Chapter 10 #3
I was closer than I wanted to admit.
Piper knew.
Of course she knew.
She shifted forward.
I caught her wrist.
She looked up.
“Don’t stop because of me.”
Her brows pulled together.
“I am not balancing accounts.”
The exact language from our shower.
I let go.
“Good.”
She stroked me once.
“Then stop thinking.”
Gray looked at me.
“Impossible.”
“Nobody asked you,” I said.
Piper laughed again.
Then Cole’s fingers moved and her laugh broke into a gasp.
Her hips lifted.
Cole adjusted without being told.
Piper clutched Gray’s shoulder.
I watched the three of them.
My best friends.
The woman I was falling toward much faster than my usual exit strategy recommended.
Jealousy was still there.
But it had changed shape.
It no longer said I was being replaced.
It said this mattered enough to hurt if we did it badly.
Fine.
I could work with that.
Piper looked at me again.
“Rafe.”
I bent and kissed her.
Her hand tightened around me.
Cole kept touching her.
Gray’s mouth moved over her breast.
She came between us with my name against my mouth and one hand gripping Cole’s forearm.
Her whole body shook.
For several seconds none of us moved except enough to hold her steady.
Then Piper opened her eyes.
She looked wrecked.
Beautiful.
Satisfied for approximately six seconds.
Her gaze dropped to me.
“Oh.”
I laughed.
“Sympathy appreciated.”
She reached for me.
This time I did not stop her.
Cole stood.
Not leaving.
Just giving her room.
Gray moved back beside him.
They were both still hard.
That registered somewhere in my brain as future trouble.
Piper pulled me closer.
Her hand moved faster.
I put one palm against the wall above her because Gray had already threatened the monitor and I was currently incapable of protecting equipment.
She watched my face.
Of course she did.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re photographing it.”
“I don’t need a camera.”
The line sounded familiar.
Cole made a low noise that might have been a laugh.
Then Piper twisted her hand and conversation ended.
I came with her name in my mouth and my forehead against hers.
For a while, all I could hear was breathing.
Mine.
Hers.
Theirs.
Four people learning what the room sounded like after a line had moved permanently.
Piper kissed my cheek.
I sat beside her before gravity made the decision.
Gray handed me a tissue box from the desk.
I stared at it.
He shrugged.
“Practical.”
“Your romance remains unmatched.”
Cole disappeared into the kitchenette long enough to bring back water.
Four bottles.
Of course.
Piper took one.
“Did you stock these?”
“I brought them earlier while we moved equipment.”
She looked at him.
“You people are absurd.”
“You invited us.”
“Temporary lapse in judgment.”
Gray looked down at himself.
“I am still experiencing a logistical issue.”
Piper’s eyes followed his.
Then moved to Cole.
Her mouth curved.
I recognized that expression.
My body, traitor to recovery, attempted a comeback.
“No.”
Piper laughed.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were going to.”
“I was thinking.”
“That is worse.”
Cole sat on the edge of the bed beside her.
“He’s right.”
She looked delighted.
Gray picked up his shirt.
“For once.”
Piper caught his wrist.
He stopped.
Something passed between them.
Heat.
Promise.
Not tonight, maybe.
Not because anyone had lost.
Because there would be another time.
That was the part that hit me.
Another time.
I had always been good at making a night feel complete enough that tomorrow did not need to carry anything.
This did not feel complete.
It felt started.
Piper stood and gathered her clothes.
Nobody offered to help unless she asked.
Another small thing.
She dressed.
So did we.
When I pulled my shirt on, I realized it was inside out.
Cole looked at it.
Then at me.
“Don’t.”
He smiled.
A full one.
Bastard.
Piper picked up her cottage key.
“Everybody out.”
I put a hand over my heart.
“After using us?”
“This is my office.”
Gray nodded immediately.
“Correct.”
Cole stood.
I looked at Piper.
She was smiling.
Not pushing us away.
Closing her own door because she could.
That distinction had started to matter to all of us.
We stepped outside.
Piper locked the cottage behind her.
Then, instead of staying there, she walked with us toward the main house.
No suitcase.
No camera bag.
Just Piper between four pools of porch light, heading back because she wanted to.
Mango heard the screen door open and began muttering under his cover.
Then, very clearly, he announced, “Mine!”
I looked at the cage.
“Nope.”
Piper stopped beside me.
Cole and Gray turned.
Mango rustled.
“Mine!”
I shook my head.
“Not yours.”
Piper’s hand slipped into mine.
Then she reached for Gray with the other.
Cole stood close enough that her shoulder touched his arm.
Nobody owned anybody.
That was apparently the terrifying part.
Mango clicked his beak under the cover.
Then he said, with terrible satisfaction, “Bad idea.”
Piper started laughing.
Three seconds later, so did all of us.
I had no idea what happened after summer.
For once, not knowing did not make me want an exit.
It made me want tomorrow.