Page 24

I responded by hitting the button to shut the door in his face. Except, those fucking doors moved really fucking slowly. He smirked at me as the door shut, and I held up my middle finger, proving just how little his shit bothered me.

It really fucking bothered me.

He strode around the front of the van and got in, chuckling under his breath as he put us in drive and got the hell out of there. “You know, you’re more grouchy than before your leg was broken.”

“Maybe that’s because my fucking leg is broken,” I snapped.

His continued laughing only pissed me off. No, my leg didn’t hurt anymore for the most part, but the damn cast was making it impossible to move around the way I wanted.

“So, this thing with Piper…”

I waited for him to continue, but instead, he just eyed me in the mirror. “What about her?”

“You know…are you gonna follow through?”

“Follow through on what?”

“Sealing the deal.”

I snorted in amusement. “I hate to tell you this, but that was one of the first things I did with her.”

“Before or after you jumped out of the plane?”

“After.”

“Well, that explains it.”

I was getting really fucking tired of his attitude. “Explains what?”

“Why she’s all googly over you. And why you’re so willing to help her. You like her, and now that you’ve been in her pants, you want to make sure that door is open in the future.”

“Yeah, that would be true, except we both agreed it was just sex. Neither of us wants more. So, that’s not gonna happen.”

“Right,” he scoffed. “I’m sure you saved her life—took a fucking run at a bear for her—yet she doesn’t want more from you. And you don’t really have a thing for her. You were just being a good protector.”

“I was,” I snapped. “And there really is nothing else going on between us.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m fucking serious!” I argued. “I swear to God?—”

“Listen, I’ve heard it all. I know. You both just wanted to have a good time. Blah, blah, blah. She’s still desperately in love with her fiancé. She could never think of moving on right now. We’ve all heard it, but I guarantee you, you’ll be married within six months from today.”

Now, that was fucking hysterical. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“Oh, it is. It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

I shook my head at him in the rearview mirror. “What are you, twelve?”

“Seems like someone is more than a little worried about how things are gonna happen from here on out.”

“You’d better watch, fucker, or I’ll bring Asher here to fuck with you again.”

“That was wrong, and you know it,” he snapped.

“Yeah, but it was fucking hilarious watching you as you tried to grapple with the fact that you were seeing a man who wasn’t there.”

That made him shut up. I grinned the rest of the way to the hotel and even gave him money for gas when we stopped. Because I was nice like that— and it was the company’s money, but that was beside the point.

When we got to the hotel, Chase pulled up in front and blocked traffic while I struggled to get out of the damn van.

Horns were honking and people were swearing at me.

Fuck, you’d never have people act like this in Kansas.

And to think, I used to like living in California amidst all the chaos.

Now, I actually fucking longed to get back to a quieter area where people weren’t cursing at me just for trying to get out of a fucking vehicle.

Chase drove away to find parking while I headed inside.

I was sorry to say that the hobble on crutches to the elevator wore me out.

I was still recovering from the surgery and figuring out how to maneuver in my full-leg cast. For some reason, I always assumed it would be easier than this.

But one thing was for sure, my left leg was gonna be a hell of a lot stronger by the time I got this fucking cast off.

“Going up?” a lady asked as I hobbled onto the elevator.

“Yeah. Eleven.”

Her eyebrows rose at that. “What do you know? I’m on eleven also.”

I glanced at her again, wondering why she thought that was so fucking amazing. Then I saw the way she was looking at me, how her eyes trailed over my muscles and my busted leg.

“What happened?”

“Broke it wrestling a bear.”

She laughed hysterically, pressing her hand to my arm. “Oh, that’s too funny. Though, I would believe it. You look like a man who knows his way around a bear.”

A man who knows his way around a bear? Was that some new kind of pickup line that I hadn’t heard of before? “Uh…it was more a matter of survival.”

Her eyelashes fluttered as she fully turned to me, sticking her breasts out. “Well, if you need someone to take care of you, I’m in 1104.”

At any other time in my life, I might have taken this woman up on her offer.

I had a busted leg and wouldn’t mind a blowjob, but when I envisioned anyone taking care of me, Piper was the only woman I saw.

