Play It Again

  “Well, yeah,” she says, “but it was a false alarm.”

  “A false alarm,” I repeat, narrowing my eyes. “Piper, I saw the guy trying to get into your house.”

  “Piper?” Jimmy the photographer calls as he steps into the doorway of the kitchen, hesitating as he glances between us. “Do you guys want breakfast?”

  My eyes slice to him and I stare, taking him in. He’s in black jeans with a wallet chain dangling at his side, a black hoodie, has dark brown hair with frosted tips, a lip ring, and an eyebrow ring. He’s tall, maybe only an inch shorter than my six-foot-two frame, but he’s skinny.

  He’s the guy I saw on the monitor.

  “Um, yeah, but uh …” Piper starts, but stalls, glancing at me. “But Vance won’t be staying. He’s got a … um … meeting to get to.”

  I glance at Piper, cocking an eyebrow. “I’ve got a meeting?”

  Piper says nothing, but she slowly nods, refusing to meet my eyes. She fidgets with the strap of her tank, and then tugs on the bottom of her shorts, as though attempting to make the skintight fabric look longer, before moving on with an attempt to tame her bedhead.

  She’s nervous.

  I stand there watching her fix her appearance, feeling oddly satisfied that it’s my presence that’s making her nervously fidget and not Jimmy the photographer’s.

  Silence swallows the room.

  It isn’t until the front door opens and closes a few seconds later that she finally looks up.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she says, shaking her head, her gaze shifting from me to Wes. “Is Jase going to walk in any second, too?”

  Wes ignores her, his attention focused on me. “You get here in time?”

  “False alarm,” I tell him. “It was Jimmy the photographer. He’s making breakfast.”

  “Jimmy the photographer,” Wes repeats, frowning, and I nearly laugh. He looks just as confused as I felt when she first told me who was here.

  “Yes,” Piper snaps, and she points to Jimmy, who’s still standing in the kitchen doorway watching us curiously. “That’s Jimmy. He’s a photographer. He’s also a friend of mine. What is so hard to understand about this?”

  “It’s five in the morning, babe,” Wes says seriously. “You usually work until one, and then sleep until nine-thirty. You don’t get visitors at five in the morning.”

  “How do you even know that?” she asks, and then right away she shakes her head and says, “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

  Wes regards her for a moment, before shifting his hard gaze to Jimmy. “What the fuck are you doing sneaking around her house at five o’clock in the goddamn morning?”

  Jimmy cringes. “My ex changed the locks on me, and then when I got here, I found that Piper did the same.” He frowns, shaking his head. “It really hasn’t been a good night.”

  “You and Tara broke up?” Piper asks, swinging her now worried gaze to him.

  “I emailed you about …” he stalls, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Right, I didn’t send you that email either. Okay, long story short, I met someone else. She’s perfect. She’s amazing. She’s a photographer, too. As soon as I met her, I just knew, you know? I knew she’s what I’ve been missing, so I broke it off with Tara before I left for Denver because it wouldn’t be cool to stay with her when I have these feelings for someone else. I thought she was cool with it, but she locked me out so I’m guessing she’s not.”

  Piper stares at him for a moment, with what looks like pity. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops herself, turning to look at me. “You should probably go before you’re late.”

  “Late for what?” Wes asks, once more sounding confused. “I thought Jimmy was making breakfast.”

  I hesitate, contemplating how to respond to that, wondering if I should humor Piper and play along since she really doesn’t seem to want us to stick around.

  “He is,” I say, “but we can’t stay. We’ve got that meeting.”

  Wes shakes his head, smiles at Piper, and then not missing a beat, he says, “Right, I forgot about that. I’ll meet you at Heaven Here in twenty, yeah?”

  “I’m right behind you,” I say, “but the meeting is at Sunnyside.”

  Wes laughs. “Right. Sunnyside Eatery, five-thirty. Got it.”

  I roll my eyes, and he laughs again, before saying a quick goodbye to Piper and walking out the door.

