Oh.
Right.
“Before we went to the bakery, why did you tell me to call her Piper?” I waved a hand, and like my body was teaming up against me, my fingers accidentally grazed the same forearm I’d been drooling over.
At least, I was pretty sure it was an accident.
Like, sixty percent sure.
I snatched my hand back and kept talking, ignoring that it had ever happened. “Um, you know, other than it being her name.”
“Did you want the pictures with her?” he asked.
My brows lowered as I drawled, “Yes.”
“That’s why.” At my continued confusion, he elaborated. “If you insisted on calling Piper by her formal married name around Jake, your visit would’ve been cut short. The possessive bastard likes the reminder that his wife has his name, and he isn’t shy about throwing her over his shoulder to show that fact.”
“Oh.” My mouth tipped into a smile the longer I thought that over. It was deranged, but I still loved that for her.
Movement caught my attention, and I looked over in time to watch Rhys’s hand repeat the spread and flex.
With that mystery solved, the rest of my suspicions fell away. That left me back at square one, but that was better than the looming worry that an entire friend group of nice people was about to be shattered thanks to torrid drama.
We made therest of the drive to Rye in total silence, but that was cool with me. I had a lot to think about. Plan. Watch for.
When Rhys pulled into a spot designated as his, I gripped the box and opened the door.
A hand came down on my thigh, halting my movements.
My thoughts.
My breath that I was very much aware I was holding.
I wasn’t sure how much my expression gave away when my gaze darted from the large hand still on my thigh to the man it belonged to. I hoped not much.
Like I’d done when I’d accidentally grazed his forearm, Rhys removed his touch without acknowledging it in any way. “If you want any of those to make it through the day, I wouldn’t bring them in.”
“I’m good with sharing.”
“You’re the only one,” he muttered as he opened his own door and climbed out.
I was betting Piper’s desserts were hoarded like illegal contraband, but she’d sent me with a lot. Too much for one person. I could put in a valiant effort. I might’ve even been able to put a dent in about half of it—or a single bite mark out of each pastry. By the time I was able to finish it all, though, they would be stale.
Probably still delicious, of course. But her baked goods deserved to be eaten fresh.
And if sharing happened to butter up the biker brothers into divulging anything of use to me, that was also a perk. An unlikely one, but a perk all the same.
I got out and followed Rhys through the employee entrance and into the hall.
Whoa.
The bottom half a wall was missing, the wooden slats leaned carefully against the opposite one. Glitch was partially inside the opened space.
At least, I was pretty sure it was Glitch based on the tattoos.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“Channeling my inner cartoon mouse and setting up a cozy home in the walls,” Glitch answered for himself, his words muffled and echoed in the space.