And she was naked, standing under that damn trickling waterfall with water cascading down her breasts in tiny rivulets.

I barely noticed the woman in front of me.

The bell went off and the doors opened. I waited for the woman to get off, then turned in the other direction and headed down the hall toward Piper’s room. Thankfully, the woman didn’t try to follow me.

At least, I thought she hadn’t, but the moment I stopped outside Piper’s door, I saw the woman flagging me down, racing back toward me. I quickly knocked, praying Piper wouldn’t take too long.

“Come on, come on,” I muttered as I waited impatiently for the door to open. The woman was almost on top of me. Only fifty more feet and?—

“Hey—”

I leaned forward, wrapping my arm around Piper’s waist, and pulled her into my body, laying a heated kiss on her lips.

Thankfully, she didn’t rip herself from my arms and slap the shit out of me.

But all too quickly, the kiss became less about fending off the viper and more about tasting the woman who lived in my dreams. Fuck, this was not good for my plan to return home and forget about her.

It wasn’t until a throat cleared that I finally broke the kiss and took the smallest step back. “Hey,” I grinned, wondering if she was going to slap me now.

“That was not the greeting I was expecting, but I thoroughly enjoyed it,” she grinned, wiping the edge of her lips.

Those brown eyes were twinkling with flecks of gold that I hadn’t really noticed before. But I shoved that thought aside and glanced down the hall to see the woman retreating. Piper leaned out the door and laughed.

“So, it wasn’t all about saying hello.”

“Guilty as charged, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.”

“Same here.” She stepped aside and waved me in. “Hungry?”

“Always.”

“Good, because I just placed an order for half the menu.”

I jerked my chin as I passed Nick. Lounging against the counter, I wondered what the hell he was doing here since he didn’t answer the door. “Great job watching her,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

He shrugged, stuffing a bite of sandwich into his mouth. “If I had answered the door,” he said around his food, “you wouldn’t have had that magical kiss.”

“The whole point of you being here is to keep her out of trouble.”

“Hey, I resent that,” Piper said, taking a seat on the couch.

“It’s only been recently that I’ve found myself in trouble, and it mostly centers around you.

” She patted the cushion next to her, then took my crutches as I turned to sit down.

She so easily helped me get my foot up as if she had already done this a million times before.

Meanwhile, my asshole friend stood in the kitchen and couldn’t care less if I was comfortable or not.

“Are you saying he should be looking after me instead?”

“Well, you are the one who attacked a bear.”

“Stepped in front of a bear,” I corrected. “He attacked me.”

“Right, well, either way, you’re the one who’s injured. I have minor contusions.”

“Because you were more concerned about a shoe.”

She winced at that. “Yeah, I still have to let Jeanie know that her favorite shoes have gone the way of the jungle. I won’t even tell her about the one I still have. I think it’ll just make her sad.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I liked her cute phrases. “So, where are we headed?”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You’re really coming with me?”

“On an adventure? Of course. I have nothing better to do.”

“I do,” Nick piped up. “Not that anyone cares.”

“It’s a side trip. You can handle that, right?” I glared at him.

“Sure. I’m crazy about flying back to New York after just jumping out of a plane and free-falling to the ground.”

“You had a parachute,” I reminded him. “And you live for the adrenaline. And we’re going to New Jersey.”

I turned back to Piper and winked at her. “He has this friend who throws knives for fun and sings show tunes. Trust me, he loved the whole thing.”

“Aww, is she your girlfriend?”

Nick’s jaw clenched in anger. “He. And he’s not my anything.”

“He? Is he gay?” she whispered.

“Nick or Fox?”

“I’m not gay!” Nick shouted. “And Fox is… he’s more of a sad puppy who follows everyone around.”

“He’s not sad,” I whispered. “He’s the happiest psycho I’ve ever met. And Nick served with him.”

“Nearly fucking killed me,” he muttered.

“So, where you go, we go.”

“Alright. I suppose I could use your skills at breaking into a storage facility.”

“No problem.”

“It…it’s sort of high-tech,” she winced.

“Yeah, that’s not a problem.”

“You sound awfully confident.”

I was, but mostly because I knew what I could handle. “Trust me, we’ve got this.”