  She smiles at me when he leaves, mouthing a silent thank you, and for a second, I’m struck by the sight. She’s so damn pretty. Even just waking up, her hair knotted and disheveled, she’s pretty.

  For a second, I find myself wondering why I’ve never asked her out before, but it’s a senseless thought, because I know the answer. She’s Kim’s best friend and that could’ve been awkward and messy with them living together, and she also had a man for most of the time I’ve known her.

  But she doesn’t have a man now.

  She hasn’t for six months.

  And she hasn’t lived with Kim for six months either.

  “Have dinner with me tonight,” I say.

  Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t even take a second to consider it, shaking her head quickly. “Um ... I can’t,” she says. “I have plans.”

  My eyebrows raise at her quick shut down, my expression no doubt betraying my shock.

  Well, shit. I thought she’d at least consider it.

  “Kim and I are going out for drinks,” she blurts suddenly, as though she feels the need to explain. “Girl’s night.”

  The corner of my mouth turns up in a half smile, and then it spreads into a full-blown grin. “Then have dinner with me tomorrow.”

  “I, uh ... I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she says. “I’m kind of behind with work right now.”

  She’s right, it’s probably not a good idea, but I’m not sure I care about that anymore.

  Reaching over, I cup her chin, tilting her head up to look at me. I can see raw vulnerability in her eyes. “It’s just dinner. Work or not, you’ve still gotta eat.”

  “I know, but ...”

  “I’ll pick you up at seven, honey,” I say, stopping her before she can make up another excuse.

  Pink tints her cheeks as she rolls her eyes and she nods, a small smile on her lips. “Okay.”

  I smile, brushing my thumb over her bottom lip, before letting my hand fall away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Piper,” I say, and then I walk out the door to go meet Wes for breakfast.

  Chapter Four

  Piper

  “Okay, I’m confused,” Kim says, wrinkling her nose overdramatically as she comes back from the kitchen, handing me a fresh beer. “Why is Jimmy staying here?”

  “Out of everything I’ve told you, that’s what you’re confused about?” I ask and laugh, before taking a deep sip from my drink.

  It’s nearly six o’clock, and we’re both well on our way to a happy buzzed place. She got here about an hour ago and I’ve been filling her in on what I’ve dubbed the Vance Conundrum ever since.

  She sat and listened as I told her about the crazy alarm system he installed, and the lecture I received from the guys yesterday about not already having one.

  She giggled when I told her about Jimmy showing up here this morning, and then she full out laughed when I told her about Vance and Wes showing up shortly after and that Vance kept a key to my house.

  Then she squealed when I informed her that I now have a dinner date tomorrow night.

  But other than the sound effects, she didn’t make a single comment as I filled her in, only stopping me to refill her margarita, and now that I’m done, the only thing that’s confusing her is Jimmy?

  “Well, yeah,” she says, giving me an odd look as she drops down unceremoniously beside me on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table. She takes a dainty sip of her drink, and sighs, before continuing, “Vance monitoring your alarm and keeping a key to your house isn’t confusing. He did the same for our apartment.
And as for going to dinner, all I can say about that is it’s about damn time he made a move. He’s had a thing for you for years. But Jimmy … that’s confusing.”

  Wait … what?

  I cock my head. “He’s had a thing for me for years?”

  Kim snorts back a laugh, waving her strawberry margarita in my direction. “Are you kidding me? It was so obvious. The way he watched you anytime he came around and the way he always glared at Colton like he was a bug that needed to be stomped on. He’s wanted your attention since he met you.”

  I consider this for a moment, wondering how I never noticed, but it’s a senseless thought. I know why. I was too nervous around him, too busy trying to pretend I didn’t notice him to notice he was noticing me. Grandma Owen always said I was oblivious to boys, too. Maybe I need to pull my head out of my ass more often and notice what’s going on around me.

  “Huh,” I say finally, slightly reluctantly. “Okay, I guess maybe it was kind of obvious.”

  “Vance isn’t going to like Jimmy staying here,” Kim says seriously. “He should go to a hotel or stay with a friend.”

