“I’ve said something along those lines to Teller. How they were best friends once, and Teller should talk to Grayden and give him a chance.”
Grace blinked her chocolatey brown eyes. “That is so kind of you,” she gushed. “You’re the best, Piper.”
Ugh, I was hardly being selfless. I wanted Teller to accept Grayden formysake. Because there was something between Grayden and me, no matter how much I tried to avoid it. Assuming he was even still interested.
Maybe Grayden deserved more than I could give him.
Chloe stretched out across both our laps, turning her belly up in an obvious demand for more pets. Oops. We’d been neglecting her. I took over the belly rubs.
“We should all be able to count on each other, like we used to,” Grace said. “You and Teller and me and my brothers. After this is fixed, I want smooth sailing for all of us. I don’t want anything else to come between any of us ever again.”
What would Grace think if she knew how close I was gettingto Grayden? How I craved his kiss and his arms holding me and his hot body all over me.
Also, I was dying to see his piercing. Feel it on my tongue, inside me…Ungh. It shouldn’t be legal for a man to be that over-the-top sexy.
My own feelings were scary enough. The risk of getting my heart broken when I’d sworn never to allow that again. But it wasn’t just my heart or Grayden’s at risk. It was Ollie’s. Grace’s. Maybe the future peace of our whole family.
Getting involved with Grayden O’Neal would be risking everything.
So what was wrong with me that I couldn’t stop thinking about him?
TWENTY-EIGHT
Piper
Friday afternoonsat Silver Linings were usually quiet. Most people were done with their work week and thinking about happy hour drinks by now.
But I had no interest in going out. I’d meant it when I mentioned ice cream and a hot bath to Grace. If Grayden didn’t want to meet up with me, fine. I would make this weekend all about self care.
And perhaps a session or two with the vibrator I kept on the top shelf of my closet.
At Main Street Market, I picked up things I loved but didn’t get often enough. Like a wheel of brie and some fig preserves, the hearty bread Ollie hated, and even a bottle of Colorado whiskey. Plus raiding the ice cream sale, of course.
After I got home, I was putting away my frozen bounty when a call came in.
The screen read,Silver Ridge Police Department. Same thing it always used to say when my brother was calling from his office at the station. Of course, it wasn’t Teller calling this time.
A cold chill traced down my spine, and it had nothing to do with my freezer.
Should I let the call go to voicemail? But if there was a problem, ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away.
“Hello?” I asked, shutting the freezer door and leaning against the counter.
“Is this Piper Carmichael?”
I recognized Susan Nichols’s voice immediately. “Hello, Chief. It’s me. What can I do for you?”
“I expect you know what I’m calling about.”
I grimaced, thankful she couldn’t see me. Anxious goosebumps broke out all over my skin.
“Huh?” I asked, oh-so-eloquently.
“We have a contraband drop box here outside the station,” the chief said. “As you know. We recovered a package from inside, and our cameras observed you dropping off that package yesterday.”
Breathe, I told myself.
Could I pretend I’d lost the call? Ugh, seriously, I was bad at this. I’d felt so rebellious and defiant dropping off that contraband. Where had my inner outlaw gone?
