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Hampton began walking again and I trailed after him. “Piper, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Smith. I just—” He paused and glanced over at me. His eyes were genuine and the little bit of resentment I’d been hanging onto vanished. “I just knew it would be a hard change for all of us. I figured it would be easier to just rip the Band-Aid off fast, ya know?”
I nodded. I didn’t agree with him, but he knew me better than I knew myself. If he thought it was for the best, I figured that eventually I’d come to see he was right. And, if I was being perfectly honest with myself, I could never stay angry with Hampton for long. I loved him too much. And unfortunately for me, he knew that as well.
“Anyway, I’m happy. Like, really really happy. I haven’t felt like this since Jack—” He broke off and took another long sip of his coffee, his eyes focused on something just beyond my head. But he didn’t need to finish his sentence for me to understand what he was trying to tell me. He’d finally found a way to move past the tragic loss of his first love. And who the hell was I to hold that against him? When I’d trailed after him to college, I’d vowed to take care of him. Letting him go and find happiness was a part of that vow, no matter how badly it sucked for me.
I bumped him with my shoulder and grinned. “Let’s go find the ugliest fucking throw rug here and buy it for Lawson’s ho
use. I’ll record his reaction and send it to you.”
Hampton chuckled and slung his arm back around my shoulders. “That’s my girl. If ya can’t join ’em, beat ’em, right?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly.”
“So, let me tell you about what Smith did for me last night.” Hampton waggled his brows and I groaned.
“If it was in the bed, I do not want to know.”
Dramatically, he poked his lip out. “God, you’re no fun.”
12
Lawson
Hampton was a liar.
I knew Piper lived here. There was no way to not know it.
She was messy. She left her clothes damn near everywhere. The moment she walked in the door, her shoes and crazy ass socks came off and were dropped wherever she was standing, never to be picked up again. She left cabinet doors open in the kitchen, as if she’d become distracted and forgotten to close them. She never remembered to turn a light off and I dreaded my next power bill. It didn’t matter how many times I reminded her, she would just walk right out of a room without a second thought. And most of all, she made more noise while getting ready than was humanly possible. Whether she was singing off-tune or studying out loud, she never shut up.
She also smelled amazing. Every time she got in the shower, which seemed to be at least twice a day, my house, which was large, would be filled with the scent of lavender and honey. I’d found myself escaping to the back deck any time I heard the water turn on, even though it was getting warmer and warmer each day. It was the only way to avoid the intoxicating scent that was all Piper.
She had no boundaries, no respect for someone’s privacy. She walked around in her short robe that tended to come untied just enough for me to catch a glimpse of her smooth skin, pink from her shower. Every single morning after she took that blasted shower, she’d head straight for the kitchen, not giving a single shit that I was trying to get ready for the day. No, she’d just waltz in, half naked and smelling like every fantasy I’d ever had and try to chat. It didn’t matter that I’d walk past her with barely a grunt in her direction, she didn’t stop. She’d follow me down the hall, blabbering on about a patient she had in the ER or a new song she’d heard on the radio, and walk right into my room, throwing herself onto my bed to continue talking, never once noticing I didn’t respond.
She was funny. She didn’t mean to be, but I’d find myself chuckling at her antics nonetheless. She’d come home from the mall a few days ago with an oriental rug that was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. Proudly, she’d laid it out, a mischievous twinkle in her eye, and then proclaimed that she loved it. She’d been trying to get a rise out of me, and I refused to give in to her, instead telling her I thought it fit the space perfectly. The mini tantrum she’d thrown after not getting the reaction she’d wanted was so damn funny I’d had to sprint from the room to keep from letting her see me laughing at her expense. Every day, I’d find myself laughing to myself over something she’d said or done. And every day, I’d have to remind myself to keep it together.
So, yes, I knew she was living in my house.
And she was driving me crazy.
“Georgia, don’t you have an extra bedroom in your apartment?” I asked, cutting my eyes to where she sat on the edge of my couch. She’d slipped her shoes off and was rubbing her feet over the god-awful rug, a sly smile on her face.
“Nope,” she chirped.
She was lying.
“You’re lying.”
She continued to push her toes into the carpet as she looked me in the eyes. “Okay, I’m lying.”
“I knew it. Listen, do you—”
She gave a brisk shake of her head. “Don’t even ask. It’s not happening.”
I groaned. “Why the hell not?”
Georgia laughed and tilted her head to one side, making a show of looking me over. “What’s the matter, Law? Piper being here bringing back old feelings? Or have those feelings never actually gone away?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
