Two weeks earlier

“Get over here,” Molly commanded, her bleach-blond ponytail whipping around her face as she motioned to her friend. “Ben just got the sail up. You have about forty-five seconds before he makes his next sweep by the dock.”

Piper did not rush, used as she was to her friend's dramatic tendencies. In five more minutes, the boat would come skimming back by the shoreline, and she and her best friend could scuttle on board without a worry. With a strong, steady breeze, Ben did not need to worry that his sail would drop, so he didn't actually have any compelling reason to need them at once. Most likely, he just wanted Piper on the boat - probably more than she did herself.

In her earlier years, Piper would have jumped up directly, fearful that she would miss some fun if she let the opportunity pass. Her mother had taught her that few things are as urgent as they seem, and though Piper still felt the urge to respond at the slightest incentive, she had matured enough to take a minute to discern the true need for speed.

“Your loss,” Molly shrugged before rushing to the sand along the shore.

When Piper finished tying her shoe, she stood to her feet and peered delightedly out at the shimmering water of Narragansett Bay. Even after more than three years, she had not grown tired of the beauty of the bay. She had lived her entire life landlocked in Atlanta. Ever since her father had let her tag along on a business trip to Boston when she was twelve, though, she had longed to live along the New England coast. Not that Boston offered too much to entice – she didn't get excited about historical sites or educational elitism. Still, when Daniel Hayes had rented a convertible and driven down to Cape Cod, his daughter had fallen in love.

She had visited the islands off Georgia's coast a few times, but mosquitoes and heat turned the beauty into an exercise in tolerance. With the waters of Cape Cod came a cool breeze and vibrant society – at least, when Piper had visited in July. After living in Providence for a while, she realized that January did not hold quite as much charm. A few days into a 10-inch snow, she did not find the area as pleasant as she had before.

Once she graduated, she would have to decide whether to move back home or transplant permanently to New England or New York. She missed just enough about the South that she seriously considered returning to her roots as soon as possible. In a town as dynamic as Atlanta, Piper would find all the human interaction she could want. Her friends insisted that she stay up north, decided as they stood in the superiority of the northeast compared to the south. Base prejudice, Piper knew. When she had first arrived in Rhode Island, her slight Georgian drawl just squinting over the top of her well-spoken English, everyone she had met had expected her to act like a hick. Atlanta hardly qualified as the back woods, though, and on the “poor” edge of Buckhead, where she had grown up, the culture had bordered on snobbery. When middle class was “poor,” the neighborhood was privileged.

In truth, Piper met with as much ignorance in her enlightened society of New England friends as she had in the supposedly backwards south. The prejudices and biases shifted their targets slightly, but they existed in just as voluminous a number.

“Molly, take the sail,” Piper heard from the bow of the boat as it headed back to the shore a few minutes later. Ben waited for Molly to latch on to the rope and then stepped to the very edge of the catamaran. Before Piper could greet him, he had jumped off the boat and wrapped an arm around her waist. Though she laughed, she did not welcome his affection.

“Hi, Ben,” she leveled. “You can let go now.” She reached for his hand and unhooked his fingers from her middle, twisting to remove herself from his grasp. “Are y'all going to the party in Gansett tonight?”

“One of these days, Piper, you're gonna want me back,” Ben persisted, leaning in with seductive teasing.

Rather than take offense, Piper punched him in the arm. “Maybe when you grow some manners,” she retorted.

“I meant to tell you,” Molly yelled her reply to the earlier question. “I got an amazing invitation for us.”

“Us?” Ben begged.

“For Piper and me,” Molly sassed.

“What is it?” Piper queried, stepping up to the edge of the bank.

Piper accepted Molly's hand up onto the boat, and as soon as Piper had settled herself on the deck, Molly whipped the sail around and took off with the wind.

“Hey!” Ben yelled.

“Hey, yourself!” Molly mocked.

“That's my boat!”

“And you'll get it back in a minute. Piper and I need to talk.”

