Is that really enough?
Was the real reason he was so against commitment because he was still in love with that mystery woman he’d told her about?
For two years after Colton’s death she’d been a mess. It was only after she and Peyton had moved in together that she’d started to get her life back into some kind of order. Except when it came to guys. Even during the last three years the ghost of Colton had haunted her, and she’d never let her guard down enough to really trust any man she dated.
Having a hot one night stand with Mason was never supposed to get this complicated.How can I even think that?It was never going to be simple with Mason. He wasn’t just the guy she’d fallen for when she was seventeen. He wasColton’s brother.
“Hey.” Peyton called, and Piper joined her in the living room. “I didn’t hear you get back last night.” Then she frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She swung Alfie up into her arms and gave him a cuddle until he managed to wriggle free. Now she’d faced the fact Mason might’ve lost his heart years ago, she couldn’t push the thought out of her head. “Well, kind of. I’m just not sure where this is going with Mason.”
Her sister folded her arms. “I thought this was just a bonkfest. You know, to get him out of your system.”
“I know.” That’s what she’d told herself that first night. What she’d been telling herself for the last month. But the words were hollow as the truth finally hit her. “I think I always knew it was more than that.”
“Look, he was basically your first crush. You just had the chance to take it further, but that doesn’t mean this is going to last forever. Youknowthat. He’s not the type.”
Oh, she knew that all right. Their conversation last night and then this morning had well and truly confirmed how he viewed commitment. At least, how he viewed it withher. Didn’t mean she had to like it.
“I never expected it to last forever.” She’d acted on impulse, in the heat of the moment, but how had she really expected a brief affair would be enough when she’d wanted Mason forfive years?“I didn’t expect it to lastthislong. The sex is great but…” she sighed and shrugged.
Peyton screwed up her face and gave an exaggerated shudder. “Rub it in, why don’t you. The sex isamazing. And I’m pretty sure you’re not telling me everything, either.”
You got that right.
“So take my advice,” her sister continued, clearly fixated on the sex aspect. “Shag him senseless and then end it while he’s still red hot for you and dying for more. That way he’llneverforget you, trust me.”
Piper could feel a scowl forming. Her sister wasn’t taking this seriously at all. “I don’t want to end things with him. I want him to be with me for more than just the sex.”
Peyton blinked, as though that point had never crossed her mind. “You’reseriousabout him?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She was pissed her sister even had to ask that, although it wasn’t Peyton she was mad at. It was herself, for being so stupid as to think she could have a no strings hookup with Mason without losing her heart. “Because he’s not serious about me.”
“Huh.” Peyton appeared to consider that. “Well you know, he might be. I mean I never thought it’d last longer than the first weekend but here you are. He still can’t take his eyes off you whenever you’re together.”
“You’re not helping.” She went into the kitchen and switched the kettle on. Peyton lounged against the doorframe, so she could keep an eye on Alfie at the same time. “Do I tell him I want more than just casual hookups now?”
“If you start giving him ultimatums, he might end things right now. It depends how much you want to keep on with the hot sex.”
Piper rounded on her sister, teaspoon in hand. “Will you shut up about the sex? It’s notall about the sex.”
Peyton didn’t look repentant. “It is when you’re not getting any.”
There wasn’t much answer to that, since she knew for a fact her sister hadn’t got any since Alfie’s dad had disappeared. It didn’t mean Peyton shouldn’t be moreempathicthough.
“All I want to know is if there’s a chance of us having…moretogether.”I want to be more to him than simply a great lay.
“You could always just ask him.”
“I did. Sort of.”Twice. “And both times he backed off.”
Peyton glanced at Alfie before looking back at her. “Maybe he just feels weird because of Colton being his brother.”
She knew her sister was only being practical, but it didn’t stop the old familiar guilt from twisting through her chest. “What, talking is more weird than ussleepingtogether?”
Peyton sighed. “You know what I mean. And yes. Guys find it much harder totalkthan to screw.”
That didn’t make her feel better at all. “So basically me falling all over again for Mason is karma for what I did to Colton?”
