“Thanks,” he mumbled as he moved toward her, kissing down her bare belly. He moved his hand between her thighs, spreading them before running his finger up her slit, which was covered in thick dark hair. A part of him wanted to ask her to leave. He didn’t like it when a woman had hair between her legs; he liked them bare. But it seemed rude to ask her to go wait in the living room for her friend, especially after what she just did for him. So he lowered his mouth to her wanting lips and ran his tongue slowly up her. She took in a ragged breath, moving her fingers into his hair as he flicked her extended nub with the tip of his tongue. He was just about to insert a finger inside her when a knock came upon his bedroom door.
Christina’s eyes met his before she brought the sheet up over her body. Turning to the door, he yelled, “Yeah?”
“Hey, there is someone at the door for you.”
Erik knew he should tell Phillip to tell them to go away but he was taking this as a welcome interruption. Plus he knew that Phillip wouldn’t have come to tell him unless it was someone important. He only hoped it wasn’t his parents. They were supposed to be coming in this week and he really didn’t need them seeing that he had some girl whom he didn’t really know spread-eagle in the middle of his bed.
“Okay, I’ll be right out.”
“Really?” Christina asked in a huff.
“It must be someone important,” he answered as he pulled on a pair of shorts, then went into his bathroom to wash up. When he came out, Christina was sitting on the bed with an annoyed look on her face. “Give me a minute,” he said as he left the room with a shake of his head. After he answered the door, he was going to ask Christina to leave. She was an annoying pain in the ass. Hell, he’d pay for the cab.
Moving down the hall, Erik saw Phillip standing in a pair of boxers with his arms across his chest.
“Who’s here?” he asked.
Phillip turned, revealing the same person he was thinking of earlier when Christina had his cock in her mouth.
Piper Allen.
She was stunning, as usual. She wore a pair of short white shorts with a blue tank that was bigger than her. It hung off her thin shoulders, and he could see the branches of the tattoo he was just thinking of. Her blondish brown hair was up in a mess of a bun. Her eyes looked wider, and a brighter blue than he remembered. Her lips looked plumper, too; inviting. And when she gave him a sneak peek of the gap in her smile, he swore his heart skipped a beat.
God, what was wrong with him?
Clearing his throat, he said, “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said, looking everywhere but at him. “Sorry to just pop in. I’ve tried calling you over the past few months but I can’t seem to get ahold of you.”
That was because he was ignoring her.
“Oh, no big deal. Everything okay?”
Finally her eyes met his, and he could see that something was wrong. Erik was pretty sure that Phillip saw it, too, because he coughed, then said, “Hey, I’m gonna go in the other room. Piper, it was nice seeing you again.”
She gave a little wave as she said, “You, too.”
Something felt off. The hairs on Erik’s arms felt like they were standing on end, and the air was crackling around them. Piper wouldn’t look at him, which he didn’t understand. She always looked right into his eyes. He liked when she did that. This was the first time since their night together that he had even talked to her. The last time he saw her was four months ago, at Harper’s house. She only stayed for a little bit, though; she was sick, if he remembered correctly. He did remember wishing she hadn’t left. Even if he didn’t want to talk to her, he still wanted to look at her, and wished for the millionth time that he wasn’t so fucked-up.
“How are you?”
Piper smiled as she looked away from him again.
“Okay, you?”
“Fine. I’m surprised to see you, though.”
“Yeah, sorry again. I know it’s late.”
Erik shrugged his shoulders.
“Like I said, no big deal. So what’s up? Do you want to sit down?”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I came over because we need to talk.”
Erik nodded. “Okay? About what?”
Piper looked up again, her eyes meeting his, and he saw how tired she looked. Her face was fuller than the last time he had seen her. She looked different but she was still the same gorgeous girl he had bared his soul to. That alone was dangerous and the sudden need to run rushed over him. He had never told a girl about his parents, only Phillip knew, but he told Piper while lying naked against her small, delicious body.
“We haven’t talked much since that night.”