PERFECT PIECES {18+}

♡Pierce♡

I grinned like an idiot, tucking my phone into my pocket after my call with a certain blonde hellion I was trying to tame. She was feisty, always had been and I hated to admit how hard that made my cock. But then again, even without that sharp tongue, she was one hell of girl. Had I had a crush on her for as long as I had been friends with Hayden? Yes. Could I do anything about it? No. Not because he wouldn't let me, he was the best wingman ever, but because I was an idiot and in my own way.

I got so fucking nervous around her, I did dumb shit like get her hit in the face with a football. I shook my head, yeah, smooth idiot. I huffed and walked through the lobby of the hotel I now called home, waving at the staff who recognized me before getting in the elevator and riding it all the way to the top floor. The hotel was twenty minutes from the school but it was better than not being able to go to Berkley with my friends so the commute was an inconvenience I was going to have to get used to. It was hard though.

My parents had lived close to the O'Brien's place that Hayden lived in but when they passed, my Aunt had sold their place pretty quickly. So now I lived in her hotel. The room service and fancy credit card was nice but it had never really had that homey appeal. Not that Aunt Esther cared about that. I walked into our suite and looked around the perfect space, not a single thread or ornament out of place, no sign of my eccentric Aunt anywhere in her tall heels and fancy dresses either.

"Aunt Esther?!" I called but my voice echoed back at me and I sighed, going to the kitchen. As usual there was a note on the fridge.

"Hey Pierce, I've gone to dinner with some friends. Order whatever you want for dinner and the restaurant will bring it up for you, see you later, love ya xx"

I ripped the note off and shook my head, scrunching up the paper before chucking it in the bin, my throat closing over the emotion that tried to escape. My eyes pricked as I remembered coming home a few months ago. My mom would be singing to bloody Madonna or something, twirling around as the music blasted, her smile wide as my father watched from his laptop, trying to write his next book while she distracted him. His eyes would trail over her, their gaze heated like I was walking in on some private moment, but they never made me feel like that. They saw I was home and their grins got wider, love diluting their expressions. My mom would come forward with a wide hug, a kiss on my cheek, a million questions about my day that I regretted ever brushing off while my father asked how my friends were, Hayden, even his pretty sister I always talked about. At the time she had been with that asshole, Niko. I had been pissed that he had her and I didn't but then he had wasted what he had, hurt her. Now she was angry all the time and I hated it but I was angry too. I had no idea how not to be when I'd had everything-almost everything and in a few seconds, my entire life had changed.

A robbery gone wrong on date night, a bullet wound in each of them for seeing too much and now I was one of those cliché orphans living with my Aunt. She was awesome if all I wanted was some money or alone time but when it came to actually being a parent? Discipline? Any kind of event I wished I had someone attending for me? Those weren't things she was interested in so it was always a no. I gritted my teeth as I made my way down the expansive hall to my huge bedroom that other kids my age might kill for. It had my trophies, my photos, I had made it as homey as possible with all my things but it wasn't the same. A maid still picked up my dirty clothes, made my bed to perfection and every speck of dust was wiped away. I slammed my door and screamed. I did almost daily and no one ever heard me. My fist curled, the urge to punch something overwhelming me as I grabbed my football from my desk and launched it at the wall as hard as I could. It bounced back and fell on my bed. I blew out a few deep breaths before chucking my bag on my desk and sinking onto the end of bed.

I knew my Aunt loved me, she always told me she did but she had never wanted kids. She had never wanted the commitment or the hassle, focusing on her career instead of family, which had been fine when she was just an aunt who sent me ridiculous amounts of money on Christmas and birthdays. Now she was playing mom and she kind of sucked at it.