Spicy Sapphic Christmas

33. Piper

THIRTY-THREE

piper

“Got a second?” Piper asked Bunny, every single nerve that she still had left in her body firing all at once. She wasn’t ready for this conversation, but it needed to happen. Time was up, and unless she made a plan tonight, then she wasn’t going to see Jo again.

The show would be over, and they would have no reason to see each other after that.

Piper clenched and unclenched her fists out of nerves. Siena would probably be the better person to talk to about this, but Bunny was her best friend. She had to have some advice that would be useful. And she’d been a lot calmer and saner since visiting with Bea last week.

Bunny cocked her head at Piper and then glanced around the bus they were staging in. Piper shook her head and gestured to everyone else.

“Where’s Jo?” Bunny asked.

“Warming up inside,” Piper answered.

Bunny clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone out! I need to talk to Piper.”

It didn’t take long for the people who had been milling around to do last-minute preparations, gather up what they needed and book it out of there. As soon as the door was shut, Bunny turned to her.

“What was so important I had to kick everyone out?” Bunny plopped down onto the bench, crossed an ankle over her knee and gave Piper a serious look.

Piper nearly trembled in her boots. She wasn’t ready for tonight. No one was ready for tonight. “I don’t know what to do.”

“About what? Because we’re about to go on stage, and we really need to have our shit together. What number are you worried about?”

Piper’s eyes watered and she shook her head, pacing back and forth in the bus. The energy was coming off her in waves now, and she couldn’t stop it. Even if she wanted to. But she didn’t. She had to say this out loud, and she needed someone else to think for her. Because she wasn’t sure how she could get back to what she’d had before.

“Piper!” Bunny said sharply.

“Right.” Piper stopped, her hands folded in front of her as she stared into Bunny’s eyes. “I don’t want to be done after tonight.”

Bunny squinted, clearly confused. She wasn’t understanding and Piper wasn’t explaining well. Piper scoffed at herself, took another walk through the small bus, and stopped again right in front of Bunny.

“I don’t want to be done after tonight.”

“Repeating yourself isn’t going to help me understand what I didn’t understand the first time.” Bunny gave her a skeptical look.

“With Jo.”

“Oh.” Bunny pursed her lips, relaxing her body into the bench even more than before. Her lips curled up, playing at being coy.

Piper was taken aback by that. She figured Bunny would be freaking out, yelling at her, telling her she shouldn’t do it. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know! Something! Anything!” Piper threw her hands up in the air and spun around. Then she stopped short. The small brunette outside the bus caught her attention, the sneaky way she moved, the tenseness in her shoulders.

Bunny said something, but Piper didn’t hear a single thing as she froze in place when the woman turned around at the window, her face catching the light of the streetlamp.

“Oh fuck.” Piper scrambled toward the door to the bus, trying to get the damn thing open. But she couldn’t remember which button or lever to push. She pressed as many randomly as she could, trying to get any of them to respond to her touch.

“Piper!” Bunny snagged her hands and held them tightly. “What the hell—”

“Mandy.”

“Fuck,” Bunny muttered. She didn’t wait a beat as she reached for the lever and wrenched open the door.

Bunny was out of the bus faster than Piper, even with her short legs. She was always the runner. Piper swung out of the door and came to a full stop.

“I thought I told you never to show your face around me again!” Bunny practically yelled. Her chest was puffed up and she was ready for a fight.

Would Piper have to break them up?

Piper waved security over, hoping they’d get there before Bunny took to her own solutions.

“Well,” Mandy drawled, “I’m not here to see you.”

“You’re not here to see anyone.” Bunny responded instantly.

“You don’t know a thing about mine and Jo’s relationship. She invited me here.” Mandy pursed her lips and cocked her head as though she had just played checkmate.

Piper’s heart beat too hard and fast in her chest. Surely Jo wouldn’t have invited her? Surely she would have told Piper?

They were engag—no, they were only fake engaged.

Which meant nothing in the real world of relationships, and it left Piper exactly where she was standing now. Having no clue what she needed to do or say or whether or not she needed to get Mandy out of there or let her in.

Except—Mandy was banned from the show.

“Bullshit.” Piper stepped up to Bunny’s side, no longer caring to wait for the security guards who were taking their sweet time getting to them. “Where’s the ticket she sent you then?”

“Well,” Mandy purred, and Piper knew for sure what she had only hoped earlier. Jo hadn’t invited Mandy. “She doesn’t need to send me a ticket. We’ve been talking, and I know she wants me here.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Bunny barked out with a laugh.

Piper’s shoulders relaxed enough for her to take a full breath. She gasped as though she had been drowning until then. It definitely wasn’t just her wishful thinking.

Bunny could see the lies written all over Mandy’s face as clearly as Piper could.

“We have been talking.” Mandy insisted, the whine in her voice akin to nails scraping down a black board. “Look, just let her know I’m here. I’m sure she’ll want to talk to me.”

“I’ll do no such thing.” Bunny wasn’t laughing now. In fact, her voice took on the rumble of a wild predator ready to rip out the throat of anyone who dared to threaten her family.

