunity to openly study his face. He still had a troublemaker grin and those same brown eyes that had a mischievous glint, giving him an eternally boyish look, like he was two seconds away from making trouble, then bolting away with a loud laugh. But up close, I could see that he garnered scars through his years of playing hockey, which added a roughness to his handsome features. He had a little scar stemming out of his upper lip, another one under his right cheek bone, another slash across his chin. Unfortunately, I couldn’t lie to myself. He was still the most attractive man I ever laid eyes on.

He took a sip at the same time as me, then sputtered out a cough with a deep frown on his face.

“You don’t like it?” I asked with a laugh.

He coughed into his fist and shook his head. “Should’ve expected you’d like something so bitter—”

My heart dropped through my ass. “So that’s how we’re starting this?”

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