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Was she thinking about the mayor and what he wanted? She shouldn’t. That was my job. It was because of me that he came around. It was because of me that he threatened the lives of my girls. For that, he would die.
Piper squeezed my hand then.
I blew out a slow breath, her touch calming my anxiety.
No matter how much we fought, I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. She was the only one I wanted to fight with. That I wanted to fight for.
Something deep inside of me thought that maybe once I told her that I loved her, that everything would be fine. All of the pieces would fall into place and we would no longer fight. But I was wrong. There was still a wall between us. It was smaller than before, but it still lingered.
I told her that we needed time, but time was also a dangerous thing. Especially if I didn’t man up and tell her the shit I did in jail. I didn’t want to bother her with it, but I knew that I needed to talk to someone. There was no way in hell that I would see a shrink over it, so Piper would have to be the person I spoke to.
She felt like we didn’t know each other enough but we did, and we would continue to learn. I already knew that I liked what Ididknow. She was passionate and kind. Caring and so damn sweet. It made me want to take a bite out of her just to get a little bit of that flavor.
“I can feel you watching me.” Her head turned around, a small smile creeping on her face. “You should be watching the road.”
“I can do two things at once,” I told her, my gaze flicking back out ahead of us. But she was right. She was a distraction and I never wanted it to stop.
“My parents didn’t mind taking Brynn unexpectedly?”
“No. They were good about it.” In fact, her father knew that Piper and I needed to be alone. He said so in not so many words. It was also good to see them.
Dale and Maxine had been through a lot in the beginning. I didn’t know the exact details, but I had heard through others that Piper’s dad had been a dick.
“Don’t do what I did, Jaron,” Dale said, bouncing Brynlee on his knee. “Don’t push Piper away just because you’re scared of those feelings.”
Dale and I hadn’t talked much over the years but every time we did, I took his words to heart.
“Have you ever been on a date before?” Piper asked, pulling me from my thoughts. Her thumb brushed over the back of my hand.
“Once. I was in high school. It was after we came up here and I saw you.” I had been pissed because I couldn’t get Piper alone even to just tell her hi. Ashton and Aiden took up all of her attention.
“I went on a date too. He was a nice guy I went to high school with. Steven. My dad and Angel scared him. The date didn’t last long.” She laughed lightly. “God, that was so long ago.”
“And look where we are now,” I murmured. The lights to the restaurant came into view. “Did your dad give you a hard time about us in the beginning?”
“Surprisingly, no, he didn’t. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because you weren’t around for him to do anything about it. Who knows?”
I pulled into the parking lot, killed the engine, and turned toward her. “Has he said anything about what I did?”
“No. No one has. It’s like everyone just brushed it under a rug and left it as a dirty little secret.” She scowled. “I don’t know if it’s because Brody was the mayor’s son but…” Her head whipped around. “He almost raped me.”
“That’s my girl.” I grabbed her hand. “Get fucking mad, baby, because no one deserves that shit.”
“I saw a therapist a couple of times. It was one the hospital had provided, and I felt like it did nothing.” She huffed. “I wanted to talk to you and not a stranger. I tried talking to my parents. Your parents. Even our friends. But everyone just kept asking me how I was doing. They still ask me. Well you know what? I’m not okay. I’m not. Even though it’s been almost two years, I can still feel him. I can still hear the vile words he said. I can still smell him.” She shivered, pulling her hand from mine and hugging her arms around herself. “I’mnotokay.”
Before either of us knew what I was doing, I left the car and went around to her side. Opening her door, I reached in and unbuckled her seat belt.
“Jaron?” When her fingers touched my cheek, I lost it.
In a rough move, I pulled her from the vehicle and shoved her up against the side of it. The door slammed shut behind her, the sound reverberating between us.
I stared her down, expecting her to push me away but when she grabbed my waist and pulled me closer, I crushed my mouth to hers.
Her lips opened, inviting me in and speaking every silent word she could never say. Thatneitherof us could say.
Pushing her harder against the door, I ground into her. Not to hint for more but to let her know that I was hers. Every inch.
“What is it?” she whispered, breaking the kiss.
