Page 85 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
“Then tell me what it’s about,” she said, trying so damn hard to keep the tears at bay. She didn’t know what was worse, that a single conversation with his mom could have averted the situation or that he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing. To Rebecca. To Skye.
And to her.
“About holding people accountable. I’m all for hearing Rebecca out. But letting her skate?” He shook his head. “We only learn from our mistakes.”
“And how did you learn? I mean, as an upper-class kid with a powerful family at his back? Tell me, Mr. Easton, what would have been your punishment? A slap on the wrist, a warning, maybe mowing lawns for a month?” Piper went chin up. “I’ve dealt with scarier than a misdemeanor charge, and I’ve faced down people scarier that you.”
He looked as if she’d just punched him. “You’re scared of me?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, and that’s when the first tear slid. “Gage took Darcy and Jillian, and you come in here asking about how I wronged your mom, the whole while with me in here and bars between us.”
“Some advice,” Skye said. “You’re blowing the landing there, Sonny.”
He looked at the bars, as if only realizing the barrier between them, whereas the entire time she couldn’t think of anything else. Him in his Italian fitted suit and fancy degree, and her in overalls behind bars.
“Look, let’s make things easy. We don’t match, Josh. I don’t match.”
He tilted his head. “Why would I want you to match?”
Even though he’d signaled to the guard to open the door, they still stood there on opposite sides of the law. She toed the invisible line still between them. “This situation right here should be your answer.”
“But I haven’t asked you the question I came here to.”
A stupid thrill zinged and zagged at the idea of a question, but in the end she squashed it. “First,Ihave a question. When you made those promises about Rebecca, about the event, about us, did you ever intend on following through?”
“Yes. God, yes. And I will.” He reached out for her, and she instinctually stepped back. Holding it together was difficult, holding it together with his gentle hands on her would be impossible.
“Boots?” His voice was filled with question and uncertainty.
“I don’t know what hurts worse, that you can’t fix things or that you don’t even see why you can’t. Either way, I’m not interested in your solutions.” Her throat caught. “Why don’t we skip to the end where we both realize we don’t work before anyone gets really hurt.”
“I’m already there,” he said quietly, and Piper’s heart cried out for things it shouldn’t wish for.
“You and me. Our lives. Your family. Your job. Don’t you see?”
The officer appeared with the keys to unlock the cell and when it slid open, each clink of the metal further chipped away at her heart. The moment an exit was clear, her instinct was to run, but the part of her that was so tired of running begged her to hear him out. Listen to his why. Then he stepped inside—with her.
“I see everything that’s important,” he said.
“You’re supposed to see that nowhere in the equation is there room for me. I see how hard it is for Darcy, and she already fits. Me? My world doesn’t work like that.”
“Fitting in is boring,” Skye said. “Tell her.”
“I think I’ve got this,” he said to Skye, who gave a disbelievingtisk-tisk.Josh took Piper’s hand. “You fit. With me, you fit.”
“How?” She laughed, but it came out more a sob. “Your mom was upset over some stupid picture, and instead of giving me the benefit of the doubt that I was handling it, you decided to make her feel better and use Rebecca as an out. You shared something I told you in private. To your mom.”
“Rebecca spray painted the silo. We both know this.”
“That’s not what this is about. Had you kept your word, Rebecca would have come clean on her own terms and walked into the station to give a statement. Which she already did, by the way. But instead of giving people the chance to right their wrongs, your mom had her hauled off in cuffs. The kid is so scared she’s ready to run, and I don’t know how to make it better. And that’s on you.”
Without another word—there weren’t any that would be able to get past the emotions strangling her—she walked out of the cell. She’d heard him out, listened to his why, and it hurt more than if she hadn’t known.
Josh watched her go, and the confusion in his eyes, as if he hadn’t a clue as to what had transpired, created an ache so vast it swallowed her whole.
Her heart shattered like glass, Piper kept her gaze on the floor as she passed the other cells and made it to the women’s bathroom. She didn’t look back, didn’t even say goodbye, just held in the pain until she closed the door. And as she clicked the lock into place, the first sob escaped. It was quickly followed by a second and a third as the raw and all-encompassing emptiness hollowed out her chest.
Josh hadn’t only broken a promise, he’d broken his word, and in turn, he had broken her heart.
