If this was a huge mistake—and I knew it likely was—why was I still going out with Austin? “I want to spend more time with him,” I admitted to myself and Andy.
“You like him,” Andy stated.
“Yeah,” I confessed. “I like Austin. That doesn’t mean I’m falling madly in love with him or putting my heart out there for him to break again, but I don’t want to cancel on him. I want to see him before he leaves for two weeks.”
“Do you think he’s changed?” Andy asked before adding, “Cerise will cut his balls off if he hurts you again.”
I laughed because it was the truth. “Yeah, she will. If he hurts me again, I’ll probably enjoy the show.”
“No, you won’t,” Andy insisted.
“What makes you say that?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Because you’re not as bloodthirsty as Cerise,” he replied.
“Good point,” I agreed.
The doorbell rang, interrupting our conversation.
“That must be your date,” Andy said as he went to answer the door.
“It’s not a date,” I insisted. No matter how I felt about Austin, this was not a date.
“Sure,” he agreed as he opened the door for Austin.
Chapter 24
Austin
I was greeted at Piper’s front door by a Viking. At over six and a half feet tall, the guy made me look small.
“You must be Andy,” I said, putting out a hand to shake his.
Andy’s arms were crossed in front of his chest as he regarded me like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to kick my ass or shake my hand. Finally, he reached out and took my hand. “That’s me. I’m a big fan of Reckless Release.”
With the scowl he’d been giving me, I’d expected some macho handshake designed to make sure I understood he could crush my hand. Instead, Andy shook my hand and released it.
“Did you see us play at Euphoria?” I asked.
Andy shook his head. “Piper didn’t even invite me.”
“I’m sure you were fine at home with the swing,” Piper muttered as she pushed her way around Andy.
My lips twitched, but I said nothing.
“I’m sure Austin doesn’t want to hear about that.” Andy was blushing to the roots of his hair.
Piper turned to swat Andy’s belly. “I’d better not come home to your bare ass in my living room again.” She gave that warning before heading out to my car.
Andy was still blushing slightly, but his scowl was back in place.
“Is this where you threaten to kick my ass if I hurt Piper?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Why would I need to make that threat? You’re just friends, right? That’s all you’re after.”
“If that’s all I can have,” I replied honestly.
“You should be more worried about what Cerise will do to you if you hurt Piper again,” Andy warned.
“I don’t want to hurt Piper,” I assured him.
Andy nodded. “Then don’t.”
He shut the door without another word.
As I walked toward my car, I studied the gorgeous redhead beside it. Her dark jeans and wine-colored sweater hugged her curves nicely.
“Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer?” she teased with an impish grin.
“That’s a good idea,” I agreed, pulling out my phone.
“I was kidding,” she said with a laugh.
“I know, but it’s still a good idea,” I insisted. “Then when you call me, your picture will pop up.”
Piper blew out a breath, pushing her temptingly plump lower lip out. As expected, my dick took instant notice. “Fine,” she relented before posing by my car.
I didn’t hesitate, taking the picture before she could change her mind.
I let her into the car and made my way around to my side. “What did Andy do before he started managing The Project?” I asked when I was behind the wheel.
“Why do you ask?” was her response.
“He looks more like a bouncer than a manager,” I explained. “I was a little surprised when he opened the door. The guy is huge.”
“Why do you seem so surprised by Andy’s size?” she asked. “Reckless Release used the VIP room at The Project, so you must have met Andy before.”
I shook my head. “Since my cousin owns the club, we mostly dealt with him. I only saw Andy from a distance the night of the party. I thought he was a bouncer.”
“He was a bouncer who worked his way up in the business,” she explained.
“Where did you start?” I asked. “This is a far cry from opening a bed-and-breakfast.”
“You remember that?” she asked in surprise.
“Sure,” I replied. “You even made me pretend to be a customer one time.”
“I totally forgot about that,” she admitted. “That is such an embarrassing memory. I wish you’d forgotten it.”
“It was cute,” I assured her. “You even brought in some fresh-baked muffins to serve at your bed-and-breakfast. They were great.”
“I didn’t make them,” she confessed.
“You lied to me?” I asked in mock horror. “You lied about muffins?”
“I wanted to convince you I could cook,” she explained. “You must have noticed. I took them out of a shopping bag.”
“I suspected you hadn’t made them,” I admitted. “It was still cute. What happened to your bed-and-breakfast plans?”
“It costs a lot of money to open a bed-and-breakfast, and I decided it would be best to get some experience in that field first,” she explained. “In college, I took classes with the intention of going into hotel management, but no one wanted to hire me until I had more experience. I needed money, so I took a job as a bookkeeper at The Project and kept moving up until I was assistant manager. I’m still amazed that Mercy gave me this job at Euphoria.”
“Based on what I saw at Euphoria, she made a good choice. You really know what you’re doing.”
