Page 87 of Hard Count
Piper wondered who it might be at this hour, but with the way his life was going, he was open to anything.
He grabbed a shirt and shorts and headed for the door. He could see a large shadow on his porch.
It was Noah. He was in a hoodie and jeans, wearing sunglasses with a cap pulled low, the way Noah dressed when he didn’t want to be recognized in an airport.
“Hey,” Noah said.
“Hey.” Piper held his ground in the doorway. Noah didn’t step forward. For a second the only thing that happened was the two of them looking at each other through the open door, and the late-evening November heat.
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
Piper stepped back. Noah set his duffel by the door. He didn’t take off the cap. He coldly walked past Piper into the kitchen, not theatrical, just cautious, just Noah proving a point.
Piper tracked it. He was reading the room tonight.
“You didn’t call me back. You didn’t text.”
“I know.”
“For days.”
“I know.”
Noah turned and looked at him.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Piper. Stop bullshitting me. This game has to end now.”
“Nothing happened that hasn’t been happening for fucking years!” Piper yelled. Frustrated with himself, at what he had become, at popping off.
Noah waited. He’d triggered something in Piper he hadn’t experienced yet. Piper hadn’t meant to say it. He had meant to have this conversation in vague terms that would leave out details that might harm Noah. The sentence had arrived before he had decided to let it.Don’t tell him what your life is! Don’t do it!Piper thought, slamming his fist on the marble countertop in the kitchen.
Piper stood in the kitchen, his fist still on the countertop.
“Sit down.”
“I’m fine standing.”
“Sit the fuck down!” Piper shot back.
Noah sat on one of the island stools. He set his forearms on the counter and waited.
“Want a drink? You are going to need one after this,” Piper said as he grabbed a bottle of Far Niente Chardonnay and two glasses.
“His name is Jayson Days. I know you know him,” Piper said.
Noah nodded once.
“He has funded me for nine years. Ten million a year. I do what I am told in matters of my career and provide sex and companionship when he and his friends want it. This is all I have known. Noah, this is my life and you don’t deserve the scraps of me left over.”
Noah kept his eyes locked on Piper.
“Look at me Piper.”
