Almost Just Friends

by Jill Shalvis

  With Cam, she’d shockingly had no problem being vulnerable and open. But that didn’t mean he was the right guy for her, because he wasn’t. He was temporary, a bed of her own making, and so she shook her head at Ry.

  “I mean it,” he said quietly, his voice free of any cynicism. “It’s about time you looked happy. You deserve that, Piper.”

  And then he was gone.

  She looked at Gavin. “What the hell?”

  “Just hear me out, okay? I’m trying to step up in a way I haven’t before. You deserve that. Ryland’s sister works at town hall. Through Ry, she got me all the information we need to turn this place into a B and B. And even better, because this house is so old, it’s considered a historical building, which we can use in our flyers and brochures and on the website.”

  Piper just stared at him. “We still don’t have any of those things.”

  “Yes, we do. Or we have mock-ups. That’s what I was showing Ryland, because you know he was a marketing major before becoming a firefighter.”

  When she continued to just look at him, dumbstruck, he took her hand and brought her to the coffee table, where indeed there were mock-ups of everything spread out in front of her, looking official and . . . damn. Amazing.

  “I’ve got the website up as well.” He picked up his tablet and showed it to her. “No one else can see it, but I’ve got a tentative schedule mapped out and we already have customers.”

  “What? How?”

  “Answering phones at the marina. I met an old military friend of Cam’s. The guy sends people on corporate retreats. They’re always looking for something private, something preferably on the water, something that isn’t too close to a big town to give a sense of team building, and guess what? This place checks all the boxes for them. Cam also has a travel-service buddy and said he’d hook me up with him too, who’d recommend us to his clients. It’s a shoo-in, Piper.” He let out a rough laugh. “How often can any of the three of us say we’ve ever been a shoo-in for anything?”

  She stared down at the gorgeous picture of the house they stood in, the cottages, the lake, the hills, the yard lit with the strings of white lights she’d had up since Christmas. But that wasn’t what she was thinking about. She was thinking about Cam helping Gavin find his way. And Emmitt being so helpful to Winnie. Seemed the Hayes men were also fixers.

  But in a much better way than she’d ever been. They were constructive about it, not having to control every single thing. In fact, Cam, the master of self-control, never actually tried to control anything around him.

  There was something to be learned from that, she knew, but hell if she could figure it out at the moment. She felt befuddled, probably from all the orgasms, but also probably from a nagging sense that while her life was still on the tracks, somehow she’d gotten off at the wrong station.

  “I think the words you’re looking for are wow and amazing,” Gavin said.

  “Okay, yes, both of those things. It was nice of Cam to help.”

  “He said he can see all the things he didn’t do right with Rowan, and he’s trying to fix some wrongs.”

  Piper worked hard at swallowing a huge lump in her throat and failed, so she turned away.

  Gavin turned her back to him, and swore at the glimmer of tears. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked, with no little amount of panic.

  She blinked rapidly. “Nothing!”

  He looked pained. “Hell, Piper, I didn’t mean to make you cry. Shit. Forget it. Forget all of it, it’s just a pet project I work on when I can’t sleep—”

  “I’m not crying!” At least not all the way. “And I’m not mad. I’m . . . touched. Because it is wow and amazing. You’re wow and amazing.”

  “I know,” he said, making her let out a soggy laugh. “So what’s the problem?”

  “Gavin . . . we know nothing about running a B and B.”

  “Yeah, but why should that stop us? Not knowing how to be not a drug addict didn’t stop me. Not knowing how to be a mom isn’t going to stop Winnie. Is not knowing how to be a physician assistant going to stop you?”

  She sighed. “Yes.” But not for the reason he thought. If they did this, that would stop her.

  He looked at her and understanding dawned. “You think this will cost you your dream.”

  “I’m not sure how else to get tuition, and you and Winnie enough money to live on here while I’m gone. Plus this place is expensive to run, there’s a lot of maintenance and utilities . . .”

  “We’d succeed at the B and B, Piper.”

