32. Piper
THIRTY-TWO
PIPER
Liam
How are you feeling, Pipsqueak?
Me
Like a new woman. Thank you for all your help!
Liam
Glad to hear it. See you bright and early.
Liam
*Attachment: 1 image*
Pico likes you more than he likes me.
Me
Well, obviously. I’m a delight!
Liam
Are you?
Me
Watch it, Sullivan. You called me your best friend.
Liam
I have no recollection of those events.
Me
*Attachment: 1 image*
Now you have a photo of my middle finger.
Liam
Want another lesson tonight?
Me
I have dinner plans with the girls. I bailed on them last week and don’t want to bail again. Sorry!
Tomorrow?
Liam
Early game on Sunday. Rain check?
Me
Definitely.
Me
About our next lesson…
Liam
I’m listening…
Me
Are you free this afternoon?
Liam
No. Volunteering with some of the team at the animal shelter.
Me
Bring Pico home a friend!!
Liam
He might claw my eyes out if I tried.
Liam
No game tonight or tomorrow. What are you doing?
Me
Shopping with Lexi and trying to find some outfits for our trip.
Why the hell did you just send me five thousand dollars?
Liam
Because I can.
Buy yourself something nice, wife.
Me
Hi.
Liam
Sunshine. What are you up to?
Me
Is it silly to say I miss you?
AS A FRIEND.
Liam
Still doodling in your journal, aren’t you?
Me
Yup. Your name is in hearts everywhere.
Maybe I’ll get it tattooed on my wrist.
Liam
You’re obsessed with me. I knew it.
Me
Wait. What’s your middle name?
Liam
Starts with an F.
Me
Fucker?
Liam
Original.
Me
Fed Up?
Liam
Now you’re on the right track.
Me
We’ve been playing tag the last few weeks.
Liam
I know. Now you’re it.
Get your ass over here.
AS A FRIEND.
“This was delicious.” I scrape my fork across my plate, wanting to get the last of the marinara sauce from the chicken parmesan he made. “How did you learn to cook so well?”
“My mom.” Liam puts a dirty pan in the sink and smiles. “She’s always in the kitchen. I remember the first time she let me cut up the carrots for chicken noodle soup one winter. There’s something cathartic about it to me. Maybe because it’s like hockey; it’s precise. Exact. You can’t skip ahead. That’s always been how my brain works.”
“If you were forced to cook only one meal the rest of your life, what would it be?”
“Pancakes. Breakfast for dinner is severely underrated.”
“I love pancakes.”
“Next time you’re over, I’ll make you some.”
“Talk about five star services. Orgasms. Food. Access to good healthcare.” I laugh and spin on the barstool. “I’m all set up with a new doctor. You were right about using your name, by the way. I felt a little slimy saying I was Liam Sullivan’s wife, but it’s too late to take it back now.”
“You’re using it for a good cause, not to get into a club or something.” He tosses a dirty napkin in the trash. “I made dessert too.”
“Wow. This is a full-fledged meal.” I jump off my seat at his kitchen island and slide up next to him. “What did you make?”
“Chocolate chip cookies. You always sneak a couple extra at team dinner… I thought they might be your favorite.”
“They are my favorite.” I grin and look up at him. “I’m wondering if you’re the one obsessed with me, Sullivan.”
“Consider this a mini lesson.”
“Oh, I like when you get into teacher mode. You should buy a pair of glasses.”
“Is roleplaying on your list of things to try?”
“I mean, maybe? I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
“Then be quiet, Ms. Mitchell, so you can learn something,” he says sternly, and I practically melt. “A guy should be doing nice things for you in and out of the bedroom. They should be noticing things you enjoy. Places you like to be touched. Food you like to eat. It’s simple stuff, honestly.”
“And if they’re not noticing these things?”
“Means they’re only in it for the sex and don’t see enough of a future with you to want to learn your likes and dislikes.”
“Wow. Okay. That’s important. What other lessons do you have for me?”
“You know what we’re doing tonight.”
His eyes turn dark and he threads his hand through mine. With a gentle tug, he leads me down the hall. I follow behind him, my breath sharp and shallow.
I knew this moment was coming.
I’ve been waiting for it.
Dreaming about it.
Counting down the seconds until we got here , but I’m still nervous as hell. Trembling when he opens the door to his bedroom and guides me inside.
