Page 49 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
“I didn’t mean to chase off your boyfriend,” Rebecca said.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He wants to be.”
“What makes you say that?” Piper asked, going for causal, when inside she felt anything but. She’d been on one impromptu date-ish night with the guy and, while her heart raced every time she thought of him, she didn’t want to get ahead of herself.
“You know, you really don’t have to feed me. I already ate at Skye’s.” The girl was clearly lying.
“Well, then how about you help me cook dinner, and if you’re a little hungry afterwards you can have some.” Piper hung her camera bag by the front door. “I also have brownie mix I was thinking of making.”
“Whatever.”
“Do you know how to make a salad?” Piper asked, setting her purse on the kitchen chair closest to Rebecca. She was jumpy enough without feeling as if Piper didn’t trust her.
“It’s a salad,” she said theduhimplied.
“Good, everything’s in the bottom drawer. If you get started on that, I’ll get the pasta going.”
Piper pulled out a bowl for the salad and handed it to Rebecca. She filled a large pot with water. “How did you find my house?”
Rebecca hesitated while cutting a cucumber, then asked, “Are you mad?”
“No, just wondering.”
“There’s a big neon flash card with your name and info on Skye’s fridge. It says ‘In case of emergency, call Piper’. And it has all your info. You can even see it through the window.”
Piper was touched that she was Skye’s emergency contact but also a little concerned that anyone who was in Skye’s house could find Piper.
“Is that how you saw my address? Through the window?”
Rebecca shrugged. “Skye would freak if she saw me, um, all dirty.”
“I used to think that too. But eventually, Skye wore me down until I realized that she wanted me the most when I wasdirty.”
“She’s kind of big on the hugs.”
Oh, Piper knew. Just like she knew that Skye was starting to break through Rebecca’s walls. And that was a good thing. No one could love the way Skye did, and Rebecca needed a lot of love if she were going to make it.
Piper swallowed hard. She knew what it was like to grow up without even a single person to give a rat’s ass where you were and if you were safe. Her earliest memories were of waiting on the front porch for her mom to come home. Sometimes she did, and sometimes Piper made herself a toaster waffle then tucked herself into bed. No matter where her mom landed, she was always drunk.
Every so often, when her mom was between men, she’d make Piper feel as if she were the center of her mom’s universe. Then Boyfriend Next would come along, and Piper was nothing more than a footnote in her mom’s life. Being invisible by the people who were supposed to love and protect you left behind lasting scars, which shaped every moment of every day until being invisible was less painful than being discarded.
“If you want a place to crash, I have a guest room. The mattress is kind of lumpy and I only have basic cable, but it’s yours if you want it.”
“Are you going to hound me about that stupid art show?” she asked, washing her hands at the kitchen sink.
“It’s not stupid and yes. You’re too good not to enter. Plus, it’s going to be held at this fancy house in the hills. And if you sell anything you get half the money.”
“Oh, goodie,” she said with forced cheerfulness. “I can imagine how my jeans and hoodie will play out.”
Piper hadn’t thought about that. She’d been so excited about the chance for the girls to show their art in a place fitting of budding artists, she never considered that the majority of the girls wouldn’t have anything to wear, let alone feel comfortable. Hell, Piper had felt like an imposter the moment she set foot in Belle Mont House, and she’d been there in a work capacity.
“You and I are about the same size. You can borrow something of mine,” she offered. Rebecca said nothing. “I’m not really a dress person. I kind of live in pants and boots, but we can raid my closet while the brownies are baking.”
Rebecca gave a noncommittal shrug, but Piper knew she was getting through to her. Half of anything was more than what Piper had in her pockets when she’d been that age.
“Do you like tomato sauce or butter and cheese?” Piper asked just as a knock came from the front door.