  “I am a friend,” I point out, raising an eyebrow. “And it’s really none of Vance’s business. Jimmy can stay here as long as he needs.”

  Speaking of Jimmy …

  My eyes shift to him as he walks into the living room and sits down in the recliner, a beer in hand. He takes a gulp of his drink as he leans back, popping out the leg rest on the chair.

  “Thanks for letting me use your office,” he says once he’s settled.

  “Not a problem,” I say. “Did you get everything you needed done?”

  “Yep,” he says, taking another sip of his beer, before he cuts his eyes to me again. “So I was thinking about this situation you have and I’ve come to the conclusion that the person that’s been vandalizing your place has to be a woman.”

  Kim looks at me with a blank face, and when I only shrug, she turns the same expression on Jimmy. “How do you figure that?”

  Jimmy shrugs a shoulder, and takes another pull from his beer. “Most men wouldn’t bother with chopping up rose bushes or spray painting vague warnings on garage doors. They’d take a more direct route to get the message across. A man would actually tell you what the message is. This petty shit just feels like a woman’s behind it.”

  “I think I should be offended,” I say, and Kim laughs at me.

  “As much as I hate to admit it, he’s probably right,” she says. “This whole thing feels like a woman with a grudge, but what about the brick through the window? That has to have been a man.”

  Jimmy shakes his head. “The person broke the window, but didn’t try to get in, right?”

  I nod. “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “It’s a woman,” he says. “A man probably would have taken it a step further, but by that point he would have already warned you off, so you wouldn’t be guessing who was messing with you, you’d know.”

  I open my mouth to protest, because his reasoning, although for the most part makes sense, also sounds absurd, but Kim holds up a hand, stopping me, her expression uncharacteristically serious.

  “I’m not sure I get where you’re going with the whole window breaking part,” she says. “If it’s a man, he could just be trying to scare her, but the rest of it …” she stalls, frowning. “When you think about it, it does seem like a woman, doesn’t it?”

  “So you both think it’s a woman?” I ask, my eyes darting between them.

  Kim nods, and Jimmy shrugs.

  “You need to make a list,” Jimmy says. “Write down all the women you’ve pissed off since moving to Sacramento.”

  Ugh. I hate making lists.

  I take another long pull of beer, finishing off the bottle, and then sigh dramatically as I set the empty bottle on the table. “Okay, I’ll make a list, but I need another beer first and we definitely need to order pizza.”

  Kim rolls her eyes unsympathetically. “Look on the positive side,” she says. “We’ve ruled out all the men you’ve pissed off over the years. We’re making progress.”

  We order pizza, Hawaiian for me with extra pineapple, pepperoni for Kim, and a meat lovers for Jimmy, and then we get to work, making the list.

  Two and a half hours later, I’m full and in a happy buzzed place, and the list is almost finished. It isn’t long, only a handful of names. We probably would have finished it sooner if we hadn’t decided to write down the entire story of why each person was a suspect, including motives and their Piper Hatred levels using a scale of one to ten, but at least it made it somewhat interesting.

  Tapping my pen against the coffee table as I read over the list, I consider scratching off Heather Tane’s name. Is ordering the last large cup of coffee really a motive to trash my rose bushes? Yeah, she was annoyed and she did call me a bitch, but Heather is always annoyed and she calls everyone a bitch, and besides that, it really wasn’t my fault the shop ran out of large cups, right?

  “Okay, this is getting boring,” Kim says, gulping down her margarita and standing up. “Let’s go to Constant Pub. We can get dressed up, go dancing, have some fun.”

  “Hell yeah,” Jimmy says. “I love Constant Pub. It’s got good people there and the drinks are cheap.”

  I shake my head. “Constant Pub isn’t really a place for dancing.”

  “Any place with music is a place for dancing,” Kim counters, her voice serious.

  “I don’t think so,” I say, shaking my head again. “We should stay here and do a whole stake out thing, watch the monitors for the jerk to come back and catch her. Besides, we’ve already been drinking and I hate cabs.”

