Ruin Me (17 page)

“Bye, Piper,” they both say as they turn away.

“You guys go ahead,” Kai says, his eyes on me. “I’ll catch up.”

Damn. No. Kai, just go.

Shawn nods and continues on his way, but Mandy’s gaze lingers on me. It’d be easy to ask her to stay and get out of this moment with Kai, but it would never bring me the closure I need to let him go. I gesture for her to move on and leave us and she gives me an understanding smile in return before pushing through the crowded airport.

“Piper…” he begins.

“Have a safe trip, Kai,” I say.

“Piper, please,” he whispers. “I’ll go, but I want to ask you something first.”

I cross my arms over my chest to hide my nervous shaking. “Okay,” I say.

“I want a genuine, honest response from you. Can you do that?”

I take a deep breath, wishing that he would just turn around and leave before I change my mind. Every time I look up into his eyes, I feel the urge to leave with him bubbling beneath the surface of me, fighting to get out. “Yes,” I answer.

He studies my face. “Why did you come to me last night?” he asks.

“I… wanted to know if it felt different with someone that loved me.” I say the first words that travel through my mind. They feel so very real and powerful, I believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that they’re true.

“Did it?” he asks.

I blink, unable to answer the question. I want to, I really do. But…

Kai takes a step closer to me. His hands travel to my arms and rest lightly on my elbows. “Come home with me,” he says.

“No,” I say.

“Piper,
please
.”

“Kai…
no
.” I shake my head. “I can’t. I’ve made my decision.”

I can see his teeth clenched together behind his lips. “You’re so damned stubborn, Pipes—”

“
I’m
stubborn?”

“Yes.
You.
You’re stubborn.”

I stop myself from continuing the banter, no matter how much I want to. It’s so easy to slip into that mode with Kai. It’s probably what I’ll miss the most about him. “Kai…” I smile. “Go home.”

“I don’t want to leave you without know where I can find you again,” he says.

“I’ll be around…”

“That’s not good enough.”

“Kai, please…” I’m slipping fast. If I don’t walk away soon, I won’t be able to at all.

“Fine,” he says. He takes a step back. His warm hands drop from my arms, leaving behind a wave of goosebumps. “It’s a real shame.”

“What is?” I ask.

He bends over and grips his duffel bag. “After twelve years, I was just starting to really get to know you.”

My heart breaks and I can’t say a word. A crushing sorrow knocks me off course. I close my eyes. If I keep them open, I know I’ll only look at him again and this time, I won’t be able to leave him.

“Goodbye, Piper.”

I open my eyes to see his back drifting off into the crowd.

“Goodbye, Kai,” I whisper.

***

My heart thumps harder in my chest with every step I take through the train station in Paris. My next stop is London and anyone with half a brain can look at a map and tell you that two are separated by a good stretch of water. I never thought much about it until just now when I realized I would be riding a train
underneath the damn English Channel.
Claustrophobia begins to set in, a sensation I’m certain I’ve never felt before, but I continue on in the name of adventure.

Besides, it’s a good distraction.

My phone buzzes in my hand and I pause to check the incoming message.

Have fun, sweetie!

I smile at the message from my mother. We just said goodbye nearly an hour ago and I already miss her deeply. It feels nothing like the last time I said goodbye to her as a young, confused girl of sixteen. Back then, I didn’t know when I’d see her again, but now, I know I’ll see her in a week’s time.

After that, my future is blank and I love everything about that. Nothing is written in stone for me by someone else’s hand. I’ll write my own adventure, make my own choices, and be my own person.

I chuckle softly to myself. Happiness swells within me, calming my senses as I hold the power button down on my phone. I promised my father I would keep it turned on for the entirety of the trip so he could check where I am at all times. The itinerary I gave him is now officially outdated.

“All right, Piper,” I say to myself. “Let’s do this bitch.”

I continue on and find the train with a few minutes to spare. It’s crowded, far more so than any other train I’ve taken so far. It’s full of so many different people, from obvious tourists to locals commuting to and from work. I push through the narrow aisles and double check my ticket for the correct seat. I wonder who I’ll be sitting by this time and surprise myself when my first thought isn’t whether it’ll be a tall, dark, and handsome stranger.

I enter the next car and freeze in the aisle. A smile touches my lips as I step closer to my seat. Kai Casablancas sits slouched back in the window seat next to mine with his arms crossed over his chest, like he was always meant to be there. I blink repeatedly, convinced that I’ve once again succumbed to a trick of the mind, but he’s still there every time I open my eyes. I don’t say a word as I raise my bag up and slide it into the compartment above the seat.