He was right when he told me there are emotions associated with sex, and I’m scared .
Scared that I won’t be good enough for him.
Scared he’ll compare me to the other women he’s been with and not want anything to do with me anymore.
Scared he’ll see me at my most vulnerable and not be interested.
I can make jokes. I can play it off with sarcasm or quick wit, but under all these games of pretend, I’m starting to think I have feelings for him— real feelings—and I’m terrified how this next step might change things between us.
I’m still working on myself.
He doesn’t want anything serious.
I know that, but it doesn’t dull my attraction to him.
At first, I thought my pull to Liam was because he was the first man in years to show me any attention. The first man to listen and seem interested in what I had to say.
Over time, though, I’m learning it’s him I’m drawn to.
The guy at the supermarket doesn’t do anything for me.
The guy at the western bar didn’t do anything for me.
Liam does something for me, and tonight I get to have him exactly how I’ve wanted him from the very beginning.
“Hey.” He rubs the inside of my wrist. My eyes shoot to his, and he’s watching me. Studying me. Clawing past the layers and finding the most intimate parts of me, and god that makes my chest ache. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head and smile. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”
“Piper. Don’t hide from me.”
“It’s silly. I’m supposed to get on my knees and blow you. You’re supposed to fuck me. That’s how this arrangement works, right?”
“We’re not supposed to do anything. I need you to be honest with me, and right now, you’re not being honest.”
Damn him and his ability to read people .
I walk to his bed. The mattress sags under my weight and I sigh. “I’m nervous. Not for the physical aspect of it, but for the emotional aspect. You’ve been so nice to me these last few months. Teaching me. Being patient with me. I want this to be good for you. I want you to get off and enjoy what you’re doing. I don’t want this to be a one-way thing. I’ve always felt so rejected after sex, and it makes me think I’m the problem. Like I’m not going to be able to satisfy you.”
He moves toward me and drops to his haunches, right between my legs. He cups my face in his palms and runs his thumbs over my cheeks. “I am never going to reject you,” he says so softly, I think I might be dreaming this all up. “Ever. And I want you to know I enjoy everything I do with you, Piper. Eating dinner. Holding your hand. Watching you get off and not getting off myself. It’s going to be good because it’s you and me, but I need you to know just fucking existing with you in my orbit is enough. I don’t need the other shit. Forget sex. Forget blow jobs. Forget every lesson we’ve had. We can go to bed right now and I’ll still think the same way about you tomorrow.”
His words carve a spot on my heart—the lonely, sad, forgotten part I thought might never get attention. They tattoo themselves over every inch of the organ, erasing the old. Getting rid of the bad and making me believe them too.
“Thank you,” I whisper, but the two words feel inadequate. Hardly worthy of the way he’s building me up. Laying a brick each and every time we’re together until soon I’ll stand on a pedestal high above my former self. “Thank you for being patient with me. I want to do this, Liam, and I want to do this with you.”
There’s a tremor in his hand that wasn’t there before as he reaches up and pulls my hair free from its ponytail. As he brushes his nose against mine and kisses me softly, gently, like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
I expect him to jump right into it, but he doesn’t.
He keeps kissing me, his lips bruising mine, until I can’t take it anymore.
I reach for the hem of his shirt and pull it over his head, tossing it aside and urging him along. I run my hands down his bare back and smile against his mouth when he hisses at the bite of my nails along the line of his spine.
Liam eases me onto my back so I’m flat on the mattress. His palms run up my thighs to the waistband of my jeans, fingers toying with the button.
“Good?” he asks, unfastening the silver clasp and dragging the zipper down.
“Perfect,” I murmur, lifting my hips so he can yank the pants off my legs.
When I’m free, I sit up, discarding my shirt until I’m in nothing but the lingerie set I bought the other night with Lexi.
The purchase was an impulse buy because I wanted to make tonight special, but from the way Liam stares at me, from the hollow of my throat to the small mole next to my belly button, I know I could’ve shown up in a sack and he’d be looking at me the same way.
“What—” His throat bobs. He glares at the blue lace like it’s offended him. Like he wants to rip it to shreds. “What are you wearing?”
“I wanted something sexy and?—”
Liam crawls on top of me, his body weight heavy over mine. I can tell he’s hard through the fabric of his joggers, his cock straining against the cotton.
