Hating Piper (Rockers' Legacy 8)

17

PIPER

It was much later than I’d expected to return when I stepped on to the bus again. After what had happened at the club, and then spending a few hours talking to the cops, I was ready to crawl into my bunk and sleep until I had to get ready for the next concert.

Hymn wasn’t up, so Trinity and I didn’t talk much as we grabbed bowls of cereal. I was starving, not having gotten the chance to eat all night. I wasn’t sure what had happened to my date, but I figured they’d taken one look at the chaos of the club and bailed. I’d have to get Flint to contact the poor person and meet up with them to make up for it.

With a huge mixing bowl full of Lucky Charms in my hand, I crossed to the couch and let out a small moan as I propped up my feet. Maybe Trinity hadn’t been too far off the mark when she’d mentioned curses the night before. I didn’t think she personally had been cursed, but our tour obviously had some seriously bad luck going on.

“Maybe we should get someone to come in and burn some sage on all the buses,” I suggested as Trinity joined me, her own overly large bowl brimming with Golden Grahams.

Her laugh was weak to my ears. “I told you I’m cursed.”

“Not you, specifically,” I argued. “But maybe this tour is in need of a good exorcist.”

“I’m willing to try anything if it means the next few weeks don’t repeat the cycle that has already started.” She stuffed a spoonful into her mouth.

Following her lead, I sat there eating in silence for a while. As I crammed my mouth full of marshmallow goodness, I watched my phone light up again and again with texts and missed calls. My parents and brother had been trying to call me for the last two hours, but other than a text in our group chat letting them know all was well—no one was dead, no one had been arrested, and I was safe—I hadn’t felt up to talking to them. It meant I would have to face my mother’s wrath when the sun came up, but I had no energy to deal with them or anyone else at present.

When I saw Cannon’s name pop up on my screen, I swiped over the message so I could read it.

Cannon: Are you asleep?

I debated ignoring it, but I found myself actually replying.

Me: Eating cereal with Trin.

Cannon: Can I come over? Please??? We really need to talk.

Talking was the last thing I wanted to do with him. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about what we’d done that morning. It was messing with my head that I’d had the best sexual experience of my life with Cannon Cage, of all people. Fuck, had it been good.

I’d tried to convince myself that it was because of the excitement of getting caught, that we’d had an unaware audience with Trinity storming around in her own little world at the time. But deep down, I knew that wasn’t the reason. Our first kiss had been so intense that it would make a liar out of me if I even tried to dismiss how combustible we were.

And the truth that I was fighting to keep from admitting to myself was, I really—really—wanted to do it again.

Watching him Hulk out on that asshole earlier to protect me had only made my hunger for him grow, and I didn’t trust myself to be alone with him for even a minute. Yet my fingers flew over the keyboard.

Me: Fine. Come over if it’s so important to you.

Trinity leaned her head on my shoulder and read our conversation. When she saw that I’d given him the go-ahead to come over, she groaned and got to her feet. “I’ve dealt with him enough for one night, thank you very much,” she mumbled around a fresh bite of cereal. “Unless you need me to hide his body because you couldn’t help but murder him, I don’t want to be disturbed.”

“Don’t be mad at him,” I called after her. “He saved me from that guy.”

She paused, her shoulders drooping, and glanced at me over her shoulder. “You’re right. I’m just finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that the boy who used to torment you is the same one who was your white knight.”

“You and me both,” I assured her. “But he did, and I guess I owe him the benefit of the doubt. At least until he turns back into the Cannon I’m used to.”

Her blue-gray eyes softened right as we heard a knock on the bus door. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, I’m sure I’ll need it.” She nodded emphatically, and I got up to let Cannon in.

Pushing the door open, I quickly turned back around to return to the couch. I heard him step inside and lock the door before he followed me. Tucking my legs under me, I scooped more Lucky Charms into my mouth as I watched him walk toward me. He’d changed into a pair of gray sweats that hung low on his hips and a matching muscle shirt, but he hadn’t showered yet, if his dry head was any indication.

The closer he came, the more I could see the outline of his dick through his sweats. Heat shot straight to my center, and I averted my eyes to my cereal, but the hunger that was now gnawing at me had nothing to do with the need for food.

