Page 15 of Love is a Lyric
He knew what Conner meant. Piper made sure their careers ran smoothly, and he was glad he wasn’t the only one who saw it.
Conner went on. “If she develops feelings for me—if I woo her, shall we say—it would make her stay.”
Ben stopped floating and stood so he could look down at his friend. “Let me get this straight. You want to seduce Piper under false pretenses just so she won’t take a different job?”
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. You’d do it too if you weren’t so inlurvewith Quinn’s music.”
He froze. There was no world in which he’d lure Piper into a false relationship, or any relationship. He loved her because she’d been in his life for so long, but that was where the feelings stopped. Yet, the thought of her falling for Conner of all people had bile rising in his throat. “If you so much as touch her, Conner, all our years of friendship won’t stop me from taking you out to sea and dropping you over the side of a boat.”
“That’s oddly specific. Tell me again how Piper is a sister to you.”
Ben couldn’t take anymore cutting looks from Quinn or conniving words from Conner. They were his band, and he loved them, but sometimes he needed space.
He pulled himself out of the pool and slipped on his sandals before heading toward the stairs that would take him to the beach. “I’m going for a walk.”
Conner didn’t come after him, and he didn’t know what he’d do if he had. Wooing Piper to convince her to stay? Just the thought of it had his fingers curling into fists.
Could this day get any worse? Jo was pregnant by the worst possible father. Quinn was in a mood. Conner was… Conner.
And Piper might be leaving them. He tried to picture the next tour without her and couldn’t see it. She’d only joined them a couple years ago, but the time before that was a blur. Having her with him was like having a bit of his family, a piece of Chase and his parents. She grounded him in the same way Rockstars Anonymous did.
He stepped out of his sandals when he hit the sand and picked them up before walking further down the white beach. Only a few beachgoers spread their towels in the sand nearby. Surfers dotted the horizon as he gazed down toward the public beach.
Unlike Quinn and Conner, Ben wasn’t as easily recognizable as a member ofFate. His transformation from normal guy to rockstar was drastic each time he took the stage. It allowed him a bit of anonymity, at least in a town like Gulf City. If he was back in LA, he’d barely be able to go to the supermarket without someone snapping a picture.
His eyes caught on a lone girl sitting in the shallow water, letting the waves crash over her legs. Her long hair hung in wet ringlets down her back as she lifted her face to the sun. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen so much peace on her face.
The Piper he knew never stopped moving, accomplishing many tasks at once. She rarely sat still and allowed herself to relax. But sometimes, he wondered if he ever really knew her, the real her at least.
Piper jerked a look over her shoulder as if she’d sensed him watching her. Her lips parted, but she didn’t say anything. She was so different from her sister that most people didn’t even know they were related. Instead of sunbathing in a small bikini, here she sat directly in the water in shorts and a Columbus Blue Jackets t-shirt.
“You just going to stare, or are you going to take a seat?” She shifted her gaze to watch the horizon once more.
Ben lowered himself to the sand as a wave crashed over them both, knocking him onto his back.
Piper bit her fist to keep from laughing, but he didn’t miss the mirth in her eyes. “You have to steady yourself or you’ll just end up sea turtling.”
“Sea turtling?” He sat up with a laugh.
“You know…” She flailed her arms.
“Yes,” he deadpanned. “That explained it perfectly.”
Her back shook with laughter for a moment longer before she stilled. “Did Quinn send you out here? Is the washer done? Does she need something else? I can make a store run if she—”
“Piper, stop.”
“But it’s my job, and she—”
“Will survive without you for a few minutes. You know… we won’t all fall apart the minute you’re gone.”
Her face flushed, and she looked away, not confirming or denying her imminent departure. He’d hoped he was wrong, that Drew was only messing with him.
“I know what she’s worth.”
They all did, they just didn’t always treat her like it. Even Conner didn’t want to lose her, and he never cared about anything.
“Can I say something strange and not have you look at me weirdly?” he asked.