“Thanks,” she replied with a smile. “I definitely don’t want to do it forever, but it’s an exciting challenge.”
I looked over at her while we were at a stoplight. “Where do you think you’ll go when you’re done with club management?”
She shrugged. “It’s hard to say. All I know is that eventually I’ll get tired of the long hours and loud music.”
“Maybe you’ll open your bed-and-breakfast then,” I said before returning my attention to the road.
“Probably not,” she told me. “The bed-and-breakfast was a childhood dream. We all have to grow up someday.”
“Nope,” was my response.
“Those of us who aren’t rich have to grow up,” she clarified.
“Maybe you have to grow up a little,” I conceded. “That doesn’t mean you have to give up on all your childhood dreams.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I have new dreams now.”
“But no more bed-and-breakfast dreams,” I said with a sad smile.
“It would be another job with long hours,” she pointed out. “There are times when I’m jealous of people with normal schedules. When I stop doing club management, I want to find a job where I have weekends off and sleep normal hours. My social life definitely suffers because of the hours I work.”
“I’m glad you were able to make time for me before I leave,” I admitted softly.
We were both quiet for several heartbeats. I’d expected Piper to cancel, but she hadn’t.
“I’m sorry about last night,” I told her.
“It’s okay,” she assured me. “You obviously needed to talk.”
“Are you pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about to avoid this conversation?” I asked.
“Yes,” she admitted. “We should pretend that never happened.”
“The first time I wanted to kiss you last night or the second?” I asked.
“Both,” she replied. “You were emotional and not thinking straight. There’s no reason to bring it up or to apolog
ize.”
“I want to kiss you now.” I quickly added, “I’m not going to push you or plan some big seduction.”
“Oh,” was her response.
“You sound disappointed,” I remarked, hoping she was disappointed that I wasn’t going to seduce her.
“Answering this question could get me in a lot of trouble,” she stated.
“You might be right,” I agreed. “I don’t need an answer.” The answer was obvious. Piper wanted me to seduce her, she just wasn’t happy about wanting me to seduce her.
“I can’t believe you agreed to take me to see this movie,” she told me.
As far as subject changes went, this was a good one.
“Why not?” I asked.
“It’s not exactly your typical guy movie,” she pointed out.
“True, but I figured you’d be less likely to cancel if I let you pick the movie,” I explained. When Piper had messaged me earlier that day to suggest lunch at the movie theater, I’d agreed. I’d do just about anything to see her.
“Good call,” she agreed.
“Did you know they have a bar at this theater?” I asked. “I haven’t been to many movies recently. Is this a new thing?”
“There are bars at a few cinemas now,” she replied. “This one is better. They serve some good beer from local microbreweries.”
“This date keeps getting better,” I praised.
“We aren’t on a date,” Piper reminded me.
“Right.” I tried not to sound disappointed. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
Chapter 25
Piper
I loved the El Cerrito theater, and I was amazed that Austin had never seen a movie there before. Then again, El Cerrito wasn’t close to home. We were seated in moderately comfortable chairs with our beer and nachos on our shared table. Austin had been eyeing one of the sofas, but I’d hurried to individual chairs, making the excuse that it would be easier to share the nachos this way. It would also be easier to avoid touching Austin.
“How have I never been here?” Austin asked as he looked around. The hood of his black sweatshirt was pulled forward to cover his face some. As far as disguises went, it wasn’t great, but I didn’t think he was making much of an effort to avoid being seen. He didn’t mind the attention, but he was trying to focus on me.
“This is a little lowbrow for someone like you,” I remarked.
“They serve nachos and beer,” he said, gesturing to our food. “This is awesome. Someone should have told me about this place before now.”
“You haven’t been back in the Bay Area very long, and you were too young to drink before you moved away,” I reminded him.
“Good point,” he agreed.
“This theater reopened about eight years ago, and I’ve been coming here ever since then,” I explained.
“Thanks for telling me about this place, Button.”
“Stick with me, Knight,” I began with a grin. “I’ll take you to all the best places.”
Austin’s expression turned serious, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. It was almost as if I could feel his tongue gliding past my lips. “I’m going to take you up on that offer,” he rasped out.
I’d offered to show him my favorite places, but he sounded like I’d offered to strip naked and ride him in the movie theater. Biting back a whimper, I shifted in my seat. Thankfully, the movie started. I needed to get my mind off Austin kissing me. I especially needed to get my mind off being naked with Austin.
This was not a date. I needed to keep reminding myself of that fact. I could totally do this.
Chapter 26
Austin
This wasn’t a date. I needed to keep reminding myself of that fact. I could do this. I no longer doubted that there would be a date. Piper was still nervous around me—still afraid I’d hurt her again. I needed to keep proving to her that she could trust me. I also needed to work on the stuff with my dad and make sure I could give her everything this time.
“How did you like the movie?” she asked on the way to the car.
