Theo
Always, Piper.
It took her a minute to respond.
Piper
I’ll try it.
Please don’t judge me if things go wrong.
Theo
I wouldn’t dare.
I went to the back of the building where the door to her apartment was. I kept myself together until she came down the stairs. My entire body tensed when I saw her in another denim skirt and floral top.
No.I shook myself out of the thoughts. She wanted to enjoy the farmers market. She may have said it was okay for me to think of her, but I refused to keep doing it. The last thing I needed was for this to turn into something I could never keep.
“Ready?” I asked.
“As ready as I can be.” Piper took a deep breath. “Okay, just in case this goes wrong, we need a plan.”
I nodded. “A plan. I can work with that.”
“If someone touches me and I lock up, I want you to get me home and under a blanket.” She fished in her pocket. “Here are my keys. Feel free to use them.”
Sometimes, it was startling how much she trusted me, especially since she knew all of my past.
“How tense are you? Will you be upset if I touch you?”
“Good point.” She tapped her chin as she thought about it. “I have an idea.”
She whirled around to where she wasn’t facing me.
“What are you doing?”
“I want you to grab my arm.”
“Uh . . .”
“You’d need to do that to move me out of the way. It’s better to do it now and not when someone’s running at me.”
“All right. Tell me to let go if you need me to.”
“I will.”
My hand met her lower arm and I gripped it gently. She tensed for a second before she relaxed.
“You okay?”
“I know what your hand feels like,” she said softly.
I blinked. “You do?”
She turned and nodded. “They’re a little rough, but I like that. It’s how I know it’s you.”
My heart stuttered at her words. I let go of her, but she grabbed my hand.
