Chapter 50
FIFTY
Piper
“Hey, um, Grayden?” Ollie stuffed another bite of pancake into his mouth.
“Yeah, what is it, Big Air?”
Ollie laughed at the new nickname. “Can I ask you a question?”
“You just did.” He winked. “Go ahead and ask another.”
It had been two days since Danny had regained consciousness at the hospital. He was recovering slowly but surely. Ollie and I had been driving out to Hart County General each day to visit him, usually with Grayden coming along.
Yesterday, Ashford had brought Maisie to the hospital to meet us. For the first time, she’d met her Uncle Grayden. She’d been hesitant as he went down to one knee, holding out his hand for her to shake.
I swear, that moment would be etched into my mind forever. How beautiful it was. How big.
All of us adults had been fighting back tears, while Maisie and Ollie immediately said they were bored and asked to check out the gift shop.
After we got home from the hospital, Grayden and Ollie had skateboarded in the driveway for the rest of the afternoon. Or rather, Grayden sat and clapped loudly whenever Ollie attempted a trick.
They’d watched online videos of skateboarders to get ideas. Yikes.
But I’d also witnessed serious safety discussions, and Grayden made sure Ollie wore his helmet. Grayden started calling him Big Air after Ollie made an especially impressive jump off the curb.
I loved seeing them together.
In fact, I couldn’t remember when I’d ever been this happy.
Ollie took another bite of pancake and asked his question. “Are you going to move in with us?”
I nearly choked on my sip of coffee and started coughing.
Grayden smirked at me and reached for my hand under the kitchen table. “That’s probably a question your mom needs to answer.”
“Grayden has his own place,” I said, once I’d stopped coughing.
“Then why does he keep sleeping on our couch?”
“Well…he…”
“I’ve been stressed the last few days,” Grayden said. “Makes me feel better to be near you guys. You’re pretty much my favorite people. And I have several contenders on my list, so that’s saying a lot.”
And there went my heart, melting like syrup into pancakes.
Ollie nodded. “Mom and I have been stressed too.”
“Do you mind me hanging around?” Grayden asked.
“Nah, it’s alright. If you moved in, we could practice skateboarding tricks way more. Can we do that today? It would be great for my stress levels.”
Grayden and I exchanged an amused glance. This kid. “Sorry, bud. You’re going back to school today. Skateboarding will have to wait until after.”
Ollie rolled his eyes. “Stupid school.”
After breakfast, we did our usual comedy of errors trying to get out the door. But finally, we made it into the car.
Grayden came with us, sitting in the front seat. We’d swung by his place a couple days ago so he could grab some clothes and toiletries, but his truck was still parked under the carport there.
When I pulled to the front of the drop-off line, Ollie jumped out with his backpack. He trotted into the school and waved.
“I’m worried the other kids will be talking about Danny,” I said. “And about you.”
“He’s ready for it. He’s strong, like his mom.”
I’d been answering plenty of difficult questions from my kid. He knew Danny had been stabbed and that we didn’t know the identity of the assailant.
He also knew the police had questioned Grayden, but that Grayden had only helped Danny.
Mom, why do people do things like that? Ollie had asked. Why do they hurt each other? Not like in a movie but for real.
I did my best to answer. Then Ollie had gone to Grayden for advice.
Ollie had listened with rapt attention as Grayden tried to explain why people did bad things. He didn’t have any magical answers either. But somehow, Grayden had made Ollie feel secure. Grayden’s experience with prison gave him a unique perspective, and my kid had picked up on that.
Seeing Ollie grow to trust him was an amazing thing.
I drove away from the school. Grayden reached for my hand and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. “Are you headed to Silver Linings today?”
“Not yet. I need one more day. It’s been…” I took a deep breath. “So much.”
“What would you like to do? Spa day? Hang out with Grace? I can make myself scarce if you need some time.”
“No. I just want to be with you today.”
We’d either been separated or had other people around us almost constantly since Danny’s attack. I wanted to relax with Grayden and just be.
