Free Starstruck - Book Two by Gemma Brooks Page A

have. It was pretty amazing.”
     
    “Goodnight, Hudson,” I said as I ended the call.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 16
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Monday morning I marched straight into the coffee shop to
have a word with Piper. I didn’t care that the shop wasn’t empty that day.
     
    “Piper,” I said as I stomped her way. The rampant bitterness
in my voice was hard to contain.
     
    The fear on her face said it all. She knew I was ticked. She
knew she had it coming.
     
    “What the fuck is going on?” I asked her with my shoulders
square.
     
    “Brynn, keep it down,” she said as her eyes scanned the
handful of patrons enjoying their morning cups of coffee and newspapers. “I’m
working. Why are you still here? I thought you were going back last night?”
     
    “Yeah, plans changed,” I said. “We need to talk.”
     
    “Now?” she asked.
     
    “Yeah, now,” I said with an eye roll. “Luke came by last
night.”
     
    “Really?” she said. I had her undivided attention all of a
sudden.
     
    “Yep,” I said. “He told me to leave him alone. He also told
me to stop asking you about him.”
     
    “Oh,” she said as her cheeks reddened.
     
    “Exactly,” I snipped. “Why would he say that, Piper?”
     
    In all our years of being best friends, I couldn’t remember
a single instance where I spoke to Piper with this tone, but I felt that this
was well deserved. I couldn’t have been more upset with her.
     
    “Piper, why would he say that,” I rephrased my question.
“Huh?”
     
    She shrugged. She didn’t want to give me an answer.
     
    I slammed my hand down on the counter to get her attention
again.
     
    “We’ve been talking,” she said in a quiet mutter. “Ever
since you left town, he’s been confiding in me.”
     
    “Why? Why you?” I asked. “Is something going on between you
two?”
     
    “No,” Piper said as she looked up and stared me straight in
the eyes. “It’s not like that at all.”
     
    “Why would you tell him that I ask about him?” I said.
“Where’s your loyalty?”
     
    “You didn’t just leave Rock River, you know,” she snipped.
“You left us. I guess we talk because we can relate. You were his best friend.
You were my best friend. We both feel like we lost you. We both talk about it.”
     
    “Luke hates to talk about his feelings,” I said. “I don’t
buy it. Why would he open up to you like that? He rarely ever opened up to me.”
     
    “People change?” she replied. “I don’t know? I don’t have an
answer for that.”
     
    I tried to soften up a bit. What Piper was saying made
sense, and maybe I was too hard on her?
     
    “I’m sorry for snapping,” I said as I reached for her hand.
“I hate fighting with you.”
     
    Her eyes shifted nervously.
     
    “You’re still my best friend,” I said. “Whether or not you
accept that.”
     
    She cracked a cautious smile.
     
    “So are you back for good now?” she asked.
     
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I honestly have no idea what I’m
doing. Everything’s just up in the air right now.”
     
    “Oh,” she said. I could sense the disappointment.
     
    “I think I should try to make it work with Hudson,” I said,
bracing myself for her opinionated response.
     
    “You probably should,” she said.
     
    Her answer was nothing short of unexpected. I thought she
would rather me stick around Rock River.
     
    “Well, I still don’t know what I’m going to do,” I said.
“All I know is I’m going to head out to the diner and ask for a few shifts. I
need to make some money.”
     
    I waved goodbye to Piper and headed out to the diner to beg
for my job back.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 17
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    My heart pounded as I stepped foot into the diner. I’d
abandoned my job almost a month ago by slipping a hastily scribbled note under
the door and leaving town the next morning with Hudson. It was hardly
professional. I’d left them