Tyler

I laughed at Jake. I couldn't blame the guy, the goth girl did clean up nicely, but his mouth was hanging open like a broken hinge.

I laughed even harder when Piper had to literally close it for him and give him a push to jump start his brain back.

Jake's eyes traveled down her body, groaning a little as he got to the edges of her dress and her long tan legs started. It was unbelievably short, and she didn't seem uncomfortable at all.

Meanwhile Piper was pulling at the ends of her dress, trying to get it to come further down her legs. I knew she was self conscious about her scars, but you couldn't see them at all.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to whisper in her ear.

"No one can see them Piper, you look beautiful. If you want to change though, it's okay. I want you to feel comfortable. You don't have to dress up for me."

She looked at me with a smile, letting go of her dress and pulling my face to hers.

"I'm fine Ty."

She didn't sound fine. I was starting to worry this bright idea of hers to go dancing was going to blow up in my face. Why had I even agreed to this? I don't dance.

My phone rang and I pulled it from the pocket of my dark washed jeans, pressing it to my ear.

"The limo is waiting." A voice said.

"Sure, we'll be right down."

I quickly hung up and looked back to everyone.

"Ready? The chariot awaits." I said.

Jake was still staring at the girl, still unable to even form words. She was just standing there uncomfortably smiling and looking back and forth between Jake and Piper.

I knocked him across the back of the head, and he snapped up out of his trance and offered her his arm.

"Sorry," he said, "I was in another world just then."

She giggled and looped her arm through his and I turned and grasped Pipers hand.

The four of us made our way downstairs and into the limo. The first thing I did was grab Piper and deposit her in my lap. I wasn't going to be able to keep my eyes or my hands off her.

The way that dress clung to her body had me hard already and it was taking everything in me not to throw her across the seat and screw her right in front of them. All I wanted was to rip it off her. Which is probably what she was going for when she put it on.

Jake awkwardly patted the seat beside him and goth girl sat down, tilting her legs towards him so you couldn't see right up her dress. The bright blue heels she was wearing made her hair stand out, and I could tell Jake was itching to just touch it. He kept staring at the piercings in her nose and lip and I wondered if it turned him off somehow. He didn't seem to be turned off, if anything he seemed to be really turned on.

I had to hand it to Piper, goth girl  seemed like she was perfect for Jake, and she was hot, in a weird sort of way. I couldn't remember her name though, despite the fact Piper had told me a hundred times already.

It was quiet in the limo for most of the ride, Jake had grown enough balls to slide a hand across her thigh and she hadn't slapped him away.

"Mindy, I was telling Ty about how much you love the history of the school, and how much his tour sucked." Piper turned to wink at me.

Mindy, that's her name.

Mindy laughed, throwing her head back. Her hair brushed across Jake's cheek as she did so and he reached up and ran his fingers through it.

"Sorry," he said, "it's just really soft."

I stifled a laugh, wondering if I had been that awkward with Piper at first. I couldn't seem to remember anything except the attraction I had to her and the millions of apologies I sent her way. Poor Jake, he would be apologizing a lot. If he was like me, he wouldn't understand it one bit.

"Yeah no offense Ty, but you took her to the quad, the mess hall, and lookout mountain." Mindy said, turning to look at Jake.

"Dude you took her to lookout mountain? No wonder she rejected your ass so many times. Only the desperate guys take girls there." Jake said, finally finding his voice again.

Oh now you talk!

"Shut up! I wasn't taking her to that part. I showed her my favorite hiking trails." I argued, knowing it was useless. Jake would never believe it even though it was one hundred percent true.

"In his defense, he did show me the trails, but at one point I could have sworn he was going to kiss me." Piper said, squeezing my hand and leaning down to meet my lips.

I couldn't get enough of her kisses. Each one felt like the first time. The shocks and ripples that went through me had me giddy for more. I wondered if it would always feel like this. If every kiss would feel the same.

"He was certainly going to kiss you." Jake said, "I'm shocked he didn't."

