“’Fraid so.” I slugged back a long drink of beer and set my mug on the table.
“When I first met her last year, I thought she was sweet, a little shy maybe,” Jamaica said. “She joined Tory’s sorority?” There was trepidation in her tone.
“It’s news to me too. I had no idea. Probably Charlie’s influence last semester when I wasn’t speaking to either of them.” I spun my mug between my hands until Wyatt snagged it and topped it up.
“Tory Miller is bad news with a capital B. If your sister has a clue, she’ll stay far away from that one,” Callahan said.
“She’s the girl who tried to get you kicked out of school last semester, isn’t she?” I asked Jamaica.
My friend looked pained. “The very one. That girl is toxic. I wish Pippa had joined any other sorority than the one Tory’s in.”
I dropped my head back on the booth. “Maybe if I hadn’t blocked her on my phone...” I began.
“Babe,” Wyatt warned. “How many times do I gotta tell ya? You are not your sister’s keeper.” He nudged my full beer toward me and turned to the rest of the table. “Did you see the way Piper and I kicked Dally’s ass on that last run?”
A groan went up from the table of single players, and I smiled into my mug, appreciating what Wyatt was trying to do. By the time we’d finished our pizzas, I think we’d rehashed every run down the mountain. I was pleasantly buzzed and more than ready to go home with my guy and forget all about unhappy encounters with scheming younger siblings.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wyatt
Ihated the wayPiper’s little sister’s arrival at Stromboli’s had stolen her light. Phillipa was nothing at all like I expected. Being Piper’s sister, I thought she’d have some class, maybe a sense of humor despite her obvious lack of character. Instead, she fit right in with Tory Miller and her little band of jersey chasers. Callahan was right: the whole lot were bad news.
By the time I’d escorted her from the bar though, Piper’s good mood from our tubing adventure had returned, in no small part from all my teammates cluing in that we needed to erase that nasty moment with Phillipa and Tory. As I opened the door for her to climb into my truck, her eyes sparkled up at me, and I couldn’t wait to drive her home for the grand finale to our first Valentine’s Day date.
As we climbed the stairs to my room, I could hardly contain myself for Piper’s reaction to my preparations. When she reached for the handle on my bedroom door, I covered her hand.
“Close your eyes.”
Shooting me a skeptical brow over her shoulder, she closed her eyes, a grin ghosting over her perfect plump lips. “What are you up to, Wyatt?”
“I promised epic, and I always deliver on my promises. Keep your eyes closed.”
Guiding her to the middle of my room, I said, “Wait here. No peeking.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “Can I drop my backpack at least?”
Snagging it from her hand, I set it beside the nightstand then finished my last-second preparations.
“You can open your eyes now.”
I stood beside her, my gaze trained on her face, which lit up with the most magical smile I’d ever seen as she surveyed my handiwork.
“You did this for me?” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulled me down and locked her lips to mine, kissing me stupid.
Long minutes later when our first frenzied kisses had calmed down to nibbles and pecks, I noticed the moisture on my face. Pulling away enough to look into her eyes, I saw a lone tear dangling off the edge of her lashes. Had I royally fucked up? Cupping her face, I thumbed away the tracks of her tears even as my heart raced in my chest.
“Hey, what’s this? I thought you’d like it.”
A sniffle, then: “I love it. It’s perfect.” She huffed out a laugh. “More than epic.”
“Then why the tears?”
“No one has ever gone out of their way for me like this. Never.” She stepped away from me to study my room more closely.
I’d strung a heart-shaped canopy of red-and-white fairy lights above the bed. Turned back the freshly laundered sheets and left a single red rose on her pillow beside a fancy wrapped chocolate truffle I hoped she’d want to share. Her present, wrapped in pretty red foil, waited on her side of my bed.
To be honest, I was worried about her response to my gift, but it was something only I could give her. I needed her to know that.
