Page 51 of Love is a Lyric
As if an answer from heaven, her phone rang. Irritation rushed through her at the thought of talking to Melanie, or Conner, or Drew. For one night, she wanted to pretend the world of fame and rockstars didn’t exist.
But it wasn’t any of their names flashing on the screen.
A smile tilted her lips as she brought the phone to her ear. “Just the voice I needed to hear.”
Chase laughed. “Flatterer.”
“Come on over, and I’ll flatter you.”
“Oh no. No no no. Pipes, was that flirting? You sounded like some creepy bald guy hitting on the too-young girl sitting at the bar.”
She laughed and couldn’t stop. All the emotion from the morning welled up in her, breaking through her calm exterior until the laughs turned to sobs.
Jonathan paused his cleaning. “Do I need to hurt whoever is on the phone?”
Chase must have heard him. “Piper, why does my dad want to hurt me? Stop crying, dude. Or at least go somewhere else so he doesn’t think I’m the cause.”
Piper laughed through her tears. “I’m okay. It’s just Chase, and he didn’t make me cry, I promise.”
Jonathan looked from her to the window where they could still see Ben, understanding lighting in his eyes.
“Piper!” Chase yelled. “What the heck is going on? Why are you crying?”
She turned from the window and wiped the tears from her face as she left Jonathan staring after her in the kitchen. She didn’t say anything to Chase as she sprinted up the stairs and into her room, kicking the door shut behind her. She flopped onto the bed with a sigh.
“If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to assume you’re dying.”
“I’m okay, Chase. Just ignore my moment.”
“I will not. Piper Hayes doesn’t have moments. She usually saves all the emotion for her songs.”
“Yeah, well I don’t feel like writing today.”
“Never thought I’d see the day.”
She rubbed her eyes. “What day?”
“The day you lost your mind.”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
“Good comeback.” She laughed, thankful for the tiny bit of normalcy Chase always provided her life. To be honest, her life had never been normal. At least, not since she was ten when she had to fit into a family that wasn’t her own. “Ben is going to have to leave soon.”
“So will you.”
“I think I’ll stay here until my new job starts.” She didn’t want to admit she had nowhere else to go. In L.A., she lived in Quinn’s loft.
Chase was quiet for a long moment. “We’ve known since you guys got here it wouldn’t last. Why are you—no!”
“What?” She sat up. “What’s wrong.”
“You! You’re what’s wrong. Piper Ellen Hayes, do you have feelings for my brother?”
He wasn’t the first to insinuate it, and she’d started wondering if they were right. She’d always been drawn to Ben, to his music. But there’d been a wall between them, a wall named Quinn.
A groan rolled through her. “I’m messed up, aren’t I?”
