Reconcile by Nicole Dykes

Piper is here.With Viv and Baz. I can’t quite wrap my head around it, considering I figured she’d ignore me in the hopes that I’d go away. But I can’t help feeling hope since she’s here.

Of course, she is glaring at me.

“Piper.”

She huffs and stares at me with a guarded expression I can’t read. “Sawyer.”

“What are you doing here?”

“You gave me a few days, right?”

I wince slightly, thinking about my threat and how pissed Viv was with me when I told her about it. “Look—” I start, but I’m quickly interrupted.

“I came here to tell you to go fuck yourself.”

“Not surprising.” I flop down onto Viv and Asher’s couch, flinging my arm around the back as I look up at her.

“But now, I see you with Sebastian. And his little eyes. I mean . . .” She looks flabbergasted, and I sit up straight, leaning forward, unsure where she’s going with this. “It’s like he adores you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

She gnaws on her bottom lip, her eyes full of confusion. “I could tell.”

I stand up again and approach her cautiously. “I’ve changed, Piper. I’m not the same as I was when I was eighteen.”

She takes a deep breath, folding her arms over her waist and putting up another wall. “I want to believe that.”

“Then do it.”

Her eyes flash with hurt, and I back off slightly. “You’re an ass.”

It’s not really said with malice. More like she’s speaking the truth. “I know.” I grip the back of my neck with my hand, feeling the tension there. “I shouldn’t have gone about it that way. I just want to be in her life.”

“The way you looked at our home . . .”

“It’s not a home,” I bite out quickly, but then cringe at my own words. Sighing, I drop my hand to my side. “I mean . . . I just want the best for her.” I look down at the floor, oddly ashamed of myself, which is fucking new.

“She’s happy, Sawyer.”

That gets my attention, and I snap my eyes up to hers. “I don’t even know her name. My own daughter.”

Her gaze softens. “Audrey.” Her voice is quiet, but then it’s louder when she adds, “Audrey Rene. After my grandma, the only one I could stand.”

I grin wryly at that and nod. “It’s pretty.”

“So is she, but she’s so much more. She’s happy. She’s free . . .” Her eyes well with tears, and it nearly guts me. “So much freer than I’ve ever been.”

“I don’t want to take any of that away from her.”

She swipes at a tear that’s sliding down her cheek. “But you are. You’re forcing her into the kind of world we grew up in.”

I dare to take a step closer to her. “That’s not true.”

“No?”

“No,” I say firmly but keep the level of my voice low. “I just want the best of both worlds for her. You saw Baz. That kid is incredibly happy, and he has the world at his fingertips. The best schools. The best parents. The best everything.”

She looks conflicted, and I’m surprised she seems to be considering this. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you use your money to buy us a home. I’m going to save and buy a house.”

That I expected, so I nod, feeling defeated.

“But I’ll consider moving into your house with Audrey.”

That I did not expect. Especially without a serious fight. One I was prepared for even if Viv and Ash would be pissed.

“What?”

She takes a deep breath and looks around Asher and Vivienne’s house. “Somehow this house, even as massive and extravagant as it is, seems like a home.”

“It is. And a warm one.”

She nods, still looking around. Her eyes meet mine again. “I have conditions.”

“Like?”

Her eyes narrow, and I feel deep in my gut that I’m not going to like it. “She doesn’t know you’re her father.”

“I know, but we can tell her.”

She shakes her head. “No. That’s my condition. We don’t tell her who you are.” I start to argue, but she quickly cuts me off. “Yet. I need to make sure this isn’t some sort of game for you.”

“Game?”

“Yes, a game.” Her tone is cold, and I can see the scorned teenager beneath the strong woman before me now. “I need to know that you aren’t going to get bored with this and disappear.”

“I wasn’t the one who disappeared,” I remind her.

“You disappeared long before I left, Sawyer, and you know it.” She holds one hand up to silence me. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care why you did what you did. I don’t want to dredge up the past. But that’s my hard condition that I won’t change my mind on. She cannot know who you are until I’m certain you’re going to stick around.”

I hate it, but I know I fucked up my trust with Piper a long time ago. “Fine. So, who am I then?”

“A friend.” She looks like she’s going to be sick, calling me that, which makes me smile because I’m an asshole.

“Fine. Anything else?”

“Yes.” She looks around and then back at me. “No extravagant gifts.”

“Oh, come on, Piper.”

“No.” She shakes her head firmly. “She’s a good kid, Sawyer. She’s grounded and perfect.”

“Sounds like she deserves to be spoiled.”

“She has everything she needs.”

I doubt that, but I bite my tongue and nod again. “Fine. What about school?”

“I don’t want her to be so overwhelmed at such a young age. I want her to have a great education, but I want her to be a kid.”

“We agree on that. But the school Baz goes to, where Ash teaches, is really great.”

She bites on her bottom lip again and then nods. “I’ll check it out. Maybe.”

I’m going to consider that a victory. “Okay, but I pay for it if you decide to let her go there.” She starts to argue, but this time I silence her. “Nonnegotiable. Consider it child support.”

She huffs but nods her head. “Fine.”

“When can you move in?”

“I have to talk to Audrey first and make sure she’s okay with this. She has friends and a life at her school.”

“She can still have that here.”

She doesn’t argue with me. “She has one week left in school. I’m not going to remove her yet. So maybe next week. My lease is up at the end of the month anyway.”

I nod, secretly jumping for joy but not wanting to show it. “Okay. Can I help you move?”

“You mean hire movers?”

I grin and then nod. “Yup.”

She smiles at that, and I forgot how beautiful her smile was. “Okay.”

She starts toward the door but then turns around, her voice hauntingly quiet when she says, “Don’t hurt her, Sawyer. Please.”

Fear creeps through me, seeing the desperation in her eyes and feeling like shit because I know where I come from. The type of parents. My family. Me in general. “I won’t. I swear I won’t.”

Her eyes bore into mine, searching, but then she must be satisfied. “Okay. I’ll be in touch. Thank Vivienne for me.”

“I will.”

She leaves, and I take a seat again, trying to catch my breath.

I never saw that coming. Not in a million years.

Now, I just have to be sure not to fuck it all up.