Cannon sat down beside me so close his thigh brushed up against mine, making the ache between my legs throb to the beat of my heart. My body was such a traitor. I didn’t want to want him as badly as I did, but apparently I was a slut when it came to my arch-frenemy.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the image that was still in my head of how big the outline of his dick was. There hadn’t been time to explore it during our quickie, and he’d come over to talk, not go another round.

He traced his thumb down my leg to my knee then back up to my shorts. Goose bumps popped up along my entire body, broadcasting just how much I liked his touch. “About earlier…”

When he paused, I forced myself to lift my eyes to look at him, but his gaze was on my lap. “Your skin is like silk,” he murmured, his thumb continuing to trace over my flesh. “Seeing how much darker you are compared to me is sexy as fuck.”

“Wh-what…” I quickly cleared my throat and tried again. “What about earlier?”

What I really meant was, did he want to talk about how good it had felt when his dick was inside me? Or did he want to apologize for saying my ass looked fat? Or something else entirely? There were definitely several moments “about earlier” that we could rehash, but all I really wanted to talk about was if his mind had nearly melted from how amazing we’d been together like mine had.

He brushed his thumb across my overheating skin one more time before he put his hand back in his lap. Leaning his head against the couch, he turned so he could watch me. “I’m sorry if I scared you back at the club. I saw you looking cornered, the fear glazing your eyes, and I lost it.”

“You didn’t scare me.” Made me nearly combust on the spot, sure. But nothing about what he’d done at the club had scared me.

“I’m glad.” Relief filled his face, and he relaxed a little. “I want you to know that despite how I acted when we were younger, you never have anything to fear when you’re with me. I’ll never hurt you or allow anyone to harm a single hair on your beautiful head.”

I dropped my spoon into the bowl and leaned forward to place it on the coffee table. “Physically, you haven’t tried to hurt me since I was like ten,” I reminded him. “So I’m not worried about you doing something like that. It’s when you start cracking insults that I want to choke you with a violin string.”

His lips twitched upward before his expression turned remorseful. “I really am sorry about the ass comment. Those guys close to the stage were eyeballing you and making comments, and I got frustrated because I couldn’t do anything to stop them from running their mouths—or, more preferably, to stop looking at your perfect ass.” He lifted his hand and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear that had fallen free from my braid.

“I can’t help that people sexualize me,” I grumbled.

“I know. It’s a me problem, not something I expect you to change yourself to fix for me.” He leaned closer, whispering, “Even if I have wished a few times tonight that those sheer outfits of yours would magically disappear.”

“Oh, so you really do want me to go onstage naked?” I laughed at the way his face transformed from crestfallen to jealous to amused in a matter of seconds.

“You take the stage naked, sugar, and I’m gonna have to strip right along with you,” he warned, causing my laughter to instantly dry up. “Ah, so you dislike that idea, huh?”

“Keep your fucking pants on, Cannon,” I growled, poking him in the chest with my index finger.

He caught my hand and lifted it to his mouth. “Only if you promise to do the same, Pipes.” His tongue snaked around my finger as he sucked on the tip.

“You, um, you definitely shouldn’t do that.”

He pulled it free, an evil glint in his eyes. “What, this?”

He sucked the entire digit into his mouth, making me whine a little as I watched it disappear. I felt his tongue swirl around and around from tip to knuckle and back again. The entire time, his eyes were glued to me, unable to miss when my mouth fell open in a silent moan.

With a wet pop, he released my finger but didn’t release my hand. “Our quickie was amazing,” he husked. “But I didn’t get the chance to savor the feel of your tight little pussy wrapped around my cock.”

My tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth, making it impossible to do more than whimper an agreement. Maybe we both should have been embarrassed at how fast we’d gotten off, but I sure as hell wasn’t, and he didn’t seem to be either. Going off so soon was nothing to feel upset over. It just meant we both had been desperate for each other.

“But I meant what I said the other night,” he murmured. When I frowned, confused, he elaborated. “You call the shots with us. You are the one in control here. The one with all the power.”

