Page 39 of Terms Of Un-Endearment
This little war Piper’s started has sparked something in me. Sparring with her excites me in a way I haven’t felt since I quit surfing competitively. She’s got enough force to take me down, but if I can learn to read her…
I don’t finish that thought. I’m not ready to. It’s been so long since I’ve felt any emotion as intensely as I’ve felteverything since Piper arrived that I’m not sure what to do. I can’t decide what I’m feeling, but I likereallyfeeling something, good or bad.
“Piper’s the one determined we stay enemies,” I say as much to Frankie as to myself. “I may as well have a bit of fun with it. A few pranks aren’t going to hurt her as much as hearing Dad wants her out would have.”
“Maybe…but, right now you’re fighting Dad on one side and Piper and Cynthia on the other. You’ll be stronger if you work with Piper to get what you both want.”
“Yeah, nah. Not when we both want this house.” I pick at my vegetables which have grown cold.
“That’s not what you both want. What you both want is freedom from Dad—at least financially.”
I still my fork and stare at Frankie’s face on my mobile screen, taking in what she’s said. “I’ll keep that in mind, but I don’t think either of us can trust the other enough to work together.”
Frankie leans closer to the screen. “Listen, Archie, don’t do anything to burn any bridges permanently, okay?”
“Does that go for Dad, too?” I stuff a too-big-bite of carrot into my mouth and smile around it to answer her glare.
“He’s the one who blew up our relationship, then took a flamethrower to it to finish the job.” The biting sarcasm in her tone isn’t enough to cover the hurt I know she feels over everything that’s happened. “But that’s beside the point,” she adds, dropping her eyes to the floor. After a few seconds, she looks back at me. “I’m going to tell you something you don’t want to hear.”
“What?” I ask hesitantly.
“Give the house back to Dad, finish your business plan, and get a loan to start Bombora.” Her words are bossy, but her voice isn’t, which is as irritating as the concern on her face.
The worst part is, my confidence takes a massive hit. “You’re the one who told me to refuse to sign so I could sell the house.”
“I did. But you’ve boxed Dad in good and proper, haven’t you? Telling him how he should have settled his divorce, then forcing him to do it your way or turn over your trust. His only way out now is to flatten you.”
“He’s not going to flatten his own kid.” I realize my mistake as soon as the words are out.
Frankie doesn’t have to say aloud what she’s thinking. I can read her face. It saysyou watched him flatten me.
Silence stretches between us, and I pop a potato in my mouth to fill the space. “Thanks for hooking me up with Juan,” I say around my bite. “Did you say you had the weekend off? Let me get you a ticket to fly down Thursday for the AFL playoffs. Everyone will be here. Dex and Britta will be back by then. Rhys is going to try to come. Some other mates, too.”
She shakes her head. “Too many people.”
I should have known that would be a deal breaker. “What if I make it only Dex, Britta, and Rhys?” I’d rather have my sister here than anyone else, but the more people there are, the more likely word will get out she’s in town and she’ll end up getting harassed.
“That’d be nice. I’ll try to get Thursday off. If I can’t, I’ll come down Friday. I will have worked ten days straight by then. I need a break.” Frankie yawns. She probably got up early and worked a full shift today.
“All right,” I say. “Thanks for the advice. Go to bed.”
“Stay out of trouble.” She blows a kiss and ends the call.
I cut a bite of steak and consider what Frankie’s said about making Piper my ally. I picture her watching water drip down my chest, and heat follows the trail her eyes shaped. My hand goes to the spot on my cheek she touched, then to my hair.
Piper won’t get away with turning my hair purple. I’ve already planned my next attack. I planned it after she threatened me this morning, before she did this to my hair. It’s too late to stop now.
Just because I refused to be Dad’s foot soldier doesn’t mean I want Piper around. In two weeks, either she’ll be gone, or I will.
That’s very much what I want…Piper out of my life forever.
Even if—and I’ll never admit this out loud—I can’t stop thinking that if being in the same room with her makes me feel more alive, what would kissing her do to me?
Chapter 15
Piper
My alarm buzzes at six am, the same way it does every day, but for whatever reason, I’m more exhausted than usual this morning. I peek one eye out from under my sleep mask long enough to find my phone in the dim light and shut off the alarm.