Once they had reached the middle of the lake, Molly slackened the rope and the boat settled into a gentle rocking that made Piper want to take a nap. She still hadn't acclimated herself completely to the world of boats.

“Okay,” Molly began, “so I was at a fundraiser for a scholarship fund that my economics professor likes...”

“Professor Davis?”

“Yes, and all of these people showed up from over in Jamestown. You know, it's Brown, so everyone wants to give us money. We don't have enough already.”

“Tell me about it,” Piper rolled her eyes. “You could send some of that our way.”

“Or…you could take my dad up on his offer and come to Brown with me,” Molly shrugged.

“So, I could flunk out of school for my master’s degree?”

Molly glared at her friend. “You know you don't give yourself enough credit. You're really smart, and a lot of people at Brown aren't even that smart. They just work really hard or are well-connected.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Well, I'll just finish up at URI and go home. No more Rhode Island winters for me.”

At Piper's words, Molly sighed. Piper knew her friend wanted her to stay in New England more than anything, but Piper would rather set Molly up for disappointment than get her hopes up just to dash them. Piper still didn't know what she wanted to do, and she wanted to make the decision without pressure from her friends. “Tell me about Jamestown,” she changed the subject.

Fortunately for Piper, nothing held Molly's attention for long, and the pale hazel eyes soon sparkled with renewed excitement.

“So, there were mostly old people there, right? I mean, the only people who go to these things are the ones too old to use their money to do fun stuff, but of course, I went for Professor Davis. I mean, I basically owe him my entire degree. Anyway, so there was this group of younger people, mostly guys, and they were obviously there together, though I don't know why. A couple were interns from D.C., and a couple were grad students from Brown and Yale. Apparently, they saw me there and felt sorry for me because I was the only young person there alone, so this total hotty came over and invited me to their table. Of course, I said yes. I was bored out of my mind. Then I just listened because I didn't know them at all, and apparently, they had been undergrads together at Brown and were only a couple of years older than I am. When they mentioned a party they are going to over in Jamestown on Friday, I guess one of them thought it was rude to mention it in front of me because they all looked at each other for a minute. Then this adorable little girl – I mean, she was maybe five feet and a hundred pounds wet – sparkled a little laugh and said, 'Of course she can come. You guys are too conscientious. It's just a party.' To which I said that I had promised to go out with a friend – you, of course – and to which they said that I should bring you along. I know, right? Awesome.”

Once Piper registered what her friend had said, she lost some of her practiced cool. The middle school girl in her wanted to jump up and down and scream with Molly. With witnesses, though, Piper would do no such thing. She smiled to herself. Since Molly had taken so long to draw a breath, Piper had used the time to formulate her answer. “If you promise to stay with me the whole night, I'll go. If you leave me, I'll kidnap Platz and hold him for ransom until you promise not to do it again.”

“You leave my cat out of this,” Molly retorted. “But of course, I won't leave you, silly. Though you don't have to be afraid of these people. They're real live grown-ups who are having a real live grown-up party. No frat boys there.”

As if they had called his name, Ben jumped up from the shore and waved both arms at them. “Bring me back my boat!” he hollered, and Piper recognized true frustration in his face.

“You'd better take him back his boat,” she commanded Molly.

“I know, and I'm about to, but you have to admit this is the best place we could have found for some privacy.”

“It was great,” Piper agreed.

Grinning, Molly looked back at the shore, an obvious sense of admiration painted across her face when she looked at Ben. “Keep your shirt on,” she screeched at him.

“You don't really mean that,” Piper insisted.

“Of course not,” Molly agreed. “In fact, I'm hoping that he'll take it off just to irritate me.”

Piper grinned. “You’re the worst.”

“Well, you didn’t want him…”

“You don’t either.”

“I want them all, in my way,” Molly sighed dramatically. “But you’re the one who always conquers them.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Piper scoffed. “You’re the man magnet.”

Molly leveled a cynical glare at Piper. “Men are interested in me for the fun, but the ones who know you all fall in love with you. At which point you panic and run the opposite direction.”

In sync with her words, Molly turned the boat back to shore.