  “Okay, and while I do believe that, I don’t see it happening as fast as selling.”

  “Maybe it’d work out better, you ever think of that?”

  “We don’t have a lot of experience with better.”

  He nodded, set down the tablet, and turned to go.

  “Wait. Gavin—”

  “You’ve made enough sacrifices for us.” He turned back. “From when we came here until . . . well, even now you’re sacrificing for us, staying when I know you want out because Mom and Dad are gone and you’re all we’ve got. It’s our turn to sacrifice.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I don’t know yet.” He paused and looked at her, really looked at her as if he wanted to see inside. “Please tell me you think about them.”

  Her chest went tight and she couldn’t speak. She thought about them all the time. But what was the use of telling him? She didn’t want him to hurt. “Gavin—”

  “Never mind.” He shook his head. “I can’t really even picture them anymore. I try, but it’s hard. And . . .”

  She closed her eyes. Because what was hard was seeing his pain. “And what?”

  “Do you think they’d have been okay with me?”

  “Oh, Gavin.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hard hug. “They would’ve loved you,” she said fiercely.

  “Even the gay part?”

  “Yes, they would’ve loved every part, I promise.”

  He let her hug him for longer than he normally would before pulling back with a nod. “Thanks,” he said quietly and headed to the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To meet up with my sponsor.”

  She blinked. “You have a sponsor?”

  “Yes. From my NA group.” He met her gaze. “I’m taking this seriously, Piper. I need for you to be able to trust me on that.” He glanced at the tablet and plans for the B&B. “On everything, just like I trust you.”

  “But how can you trust me when I didn’t even see that you were struggling with drugs?”

  “I told you that wasn’t your fault. Let it go. I mean it, Piper. For this to work, for any of it to work . . .” He gestured to the table. “Like me running the B and B for us while you’re away at school, for example, you’ve got to be able to trust me.”

  The door shut behind him and she said to it, “But we can’t do both the B and B and school . . .”

  “We’ll find a way,” he said through the wood.

  Shaking her head, she went in search of caffeine. If she was going to give up her dreams for Gavin’s and Winnie’s yet again, she was going to need a lot of it.

  Chapter 25

  “I’m going to take that as a hard yes.”

  Piper spent the next week working either at the station or on the property. She didn’t enter anything new in her journal, which was rare for her. Instead, she worked at checking some things off her various lists. Like not taking extra overtime, buying something frivolous—sexy lingerie, thank you, Victoria’s Secret—and . . . actually wearing the sexy lingerie.

  And though she’d agreed to think about Gavin and Winnie’s plan to turn the place into a B&B, she also still was exploring the option to sell.

  At least, that was how she’d spent her days. Her nights, other than the three days Cam had flown back East to train with his unit, she’d spent in his arms exploring their attraction for each other.

  But tonight was Emmi
tt Hayes’s fifty-sixth birthday, and they’d planned a surprise party. Piper had tried to warn everyone that he’d hate it, but Winnie was determined. She’d been in charge of figuring out who to invite, with Gavin being the resident caterer. He cooked while Cam got Emmitt out of the house by taking him fishing. Meanwhile, Piper set everything up, and when Cam texted that they’d docked, she made everyone hide.

  A few minutes later, Emmitt and Cam entered the house and everyone jumped out of their hiding spots to yell “Surprise!” and “Happy birthday!”

  Emmitt seemed thrilled, and the party got started. Piper was relieved, but not five minutes later, Cam turned to her. “He’s gone.”

  “Who?”

  “The birthday boy.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Do you see him?”

  Piper looked around. Nope, she did not. The house was full of his friends, including his maybe-girlfriend, Margaret, but there was no Emmitt in sight. He couldn’t have gotten far. “You check upstairs,” she said. “I’ll take a better look down here.”

  She started in the kitchen, going still just outside the pantry door, where from within she could hear crinkle sounds she recognized all too well. She opened the door and, yep, found Emmitt eating a bag of Cheetos. “Hey,” she said, “that’s my usual MO, not yours.”