He was my boyfriend now, after all, according to Ollie. Grayden hadn’t pushed for labels. Boyfriend was okay, though. I didn’t hate it.
We were at a stop sign. Grayden leaned over to kiss me. Someone tapped their horn behind us, and I started driving again, laughing. Oops. As if there weren’t enough rumors swirling about Grayden and me. We were putting on a show for the other elementary parents.
“Want to head to my place?” he asked. “I could use your help with something. It’ll be fun. At least, it will be fun for me.”
“Now I’m intrigued.”
“Right there,” Grayden said. “Hold that position. Just like that.”
I tried not to crack up. I’d never been a life model for a drawing before. “My hair is tickling my cheek.”
“Don’t move, wild girl. Stay still for me.”
A giggle threatened to erupt. My lips closed to keep it in.
“Be good,” he warned, eyeing me over the top of his glasses.
I stuck out the tip of my tongue.
We’d arrived at Grayden’s house a few minutes ago. He’d dragged me inside and moved me around like a doll, finding the light he liked best.
After he said he wanted to draw me, I’d assumed he would take out a sheet of paper.
But instead, he’d started sketching directly on the blank wall behind his desk. The future site of the mural he’d been planning the last time I was here. That had been just a few days ago, the same day Grace had walked in on us kissing.
Now, both our families knew about us.
I watched him from the corner of my eye. My hair was up in a messy bun, and I wore jeans and a plain sweater. Grayden had handed me an empty coffee cup to hold. He was sketching me just like that.
“Are you sure you want me in the middle of your mural?” I asked.
“Completely. You’re the first piece, and I’m going to build the rest of Main Street around you.”
My skin flushed. Nobody had ever made me feel the way Grayden did. Adored. Cherished.
At one point, I realized he’d stopped drawing. He was watching me through those naughty, sexy glasses of his.
“What?” I asked.
Grayden took off his glasses, set down his drawing pencil, and walked toward me. His fingers were smudged with charcoal.
“Just can’t believe you’re mine.”
He put his hands on my hips and tugged me into him. His mouth slanted onto mine, and without breaking our kiss, he took the mug from my grasp and set it on the desk.
“I’ve been thinking all day about getting you naked again,” I confessed, when we broke for air.
“Good, because I’ve had my mind on the exact same thing.”
He led me to the sunporch. Warm sunlight streamed through the blinds. We undressed each other and lay naked in a tangle on his futon. Kissing and caressing, trying to find the perfect alignment of our bodies.
Grayden licked along my collarbone, his stiff pierced cock dragging over my stomach. I traced my fingers over the tattoos on his chest and arm and wrapped my legs around his waist.
His lips kissed their way down my body, stopping to suck my nipples and lick every stray freckle.
“Look at all this pretty, untouched skin. Ever thought about getting ink done? Here. Or here.”
I hummed, enjoying the softness of his mouth and the contrasting scratch of his beard. “I’m always worried I’ll have regrets. That I’ll get a tattoo and then decide I don’t like it. How did you know you’d want yours forever?”
“Just a leap of faith, I guess.”
Before Grayden, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine what that meant. I used to be the girl who danced on tables, who drank too much and got wild with a man I’d just met.
But actually choosing to take a risk on forever?
“I’ll think about it,” I said. “If I get a tattoo, I will definitely hire you to do it.”
“Thank goodness. Might hurt my feelings otherwise.” He winked, then inched even lower and dipped his head.
I gasped and grabbed onto his hair.
Grayden’s tongue teased my opening while he massaged my clit with the pad of his thumb. Then he switched, his tongue flicking over my sensitive bundle of nerves while his fingers worked inside me.
When he finally pushed his cock into me, gliding through my wetness, I was moaning and panting like a wanton thing.
He was gorgeous like this. Sunlight illuminated the contours of his skin and tattoos as his hips rolled, our bodies meeting again and again.
I loved when he took over. Took what he wanted from me. I was always happy to boss a man around in bed to make sure I got what I needed, but with Grayden, I trusted him enough to just let go.