I sit down beside him in silence. Kai’s eyes are locked on the window, but I can clearly see his amusement pouring out of them. His satisfyingly smug grin teases the corners of his lips. Finally, I can’t take our silence anymore. “Don’t you have to be at school in two days?”

Kai shrugs his shoulders. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be right now,” he answers. “And the first week is nothing but orientation junk anyway…”

I sit back as my heart trembles. His presence now… it’s overwhelming me, but I can’t dwell on it without bursting. “So, I guess Shawn was happy to hear you finally completed your collection,” I say, attempting to play it cool.

He meets my eyes. “Actually, he was really disappointed when I told him I couldn’t pull it off,” he says.

I raise an eyebrow. My skin erupts in tiny sensations. “Was he now?”

“You remain the holy grail of Belle Academy lays, Piper.”

“Yeah, and what happens when you go home and have to explain this to everyone?”

“I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” he says. “And I don’t really care to.”

I exhale and grip the armrests to hold myself steady. “What did you lose?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“In the bet,” I say. “What were the terms?”

“Oh…” He tilts his head. “My car.”

“You gave up your car?” My jaw drops from shock. “You love that thing.”

“There will always be other cars.”

“But—”

“There are more important things worth holding on to,” he interrupts me and slips his hand around mine. “There’s only one Piper Lynch out there.”

I shake my head at him. “You’re an idiot.”

“I know,” he smiles. “I can live with that… but I can’t live without Piper Lynch.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I laugh. “You’ve proved your point.”

“Really?” he asks. “I have like six more good lines before I’m tapped out.”

“Kai…”

“Yes, Piper?”

“Shut up.”

I lean in and kiss him softly. He stays still until I pull away and see that damned smug glint in his eyes once again. I shake my head at him before leaning in to steal another kiss. He returns my kisses this time, reaching out to cup my face with one hand to hold me against him.

Kai Casablancas.

Freedom will taste just as good with you here with me.

Part 2

Ride Me

Chapter 18

Piper

The plane lurches in the air and I dig my nails deep into the armrest. After months of traveling by train across Europe and Asia, I’d almost forgotten how much I hated planes. I pull my coat a little tighter around me as I gaze out the window. I’m not cold, not in the slightest. It just provides me with a more pleasant sense of security — one that I need as I look out the window and catch sight of the Los Angeles skyline.

Hello, America. Piper Lynch is back.

I wasn’t planning on coming back here, especially not so quickly. It’s been six months since I stepped foot on American soil. She and I didn’t exactly part on good terms, either. But it wasn’t her fault. Not at all. I love the country of my birth and I feel a surge of happiness as I look at her again. No, I just wronged a few people here and forgiveness will not come easy. Especially from Philip Lynch, my father.

A week in Europe
, I asked of him. That’s all I wanted. I wanted just a few days to do some traveling and see a few new places before I was once again locked down inside a school with a book permanently glued to my hand for another four years. At Belle Academy, my private high school populated by the spawn of the social elite, I was Valedictorian. Everyone knew me. I was Piper Lynch, the headmaster’s beautiful daughter. I was going to go to Harvard and take over the world. It’s what everyone saw when they looked at me…

Except
him
.

Kai Casablancas. My stepbrother. He saw right through me from the beginning.

He wasn’t always my stepbrother. Before that, he was an acquaintance, possibly even a friend. Our mothers were very close. That was, until my father and his mother had an affair that ripped both of our families apart. My own mother bolted the country because of it on a mission to find herself. She abandoned me, but I never once blamed her for it.

No, all of the blame fell squarely on my father’s shoulders.

So when I asked him for a quick trip to Europe, I wasn’t being completely honest with him. I went to Europe last August with a one-way ticket and he had no idea. No one did, except for my best friend, Mandy Black. She came with me, just as hellbent as I was to have a good time before responsibility once again reared its ugly head. One last hurray with each other (and handsome European men, of course) before she went off to college at USC and I started a new life in Europe with my mother.

Everything was going according to plan. Until Kai ruined everything.

My idiot stepbrother and his friend, Shawn Monty, made a bet with each other when they were fifteen. Kai had to sleep with all twenty-three girls of our graduating class before college began. He claimed it wasn’t serious until they realized that Kai was indeed capable of pulling it off. For years, I heard whispers in the hallways about Kai Casablancas and his notorious cock picking off girls in our class one-by-one. In all honesty, I was impressed, but certainly felt my fair share of disgust at the very idea of Kai using women to win a bet. But who was I to judge? I’m not exactly the innocent darling my father — and the world — wishes to believe.

Kai made his way through the young women of our class (including Mandy, a fact I never let her live down) until there was only one left: Me. Part of the reason why I ran off to Europe at the end of the summer was to rid myself of his obvious sexual advances.