AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah…that doesn’t explain the VCR. You skipped some technology between those two points.”
I watch her, not even remembering what we’re talking about, when she bends over and a sliver of skin shows at her waist. It shouldn’t be so distracting when a girl is just putting on her shoes.
I hate to say it, but I’m starting to think I don’t know the first damn thing about women. Hale Vincent has probably been tangled up in a fuck-a-thon, since the last we saw either of them was when her sister was straddling him in the Jeep like she’d had all she could take.
Life is cruel when you start feeling inferior to Hale fucking Vincent.
I’m scared Piper will run if I move too fast, and I really don’t want her running. I like having her around, and she’s been around a whole lot since three days ago when her sister and Hale disappeared with each other.
She even slept over last night. I slept on the damn couch.
“So George is your unofficial stepdad, right?” she muses.
“Ma still thinks we’re idiots who haven’t figured it out. I think Nila is the only one who hasn’t figured it out. Or maybe she has. It’s hard to tell with her,” I answer, really not wanting to talk about my family right now.
I know it’s a fool thing to do to get close to a girl like her, but damn if I don’t find it easier and easier to give two shits less.
“Shouldn’t you be packing?” she asks me, eyes on mine as she sits back.
“I always have a bag packed for emergencies. I’ll just take it. It’s got all my hunting gear in it anyway,” I tell her, raking my eyes over her face.
She ditched the makeup, the hair supplies, and the fancy clothes for the day. I didn’t realize how much more I’d like her this way. Maybe we’ve spent too much time together and it’s jacking my head up.
At the end of the day, George isn’t wrong. She’ll be gone soon, and I’m driving myself insane to get closer to a girl I know is leaving.
I already hear them pulling back up, and I sigh heavily as I stand.
“I’ll let myself out,” she tells me as she stands as well.
I turn, walking toward her to abandon caution, push her against the wall, and kiss her like I’ve wanted to do since that first night. Instead, I stop short, bite down on my fist, silently count to ten, and lean over to grab my bag.
I hear her talking outside as I grab my favorite hunting rifles, tucking them into their own individual cases.
When I step out, I spot a very pale version of Liam as he leans over the Jeep’s hood.
“Worried a Malone is going to shoot you dead and make it look like an accident?” I ask him as I toss my stuff in the back of my own ride.
“I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” he confesses, which almost causes me to smile.
I didn’t want to like Liam. He’s such a pansy. But he’s so honest about it that I can’t help but like him. Fucker. I’ll never tell Kylie that. She drives me insane. Almost as insane as Krysta drives me. Lilah’s my favorite, and that’s only because she’s terrified of me.
Meanwhile, Piper thinks I’m laidback and boring.
Ironic.
“Cougar!” I call out.
She comes barreling out from around the corner, and Piper practically leaps into my arms, shaking from head to toe.
I love Cougar. I call Cougar a lot when Piper’s outside.
The result is always the same.
My arms go around her, as she straddles my waist and halfway strangles me, still trembling all over.
Nuzzling the side of her neck causes her to go completely stiff in my arms, so I sigh and say, “I’ll see you when I get back.”
She clears her throat a few times, and she finally nods.
Cougar climbs up in my passenger seat, and Piper keeps her arms around my neck. I’ll probably have to carry her to her ride, because Cougar brings out her flight response to danger.
Keeping her legs strapped around me, she doesn’t argue when I begin walking her toward her rental. Everyone is chattering and loading back up, but I don’t pay them much attention.
Five days isn’t a big deal. Hell, I barely know the girl. I’ll look like a schmuck if I bail on this trip to chase her around when she still acts like she’s just looking for a friend to pass time with.
“I’ll give your clothes back to you when I see you,” she tells me as I lower her to the ground.
She sways a little. I assume the altitude is a problem for her, because she does that from time to time when I have to put her down.
She stares at me like she expects me to say something else, and I hold up my fist. She blinks a few times, but she finally bumps it.
