Did that mean we had a chance?
Turning my back to him, I tried to remain focused on the game. The one that involved making baskets, not the one that involved making Drew hot for me.
Lifting the basketball like I’d done millions of times in my life, I almost faltered. Drew’s hands settled on my hips. His chest brushed against my back and his lips spoke close to my ear.
“Do you remember, Pipe?”
“Remember what?”
His hands yanked my hips back into his body. Dangerously short of breath, I was powerless when his arms wove around my waist and his mouth descended to my neck.
“Drew-” It was all I could say.
His lips hovered. “Are you with someone?”
How could he even ask that? I shook my head.
Just like the first time we met like this, Drew didn’t hold back. His lips didn’t graze my skin, they bruised it. My head fell back against his chest and shoulder. Obviously, I didn’t mind. I hadn’t minded then, either.
Once he’d sampled my neck and shoulder, Drew spun me in his arms with a growl deep in his throat. Whimpering as his lips crushed mine, my arms wound around his neck pulling him closer.
Years of want, need, expressed themselves in that kiss. It was both familiar and new at the same time. It was Drew, but it was five years older Drew.
Frantically, my hands slid over his shoulders and chest in their want to know how every dip and plane had changed since they’d touched him last. He was bigger, more solid. The fabric of his t-shirt felt soft. I hated it. I wanted to feel his skin.
Drew was just as determined to refresh his own memory. His hands slid from the small of my back, up my spine and over my shoulders. His fingers threaded themselves in the hair at my nape, pulling it from the loose ponytail I’d thrown it in.
As our hands moved, our lips didn’t stop their exploration. A niggling thought at the back of my mind whispered that this was crazy, that I should pull away, but my body was shouting, very loudly in fact, that my brain should just shut up. Nothing had felt this good in years.
Five, to be exact.
Drew’s hands move to my hips and hesitated. I knew him well enough still to know what he wanted. I moved my leg against his thigh. That was all the encouragement he needed.
“Piper.” He said my name almost reverently as his rough hands moved over the smooth skin of my upper thigh.
Falling against him, a quivering sigh escaped my lips.
“What are you doing to me?” he asked, bending his knees as he gripped under my thighs pulling my legs around his hips.
What was I doing to him? What was he doing to me?
Unable to resist his lips a moment longer, I kissed him again, our movements becoming more frenzied the longer we remained in the other’s arms.
It wasn’t until I felt the chain link fence at my back that I remembered where we were. On a basketball court. Outside. Where anyone could see us.
I froze.
Drew, realizing I’d cooled considerably, pulled back. His eyes searched mine. He must have seen the complete and utter horror I was feeling because in a matter of a split second, a shutter had fallen over his gaze, hiding anything he might have been thinking or feeling, and my feet were back on the ground.
“I’m sorry.” His arms fell away and it became my responsibility to keep myself from falling to the ground.
I wasn’t necessarily up to the task.
Reaching up, I grabbed onto the fence and tried to regain my composure.
Drew looked away, jaw bulging as he ran both hands through his hair.
Holy crap!
What had just happened? What was I thinking? We hadn’t said two whole sentences to each other in five years and then, and then- that!
I had to get out of there.
“I have to go.” Without even stopping for my basketball, I had about fifty others, I started for the gate.
“That’s right, Piper. Run away.”
Hesitating mid-stride, I was forced to admit he was right. I was running away. Again. But that didn’t mean I was ready to face whatever it was that had just happened between us, so I kept going.
23
Noah
I woke up to a dark room and the sound of my wife heaving in the bathroom. Rolling to my side, I sat on the edge of the bed. Running my fingers through my hair and over my face, I fought the ever present exhaustion brought on by my school schedule. Tierney needed me.
Rising from the bed, I didn’t bother with the pair of sweats wadded up on the floor at my feet before knocking lightly on the bathroom door.
“Babe.”
She didn’t answer, but the sound of her increased whimpering prompted me to enter anyway. For more than a week straight, I’d been finding her in exactly this same position, curled up, sobbing on the bathroom floor. And for more than a week straight, my heart had squeezed at the sight.
Reaching for her, I tried not to be alarmed by how frail she felt in my arms. Sitting with her on the edge of the bathtub, I leaned over to start the shower. If the tub had been big enough for the both of us I might have gone that route, but it wasn’t and Tierney was in no shape to take care of herself on her own.
“Come on, hon. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I knew she’d feel better after a shower.
I helped her get undressed before slipping out of my boxers and lifting her with me into the tub. The hot water felt good in the air-conditioned room, but I shifted so the warm spray ran over Tierney.
“Is that better,” I whispered.
She nodded her head against my chest.
Leaning forward, I kissed her hair and was rewarded with a face full of water. I didn’t care. All that mattered was Tierney.
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“It isn’t your fault.” She lifted her head so the water reached more of her hair.
“Uh, I think it might actually be,” I said with a small grin.
It was a relief to hear her laugh, even though it was somewhat half-hearted. “I was the one who wanted to have a baby.”
Cupping her cheek with my hand, I brought her face around to mine. “I want this baby, too, Tierney.”
“I know.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I just didn’t know it was going to be so hard. And it’s only been a few weeks! How am I going to survive the next thirty-four?”
“I don’t think morning sickness is supposed to last your whole pregnancy, Tier.” Her arms were around my waist so I felt safe letting her go in order to brush the rest of her hair back into the spray of water. Once it was all wet, I squeezed some of her coconut shampoo into my hand and massaged it into her scalp.
She let me pamper her. One thing I’d learned fairly quickly about Tierney once we started dating, she loved it when I played with her hair. When we got married, I finally got to live out the fantasy of washing her hair in the shower. It was one of our favorite pastimes and usually ended up leading to another of our favorite pastimes, but since she’d been dealing with morning sickness, it was also a time to show her how much I loved and cared for her without expecting anything in return.
