"I miss you too," she whispers, and my heart squeezes in my chest. "I wish you could come, but I get it, and I don't want you to feel bad. We'll both save, Maisie."
Her best friend. I blow out a breath and step in as quietly as possible. Gus spots me and waves his paws. He ditched me for the kid as soon as the baby came home from the hospital. The two of them bonded over pacifiers and sleep schedules. He wiggles on his back while the baby naps next to him, bundled on an infant rest mat. I shake my head, but smile. Damn dog is as happy as a cat in a room full of tuna.
"Maybe if we pool resources you can make it out in a few months? Okay." Piper's voice cracks. "I'll send pictures every day. Love you, Mais. Bye."
She doesn't move. The rainbow-hued tips of her hair skim the tops of her shoulders as they shake. Arms straight, she holds herself up but hangs her head in a punishing cry. Fuck. Tears sucker-punch my stomach. I'm on her in a second, brushing my nose into her neck while my hands round her in a hug, skimming over the small mound left over from pregnancy. Fuck proper, fuck space, and fuck guilt right out the goddamn door. Piper needs someone, and so do I. She's my friend. We'll hit the highs and lows together for as long as it works.
"Breathe," I whisper in her ear.
"Caden," she wails and grips my hands, her head falling back onto my shoulder. I hold on and help her turn. Everything about her is soft in a world full of hard angles. Her breath fans my skin, and I shiver despite the warmth of the evening sun. She molds into me, so beautiful and vulnerable, a perfect fit that prickles into a shameful awareness. I shouldn't want her.
"What's going on in here?" I tamp my thoughts down while brushing wayward waves from her forehead.
"Maisie," she hiccups on a sharp inhale. "Can't come out to visit. She has no money; I have no money. And I haven't showered in two days. I smell. I have vomit in my hair, and your mom and Cara? They were here, and I smell. Caden, I can't do this."
I shouldn't find this amusing, I shouldn't but I hide my smile in her hair because I do. This is her crash. When I level out my grin, I tip her chin up. It's hard to leave her with a simple touch when her lips are lush, wet from tears, and her tongue slips along the bottom one, her skin flushed pink. Her eyes are wide and neither blue nor brown, but a mixture of both with dark green intermingled into a supernova that lights up my nights.
War is a million miles away when I'm with her.
I brush my lips against the corner of her mouth. My heart skips. What the fuck? My breath falters, punching out in a heavy beat against her skin as I wait for her reaction. She blinks, once, twice, quick flashes of her lashes. I lean away, shaking my head as if it will negate my stupid move. Just friends.
"You're perfect," I whisper. "The perfect mother. He's been home for three days, sunshine. You're both doing great."
Her chin trembles. "My boobs hurt so bad." The dam breaks into a second wave of pathetic sobs.
"Come here," I murmur, taking her nape and pulling her into my chest. I hold her, rubbing up and down her spine. She's tired. "You're not alone. We've got this. You and I, we're a team. Together we'll make mistakes but I promise you, I promise you, Piper, you'll have every ounce of everything I am. I'll prove to you I'm the best friend you'll ever have, and I'm going to help you raise a beautiful son into a good man."
She moans, low and throaty, stirring thoughts and a part of me that has no right to want my best friend's girl. A part of me that grows thick and presses against her stomach, unashamed. Stupid cock.
"I don't want to make you stay."
"Sunshine." I pull her in tighter, burying my face next to hers. "I want this. I want this bad. You're helping me as much as I'm helping you. It's been years since I've belonged anywhere but overseas. Now I have a place in Lilyfalls with you and the baby."
Time seems to move in slow motion, a long moment when her fingers relax and learn the contours of my back, straying along the lines of each muscle until they come to rest just above the elastic of my shorts.
"Okay." She rubs her nose on me and that, more than the night in the cemetery or the delivery, seals the deal. When a girl wipes snot on you-that's commitment. I've got a mission, a new purpose, and she's open to letting me in to do my job. That's all this is. It has to be.
Keep telling yourself that line of bullshit. I can't tell if Justin's words come out in a growl or a laugh, but I'm interrupted before I figure it out.
"Caden?"
"Piper?"
"Um, is there a banana in your pocket?"
I press my smile into her hair and I feel hers, even though I can't see it. "Ignore my dick. It likes pretty women, but he hasn't caught on that we're just friends," I say it again, as if repetition will make it so. "Now go." I turn her around and push, a light tap to her ass to move her in the direction of the bathroom. "Take as long as you need and then go to bed. I've got baby duty."