  Kim pouts, full on, droopy lip, pouts. “That sounds just as boring as making a list. Jimmy only had one beer so he can drive us, and Vance is watching the house. He’ll catch her if she shows up again.”

  This is true.

  There’s really no point in both of us watching, right? And we’ve already made progress. We ruled out men … We made a list …

  “Come on, Pipes,” Kim whines. “It’s Friday night. Live a little.”

  “Okay, let’s go out,” I say, deciding that I might as well let go for the night and have some fun.

  Kim and I make a crash stop in my bedroom, tearing through my closet, throwing clothes around, searching for something to wear. We pull shirts off hangers, holding them up, before tossing them aside.

  It takes about fifteen minutes, but Kim finally settles on a little black dress, while I pull on a slinky green sleeveless top that dips low with a cowl neck at the front, and a pair of black skinny jeans.

  Letting my hair out of its braid, I run my fingers through the waves, fluffing it out. I swipe on some lip-gloss and blush, before slipping on a pair of sling back, peep-toed sandals, and then, Jimmy, Kim, and I hop into my truck and head to the pub.

  It’s a twenty-minute drive to the pub and Jimmy yammers on about the new girl, Sera, the entire way. By the time we get there, I know she’s twenty-one, blonde, blue eyed, has a dog named Killer and a cat named Puss. She works at a photo hut and they met when he went in to buy film for his camera.

  The parking lot is packed when we pull in, and I swear we find the last parking spot.

  There’s a small group of men standing at the entrance, smoking and laughing with the bouncer. He eyes us for a moment as we approach before recognition settles in and he lifts his chin, letting us in without any hassle.

  The bar is just as packed as the parking lot with people chatting and laughing, the atmosphere and crowd, relaxed, easy, with low music thrumming through the air.

  It’s always like this here. It’s one of the things I love about this place.

  Jimmy goes straight for the bar, squeezing through the crowd, and stands at the end, waiting for the bartender to notice him, and Kim and I start the hunt for a table.

  “Oh, look,” Kim says, pointing to a table near the bar. “It’s Vance and Wes.”

  I turn, seeing Vance staring at us,
his expression blank. He makes a show of running his eyes over me, his attention causing a tingle to shoot down my spine. I’m not sure if it’s from excitement or apprehension, until he meets my eyes, smiles, and then lifts a hand waving us over, and I realize it’s both.

  I’m excited he’s here.

  I’m nervous to see him again.

  It hits me then, Friday night, Constant Pub … Vance comes here almost every Friday night.

  I turn to Kim, narrowing my eyes at her. “You knew he’d be here tonight, didn’t you?”

  “No,” she says right away, except she’s also nodding yes.

  “I thought this was supposed to be a girl’s night,” I say.

  Kim lets out a sharp laugh. “Jimmy ruined that, not me.”

  I bite my bottom lip, and my emotions must be easy to see because Kim giggles.

  “Nervous is good,” she fake whispers, over the music. “If you’re not nervous about seeing him, then you’re just not that into him.” Then, before I can respond, she grabs my hand, tugging me toward the table. “Come on.”

  I follow her, although I really don’t have much of a choice. Her grip on my arm is bruising tight. She’s not taking any chances that I’ll chicken out and find another table.

  Vance watches me intently as we make our way over, and even slightly intoxicated, the attention flusters me. Wearing his standard uniform of faded jeans, a dark tee, and a baseball cap, he looks good.

  Really good.

  “Hey guys,” Kim says brightly as we reach the table. She moves in behind Vance, wrapping her arms around his neck, and plants a kiss on his cheek, and then moves on to Wes, repeating the routine, before taking a seat.

  “Someone’s drunk,” Vance says, amusement passing across his face as he eyes his cousin.

  “Not drunk,” Kim says, grinning at him. “Happily buzzed.”

  Vance shakes his head slowly and smiles, as he tugs out the chair beside him, gesturing for me to sit. “Thought you were out on a girl’s night.”

  I slip into the chair. “Me, too.”

  Vance shakes his head again, this time at me, and he smiles. “Glad that girl’s night brought you here. You want a drink?”