I licked my lips in an attempt to bring moisture back to my mouth. “It doesn’t feel like I’m the one with all the power.”

“I promise that you are.” He shifted, more of his body pressing along the side of my own, but unlike earlier with the guy in the club, it didn’t feel like an invasion of my personal space. No, it only made me want to grab him and pull him closer. “I won’t do anything you aren’t comfortable with. All you have to do is say the word, and I’ll back off. Or command me, and I’ll fall at your feet and worship you like the goddess you are.”

“Why?” I whispered, liking—maybe a little too much—that he was giving me all the power to wield in whatever this was between us. “In all the years I’ve known you, I have never once seen you relinquish control over any part of yourself. Why would you offer to do so now, with me, of all people?”

Sucking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slowly let it out before lifting his lashes. “Because you have always held the power, Piper. That’s what I hated so much when we were younger. I fought it. This pull, this need to constantly be near you. Violet used to say that was how it was with her and Luca, and even though I rolled my eyes every time she did, part of me hated that I understood. The idea that my happiness was directly connected to someone else, and that I couldn’t control it, pissed me off, but it scared the hell out of me more. That’s why I was such a dickhead to you when we were kids.”

I sat there, staring at him, trying to digest his confession. Once, I’d asked him why he hated me so much, but back then, his answer had been much different. He’d spouted something about how my mom and his dad had once dated, and he thought it was disrespectful to his mom if he wasn’t mean to me.

I’d called bullshit.

For one, even though there were old tabloid stories about my mom and Axton Cage being together, I knew in my gut that neither one of them had felt anything lasting for the other. My parents were too in love, and so were the Cages. The way Axton looked at his wife was enough to tell anyone that, no matter how many women had come before Dallas, she was the only one for him. The same could be said for my dad when he looked at my mom.

And when she looked at him…

It was beautiful.

The love that was in their eyes, the way they couldn’t look away from each other without effort. The sweet touches they shared as they passed each other in the house. And the way they kissed—damn. It was embarrassing to watch, but there was no denying the sizzling chemistry still alive and well between Liam and Gabriella Bryant.

For another, my mother and Dallas Cage were good friends. Every holiday, birthday, major event in my life—or Asher’s, Cannon’s, or Shaw’s—they were both always front and center every single time. They supported all of us kids growing up. They did it with smiles on their faces that were anything but forced and affection for each other in their eyes.

If my mom had a problem that she needed advice on, she didn’t hesitate to ask Dallas, and the same went for Dallas when she needed to talk through an issue. Maybe they weren’t as close as Dallas was to Harper Stevenson, or Mom was to Aunt LeeLee, but they were still friends and didn’t consider each other competition in any shape or form.

But this confession—Cannon being scared of this invisible pull between us—that, I could believe.

All those years that he’d bullied and tormented me, when I’d told myself that I hated his guts, I’d fought myself because I’d felt the pull too. Having seen Luca and Violet’s connection back when we were all kids, I couldn’t stop a part of me from wondering if what I was feeling was what they experienced. But then I would call myself stupid because there was no way the intense love-hate I had in my heart for Cannon could be compared to their timeless love.

And then they had broken up and Violet had married someone else, making me wonder if what I’d witnessed between them had even been real or just a figment of my imagination. Cannon was sent away to military school around the time of their breakup, and when he came back, there wasn’t much time to wonder about Luca and Vi because my childhood enemy had started acting like a decent human being for what seemed like the first time in his life.

That was when I’d definitely started struggling with the draw I felt to him. Which was ridiculous because, at the time, our age difference seemed daunting and…ugly because of the potential complications. Five years wasn’t that big of a gap, but when I was only fifteen and he was twenty, the world would have lost their minds and called him a pedophile. I had no business thinking of him that way, but that didn’t stop me from crushing. Hard.

But that was all it was—a crush and nothing more.

Though he’d stopped bullying me around that time, things didn’t fully settle down between us. He was still a total douchebag at times. Insulting and growly whenever I was around. Then there were times when he was so sweet, I wondered if he’d been replaced with some alien clone.

But if he’d struggled even then with this pull, then I understood his need to fight it. I might have done the exact same thing.

Fuck, I knew I would have.