Chapter 39 Grayden
THIRTY-NINE
Grayden
We took a long, leisurely shower. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. My mouth either. We washed each other and kissed and laughed.
I’d never had sex like that before. Like we were both completely in tune.
I was so fucking gone for this woman.
By then, we were starving. Piper and I made pasta in her kitchen. She pulled on a tank top and sweats, and I was just wearing my jeans. I wanted to keep this sense of intimacy between us for as long as possible.
“You’re making it difficult to cook,” she said with a laugh.
“I get it, but the thing is, I need to be holding you. This is not negotiable.” I tickled the side of her neck with my beard.
She giggled and turned in the circle of my arms to face me. Which led to making out. My cock firmed up optimistically, but I doubted I could come again so soon. Not after I’d already gone off three times in the last twenty-four hours. I wasn’t twenty anymore.
“Shit! The onions are burning.” Piper grabbed for the wooden spoon.
We finally got lunch made and sat down to eat at the table. I pulled her chair as close as possible.
I took a bite of penne and chewed, thinking. After I swallowed, I said, “I should tell Callum about us, since Grace knows. You okay with that?”
She set down her fork. “Yeah. Grace handled it pretty well, after the initial shock. Callum’s not going to stumble in on us kissing. So he’ll be fine with it too. Don’t you think?”
I wasn’t so sure. Callum was easygoing most of the time, but he was fiercely protective of those he loved. I wouldn’t want him to be any other way.
He truly loved Piper like a sibling. Of that, I had no doubt.
“I think it’ll be alright, once I explain things to him. But I need to do it sooner rather than later. He should hear it from me first.”
“How about you tell him tonight? After he drops Ollie off?”
“You want me to stay that long?”
She looked down at her plate. “Yes. Why not?”
I’d been looking for signs constantly of where Piper’s head was at. It wasn’t easy to tell. I mean, reading her cues during sex had been second-nature. She didn’t make a secret of what she wanted, which I loved.
But when it came to us outside the bedroom, what was our status? Would she agree to be exclusive? There was no question I wanted that, but I didn’t know if Piper was ready.
Sometimes patience was easier said than done.
“What exactly should I tell Callum?” I asked. “Can I tell him we’re dating?”
Piper stirred her pasta with her fork. “I guess. Sure, that’s fine.”
I tried not to take her lack of enthusiasm personally. “Piper, I want to be with you. In case I haven’t been clear. But I also don’t want to push you too fast. I told you I’d wait, and I will. Just know I’m serious about you. In fact, I’m pretty crazy about you.”
“I…” Her eyelashes fluttered and she looked up. Those pale-green eyes met my gaze and held. “Okay.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Not sure how to take that. ‘Okay’ isn’t a real response.”
She pushed my shoulder, and I laughed. “Now you see what it’s like,” she said.
I held on to her chin and kissed her, a smile on both our lips. She hadn’t pushed me away or insisted relationships weren’t for her.
We were dating. Officially. Also, having the hottest sex on the planet.
Seemed like progress.
Piper put on a movie, and we curled up on her couch. It was a comedy of some kind, and I didn’t pay it the least bit of attention.
I was just savoring this. Having her in my arms. But the clock kept ticking down.
Piper was thrilled she would see Ollie soon, of course. She showed me every photo Ollie texted from the game and the start of the drive back home.
Ollie had sent one selfie sitting in Callum’s passenger seat, covered in new Broncos merch. He was wearing a foam finger that barely fit in the frame. Then a picture of Callum driving and flashing a peace sign along with a huge smile.
I couldn’t wait to see them either. Especially Ollie, partly because I was really starting to care about the kid. And partly just because Piper adored him so much. It was amazing to see the affection between them.
It made me think of my own mom. She’d loved us deeply. It killed me that Piper never had that, and all the more touching to see her give everything to her son.
I wanted to give everything to both of them.
It was around ten o’clock when Callum’s truck drove up. Piper had been tracking their progress, so she and I were waiting on the porch. We went down to the curb as soon as the truck pulled up.
Callum parked and went around to the passenger side. He extracted a sleeping Ollie from the seat. “Conked out an hour ago,” he whispered, holding out Ollie’s bag to Piper.
“I’ve got it,” I said, taking the strap of the duffel. Callum did a quick double take, just now noticing me standing there.
Piper smoothed back Ollie’s hair. He was out cold. “Thank you so much, Callum.”
“We had a blast. I’ll carry him inside.”
Callum and Piper went in first, and I brought up the rear, setting Ollie’s bag in the living room. There was some laughter while Piper tugged off Ollie’s shoes and Ollie woke up, flopping around in Callum’s arms.
“Good, you’re awake,” Piper said. “You can brush your teeth.”
“I’m not awake, Mom.”
“Are you sleep talking?”
“That’s a thing!”
“But sleep arguing is not.”
They went to Ollie’s bedroom. I listened to them from the living room, leaning my shoulder against the wall with a stupidly happy grin on my face.
Fuck, I wanted this. Little family moments. The small, perfect memories that added up day after day to a good life.
My eyes burned as I imagined it.
Could I really have that with Piper and Ollie? Would she open up enough to let me?
Callum came out of Ollie’s room first. “Hey. Didn’t expect to find you here.” He gave me a quick hug.
“I was hoping we could talk. Do you have a couple more minutes?”
