But she’s right about the kids. They’re smart. We can’t keep going on like this.
“Are you suggesting we take a shot at being friends?”
Piper looks just as uncertain as I feel about all of this. “Well,” she begins, uncrossing her arms. “We never really gave the friends thing a go.”
That’s because we were both more concerned with tearing each others’ clothes off.
“True. We never did.”
The mistrust is so prominent in her eyes that I feel it rubbing off on me, making me trust not even myself. We both have our reasons for not wanting to go back there. Since she’s still living under my roof, friends is the only alternative we have to…whatever this is called.
“Okay. Yes. Friends.”
“Temporarily. Just while Sonny and I are living here.”
Temporarily.That triggers a chord.
I clench my jaw. I know that this won’t work, not unless we have a certain system set in place. “How does friends with benefits sound?”
She considers it for a moment, but the silence isn’t sounding very positive. “Caleb, if we fall back into our old ways, the feelings I had for you before will?—”
“Yes, of course,” I grit out. “Understood. Friends with no benefits.”
We seal the deal with an agreeable nod…
Even though it’s false positivity all around.
15
PIPER
“Tell me something more surprising,”Jess drawls the following morning over coffee.
We’re on our break at Bean There, perched in the corner, catching each other up on the latest. As of the past month, the focus has been primarily on me. Which is odd. Nothing drastic has ever happened in my life before. Jess used to be the one with all the gossip.
“Hello?!”I snap my fingers in her face. “Me sleeping with Calebissurprising. You should be spitting out your coffee or something. Acting shocked.”
“It’s more predictable than a Disney princess film.” She rolls her eyes. “Of course you slept with the man when you’re living in his house. You’d have probably found a way to sleep with him if the two of you were living at opposite ends of town.”
“About that…” I grimace. “Mr. Anonymous…”
I don’t need to finish that sentence. Jess already has her jaw at the floor, palms flat on the table, coffee abandoned. “No…” Gobsmacked. But not as much as I was when Caleb flipped thatphone around. “It’s written in the stars.” Her eyes flare wide. “Wait. Didn’t he tell you that he had a big?—?”
“Yes.” I feel my cheeks flush red, conscious that our voices are exceeding normal volume. “Yeah. He was always confident, but I never thought he wasthatconfident.” I lose my appetite for coffee and this conversation when I remember that Jess still doesn’t know the truth about the fire.
It’s kinda why I wanted to be on the same break as her this morning.
“I’ve been meaning to give these clothes back to you.” I shuffle the bags under the table.
“But all your stuff got burned with the house.”
“Yeah, but Caleb has offered to help me out with some new clothes for Sonny and me.”
“He sounds like a real gentleman.” Jess takes a sip of coffee, the bags of clothes already forgotten about. “I get it. You’re scared to go there with him after what happened last time. But people change. That’s what you told me about Jason, and look how well that turned out.” She points at the engagement ring on her finger.
“Caleb left because of Ellie, his daughter.” I haven’t yet had the chance to fill her in about this part. Or any of it. “Long story short—his ex ran away with their daughter and kept her from Caleb. That’s when Caleb came here last time.”
Jess’s face drops. “He didn’t tell you about the kid?”
