“I’ll meet you over there, let me button this place up and deal with the Sheriff, it shouldn’t take long,” Carter says. Holt nods in response and grabs my hand leading me to the boarded up door.
He opens the door to his SUV and helps me in. Leaning over me, be buckles me in again. I’m almost getting used to him in my space.Almost.
I watch him stride in front of the vehicle to the driver’s side and sigh. I am losing my mind. My business is in shambles and I’m lusting after my best friend’s boyfriend’s brother. I roll my eyes at myself.
Holt hops in smoothly. Yet again I find myself slightly jealous of his confidence and grace. He turns the key and puts the car in reverse. Looking over his shoulder he backs out and maneuvers us to the intersection. Sterling’s loft is only about 15 minutes away. After about 5 minutes of silence, Holt reaches over the console and threads his fingers through mine.
“Look—I know you don’t want to hear this,” he begins gruffly and pauses taking a deep breath.
“But you cannot be alone at all—until we figure out who the fuck this is and put an end to it,” he says quietly. I think he is expecting me to put up a fight, but I am relieved. This last incident has been enough to show me that I am in real danger.
Chapter 26
Holt
I manage to keep my fury in check until we get to Sterling’s. I need to blow of some steam, and Sterling can tell. We leave the girls to visit, and head to his home gym. I change into some of the workout clothes that I keep at his place and head over to the punching bag.
I vaguely register Sterling heading to the weights, but I don’t focus on him. I focus on the punching bag in front of me. Channeling my energy to punching the bag, I relish the sting on my bare hands. I don’t know how long I have been at it, when Sterling steps in.
“Hey man, let’s take a deep breath,” he says roughly. It breaks through my concentration and I realize that sweat is pouring into my eyes. I wipe them with my forearm. Sterling motions to the door off the gym while he hands me a towel.
“Why don’t you take a quick shower, you still have a change of clothes here,” he offers quietly.
I nod and take the towel and a few deep breaths. It takes me less then 10 minutes to shower and change. I come out and Sterling is still waiting with his arms crossed. I finally give him the explanation that he has patiently been waiting for.
“Whoever the fuck is messing with Piper, is getting really bold,” I say. Sterling raises his eyebrow and waits for me to continue.
“They trashed her cafe,” I continued. His jaw clenches harder as he hears the details from me and his eyes darken.
“Carter is finishing up now with the Sheriff, but I have got to end this,” I finish. Sterling hasn’t said much, so I give him a chance to speak. He finally asks me the one question I didn’t expect.
“How is she handling this? This must be hard on her,” he continues. I look at him for a second and weigh my words.
“I think she is in shock, I’m worried about the fall out once she starts processing this,” I answer his question.
“Well, once she does, you should be prepared. I know Meg is still dealing with the shitstorm from last month,” he adds.
“I told Piper that she cannot be alone right now. That someone needed to be with her at all times. I think she is scared because she didn’t put up too much of a fight about it,” I tell Sterling.
“Well, Piper is smart. She knows that it has to be that way for now. We will figure this out,” Sterling tells me, reassuringly. Then his eyes glint in amusement.
“So, tell me— how does it feel,” he asks. I’m not exactly sure what he is talking about, but I know it has something to do with giving me shit about Piper. I play dumb.
“How does what feel,” I say. I know it is my turn for this. I didn’t let his attraction to Meg go without giving him hell.
“You seem awfully invested in the well-being of Piper. It’s just interesting to me that you would care so much about some girl,” he answers. His tone sounds almost dismissive.
“Some girl,” I echo, in a bit of disbelief. “Piper isn’t just some girl’’, I repeat. I look at him and he is smirking. The asshole knew that comment would get me.
“Glad to hear that, otherwise I would have to kick your ass. Piper can’t just be one of your bed buddies. If you hurt Piper, you hurt Meg. I couldn’t let that go,” he says. It almost sounds like a promise.
“Fuck you, Sterling. You know I’m not that big of an asshole, if I wasn’t serious I wouldn’t be going down this road,” I grit out. Holt nods as if he is satisfied by my answer.
“Well, what the hell are we doing here, our girls are out there,” Sterling says. He is much lighter now that he has Meg around. I’m not used to him being in a good mood. I smirk at him and follow him out to the loft.
Chapter 27
Piper
