Page 53 of Love is a Lyric
“Your dates are always bad.” She sat across from him.
“Not...” He pointed his fork at her. “Okay, totally true. But it’s not my fault I can’t find a man who likes hockey.”
She choked on a laugh. “Is that your only criteria?”
He shrugged and kept eating. “Well, no. But even the ones who like hockey are just dull.”
“Maybe you’re too picky.”
“Pipes, I know I’m picky, but there’s no such thing as too picky.”
They didn’t bring up their phone conversation from earlier, the fact he knew some of what she felt for Ben. Chase was good like that. He stole glances at her as he ate until he stood and took the empty plate to the dishwasher.
“Did you just come for the food?” she asked.
One corner of his mouth hooked up. “I had an idea.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You said we need to get Ben back to where he belongs, right?”
She nodded.
“So, we need to bring him back to the music.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Chase leaned against the counter beside her. “Hear me out before you say no. Where is the place you fell in love with music when we were teens? The place you sang the first song you’d ever written?”
Piper’s breath stuttered as she understood exactly what he meant. “I haven’t been there in years.”
“I still go sometimes.” He bumped her shoulder. “When I’m missing you.”
She looped her arm through his, remembering how they’d spent every weekend at the State Street pub. It wasn’t really a pub, more like a coffee shop/diner. Every Friday and Saturday night they had an open mic where any local musician could try out new stuff. She and Chase would sit in the big blue booths for hours listening to music.
It was the only place she’d ever sang in front of people.
And it was perfect. For Ben to get back to a place he could sing withFate—with Quinn—he needed to heal his music. He’d taken the first step by agreeing to look at the songs Melanie was sending, but it wasn’t enough.
A frown marred her face as she thought of what would happen once he went back to L.A. The world needed to believe in the love story ofFate, but did Ben still believe in it too?
Chase wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into a hug. “I know that look. Stop thinking so much. Maybe you need a night at the pub just as much as he does.”
A night to remember her old life before she’d dropped out of college and agreed to work for Quinn, before she knew that it could mean losing the last family member she had. “I miss her, Chase.” It was true. She hadn’t let herself think of her sister or the fact Quinn hadn’t so much as called her, though she’d called Ben plenty. Piper wasn’t an idiot. She knew what her sister was, that she took advantage of Piper every day. But it didn’t stop Piper from loving her, from holding on to the one last piece of her parents she had. “What if I never get her back?” What if Quinn ever found out about her feelings for Ben? What if she never forgave her for quitting?
What if Piper couldn’t forgive her for stealing her most private songs?
Chase squeezed her tighter to his chest. “It’s Quinny, Pipes. She’ll come back when she needs something.”
“I just want her to need me.” That was the bottom of it, wasn’t it? She didn’t want Quinn to need the songs Piper wrote or the work as assistant Piper did. They were sisters. That should have been enough.
Chase pushed her away and put a hand on each shoulder, bending his neck to look her in the eyes. “You have to stop letting Quinn control you.”
Footsteps sounded against the tile as Ben rounded the corner. Piper straightened, erasing the emotion from her face.
Chase leaned back against the counter, eyeing his brother. “Piper and I are going out.”
Ben shrugged. “Have fun.”