“I’m not the casual type,” Piper grumbled.

“And yet, if I guy is actually serious, you run home hyperventilating.”

Piper knew it was true, and she pressed her lips, throwing Molly an acquiescent shrug.

“It’s okay, friend,” Molly allowed, wrapping her arm around Piper’s waist and pulling her in for a hug. “I don’t mind trailing along behind you and scooping up all the broken hearts.”

Molly laughed, and Piper managed a full grin as she watched the shore, and the waiting Ben, grow closer.

Though he kept his shirt on while they sailed back to him, he stripped it off as soon as he hopped aboard. Molly smirked her approval to Piper.

“Sorry I can't stay,” Piper apologized. “I have an appointment in an hour, and I need to shower and change.”

“No comments, Benjamin!” Molly commanded. “You're staying here with me.”

Ben shrugged and grinned, but merely offered Piper a hand off the little boat.

“I'll see you guys tonight,” Piper smiled her farewell. Her week would no doubt drag on, with so much to finish before graduation, but she would definitely make the party on Friday. Even Brown's frat parties were just frat parties. Maybe a party with civilized adults would prove more enjoyable than the melees she had experienced so far.

+++++++++++

Groaning, Mitch Parkington fumbled on his nightstand for the phone that buzzed, seemingly inside his head.

“Hello?” he murmured, his mouth barely clearing the pillow.

“I need some of your supply.” Mitch recognized the voice of his friend, Declan, and groaned to himself. Rolling on his back, he held the phone above his head and read the time.

“Declan, it’s two a.m.”

“Yeah,” his friend hedged, “but I’m on my way to a club, and it’s not going to be the same if I don’t have it. I can drive by there and get it if you don’t want to get out. As long as you have some of your samples.”

Irritated, Mitch rubbed his free hand over his forehead. His dad had decided to be stingy that month, and after Mitch had paid the rent, there was barely enough money left for food and gas. As much as he didn’t want to get out of bed, he wanted the money.

“I’ll head out in five minutes. Give me the location.”

When the phone buzzed again, Mitch slowly raised himself to a sitting position and slipped on his house shoes.

“Do you have anything from your non-pharma supply?” Declan pressed. “How hard would it be for you to pick something up for me on the way? You know I’m good for the money.”

Declan was good for the money. Very good, since he loved to spend his mom’s cash, and Mitch could stick a cool hundred on the tab for delivery. “All I can do is text him.” Mitch shrugged himself to his feet. “If he’s close, I’ll stop by. Give me your list.”

After taking down the order, Mitch shuffled to his closet and threw on some appropriate clothes. He grabbed the sample packets Declan had requested, scribbling an illegible entry into his record book, and started to the door. Hopefully he could get a good discount from Tarin, his non-pharma supplier. If he played his cards right, he would make up the deficit of his dad’s stinginess in one sale.

+++++++++++

You don’t understand, Isaac. He’s not just family. I know I said he is my cousin, but we are much more like…I don’t know. Somewhere between father-son or older and younger brother.”

“Luke,” the older man insisted, “you are exaggerating the significance of this. I need you to get invited to a party. I’m not asking you to sell him into slavery. We are going to work this from a couple of angles, and I need an ‘in’ to the Brown grad program anyway. Get invited to the party, then introduce me to your cousin. After that, it will just be a matter of the follow up – way easier than the introduction, in my opinion.”

Luciano Lopez stared out across the expansive lawn that led up to his townhome. The sun had just set, but the sky glowed aqua blue. If not for the unwelcome guest, he might have enjoyed sitting on his patio as the night fell. Instead, he wanted to throw up.

“If you’re going to manipulate him into this, I’m done,” Luke insisted. “I don’t have many limits, but Sebastian is one. We convince him, or we leave him alone.”

“For now I’m just asking you to get me access to him. Just get the invite.”

Without another word, Isaac rose and crossed the grass to where his car sat on the street. Luciano would do as asked, but he would reserve the right to interfere if he didn’t like the direction of the process.