“You are the hottest woman I’ve ever seen. You don’t need lace to look fucking incredible, but goddamn Piper, does it make you irresistible.” His fingers move to the strap of the bra, snapping it against my skin then sucking on the mark he left behind. “I’m going to fucking ruin you tonight, baby.”
I whimper and wrap my legs around his waist, drawing him nearer to me. I arch my back so I can reach his mouth, kissing him again as he cups my breast and drags his thumb over my hard nipple.
“I didn’t know your favorite color,” I say, turning my head so he can kiss my neck. So he can move down my body. His mouth closes around my breast and sucks over the lace.
“Favorite color is whatever you’re wearing.” He pulls both cups down, exposing my chest to the cool air of the room. “Black. Pink. Red. Blue . Want them all.” His large hands push my breasts together, and he groans. “Want to fuck your tits.”
“Fuck me first,” I challenge, my arm snaking between us so I can cup him through his sweatpants. “Then you can fuck my tits.”
He nudges my hand out of the way so he can settle his fingers between my legs. His knuckles brush over the front of my underwear and he groans again. “ Fuck . You’re already wet, aren’t you?”
I grab his wrist and guide him, helping him tug my underwear to the side. “Have been since dinner.”
He touches my clit with his thumb then slides a single finger in me, nice and slow. “Should’ve put you on my kitchen counter and fucked you right there.”
I relish the careful way he goes from one finger to two to three. It’s easier than when we first started all of this, my body adjusting to him and craving him. I’m already on the brink of an orgasm, the high creeping up on me suddenly and stealthily as I hold onto his hair, bliss just within reach.
“ Liam . Please. Can you?—”
He curls his fingers in me. Dips his chin, sharp teeth sinking into the flesh of my breast, and I explode.
The room spins around me. Bursts of light take over my vision and I grind into him, wanting— needing— a little more.
“You can give me two, can’t you?” he says into my neck, thumb pressing on my clit as a cry sneaks out of me. “There she is. So fucking pretty.”
The second one isn’t nearly as aggressive but it feels just as good, a satisfied ache settling low in my stomach as Liam’s movements slow.
“Fuck,” I pant. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead and I brush it away. “I think I’m on top of the world.”
He hooks his fingers in the waistband of my underwear and pulls them off, shoving them in the pocket of his sweatpants. “Take off your bra.”
“What are you doing with those?”
“Saving them for later.”
That sends my mind racing. I fumble with the clasp of my bra until my breasts spill free and I’m naked on his sheets, looking up at him. “Take off your pants.”
He climbs off me and stands, yanking his sweatpants and briefs off. “Bossy.”
“Condoms?”
“Have a whole box. And, yes. They glow in the dark.”
I burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”
“Yup.” Liam turns to his bedside table and opens a drawer. “You said you’re already on top of the world, Piper. I’m sending you to the stars next.”
“Another first. Speciality condoms.” I watch him pull out a box and a plastic tube. “Lube?”
“Yeah. I know this isn’t your first time, but I wanted to have it on hand. Just in case.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a professional. So much sex with so many people.”
He rolls the condom down his length. I prop up on my elbows, wanting to see each step. Wanting to learn how he likes to do things so I can help next time.
Liam climbs back on the bed. He nudges his way between my thighs and grips my knee. “What positions have you tried?”
“Missionary.”
“Did you like it?”
“It was fine.”
“Okay, so you’re not a fan. Noted. We’re going to do something similar that’s more enjoyable, but if it doesn’t feel good for you, tell me and we’ll do something different. Put your leg on my hip. There you go.”
I blow out a breath. My eyes shut and my hands clutch the sheets around me. “I’m ready.”
I know it’s not my first time but it feels like my first time with the anticipation. The waiting and wondering of how it’ll feel and how much I’m going to like it with him.
I do my best to stay relaxed. To sink into the bed as the head of his cock teases over my entrance. I hiss when he pushes inside me, the sensation on the edge of painful while also being deliriously, unfathomably perfect.
We groan in unison when he rocks his hips forward, the first few inches of his length burying in me. Stars cloud my vision, but it only lasts for so long because Liam takes hold of my chin.
“Piper,” he almost growls. “Open your eyes and look at me when I fuck you.”