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I try again. “Piper—”
“Careful opening those gates by yourself, farm boy. Some of them are harder than they look.”
She winks, then disappears.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
PIPER
“Are you dating Kyle?”
That’sthe softball Bailey decides to launch at me first while we’re still rolling down the long driveway that separates the farmhouse from the main road.
I talked a good game around Kyle because we couldn’t both be nervous about this. But my babysitting experience was mostly supervising homework for a couple of hours between when school ended and parents came home from work. I’ve neverentertaineda child. So far, my brothers have all prioritized their badges over babies, and none of my close friends are married yet, let alone procreating.
I’m vastly out of my element and terrified I’ll mess this up for Kyle somehow.
“No,” I answer, focusing on flicking on the blinker like it’s an important task. Although, considering I’ve barely driven since I got here and I never drive in New York, it feels like it is.
“But you live with him?”
“I don’tlive with him. I’m just staying at the ranch for a…for a little while.”
I don’t know if Bailey knows about Mabel and John, so I’m not sure I should mention them. And saying Kyle and I haven’t been alone together the whole time sounds like I’m stretching the truth. Which I am, I guess.
We’ve mostly been alone.
And it’s mostly felt like living together.
“Why?”
I read Bailey very wrong, I’m realizing. She seemed shy and unsure when she knocked on the screen door. Now, she’s all assessing eyes and endless questions.
“I came here for work.”
Twisted sheets. Lingering kisses. Whispered words.
My fingers tighten around the steering wheel as snapshots from last night flash through my mind.
“You work for Kyle?”
“No. I work for his record label.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m here to discuss some work stuff with him, and then I’ll leave.”
“Did you know my mom?”
I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat before shaking my head. “No. I never got to meet her.”
“Me neither.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” I make a mental note to call my own mother tonight. We’ve exchanged texts, but I haven’t spoken to her since I left New York.
“My dad never talks about her.”
“Is that why you came to see Kyle?”
