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“Hey.” I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight.
“Thank you for coming,” he said, holding on to me like I was a life raft.
“Of course I came. And I’ll be here as long as you need me.”
He led me upstairs, stopping at a teal-green door and unlocking it.
“You have a key.”
His smile was small, but it was there. “Yeah.”
The apartment wasn’t exactly what I’d been expecting. Everything was some shade of gray with the exception of the front door, and the cool lighting added to the overall effect.
Thomas turned to look at me over the back of a plaid sofa. “Nice of you to stop by.”
I wasn’t sure if he was being genuine or sarcastic.
“You look good,” I said as I tentatively made my way to one of the armchairs across from the sofa while Shawn sat beside Thomas.
Thomas’s lips curved up in a smirk. “I had an excellent healer.” Something about his word choice seemed off. I’d never heard of anyone being referred to as a healer outside of a fantasy movie. “It also helped that he could get to me before I bled out.”
“Stop it,” Shawn scolded him.
“Sorry, baby. But seriously, I’m good. I have a couple of scars, but that’s the worst of it. You two don’t need to hang around here all day.”
Shawn shot him a glare. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“How about the kitchen?” Thomas asked. “There’s leftover Italian food in the fridge.”
“Piper, do you want anything?” Shawn asked, standing. “There’s water, Pepsi, beer.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, already getting up from my chair.
“No,” Thomas interjected. “You’re a guest. Sit down.”
I wanted to argue, but this was Thomas’s place and he was still recovering. It seemed wrong to fight with him over something so stupid. “Water is fine,” I told Shawn, watching as he headed toward the kitchen.
“So how is Freddie?” Thomas asked, leaning back against the couch cushions.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really talked to him this week.”
Surprise and intrigue flickered in Thomas’s gray eyes. “That so?”
“Look, Shawn’s one of my best friends, and he really cares about you. So can we not play games? Please just tell me what you’re getting at.”
His lips curved into a smile. “I like you, Piper, and I think you’re good for Sam. But I also think running around with some other guy is a shitty thing to do to him. He’s dealing with some pretty serious stuff.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.” Thomas leaned forward, wincing at the movement. “You have no idea what he’s dealing with. He cares about you, but he has legitimate reasons for keeping his distance.”
“He told me he’s not one of the good guys.”
Thomas snorted. “He would say that.”
“Are you saying he’s wrong?”
“I’m saying he’s got a heart of gold buried somewhere under all the layers of armor.”
