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Pulling up outside the house Piper lived in, he studied the place. Joe’s wife’s family had once lived here, but he’d never been inside. From memory the Joneses had been an odd family that didn’t mix much with the other Ryker locals.
Getting out, he pushed aside a vision of Piper naked and wet and took the stairs up. He knocked on the door and waited; when no one came he let himself inside.
The smells of food and hum of voices led him through the house. It was nice, homely, he thought. Lived in as a home should be.
Everyone was seated around a huge table in the kitchen when he arrived.
“Where’s Piper?” Jack Trainer fired at him. All eyes turned his way, even those of the Pissants, who all held beers.
Dylan managed a shrug, then said, “She was talking to the horses when I got there, so I took the first shower.”
“Don’t tell me we have to wait for her to eat, Aunt Jess,” Luke complained.
“No, I’ll be sure to save her some, I know how long it takes for her to clean up.”
“Amen,” Joe muttered, reaching for a chili dog from the platter Mr. Goldhirsh had just placed on the table.
“Dylan Howard, how are you?”
He held out a hand as the matriarch of the Trainer family greeted him. Dylan hadn’t known her before he was sent away but the one time Joe mentioned her, he’d had good things to say.
“I’m good thanks, Ms. Trainer. I’m just sorry that I left so much trouble behind the day I drove out of Ryker Falls.”
She swatted his arm.
“Don’t you worry about any of that. We all have growing to do, boy, and from what I hear you’ve done just fine. Now you go on and eat before those heathens clean the plate.”
He found the only spare seat between Joe and Fin, and reached for a chili cheese dog. A beer was placed in front of him by Mr. Goldhirsh. Dylan sat and listened to the smack talk between the Trainers, Fin, and the Pissants.
“We had you from tip off. It’s a mindset thing, Jed. Top two inches is what counts,” Joe said to the captain of the Pissants.
“Your mind is a blank canvas, bud, don’t try tell me different.”
He possibly would have enjoyed it more had he not just had sex with the cousin of three of the men, but for all that the chili cheese dog was damn fine, his body felt good after the game and the sex, and the hell of it was he wanted more.
The sex and the basketball, plus there was this friendship thing he could get used to. He’d never been the kind to hang with a pack of men in New York, but he could get used to it with these guys... except Jack, who was still glaring at him.
Dylan was experiencing all kinds of things since returning to Ryker, and male bonding was a big part of it. Going back to New York would change all that, and life would resume its normal course. Why he found that thought depressing he had no idea. Dylan had a great and fulfilling life... didn’t he?
“There better be a chili cheese dog for me.”
Piper strolled into the kitchen and suddenly he was wired, his body humming, memories running through his head like an erotic PowerPoint presentation, reliving every second of what they’d just shared in that shower.
“Hope I didn’t use all the water,” Dylan said.
“Nope, I had plenty.” She placed a smacking kiss on her mom’s cheek, then Mr. Goldhirsh’s before going to the fridge and pulling out a beer.
“How’s the horses?” Jack asked.
Dylan knew he suspected there was something going on between him and Piper, just not what. Chemistry, definitely, a whole shit ton of it to be exact.
“They’re good. I spent some time with them and looked at Rae’s fetlock. That’s why he got the jump on me, took my place in the shower.”
“Hey!” Dylan feigned surprise. “Not my fault you were dallying.”
“Dallying? Really, dude. Who the hell says dallying these days?” Luke looked at him.
“Me.”
