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Liam made a gagging sound, which he then choked back.
Mikah spun him away.
Dodo pointed at Piper. “You got the wrong side of the net. Willow was speaking to me about Warren. She wants me to liaise with him about their getting back together.”
Oh, that made sense. Embarrassment flushed her face. Sometimes intuition got it right, sometimes wrong.
Willow’s bottom lip wobbled, and she made pathetic eyes. “Can’t believe you, Piper.”
This would give her new fodder for her next therapy session. Piper didn’t look at Dahlia or Dodo. They didn’t need her help. She held her head high, her discomfort eased by relief that she’d been wrong. “I’ll be taking off now.” She slipped out, feeling the stares at her back.
* * *
Piper read her new work task on her phone while in the elevator riding up to Dahlia’s office. Accompany Mikah and Liam to the away game in Canada. The email attachment included a flight itinerary and a hotel reservation.
Was Dahlia trying to set her up? She and Mikah had simply kissed a few times. Yeah, hot, think-about-him-later kisses, but still, almost a week had passed since Halloween. He wasn’t on her parents’ stoop asking to see her and holding out roses. If a guy didn’t have the interest in making a solid move, she wasn’t wasting her time. Those kisses though. Her insides tingled, refusing to let her give up on him.
Piper knocked and went into Dahlia’s office, which was empty save for her cousin behind her heavy oak desk. A new side hutch had been added, overpowering the space. That wasn’t Dahlia’s style, she needed to redecorate. “Good morning. I’ve got to ask, why do you need me to travel with Mikah and Liam to their away game?” She curled up in the club chair. What would her exact duties be?
Dahlia moved over to the seat opposite her. “The team usually travels together. But Mikah and Liam have special permission to fly up early and have a night with their families.”
Liam was from Canada, Mikah from northern New York. Made sense. Piper nodded. “Sounds wholesome. Back to my going. Why?”
“Well…” Dahlia hesitated.
Piper cocked her head. Had she missed something? This job had felt real, if overpaid, now she seemed like a travel companion with no purpose. “No need to sugar coat what you’re thinking, not for me.”
Dahlia wore an innocent expression. She opened her palms. “They get into trouble when they’re together. You’ll be a good minder.”
Piper had been less than a foot away several times when they’d screwed up. Had they gotten into worse trouble before? What did that even look like? Dang, if that were true, Dahlia needed her. She couldn’t contain the guys, but she could limit damage.
She perked up.
She was a superior Purity Minder. That bar bathroom wall might not agree with her success rate thus far, but honestly, most public men’s room probably needed refreshing. Liam’s ripping that condom dispenser off the wall had done the bar a favor. And there had been minimal drama at the Halloween party and zero property damage.
Reality flitted through her, leaving a tinge of skittery anxiety.
Who was she kidding? Their first bar trip had been an epic fail, the nice Canadian had broken a wall. Their second, he’d had a blowout with his girlfriend. Both times, she’d done minimal purity minding because she’d been off making out with Mikah.
This trip was a losing proposition, and if things went south, did she want this job on her resume? If things went perfectly, did she want this listed on her resume? Purity patrol? Riding for the righteous? No.
“I sent your address to the guys, they’ll pick you up on the way to the airport.” Dahlia smiled sweetly. “A thousand per day, of course.”
And that brought everything back into crystal perspective. “I think the trip sounds like a reasonable request, and I’m happy to help out.”
* * *
The morning of the away game travel, Mikah’s text beeped on her phone. “We’re here.”
Early, before breakfast, and the implication was for Piper to come outside and meet them. Piper grabbed her shoes and jetted downstairs. Good thing she’d packed last night. Still, Mikah expected her to drag her luggage down the drive and load her bags into the trunk, while he sat in the passenger’s seat watching like a savage.
Hells no. Hours of daily exercise had honed his body, he could carry her bag. Piper texted back, “My family will freak if you don’t come meet them.” Aww, she sounded nice while she established her boundaries.
“Sorry, yeah. That’s what Liam said. I thought he was just being Canadian. That’s the kind of thing they would do, meet the parents. Reassure them, even though this is a work event.” The dots bounced like he was typing more, and then they erased.
* * *
Mikah got out of the car at Piper’s house without looking at Liam.