I rolled my eyes and looked up at Piper, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.

"It all worked out in the end." I said, letting my hands glide down her dress and rest on her thighs.

"So you're a history major?" Jake said, turning his attention back to Mindy. "History is pretty neat."

"Psych actually, but I love history. I like knowing where I come from and the roots of our town and our school." Mindy answered.

I couldn't follow the conversation from there, I had eyes only for Piper.

When we arrived at the club, I helped Piper out of the limo and wrapped an arm protectively around her. Guys would no doubt try to hit on her, but everyone needed to know she was mine. Mine and only mine.

Jake and I found a table while the girls moved to the middle of the dance floor and started to dance with each other.

"She's so fucking hot man. You could have warned me so I could have cleaned up a little better." Jake said, never taking his eyes off her.

"I told you to come dressed in your finest."

A waitress came by and took our drink orders, and I made sure to get Piper something red that matched her dress. I wasn't really sure what she liked as far as alcohol, but a girly drink would have to do. Jake ordered a blue one for Mindy and I laughed at how we color coordinated them. I wondered if they would notice.

A guy sauntered up to them on the dance floor, trying to pull Mindy away but she politely let him down and continued to dance with Piper. Piper's back was to Mindy, her arms behind her head and wrapped around Mindy's neck.

I was almost jealous of the girl, and how close she was to Piper. Then Piper caught my eye and wiggled her finger in a 'come here' motion and I lost all thoughts of jealousy.

I shook my head, turning back to look at Jake.

"How did you know man?" He asked.

"How did I know what?"

He finally took his eyes off Mindy and turned to me, sipping his beer.

"That Piper was more than just sex?" He finally said after several moments.

I wasn't really sure. I didn't think I could put it into words, but the look on his face made me want to try. It was a look of anguish, of desperation. He had it bad for Mindy.

"I can't really pinpoint one thing that jumped out at me and said 'hey this is the girl you want to be with' but I can tell you that I wanted to be around her every single second. I found every excuse to see her, to call her, to just look at her. I found my thoughts always drifting back to her despite trying to block her from my mind."

Jake nodded, taking another sip of his beer.

"If you ever tell anyone this, I'll deny it, but all I can think about is staring into Mindy's eyes. I could get lost in them. I want to kiss her so badly, but I'm afraid if I do she might just slap me. I'm kind of afraid of her man, she seems like a tough girl. Like she don't take shit from anyone. She could probably wipe the floor with my ass." He took another sip of beer, turning back to look at her.

"You've got it bad dude." I said, my eyes finding Piper again. "It's a nice feeling isn't it?"

Before he could answer, the girls came up and sat down at the table with us.

"What made you choose this drink?" Mindy said, winking at Piper.

"Um, it matched your hair?" Jake said nervously, "you don't like it do you? I'll order you another one. Which one do you want?"

He grabbed her drink and started to gulp it down, cringing at the taste.

"Oh man that's disgusting." He said, slamming the empty glass to the table.

Mindy laughed, resting a hand on his wrist.

"It's fine, but I mean you drank it so fast I couldn't say anything. That was kind of amusing." She turned back to Piper, the smile on her face widening.

"Could you be anymore awkward Jake?" I asked, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Shut up Ty."

"Personally I thought it was cute." Mindy said.

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, whispering something in his ear that had him grinning in seconds.

"Hell yes." He said.

Without another word both of them got up and disappeared into the crowd. I tried to follow them with my eyes, but Piper brought my attention back to her.

"You think it's going well? Did he say anything?" She asked, biting her lip.

"He likes her." I said.

Piper smiled, looking back out to the crowd.

"She thinks Jake is adorable. Wait, where did they go?"

I scanned the crowd, looking through a sea of bodies but not finding a single one that looked like Jake. Truthfully I had no idea where they went. Maybe they were off in the bathroom getting busy. Was Mindy that kind of girl? Jake was certainly that kind of guy.

"Who knows."

