She hands me the phone and wraps me into an all-encompassing hug. “I’m so glad to see you doing something you love. I’ve been so worried about you, Piper. I’ll ask Gavin about it.”
The doorbell rings. Jordan is fussing, garnering Baylor’s attention, and Skylar is still busy nursing so I walk over to answer it. I look through the sidelight to see a young man, probably my age, carrying a large bag. He’s got dark-brown hair that’s short and manicured—a contradiction to the sleeves of tattoos on his arms and the gauges in his ears. He’s hot. European-guy hot. I wonder who the hell he is and why he’s coming to my sister’s house.
For a moment, I freeze. My stomach forms a large knot and my head feels light. Oh, God, they aren’t trying to set me up, are they? I knew this would happen. It was one of my fears coming back home. I just can’t believe they didn’t even give me a single goddamn day to get over the jet lag before they started.
“That’ll be Jarod from Mitchell’s.” Baylor fidgets with a baby chair, trying to attach it to the dining room table. “Let him in, Pipes. He’s got our dinner.”
A breath of relief escapes me as I open the door and let him through. And even though he’s only the delivery boy and not some kind of surprise blind date, I still wonder if my sisters have an ulterior motive.
“Hi.” He walks by and the smell of delicious American food permeates the room, causing me to forget about everything else in the world except the dinner this guy is carrying.
Oh, how I’ve missed it. I think I’ve missed the food here more than anything else. I can smell the barbeque sauce and I can only hope it’s Mitchell’s famous pulled pork. There are just some things you can’t get abroad, and good barbeque is one of them.
Jarod does a double take after he walks past me. “Wow,” he says, looking back and eyeing me up and down. “You could be Baylor, only a little younger and with some um . . . eccentricities.”
I nod to his many tats and the gauges in his ears. “I have eccentricities?” I say flatly.
He laughs, putting the bag on the table and pulling out several boxes of food that, no matter how tired I am, have my mouth fully waking up and ready for a feast. “I heard you’ll be in town for a while. If you need anybody to show you around, I’m your guy.”
I grab a fork and dig in, not waiting for the others and not caring what a pig I must look like. “No, you’re not my guy,” I mumble through my mouthful of delicious pork. “And I basically grew up around here. I don’t need the dime-store tour.”
He looks slightly taken aback. I see him question my sisters with his eyes. They shrug their shoulders and then Skylar thanks him for the delivery. “You’re a doll, Jarod. I really appreciate this.”
“No problem.” He turns away, not bothering to give me another look. “Let Griffin know I said hi, and tell him I’ll see him at the gym sometime.”
Skylar nods and they say their goodbyes as I scarf down the meal like a starving rat eating a prized piece of cheese.
“So, there’s a gym nearby?” I ask. As long as I’m stuck living at Skylar’s, I can at least spend part of every day at the gym. And if I work at the restaurant, that will afford me as little time here as possible. I look over at Skylar, who’s now nursing Aaron from her other flagrantly exposed boob.
Baylor feeds Jordan a spoonful of pureed baby food. “Yes, just down the street. The best in New York.” She turns to give Skylar a wink.
I swallow a bite of pork, licking the delectable sauce from my lips. “Well, do you think they’d let me join for just a couple of months while I’m here?”
“Probably,” Skylar shouts over her shoulder. “Considering Griffin, Gavin and Mason own it. Well, most of it anyway. Some corporation still owns forty percent, but the guys are buying them out over the next few years.”
My brows come together as I try to understand this. “They own a gym? Why would a movie producer and a photographer want to own a gym?”
“And a football player,” Baylor adds.
“Football player?” I take a bite of the creamy mashed potatoes.
Skylar shakes her head. “Do you not listen in at all when we Skype you on girls’ nights? Mason always comes up one way or another.”
“Mason plays football?” I tilt my head and study her. “Oh, yeah, maybe I did hear something you said about that.” I shrug my unimpressed shoulders. “I try not to listen when you and your friends get all hot and heavy over guys.”
Skylar and Baylor share a look. Baylor lets out an audible sigh and goes back to feeding her daughter.