Callum clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, big bro. Can’t stay out too long or Zandra will kill me. But I’ve always got time for you.”
We went out to the front porch. Callum rested his weight against the railing, and I stood with my arms crossed over my long-sleeved shirt. I hadn’t bothered with a coat. The cold was welcome. Sharpened my mind so I could hopefully say the right thing.
“Ollie talked about you a lot this weekend,” Callum said.
“Oh?” My head lifted. “He did?”
“Yeah, man. I heard about the skateboarding trick for the ages that went epically wrong. And how you helped him out after.”
I stuck my hands in my back pockets. “Ollie kind of hated me before that. I earned a few points.”
“More than a few. He also mentioned Piper liking you, and I wondered what was up with that. How much he was exaggerating because he’s nine, and how much was accurate.”
“Uh, that’s what I wanted to talk with you about. Piper and I are dating.”
Callum was quiet, and his expression didn’t change.
“Grace found out today,” I added. “So I wanted to tell you. Wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.”
“Does it matter how I feel about it?”
“It does. I want to be with Piper, and if she’s on the same page, nothing’s going to stop me. But I do care what you think, and if you need me to talk it through with you, I will.”
His face scrunched up. “Well, I don’t love it. It’s fucking weird, honestly.”
“Which part?”
“All of it!” Callum took off his Broncos cap and put it on again, backwards this time. “But let’s start with the fact that you haven’t been back in Silver Ridge more than a few months. Is this why you really came back? Because you secretly had designs on Piper?”
“No. Not remotely. She was still a kid the last time I saw her before…everything. I came back for you and Ashford and Grace. A hundred percent. And for me. So I could have a life here. Earn a life here.”
“And this thing with Piper just happened?”
“Yes and no. I felt drawn to her right away. To who she is now. I tried to stay away from her, I swear to you I did, but in the end my heart wouldn’t let me.”
“Your heart.”
He huffed, shifting his weight with his hands on his hips. The porch creaked beneath him. I could tell he was building up to something.
“Piper doesn’t date. You know that, right? She’s committed to being single. So this is some kind of fling. Do you know what you’re risking if it doesn’t end well? Ashford hasn’t even forgiven you yet. Grace and I are just getting to know you. This could fuck up everything.”
Okay, so Callum was being more difficult about this than Grace had been. As I’d known he might.
Part of me wanted to get defensive. But I couldn’t do that with my little brother. I could not allow this to put new barriers between us. And I couldn’t let go of Piper either.
“I understand you being skeptical. Completely. But we are dating. Piper agreed that I could tell you those very words tonight. She knows I’m serious about her, that I want to be in a relationship with her, and she’s nervous. I’m not denying that. But she’s at least open to it.”
Callum sat down against the railing again. Like that news had shocked him so much he couldn’t stay standing.
“She’s open to being in a relationship,” he said. “With you.”
I had to laugh at that. “Yes, with me. Can’t help who you fall for, can you?” I held up my hand. “Not that Piper feels that way about me yet. But I’m sure as hell falling for her.”
“Wow. I really hope, for all our sakes, that this works out.” Callum pushed out a breath. “Geez, listen to me. I sound like an asshole. You just want to be happy, and you deserve that. You and Piper both deserve that.”
A huge weight lifted. Sounded like he wasn’t completely against this.
I was just grateful to be back in Callum and Grace’s lives. And lucky they were both so forgiving, even if Callum tended to resist at first.
“You’re happy, right? With Zandra?” I asked.
His expression softened. “So happy. She’s my whole world.”
“That’s what I’d like too. With Piper and Ollie, if I’m lucky. I know you love them, and I swear I won’t hurt them.”
“I also love you.” He wiped a hand down his face. “This thing with you and Piper will take some time to get used to, but I’ll get my shit together. Okay? I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thank you. That means a lot. I love you too.”
Callum opened his arms. “Alright, bring it in. We need to hug it out, and then I need to go home and see my girls.”
“Girls? Who else is there besides Zandra?”
“Chloe and Daisy, man. Our fur babies. Gotta go home and get some kitty-cat snuggles. From Z most of all.”
I laughed and clapped him on the back as we hugged.
Then he pulled back and gave me a more pensive look. “There’s other stuff we need to talk about, huh? Stuff about the past.”
I nodded. Same thing that had been on my mind earlier with Grace.
“Grace hasn’t wanted to push the issue,” Callum said, “and I don’t really want to rock the boat either.
But I don’t think Ashford will be able to move forward until he knows everything.
Like, why you cut off ties with us after your sentencing, when you should’ve needed us most. Why you refused to defend yourself or even explain. ”
The lump in my throat made it tough to speak. Callum and I had never spoken so openly about those subjects, even indirectly.
Which was ironic, since it was always in the back of my mind. In all of our minds, probably.
“I can tell you tonight,” I said. “Right now.”
He took a step back, recoiling slightly before his sheepish smile returned. “Not tonight. I need to get home. But soon.”
“Soon,” I agreed. “Whenever you’re ready.”
He patted my arm once more before heading to his truck. I stood on the porch, my arms crossed.
Callum and Grace both seemed to know, at some unconscious, instinctual level, that nothing would be the same after I told them the whole story. They wouldn’t ever look at me the same.
Maybe I was the one who wasn’t ready.