Her family.

Which now included Jo.

Piper’s heart swelled, her chest feeling too small for all the emotions inside. And Piper wanted nothing less than that. But how had Bunny gone from angry jerk to fierce guardian in such a quick time? Piper was about to say something when she was interrupted.

“Is there a problem, ladies?” The security guards finally reached them. The guard who spoke, who had ever so casually drawled the question as though being told to do his job was beneath him, looked bored. Piper was certain he’d even given his colleague an eye roll meant for the ladies in question.

Before Piper could respond, Bunny whirled on them.

“Yeah, a big problem.” Bunny snarled. “This person is on the no-access list.”

“Is she now?” The guard was pushing his luck, and even Piper felt her spine stiffen as she pushed her shoulders back ready to attack. She flicked her gaze to his name tag, prepared to report him to his higher ups if necessary.

Ed.

But the second guard made a flutter of a clipboard, flipping pages and glancing up at Mandy and then back again.

“Oh.” The second guard, Alex, turned the color of old ash, white and flaking beneath the heat of Bunny’s anger. “I’m so sorry, miss. I’ll take care of this right away.”

“What?” Ed turned to Alex.

“She’s definitely on the list.” Alex squeaked a little, but Piper gave him props for standing up taller as he spoke to Ed.

“Thank you.” Bunny narrowed her eyes before moving her gaze to Alex. “It’s Bunny.” Bunny smiled at the security guard as he placed a hand on Mandy’s shoulder.

“Don’t you touch me,” Mandy snarled.

Piper relaxed, even though the drama wasn’t over yet. She knew it’d be taken care of, and that Jo would be none the wiser, at least for now. Because if Jo knew, it would get into her head and keep her from giving the performance of her life. Piper pressed her lips together hard, hoping that none of this came out or that Mandy didn’t try to call or text her and that Jo didn’t answer. Hell, not having her phone on her would probably be the best solution at this point.

“You’ve been asked to leave. If you don’t want to be touched, then you need to follow my partner here without any issues.”

“This is ridiculous.” Mandy pulled away from Alex’s hand and moved to take a step in the opposite direction she had been instructed to.

“You’re leaving now.” Ed grabbed Mandy around the bicep this time, her chances apparently run out. Alex, the one with cheeks still pink with embarrassment or anger, Piper didn’t care which, moved to Mandy’s other side, and together they marched Mandy out of the gates.

Piper crossed her arms, not letting up on her angry stance as she watched Mandy be escorted away. She’d snag Jo’s phone and put it on silent as soon as she got a chance. They could tell her about Mandy after the show, or better yet, tomorrow. Bunny shifted her stance, their shoulders brushing and bringing Piper back around to what had started this entire conversation in the first place.

“I’m serious about what I said.” Piper didn’t turn to Bunny as she spoke. She couldn’t. Concern and fear mixed uncomfortably in her stomach, but she couldn’t keep it in anymore. The gates closed behind Mandy and the guards, and they continued to escort her beyond them. Hopefully, they’d take her completely off site.

“Why haven’t you told Jo?” Bunny’s voice was soft beside her. “That’s who you really should be talking to. Not me.”

“Because I love her. And I won’t expect her to go into any closet and take away any part of who she is. I won’t let her do that. I want to be out and free to love her the way she deserves. The world has been changing for a while, but I’ve been too scared to push for these changes with us. But it really is what I want.”

“I’m holding you back.” Bunny sighed.

“No.” Piper reached out for Bunny’s hand, daring to turn her head and look at her best friend. Tears were in her eyes, because there was no way to get through this without changes to their relationship. And Piper hated being the one to instigate them. But she had to, because they could navigate this. “I’ve held myself back. But I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to hide any of yourself either, Piper.” Bunny squeezed her hand, and for a moment, Piper imagined it was her heart. But she didn’t know if it would heal or hurt her. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But after tonight, I promise we’ll talk about how to make sure you never have to go back to the way it was before.”

“Really? Just like that?” Piper swiped one finger beneath her eye, catching the tears that were building, and threatening to ruin the makeup that she had so painstakingly perfected.

“Yeah, really.” Bunny smiled, and while Piper saw her friend’s old fear in those eyes, she also saw the love she hadn’t seen for a while shining through on full blast. “It’s been a rough few months, but I think I’m starting to understand a little more about lots of things.”

“Thanks.” Full tears spilled down Piper’s cheeks, and she swiped them away as quickly as possible, already knowing she was going to have to deal with the mess she was making on her face. She’d have time for it.

“Yeah, yeah.” Bunny bumped Piper’s shoulder as they walked back toward the bus. “Enough of the emotional stuff. We need to finish getting ready, or Siena might actually go through with her monthly threat of killing us.”

Piper laughed and followed Bunny inside, making sure to collect the touch-up crew on the way.

They might end up starting a few minutes late, but it was worth it. It had to be. She’d never felt freer than she did now, even though she didn’t have all of the answers. All she knew was that she was in love, and she had her best friend’s blessing. Now she just had to find a way to un-fake her fake engagement.