  He shrugged and kept eating.

  With a quick text to Cam that she’d found his dad, she sat on the floor next to him, reaching into the bag for herself.

  “Birthdays aren’t my thing,” he said.

  “Also my MO,” she said. “But you love being the center of attention. What’s going on?”

  Before he could answer, the door cracked open and Cam slid in. He stared at his dad and then Piper, who gave him a palms up.

  “You okay?” Cam asked his dad.

  “Sure.”

  “Then why are you in the pantry with my girlfriend?”

  Piper’s heart skipped a beat. Girlfriend?

  “Needed Cheetos,” his dad said. “And you just gave your ‘girlfriend’”—he used air quotes for the word—“a heart attack. Did you forget to tell her that’s what she is to you?”

  Again, Cam looked at Piper, who was indeed trying not to swallow her tongue.

  “You scared?” Cam asked.

  “No.” Liar, liar . . . “Just not sure I’m girlfriend material,” she said much more calmly than she felt.

  “Maybe you could try it on for size, see how it feels,” Cam suggested.

  “For temporary size though, right?”

  He gave her an almost smile. “Right.”

  She bit her lower lip, and at the warm and amused look in his eyes, she nodded. Because no matter what happened, he made her smile. And that was worth just about everything, including the label that she wasn’t sure she was ready for.

  “Okay, now that that’s solved,” Cam said. “Why are we hiding?”

  “I’m not,” Emmitt said.

  “Dad.”

  “Fine. I’m hiding. You happy?”

  “Not yet.” Cam took a handful of Cheetos for himself. Before he’d finished, Winnie had joined them.

  “Yum,” she said, and took the bag of Cheetos.

  “Hey,” Piper complained.

  “What? I’m the one eating for two. And why didn’t I get an invite to this private VIP meet and greet?” No one answered her, and she eyed them all. “I’m guessing we have a problem. Why am I the last to know?”

  “Apparently we’re all the last to know,” Cam said, and looked at his dad.

  Emmitt avoided his gaze. “Are there more Cheetos?”

  Beyond the door, they could hear the party continuing on without them. Music. Laughter. Talking.

  Gavin peeked into the closet. They all scooted to make room for him. “What’s going on?” he asked. “My food’s fuckin’ awesome and you’re all in here inhaling Cheetos?”

  Again, Cam looked at his dad.

  Emmitt blew out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But it’s embarrassing.”

  “More embarrassing than the Bean giving me gas in this tight space?” Winnie asked.

  Piper sighed and fanned the air in front of her face.

  “Sorry,” Winnie said. “I’m growing a parasite. Literally.”

  “Dear God, man,” Gavin said to Emmitt, gagging dramatically. “Tell us the problem so we can get out of here.”

  “Okay, okay!” Emmitt tossed up his hands. “You invited all my girlfriends to this thing. What the hell were you thinking?”

  Piper met everyone’s gaze. They were all as confused as she was.

  “Girlfriends, as in plural?” Cam asked.

  Emmitt nodded.

  “But I thought you were seeing Margaret.”

  “Yeah. And Sonya.” He grimaced. “And Carol. And Danita.”

  The look on Cam’s face was priceless. “You’re dating your dentist, the grocery store clerk, and your barber?”

  “What?” Emmitt said defensively. “My doctor told me to live a healthier life, and I am. Sex is healthy.” He turned to Piper. “Right?”

  Piper opened her mouth, and then shut it.

  Cam looked pained. “How in the world are you even finding that many women who want to date you? No, wait, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

  “It’s all done online now,” Emmitt said. “I just searched for all the single women in the area who were on the same dating app as me. Jeez, son, how do I know this and you don’t? I’m the old one. And it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong. Everyone knows if you connect with someone on an app, you’re not exclusive. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to enjoy running into each other in person.”

  “You’re sleeping with four women,” Gavin said slowly. “On your fifty-sixth birthday.”

