Chapter One

Piper

“Breathe in, breathe out.”

His hot breath blows against the dip of my neck. Hands roam my arms as he steadies my position. He runs his thumbs along my skin as he adjusts me to his liking. My hands shake, nerves flaring, as his body presses closer to mine. His muscles compel me to recognize the strength behind his frame. My eyes flutter, my skin heats, and I breathe in as he moves in closer behind me. His smell invades my senses, and I become lost in the sensation of the few memories I have where his scent burned its way into my brain.

Focus, Piper. Focus on what is in front of you. Disregard the man behind you. Ignore the past he has begged you to forget time and again.

“Piper,” he rumbles in my ear.

His tone snaps me out of my coma, and I turn my head to peer at him as he looks down at me with disappointment.

“Yeah,” I answer with a false clueless retort.

Sniper tilts his head to the side. His gray eyes twinkle at me and he bares his straight white teeth when he grins at me. “You weren’t payin’ attention to a damn thing, were you?”

I make a sound that should never come out of a female’s mouth in front of a man, and I shrug and turn my attention back to the target. Sweat beads in my trembling hand as I aim ahead of me.

“Piper…”

Oh, for heaven’s sake. “Hmm…”

This is all I can force out at the moment. I wish I could forget the night on the pool table ever happened, but I can’t. Stuck in my head is the blissful memory he wants me to forget.

“Baby, are you even listenin’ to me?”

I flick the safety on my gun and lower it with frustration. “How am I supposed to pay attention when you say my name with that stupid, honey drip?”

Sniper’s touch disappears as he steps backwards and I grow even more exasperated. This isn’t us. We aren’t afraid to be near one another. Yes, we get mad and we fight, but we never step away from one another. Ever.

“You had to do that fuckin’ ecstasy with Tea. You had to fuck everything up!”

If he expects me to say I’m sorry, he’ll be waiting forever for my apology. I will not apologize for living my life and having a little fun. I’m young and, sure, I might be running from my shit past, but that is another reason why I live life so free and open.

“If you can’t deal with what happened between us, then we need to take a break,” I say, my words calm. I pivot on my heels and give the gun to him as I walk away.

“Take a break?” he sputters in disbelief. “We’re not even together!”

I throw my hand up in the air behind me and flick my wrist in a ‘whatever’ movement. “So not the point, Snipe. I meant a break from our friendship.”

Saying it should make my stomach knot up from fighting with him. It normally does, but not this time around. I think I have learned how to ignore the awful feeling that comes over me every time we argue.

“This is crazy talk, Piper. Would you fuckin’ stop walkin’,” he roars over the sound of his stomping boots as he rushes towards me.

Of course, me being the stubborn, bullheaded person I am, I don’t listen and keep walking towards my car. He should have known I was in one of my moods long before we got out in the middle of nowhere to shoot guns. I demanded we take my car and not his precious, beloved bike. Okay, that was a little uncalled for. I love his lady, and I love riding on it.

“Pipe…” he whispers as he maneuvers himself in front of me.

Not that tone, Sniper. Any tone, but that one. The softness escaping him is part of the Sniper I give in to. The man that reminds me that he, too, is human. That he, too, looks for the same things in life I do. When my feelings towards him grow stronger, I slam them back down again and build a false image of him to calm the unsteadiness of my heart. If I think of him as a careless, hard ass biker, it helps for a little while. Not long, but long enough for me to get my bearings straight again.

I put one of my hands on the hood of my car, tilt my head down to stare at the gravel, and toe my tire with my boot-covered foot. I don’t know whom I am trying to fool. He knows I am looking for an out of this conversation he is trying to have with me.

“I don’t know what to do… We are off from how we normally are,” I mumble while I bite my bottom lip, a nervous habit I picked up from Lana in the short time I was blessed to know her.

“Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth, babe. Shit is fuckin’ with me, too. I fucked my best friend, multiple times in one night. You think that’s sittin’ well up in my head?”

I shake my head back and forth. “I had myself back down to thinking just about the pool table incident, Sniper!” I exclaim. “How dare you put that back in my mind?”

I worked so hard at pushing a huge part of that night away.

“Sure, because it’s only fuckin’ hard for you, right? Who knew the best pussy I would ever have would be the pussy of my best friend? This shit has me as twisted as it has you! I don’t want to fall in love with my best friend, no more than you do!” He shoves away from my car and stomps around to the passenger side. “Take my ass home. You’ve pissed me off.”

I take the opportunity to peek over at him as he climbs into the car and slams the door. I have to fix this. Sniper and I are two peas in a pod around the club. The happy ones, the jokesters of the club, and if we go back and we’re jumping down one another’s throats, it’ll cause unnecessary tension.