Page 44

His blue eyes watched me, staring at me as if he could read inside my soul.

I had to look away before he saw too much and realized I was already falling for him.

That would only make this more difficult.

At the end of the week, I would leave. He would go back to his life and I would go back to mine.

And in the end, I’d have to put distance between us because otherwise, I wouldn’t walk out of here with anything less than a broken heart.

“Are you feeling up to this?” Patrick asked as we pulled down the driveway.

His hand was wrapped around mine, holding me tight. I wasn’t sure if he needed it or if he was trying to soothe me. All it did was ramp up the tension in my body.

“Yeah,” I smiled brightly, faking it hard. “I’ve got this.”

“You’re sure? Because I could slip you inside and up to my room before she noticed a thing.”

I chuckled at his protectiveness. It was cute. “I can handle this. I know just how to play this.”

But he didn’t look so sure. “You still look slightly drunk.”

“That’s because I am,” I nodded, knowing my head was wobbling slightly. I was more hungover than drunk at this point. They’d given me hours of driving around and sitting in that diner—enough to sober up a little and keep things in perspective.

We parked in front of his house and I got out, waiting for Patrick to get his crutches underneath him, when a woman came rushing out of the house. The excitement on her face was almost too much, but she reined it in as she stopped in front of me.

“You must be Piper! Patrick has told me really nothing about you, but I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Thank you. I—” I was swooped up in a motherly hug, something I hadn’t felt in a really long time. I was about to jerk myself away from her, but my chest tightened from the feel of a mother’s arms around me, and I found myself slowly sliding my arms around her back to return the hug.

When she didn’t release me, a strangled cry filled my throat and I barely croaked it back to keep from balling in her arms. I found myself tightening my grip and holding on for dear life, terrified to let go.

“Okay, Mom,” Patrick chuckled. “Can you release her before she decides to run away?”

I wanted to tell him to leave us alone, but the moment she stepped back, I steeled my spine, blinking back tears I hadn’t realized were even forming. God, alcohol made me weepy. I smiled at her, but it wobbled, giving away just how fucking emotional I was at the moment.

And she knew it. I saw it in her eyes as she watched me. Fuck, I hated that I couldn’t hide from her right now. Even ducking my head, I knew she followed the movement because she gently took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

I blinked back the tears and met her kind smile with one of my own, hoping the alcohol had worn off enough to not make me look deranged. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“You, too, Piper. Should we go inside?”

As she turned on her heel, I glanced over at Patrick, panicked when he watched me just a little too closely. So, I smiled at him and pretended everything was completely fine.

“That went well,” I grinned.

But he didn’t smile. His eyes studied me, taking in every movement, every twitch and plastered-on smile. He fucking knew, and I hated that. I was always so good at hiding, but right now, I felt like everyone here could see right through me.

“I’ll take your bag inside,” Chase murmured, leaving me alone with Patrick.

My heart hammered in my chest with every second that passed. Please don’t say anything. Please don’t say anything. I would break if he opened his mouth and pointed out just how emotional I got over a hug.

“We should head inside,” he said after a heavy moment.

Air rushed out of my lungs in relief, and I smiled, walking ahead of him up the stairs.

The moment I stepped into the house, Chase left, talking to Patrick for just a minute before leaving.

I took a second to look around the house, not surprised at all when I saw the sparse contents of his living room, and lack of any kind of decorations on the walls.

“It’s very Patrick, don’t you think?” his mother asked.

“Definitely,” I grinned.

“I’m Debra, by the way.”

She looked nothing like him. With graying hair cut short and small stature, she was nothing like the hulk of a man who came wobbling in on his crutches. Except the eyes. His eyes were one hundred percent his mother’s.

“He must take after his dad,” I said absently, watching as Patrick headed for the chair.

“He does. He always looked like his father, even when he was a baby.”

“No other children?” I asked, realizing a little late how insensitive that might sound.

“No, Patti was our only child. Oh, we tried for years to have other kids, but it just wasn’t in God’s plans.”

“Well, you made a pretty wonderful man. I don’t know if he told you this, but he saved my life.”

