After packing everything up, she got dressed and was soon on the road to Phillip’s house. With every mile bringing her closer to her destination, her fears grew as she sang louder and louder to the music of Adele. There are two ways she could do this: Drop off the food, give Phillip a quick hug, and then leave. Or she could go inside and sit with Phillip a bit; if Erik showed up she would force him to talk with her. Oddly enough, she would like to see Erik one last time. Maybe she’d finally get it into her head that he just didn’t care.
When she arrived she sat in the car a bit looking for Erik’s Aston Martin but it wasn’t there. Maneuvering herself out of her car, Piper got out the food she had brought for Phillip and walked up the short driveway. Relief and disappointment filled her as she knocked on the door. When Phillip opened it, she put a smile on her face as she gave him a sideways hug.
“Hey,” she said as she entered his home.
“Hey, thanks for bringing me food,” he said as he took the bags from her, but she wasn’t listening.
She heard him before she saw him, and soon Piper was on the floor with her arms wrapped around Stanley. She squeezed the dog so tight tears filled her eyes. Stanley licked and barked happily as she continued to hug him.
“Oh my goodness, Momma has missed you, Stanley. Have you missed me?” she cooed as she held him close.
“Wow, he usually doesn’t like girls who come through here,” she heard Phillip say. “We have to lock him in the room.”
“I’m not some girl, huh, buddy? I’m Momma. He misses his momma.” Stanley barked, licking any part of her as he struggled for air. Poor thing was going to have a heart attack. “Goodness me, calm down, buddy,” she said, petting the dog softly.
Piper stood and followed Phillip to the kitchen. She watched as he opened the boxes and threw a piece of broccoli in his mouth. He smiled over at her and nodded. “It’s good; thank you again.”
“Any time,” she said, leaning against the bar. “So you sure you’re okay?”
He flashed her one of his killer smiles, one that made all of the girls swoon. It did nothing for Piper. He was a gorgeous man, just not the man she wanted.
Pushing back her tears, she let him talk. “I’m good, I promise. My sister and I weren’t close. We were almost fifteen years apart and never really connected. I mean, I’m sad, but I’m mainly sad for my niece, Claire. I’m going up to see her after our game in Minnesota. She is staying with my aunt.”
“How old is she?”
“Sixteen. I haven’t seen her since I left home to play for a team in downtown Minneapolis, but I try to keep in touch. My sister was a bitch and kept her from me. So we’ll see how it goes,” he said before stuffing his mouth with some rice.
“Is she going to stay with your aunt?” Piper asked.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she is taking custody. She’s good people. Claire will be happy there.”
“That’s good,” Piper said.
“So how have you been?” he asked.
Piper shrugged her shoulders. “Okay; it’s been kind of hard.”
Phillip’s eyes softened as he gave her a small half smile.
“Yeah, but hey, looks like the little guy wants out.”
He nodded his head to her stomach and she smiled as she backed away from the counter, looking down at her belly, but just as she was about to say something, she backed into a hard, hot body. When a pair of hands, ones that had held her in more ways than one could imagine, rested against her hips, she turned around and looked up into the pair of dark eyes that she missed so much.
“Erik,” she gasped as she took another step back, taking in his gorgeous body.
He was wearing only those damn athletic shorts. When she looked up at his face, noticing the thick, dark beard and the sad eyes, all the air rushed from her. Every single touch, smile, stolen kiss, everything; every single memory of them came back in full force, playing like a movie in her head. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, snuggle her nose under his chin, and sleep for days. She wanted to scream that she still loved him, that she would always love him, and that she missed him so much.
Piper swallowed loudly before biting into her bottom lip. She looked away as she cleared her throat and said, “I thought you weren’t home.”
Chapter 24
She was so fucking beautiful it hurt.
Erik had spent the last week aching for her, and now seeing her in the flesh, seeing that she had changed so much since the last time he saw her, almost broke him. He could see her belly button protruding, indicating that she had gotten bigger, and it killed him that he wasn’t there to watch it happen. She wore her hair up in a mess on the top of her head; she even wore a little makeup, her lips bright and shiny, but he couldn’t help but notice the sadness in her beautiful blue eyes.