With Grayden, I felt completely free. His wildness was a perfect match for mine.
He kissed me tenderly at the same time that his thrusts got rougher. I moaned into his mouth. In a swift, filthy move, he pulled out and flipped me to my stomach, his palm smacking my butt cheek. I gave him a heated look over my shoulder.
“Watch it,” I said teasingly.
“Like you don’t love it.”
“I’ll smack your butt next time.”
“Just try me, wild girl.”
He pinned me with his body, and his cock slid inside me. That piercing. Ungh. The head of his cock rubbed inside me, driving the spiral of pleasure even higher.
“So good,” I moaned.
“You want more of this cock? Should I keep giving it to you?”
“Yes, please, yes,” I cried.
His chest pressed against my back, and Grayden kissed behind my ear.
His hips were doing wicked things, angling his cock just right to have hot pleasure cresting toward me, making me shake in anticipation.
But he also reached for my hands, curling his fingers over mine in a way that was so intimate and caring.
“I love you,” he murmured in my ear. “Fuck, you’re making me come, Piper. Need you to come with me. Squeeze my dick with that sweet pussy.”
His dirty words and rampant thrusts drove me over the edge. We both yelled, and the futon bumped rhythmically against the wall. I felt myself tighten and convulse around him as his cock jerked.
Later, when I was wrapped up in Grayden beneath his blankets, I heard my phone buzz.
“I don’t want to move,” I mumbled. “But I should check that.”
“I’ll grab it.” Grayden jumped out of bed, fully naked, and went to fish my phone out of my purse. “Geez, it’s cold out here.”
I laughed. “Hurry up and get under the blankets again.”
He climbed into bed and pulled me against him while I checked the notification. “Teller wrote.”
I read the message aloud.
Arrived in Austin for Ayla’s next show. She says hi and that she misses you all. Spoke to Chief Nichols and got an unofficial update on the investigation. Since Danny doesn’t remember much, they’ve hit a dead end. If you think of any more details…
Grayden huffed, his breath warm against my shoulder. “I appreciate Teller’s help. But it’s the police department’s job to solve Danny’s attack, not ours.”
Over the last couple days, Danny had recovered enough to be moved to a regular room and to be interviewed by Chief Nichols. He’d said he remembered being attacked by a man in a ski mask as he walked out of his motel room that morning.
But Danny had claimed to have no memory of anything else, including driving toward my house. No idea who would want to harm him or frame us. He’d said he wasn’t meeting anyone the night Grayden confronted him at the bar.
Danny was lying. Or his memory was truly spotty after the trauma of his injuries. Either way, he wasn’t helping solve the case.
An officer from Colorado State Patrol had been assigned to guard Danny’s hospital room. Just in case the assailant tried again.
But since Danny’s stabbing, there hadn’t been any further incidents or break-ins.
Grayden kissed my shoulder. “Do you know if Danny will be released from the hospital soon?”
“Another week, at least. They’re monitoring for infection. After that, he’ll be able to leave, but he’ll probably need someone to check up on him. Help with driving and wound care and stuff like that.”
His hospital stay would be expensive. I didn’t know the extent of Danny’s financial problems, but this had all started because he needed money. There was no way he could afford an in-home nurse or anything like that.
He would also need a better place to stay than the Pine Cone.
“You’ve done more than enough, Piper. Someone else can help Danny.”
“He doesn’t have anyone. That’s the thing. His parents are gone, and he doesn’t speak to anyone in his family. I assume he still has friends, but nobody’s bothered to come see him. Who else is there but me?”
“I’m here. I’ll play Danny’s nursemaid for a little while. He’ll love that.”
I laughed. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I. I plan to be in your life for a long time, so Danny will have to get used to me. I can even take Ollie to visit him, if you’re alright with it.”
“You would do that for me?”
He kissed my temple. “That and more. Anything. But Danny has to apologize to you for everything, or none of us are lifting a damn finger for him.”
“My thoughts exactly.”