Piper grasped my hand, jerking me up from the table. I set my beer down, letting her lead me through the crowd.

She pulled me to the middle of the dance floor, and started swaying to the music. I tried to follow her lead, but the fact was, I just couldn't dance.

I was sure I looked like a dying monkey compared to her graceful moves. It didn't matter though, I was willing to make a fool of myself to make her happy. I would pretty much do anything to see her smile.

Three songs later Jake and Mindy appeared beside us. Jake had a goofy grin on his face and a smudge of lipstick around his lips. I knew instantly what they had been doing.

"You got a little-"

"What?" He yelled over the noise.

I ran my fingers across my lips, pointing to him. He quickly wiped at his mouth and smiled even bigger.

When the song cut back out I walked back to the table, grabbing my empty beer and tipping it in the air to catch the waitresses attention. She quickly came over to bring me another.

Jake slid into the seat next to mine, with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"She's fucking perfect. I owe you big." He said.

"You totally got it on in the bathroom didn't you?" I asked, taking another swig of beer.

"No. But there was a lot of fireworks." He said. "I'm not going to lie and say I don't want to sleep with her, but what we did definitely satisfied."

I laughed, punching him on the shoulder and handing him a fresh beer.

"What did she say to you before you took off?" I asked, looking back to the girls. There were several guys flanking them, but neither of them seemed to notice.

They were having the time of their lives, just dancing with each other like no one was watching. I was pretty sure the whole damn club was watching them.

"She asked me if I wanted to go make out. She tried to do more but I refused. Am I an idiot?"

Yes. A big idiot.

"No. You like her. You like her the way I like Piper."

He nodded, turning his eyes back to her. I had never seen him look at a girl the way he looked at Mindy. Maybe she was the real deal for him. Only time would tell.

*

In the limo on the way home, Mindy had decided to sit in his lap. They were furiously kissing, and Jake's hands were roaming her body. Piper stared at them with wide eyes, probably wondering how they could do that in front of us. Piper didn't seem much for public displays, but I didn't really mind.

I turned her face to mine, leaning in to kiss her.

"I had a great time tonight. This was a really good idea. I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was going to be a disaster." I said, brushing my fingers across her cheek.

Jake had his hands up Mindy's dress now, squeezing her ass. They were still attached at the face, not even trying to come up for air.

"Me too. I'm glad we did this. I haven't been dancing since senior year. Sophie and I used to hit up the clubs every weekend." Piper said, a faraway look in her eyes.

I could tell she was sad about something, and I wondered if it had to do with her friend.

"Speaking of Soph, John wants you to introduce them. I tried to warn him, but he wouldn't take no for an answer." I laughed, thinking of exactly how that would go. It wouldn't go like tonight had that's for sure.

"She'll chew him up and spit him out." She said.

"I know."

She thought for a minute, so hard I could see the wheels turning in her head. Then like a lightbulb flashing up she jumped up and reached for her phone.

I watched as she dialed a number I didn't recognize and put it to her ear.

It was silent for several moments, and I dared a glance back at the two love birds.

They still hadn't come up for air. I was starting to wonder just how someone could kiss for that long without taking a breath.

"Hey." Piper said softly.

It was silent for several more moments.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just I was wondering when you were coming back."

I could hear the voice on the other end, but I couldn't make out what was being said.

"I want you to meet someone." Piper said, covering her mouth almost instantly like she shouldn't have said that.

"I know Sophie, but I need you. You didn't even say goodbye."

Wait what?

Piper hadn't told me anything about Sophie leaving. I mean I knew she wasn't staying at the dorm anymore but she hadn't mentioned her leaving. Is that why she looked so down whenever her name was mentioned?

"Okay. I'm sorry for calling. I love you Soph."

She abruptly hung up the phone, shoulders sinking, and rested her head on my shoulder.

"You're gonna have to tell John that it's not gonna happen. She isn't going to come back any time soon."

A tear fell down her cheek. I swiped it away and pulled her tighter in my arms.

"It's okay Piper, I'm still here."