Page 104 of On My Side
I meet her eyes. “Ready?” I ask.
She nods and sits on the other side of Piper. “Birdie, we want to talk to you about something…”
“Oh my god.” Piper drops her phone in excitement. “Oh my god,” she repeats, eyes wide as she pivots her head between the two of us. “It’s happening. It’s happening and you didn’t bring Leia!”
Audrey laughs and Piper scowls at her. “You’re excluding one of your daughters from the conversation—and you’relaughing?”
Audrey looks at me, her bottom lip clenched between her teeth to stifle her laughter.
“Wait, what’s happening?” I ask, confused.
Piper lets out a long-suffering sigh. “You’re finally telling me you’re more than friends and are actually dating. Duh.”
Audrey’s attempt at not laughing is valiant, but ultimately fruitless as she once again bursts into laughter. Piper scowls at her.
“Are you okay with that?” I ask her. “Me dating your mom?”
“Oh my god,duh. Why do you think I’ve been at Annika’s so much? I could invite her over but I needed to make sure you two got togethersomehow.” Piper takes one of mine and Audrey’s hands in hers and squeezes. “You’ve both been happy. More than happy. And I’m happy, too. For you, but also for me, because you are two of my favorite people in the world. Except for Leia, of course.”
I try to blink away the threat of tears stinging behind my eyes. “Leia’s not a person…”
Piper yanks her hand away and gets to her feet. “Fuck you. I take it back.”
Audrey and I stand, and we all head to the door. I reach around her to grab her coat, helping her put it on.
“So,” Piper says as she unlocks the door. “Can someone remind me why we’re going to eat dinner at this place when they were mean to Mom?”
“Because we’re trying this new thing where we try not to live in the past,” Audrey explains, trailing behind her and holding the door open for me.
“Right,” Piper says sarcastically. “It’s not because you want to make a good impression on your future in-laws.”
“Piper,” Audrey and I warn simultaneously. We make eye contact, and she smiles at me while my heart explodes into sunbursts.
Piper, meanwhile, is horrified. “He says it in the same tone of voice now?! You’vegotto be kidding me.”
I ruffle her hair and she jerks away, scowling and smoothing her bangs. “If you weren’t being such a menace, you wouldn’t have to worry about me using my teacher voice, pipsqueak.”
“I regret everything,” Piper mutters, shaking her head sadly.
Audrey smiles at me, and my heart melts like ice cream on a summer day. “I regret nothing,” I respond.
Chapter 34
Audrey
Playlist: “Slut!” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) | Taylor Swift
I regret everything.
It’s a five minute car ride to Ren’s parents’ house, and I spend the entire time with my hands fidgeting in my lap.
Ren keeps glancing over at me, and at one point takes his right hand off the steering wheel, covering mine. It doesn’t fix everything, but this small action reminds me I’m not alone in this, that he’s on my side.
Piper is jabbering in the backseat about how excited she is for Christmas break, despite Thanksgiving break not starting until Tuesday. Apparently, she and Annika have big plans of starting a cat sitting business, and she asks Ren to be a reference.
“I don’t know if he’ll recommend the person who is not-so-subtly trying to catnap Leia.” I tease.
Despite my pathetic attempts to act like everything’s fine, my heart sinks lower and lower as we get closer to the Quinns’ and I begin to recognize houses and landmarks. They send me back to the last time I was here.
