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Kassie blinked, staring at me. "Adam…?"
"I’ll do anything, Kassie."
"You could…come with us…?"
"I can’t do that." I shifted back on my leg, fighting the horrible feeling in my stomach. "Piper deserves a lot better than what I can offer."
Without another word, I walked off down the hallway and made my way to the gym. I couldn’t keep the conversation going. Thinking about Piper for too long hurt too badly. If I kept myself distracted, I could keep going.
And then what? Where was this going to end?
The side gym was empty. I set up the punching bag.
All I needed to do was get lost in the exercise. I took a deep breath and readied my stance. My fist flew out.
Do you really think this is going to keep them away from her?
I shook my head, getting back into the motions. Stop thinking. Stop feeling. Just go with the motions.
My fists flew out again, no longer in a rhythm, just wild and one after another. I struck the punching bag. My knuckles ached. My arms hurt. And I kept going.
Violent. Impulsive.
I must’ve bruised my knuckles but I couldn’t stop.
What if I’m like them too?
102
Piper
A Heist To Get Your Crap Back
At two o’clock in the afternoon, I was stretched out on my bed, facing the wall with the turtle stuffed animal nestled in my arms. The one Adam had gotten me from the rodeo. Crying had passed a couple of hours ago. I just wanted to lay down and not worry about anything at all and not think about Adam or Adam kissing me at the party or Adam asking me to spend the night or Adam, Adam, Adam.
I could do all of that with the turtle he got me at the rodeo.
Squeezing it again, I stared at the wall.
A knock echoed against the floor. "Kiddo?"
"Hey, dad," I mumbled, not turning away from the wall.
The door creaked open and my dad took a couple of steps inside. "You have visitors."
For a moment, my heart stopped in my chest. Did Adam come? Was he downstairs? But—wait—my dad said visitors, as in plural. Plural? Who was coming to visit me in Oklahoma? I didn’t have any friends from high school or KYU, Thomas made sure of that.
I shifted back to look at the door when it shoved open and three of the last people I expected to see walked in.
"Kassie?" I asked, confused. "Zariah? June?"
While June stayed by the doorway with a wave, Zariah sat down on my chair in the corner and Kassie hoisted herself up on the bed and laid down by my feet with her arms at the back of her head.
"So, this is Piper’s room." June nodded slowly. "Yeah, I could’ve guessed."
Zariah clicked her tongue. "When did the ocean theme stuff start? Were you like a river kid and eased into it or was this something from birth?"
I blinked. "What are you doing here?"