A smile played at her lips as she walked into the living room and sat on the couch, patting it for me to join her. “Oh, the way I hear it is you saved his life.”

“Mom,” Patrick groaned.

“Now, there’s nothing wrong with a woman rushing to the rescue. Just don’t make a habit of it. You’re supposed to be the protector. Not the other way around.”

I snorted in amusement at that. “I think I can safely say that I would not have survived the plane crashing, let alone the woods for two days, without your son. He taught me how to make a pouch out of bark and use it to boil water.”

“Well, he learned that from his father,” she beamed. “He used to take Patrick hunting and camping for weeks at a time in the summer. They just left me at home all by myself!”

“Like you didn’t enjoy it,” Patrick teased. “We all know you used that time to crank up your music and enjoy some time to yourself.”

“I did,” she grinned. “I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise you to know that Patrick was not an easy child.”

“No,” I gasped in mock shock. “I would have thought he was easy as pie.”

“Not at all. In fact, I was called to the school so often that I considered just homeschooling him. But then I would have had to spend all day with him, and I just wasn’t prepared to do that.”

“Thanks, Mom. That’s really nice of you.”

I listened for the next hour to all the stories about Patrick as a kid, laughing so hard I thought I would pee myself. But as the hour passed, my eyes had a hard time staying open.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to take a nap. I had a little too much liquid courage to get on that plane.”

“I can’t believe you flew all the way out here to meet me,” she beamed. “You must really like my Patrick.”

“Yeah, he’s okay.”

She hugged me again, but this time, I didn’t allow myself to get lost in the feelings. When I stepped back, Patrick was at my side, watching me closely.

“I’ll take you up to my room.”

“Oh, is?—”

“I may be old-fashioned,” his mom cut in, “but I’m well aware that my son is no saint.”

She winked at me, which creeped me out just a little. It was one thing to have her permission to share a room with him. It was entirely different to have her blessing to fuck her son.

I headed upstairs, waiting at the top for Patrick. “I don’t know how you do the stairs every day with those crutches. Why don’t you just sleep downstairs?”

“Nothing in life is worth having if it’s not hard.”

I rolled my eyes, not sharing the same sentiment at the moment. “If it were between sleeping downstairs and struggling through it for the pure knowledge that I had made it, I think I’d choose to sleep downstairs.”

“You won’t be saying that tonight,” he grinned as he headed past me to his room.

My skin flushed as I stepped inside and took in the minimalist decor. It was so Patrick, and made me feel at home even though there was nothing really there.

“Don’t worry. I washed the sheets. There are no man cooties on them.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve had all your man cooties before. I’m not sure how it could possibly get any worse.”

I didn’t waste a second undressing, not even bothering to wait for him to leave. He’d already seen all of me, and he’d already told me tonight I’d have him between my thighs. What did surprise me was when he hobbled over to me with a white t-shirt in his hands.

“Arms up.”

I was about to tell him I could dress myself, but the dark look in his eyes told me not to argue with him.

I slowly raised my arms and held my breath as the fabric skimmed over the tips of my fingers.

Just as it slid down my arms, he bent forward and captured my nipple in his mouth, sucking hard as he tightened the shirt around my wrists, making it impossible to move.

I gasped in a harsh breath as liquid heat pooled between my legs. Then his fingers were there, stroking me lightly as he continued to suck on my nipple.

“Patrick,” I moaned, sucking in a ragged breath.

It took all of five seconds of him sliding his fingers through my pussy before thumbing my clit for me to shudder in his arms. I was wound tight, way too fucking tight, and the feel of his fingers on me sent me over the edge.

“Fuck, look at that,” he murmured, laving his tongue over my other breast. “If I had known you’d come that quickly, I might have done that in the car.”

I shuddered in his arms and draped the wound t-shirt over his head, trapping him between my arms. “I think I’ll sleep well now.”

“That was the point, baby.” He pressed his lips to mine and grinned. “Be ready for tonight.”

Then he ducked out from under my arms and shut the door behind him, leaving me in desperate need of more.