Sound of Silence(67)

A shirtless Caden Lawless is downright sinful. I'm caught looking at his chiseled, inked planes. So is Maisie Walker when she steps in the room, with her chocolate brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, and her round hips and curves that go on for miles.

Caden's brow arches as my beautiful best friend waves. I hop off his lap and he stands behind me, stretching into a mountain.

"So this is Caden Lawless." She crosses her arms, pushing up her ample breasts as she appraises his every hard edge from head to toe. I give her credit. Maisie doesn't even get stuck on his tattoos. But she does tap her foot once, twice, tipping her head in contemplation. "I can take him, Pigeon. No problem. You want me to drag him outside?" 

Air pushes past Caden's mouth, half laugh and half incredulous grunt. "So you're the best friend?" A smile splits the rigid planes of his face.

"Forever and always. Glad I could make it out for a visit."

"You're always welcome and not just when I've been a prick."

Maisie laughs, deep and husky. "I like a man who can self-reflect. I like him even better when he's got tattoos. But I like him best when he treats my girl with respect. We good, or should we throw down out in the hall?"

Caden looks at me for a second before hauling me so close I'm overcome with cypress and pepper and every male part of him. "We're more than good, Maisie. We're family now."





Dear Justin.



I cried today. In the shower, I felt the softest touch on my neck, and it took me back in time to the cottage. You were there with me, smiling. Your smile Justin, it stole my breath. A thief of the heart. I cried harder as the seconds passed. And then I cried harder because I'll never be over you, never. Then I cried until I choked on my tears, knowing that I've betrayed Caden with feelings for another man. How can I be his when I belong to you?



Time and water soothed my soul and brought clarity. There is enough love in me for you, and for JT, and for someone new. You didn't steal my heart-you gave it life.



I can breathe again.



x Piper





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


Solid Ground





Caden



I GIVE PIPER two minutes. Two minutes while I get a new shirt. Two minutes for her to hug her best friend, two minutes to gush over how good Maisie looks in an orange tank dress that fits like a second skin. She's Sophia Loren and Vergara mashed up into a modern-day pin-up girl. Bear notices as we walk into the living room. His cut brow lifts as he glances back and forth from Piper to Maisie, opposites in every way but the husky vibrato of their laughs. But it's Maisie he stalks with his eyes, tactical in his assessment.

After Piper's time for independence is up, I tuck her slim frame into my side with a sigh. The last two days have been hell in more ways than one. Now, with JT pink and gurgling a hello to Maisie when she takes him from Cara, and Piper's hand finding its way into the back pocket of my jeans, I relax my shoulders. I press a kiss into Piper's hair, inhaling vanilla and sinking into relief. We're back on solid ground.

I have wanted her from the start. And I didn't deserve the tender look in Piper's eyes when I confessed that . . .

I haven't told anyone else of the instant pang I felt toward Piper, or the silent voice in my head that said mine when Justin introduced us a year ago. The violent guilt I felt ate away at me every time he mentioned her name. I wanted her. I wanted her until I couldn't breathe and she was all I saw. What kind of fucking man is consumed by thoughts of his best friend's girl? And what kind of man considers leaving after he has her? The consequences of those feelings had wrapped around me like a noose after we came together in her room, starting a slow descent into hell where it took a fifth of whiskey and then Justin to ground me in reality.

Fuck. I've got to figure myself out before remorse, and ghosts, and finding Dad strip my sanity. But for a couple of hours, I enjoy having Piper near, and JT giggling and flirting boldly with Maisie, so boldly that Bear, who has been silent, decides he's going to join in, and the two fight for her attention. Mom and Cara leave, promising to send Dax over for some leisure time before the wedding. Gus sleeps, curled up on the rug.



       
         
       
        

Life is good, at least on this day, at this moment, with the sun shining through the windows of the house I built. It's good even as Piper slips away to take a shower, and I have to force myself to sit on the couch so I don't join her. It gets better when she returns. Her hand lands on my forearm, small and light against my dark ink and rippling veins. I bring her wrist to my lips, relishing her pulse. Alive. I feel it as mine steadies into the same rhythm. Our eyes meet, and she shivers under my touch.