“It was interesting,” I replied diplomatically. “The food was good.”
She laughed at my response. “So, you didn’t like the movie.”
“Not really, but that’s okay,” I began. “I enjoyed the company.”
Piper stopped walking, so I stopped and turned to face her. “What are we doing?” she asked softly.
“Getting to know each other again,” I replied.
“Austin, I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
I didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. She’d figured out we were becoming more than friends. “I know you’re not. I’m not pushing you for anything you aren’t ready to give.”
“So, you’ll just stay friends with me forever?” There was no missing the doubt in her voice.
“No,” I replied honestly. “We both like each other as more than friends, and I’m not going to pretend that isn’t the case. I’m not planning to rush things, but I really like you, Piper.”
“I like you, too,” she whispered.
“And that scares you because the last time you liked me, I was a total dick,” I deduced.
“Basically,” she agreed with a small smile.
My hand reached out to stroke her cheek. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You can’t promise that,” she argued.
“You’re right,” I agreed, my hand still on her cheek. “I’m going to do my best to not hurt you.”
When I started to pull my hand away, Piper caught my wrist and held it there. She took a step closer. Her eyes were locked with mine, and her lips were parted ever so slightly. I didn’t need to be a genius to know this was an invitation. Piper wanted me to kiss her. It might be a huge mistake. Clearly, she was nervous about taking things to the next level between us, but I was about to leave her for two weeks. I was not going to let this opportunity pass me by.
With her holding my wrist and my hand against her cheek, I leaned in slowly until my lips brushed against hers. Piper shuddered. My other hand moved around her lower back, drawing her even closer as my mouth claimed hers.
Chapter 27
Piper
I expected my mind to be racing with a thousand reasons why this was wrong. Instead, all I could do was lose myself in Austin’s kiss. My hand left his wrist, and I pushed his hoodie back with both hands so I could run my fingers through his long hair. A moan came from the back of my throat as his tongue teased the crease of my lips. When I opened for him, he took full advantage of my invitation, invading my mouth, stroking my tongue with his.
Our bodies pressed so close together, I could feel every ridge and muscle on his torso. I was on fire with a burning need for Austin. I’d wanted other men, but none had brought out this desire in me. For years, I’d convinced myself I’d been wrong about how good his kiss felt. I had been wrong. It was better than I remembered.
When Austin finally broke our kiss, I made a sound of protest and tightened my hold on his hair.
“We need to stop,” he rasped out. “We’re in public.”
I blinked twice as his words settled in. I was not only practically making out with a guy in a public place, I was making out with Austin Knight, drummer for Reckless Release, in a public place.
Releasing his hair, I took a step back and looked around. We had an audience. It’s not that I was shy about this sort of thing, I just didn’t like the idea having pictures of me kissing Austin posted all over social media. Things had definitely gotten out of hand.
When Austin put a hand on my lower back to lead me to his car, I didn’t protest. I was in serious trouble, and I wasn’t looking for a way out. Neither of us said anything until we were in the car.
Austin looked over at me, his expression hesitant.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Do you want to come back to my place?” he asked.
Austin had always been confident to the point of seeming cocky at times, yet he was worried I
’d turn him down. I waited for the voice of reason to tell me I should turn him down. The slutty voice in my head was already shimmying out of her red lace panties. The voice of reason didn’t chime in. I could only assume she was stripping out of her sensible cotton panties. Even the sensible voice in my head acted slutty around Austin.
“Yes,” I finally replied. “I want to go back to your place.”
“You do?” he asked.
“I would think that was obvious after the kiss we just shared. It’s not a good idea. We aren’t ready for the next step, but I still want more time with you.”
Austin nodded. “No sex. You’re not ready.”
“Is this where you promise to be a perfect gentleman?” I asked.
Austin let out a startled bark of laughter. “Perfect gentleman? That’s a promise I can’t make. I want to kiss you again and have you in my arms. I also want to spend more time talking to you before I leave.”
“That sounds nice,” I breathed out. “Let’s go back to your place.”
Chapter 28
Austin
We made small talk on the way to my place, but it was obvious we were both nervous. I’d been with many women, but none had ever affected me the way Piper did. Taking Piper back to my place might be a mistake. I didn’t fully trust my own self-control around her. My body was buzzing with arousal, and I was certain I’d have blue balls by the time I took Piper home. It would be worth it.
It had been a long time since I’d been anything more than the rebound guy. The women I’d been with since high school hadn’t been looking for more.
With Piper, I wasn’t the rebound guy. I couldn’t risk doing anything that would make her run or believe I was using her for sex.
I parked in the driveway and walked around to meet Piper on her side.
“This isn’t what I’d expected,” she remarked as she looked around my neighborhood with the mid-size suburban tract homes.
“You are so beautiful,” I uttered, struggling to keep my hands to myself until I got her inside. We’d already put on one show. I didn’t want to put on a second.
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