  “Well, not at the same time,” Emmitt said modestly.

  Gavin grinned and tried to high-five him.

  Emmitt closed his eyes and thunked his head back against the wall a couple of times.

  Another bag of Cheetos, unopened, fell onto his head.

  Winnie nabbed it for herself before Piper could.

  Gavin didn’t stop grinning. “You’re my idol.”

  “I’ve got no idea how to handle this,” Emmitt said.

  “You think you don’t?” Cam muttered. “Try being your son.”

  “I know how to handle this,” Gavin said. “Watch and learn.” He slid out of the closet.

  They all crowded up to the door, ears up against it as Gavin hit his first mark, who’d just moved into the kitchen.

  “I’m looking for the birthday boy,” Sonya cooed at Gavin.

  “Yeah, about that . . .” Gavin said, thoughtfully staying near the door so they could all hear. “He wanted me to let you know that you’re a very special woman in his life, but he’s bummed because with so many people here, he won’t be able to spend any one-on-one time with you. He’s hoping to make it up to you by taking you out to dinner tomorrow night. Just the two of you.”

  “Somewhere fancy?” Sonya asked hopefully. “Where they put the napkin in your lap and stuff?”

  “Absolutely,” Gavin said.

  “And I can order whatever I want?”

  “Whatever you want,” Gavin said. “You in?”

  “Of course. I’m hungry already!”

  “Perfect,” Gavin said, steering her toward the back door. “I’ll just walk you to your car. He’ll call you later to firm up the deets.”

  “Shee-it,” Emmitt muttered. “She’s going to make me take her for prime rib and lobster. You know how expensive that is?”

  Piper’s face was pressed up against the slatted door, watching Gavin work his magic. It reminded her of something she’d forgotten. Her brother was not just great with people, but a master at it, in a way she could, would, never be.

  He hadn’t been an asshole and a flake the past few years. He’d become an addict. And she was still shocked and upset with herself that she hadn’t seen his addiction, which was a gui
lt and shame she’d have to live with.

  But he was slowly becoming himself again before her very eyes, and she felt so proud of him. Proud of both of her siblings. Only a month ago, she wasn’t sure she’d have thought of them as grown-ups, capable of leading their own lives. But things were changing. They were changing, and doing great while they were at it.

  Not five minutes later, Gavin had disposed of two more of Emmitt’s girlfriends with smooth ease and then opened the pantry door. “Only one left in the house, Birthday Boy. Margaret. So you’re safe now. Time to let yourself out of the closet.” He grinned at the irony in that statement. “Come on in, the water’s fine.” He then handed Emmitt a schedule of the week sketched out on a birthday napkin so he could see all his dates lined up at a glance.

  Piper couldn’t help herself. She grabbed Gavin and hugged him tight, until he made dramatic strangulation noises to be let free.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  Piper shrugged. “Maybe I’m proud of you.”

  “Well, that’s new,” he said, trying and failing to not look pleased.

  “Seriously, this is going to cost me a fortune,” Emmitt muttered, still eyeballing his schedule. “And you put Sonya and Danita on the same night! Are you crazy? I don’t have that kind of stamina!”

  “They’re separated by two hours,” Gavin said. “It’s the only night they were both free.”

  “Fine, but you’ve got to find a way to cancel Carol on Wednesday.”

  “Why? You’re wide open that night.”

  “Yes,” Emmitt said. “But she was arrested at Walmart last week for driving one of those electric carts while drinking wine from a Pringles can in the parking lot. I don’t date felons.”

  Gavin clapped him on the back. “You play, you pay. Remember, this is your way of apologizing, so don’t chintz. Go all in, make them feel special. Do what you’ve got to do to keep your life status quo.”

  “Is that how it’s done then?” a voice asked, and they all turned in unison to find CJ standing there.

  Piper watched the “oh shit” look hit Gavin’s face, but he quickly smoothed it over with an easy smile. “You already know how it’s done, remember?”

  CJ shook his head, turned, and walked out again.