“Come on Piper, you have to give me something,” Meg almost whines. It is kind of comical. We are sitting in Sterling’s kitchen at the bar, splitting a bottle of wine and catching up. I needed this moment, badly. It makes what happened at my cafe today seem less bad—-this sense of normalcy.
“There really isn’t anything to give you… he has been attentive… and I guess you could say cuddly,” I say and trail off.
“Cuddly,” she says the word like she is disgusted. “What does that even mean,” her exasperation makes me giggle.
“Like, if I didn’t know any better I would think he is making up excuses to touch me—but,” I hold up my hand to keep her from interjecting and finish my train of thought. “I do know better. I can’t let my imagination run wild and think that this is going to turn into something it isn’t,” I steamroll through my explanation.
Meg looks at me aghast. She reaches for her glass of wine and takes a large gulp. Her eyes never leave my face. Then she opens her mouth.
“I never took you for an idiot Piper,” she says quietly. Her words stun me. Out of all the responses, I never thought she would insult me like that. Before I can respond, she continues.
“What do you think he is doing here? Spending the night in your bed? Holding your hand? I don’t think he could be anymore clear,” she quietly points out the events I shared with her when the guys first headed to the gym. I mull over what she says.
“It’s just… look at him,” I say and wave my arm around. I struggle to find the right words, but Meg nods and her eyes light with understanding.
“Piper, it is possible— you need to understand that. Just a couple of months ago I was in your shoes. We spend so much time trying to manage our expectations to protect ourselves, that we can’t let go. I still have trouble believing it all the time,” she shares. I swallow convulsively. Afraid that if I speak, I may cry. I swallow again.
“Just promise me that you will try,” she looks me in the eyes. Her face is serious, and in her eyes I can see that she means it.
“I can try,” I promise her. She nods back at me. As we wrap up the conversation, the door to the gym opens with Sterling leading the way. Holt’s eyes find mine immediately. He must be satisfied with what he sees because he smirks at me and winks.
I feel my cheeks get warm and I look away just as Meg nudges my leg with her foot. I look over at her and she is smiling widely.Stop.I mouth to her. She giggles. Both brothers approach the bar where we are sitting.
“We should order some dinner,” Holt suggests. Sterling nods in agreement. I look at the time and see that it is already well after 5:00. Now that he mentions it, I could definitely eat something. I look at Meg and lift my eyebrow. She smirks.
“Thai food,” we say in unison. I can already taste the pad thai and pineapple fried rice. Sterling laughs.
“I’ll call Carter and see if he can pick it up on his way here,” Holt says already on his phone. He puts the phone to his ear and opens Sterling’s fridge with his other hand. The motion brings my attention to his hands. I see where his knuckles are red and split. I decide not to ask about it right now.
I listen to Holt relay the plan to Carter, who obviously seems to be happy to provide his services. Holt hangs up and starts texting.
“Okay, I texted Carter the order. He should be here in a while,” Holt says before he cracks open the water bottle and chugs most of it. I find it difficult not to stare at his profile. I notice that his hair is damp and his clothes are slightly different. It looks like he has showered. Yet again, I feel Meg kick me. I snap out of it and turn my head to glare at her. She smirks before taking another sip of her wine.
“When’s the last time you girls had any water,” I hear Holt’s voice drift my way. Meg winces and then huffs. Apparently, that is answer enough because two bottles of water are put in front of us.
“Get used to it,” Meg mutters to me and takes a sip out of the water bottle. I’m not really sure what she is talking about, but I reach out to do the same.
“Sorry to hear about your cafe, Piper,” Sterling says to me. His voice gruff, but sincere. I nod and shrug. Trying to be flippant.
“Eh, it was time for a remodel anyway—I guess I can check the demo off the list,” Meg giggles at my comment and I reach for the wine glass again smirking. Holt raises his eyebrow at me. It’s like he knows I’m deflecting.
“It seriously sucks—I mean, I just don’t understand why someone would target you,” Meg brings the conversation I don’t want to start front and center. Since she started it, I guess I can’t deflect.
“I know, I have been trying to figure out who it could be and why— and there is NOTHING. It’s like my brain is blank,” I respond. Meg nods and I know she understands.
“It could be someone you don’t really know,” Sterling says quietly. He is looking at me intently— as if I am a puzzle.
“You come in contact with hundreds of people each day. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Holt’s voice drifts my way. I nod, not knowing what else to say. I just know that we are no closer to having an answer, and my cafe doesn’t have anything left to smash up.
Chapter 28
Holt
I glance over at Piper in the passenger seat. I can tell she is tired. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Meg, Carter, and Sterling. Piper needed the distraction. We hashed out what the next steps would be, but didn’t dwell on it too long. I know that Piper was over having the same conversation with no results.
Honestly, I needed this fucker to make a mistake. In situations like this, that is what will give us the break we need. I glance over at Piper again and see that her eyes are closed. We are almost to her house, and I know that the sleeping arrangements that I have planned will give her a second wind. I smirk slightly, eagerly anticipating a bit of a fight from her.
I pull into her driveway and look around, the house looks like it did when we left this morning, but I want to do a quick walk around.