Once her hair was washed, I took care of cleaning myself up before turning off the water and wrapping us both in fluffy white towels. Tierney still looked a little peaked.
“Let’s get you back to bed.” Lifting her into my arms, I carried her to the bed, towel and all. “Here, let’s put you in this.” One of my t-shirts should do the trick until she was ready to get up and get dressed. “Want me to brush your hair?” The brush was in my hand before she could answer. I made quick work of her tangles.
“What did I do to deserve you?” She laid down once I’d smoothed her hair into a braid so she wouldn’t look like a crazy person with sticking up hair when she got up.
“Babe, you don’t get it. I’m your husband, it’s my job to take care of you. Besides, I love you and that makes it a pleasure.” Curling up beside her, I tucked the blankets around the both of us. There wer
e still a few hours before we were supposed to meet everyone downstairs for breakfast. I just hoped Tierney would be up to eating something by then.
“I love you, Noah.” Her voice was soft and sleepy and I was glad. Maybe she would be able to get some sleep.
“I love you, too, Tier.” So much. More than I ever thought I could. I thought I loved her all I was capable of loving and then she told me she was pregnant and I discovered that old love had been nothing compared to what I felt now.
“Do you want to tell anybody yet?” she asked, snuggling deeper into the curve of my body.
“Whatever you want.” Part of me wanted to shout from the rooftops, but the other wanted to hold our secret close to my chest right where I held her.
“I’ll think about it some more.” Her words slurred and I knew it would be a matter of seconds before she would be asleep.
I vowed then to do everything in my power to make things as easy as possible for the next, how many weeks did she say? Thirty-four weeks until this baby was born. And then I swore I’d keep doing it after that. For the rest of our lives.
24
Drew
What had I been thinking kissing Piper like that? That was just it. I wasn’t thinking. She’d been there and I’d been wanting her for so long- when I saw her peeking around the door to the bar, I knew exactly where she was going and I knew exactly what was going to happen if I followed her. My feet moved of their own volition.
I waited several minutes, just watching her move on the court before I opened that gate. She exuded grace and skill, and I was so overcome with a sense of nostalgia and longing, it was almost impossible not to attack kiss her just like I’d done that day long ago as soon as saw her.
But I didn’t do that. I held off. I waited until I heard her catch her breath, saw the pulse pounding in her neck when I got close.
And then…wow.
Piper and I had always been explosive in our physical relationship, but the years apart, our life experiences, growing older, had intensified all those old feelings exponentially until I thought I might combust from the heat.
It had taken several cold showers before I was even close to getting any sleep last night and even when I did it was restless.
Now, I had to sit through brunch with all of our friends and pretend nothing had happened. I wasn’t doing a very good job. Even I could feel the smolder whenever my gaze brushed over her’s and if the blush coloring her cheeks was any indication, she’d noticed, too.
Thankfully, no one called me out or I just might have lost it right there over scrambled eggs and crepes.
“What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” Mia asked as everyone finishing eating.
“Well,” Dannika began to say, reaching for Luke’s hand. “I made appointments for all of us girls at the spa. Hair, mani-pedi’s, facials, the whole works. Mom and Lilly are going to join us. And I think Luke and Drew managed to arrange for you guys to play over at the field house.”
“Are you serious right now?” Mateo was the first one to recover from shock after that announcement.
“Man, I love being friends with professional athletes.” Will held his hand out to Jared for a fist bump.
“What are we waiting around here for? Let’s get moving!” Zeke jumped up from the table, jostling it enough that someone’s water glass spilled.
“Calm down!” Luke called out. “The car won’t be here for another half hour.”
Dannika looked to the girls. “And ours will be right behind.”
“Sweet!” AJ stood as well. He and Zeke were nothing alike anymore, but I could tell they were still really good friends. “Come on. Let’s go get ready.”
Everyone rose from the table, some slower than others, mostly Mia and Tierney were slow, and I had to wonder again if the two women were suffering from the same condition.
Noah, holding tightly to Tierney’s hand, came to stand beside me. “Hey, man. That’s pretty cool, getting the field house.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. It was something I could do and Luke was pretty excited.”
Noah grinned. “I think we’re all pretty excited.”
“Good. I’m glad. Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal.” My agent had arranged everything. It seemed there were a few perks to being Drew Thompson.
I watched as Piper and Dannika walked away, there heads together as they whispered. I wondered if Piper would tell the girls about our kiss. Kiss. It seemed such a lame word for what had actually gone between us.
Noah followed the path of my gaze and grinned so big I saw it from the corner of my eye. “I’ll see you in a little while.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder and then walked with Tierney to the elevators.
Since I already knew what the plan was for the rest of the day, I’d come down ready to head to the arena. I found a soft chair in an empty corner of the lobby and prepared to wait. I tried to keep my mind off Piper, but it was a fruitless endeavor. And I was more determined than ever to win her back.
Piper
“So, are we going to talk about those smoking hot looks Drew was sending Piper’s way at breakfast?” Mia asked. We were all laying on lounges in the spa, green goop on our faces and cucumbers covering our eyes.
I tried to sit up, but a hand pushed me back down. “Just try to relax.” It was one of the attendants. I wondered if Dannika had paid her extra to keep me from flipping out.
“Yeah, Pipe. Did something happen we don’t know about?” Tierney, who’d come downstairs already looking as green as the facial mask on her face, sounded much better now than she had earlier.
“Piper, honey, what are these girls talking about?” My mother’s voice came from across the room. She and Gloria had missed brunch in order to make an eight o’clock tee time. They were finishing up the back half while we ate and had taken a separate car to meet us here.
“Nothing, Mom. Don’t worry about it.” The last thing I wanted to do was dish about making out with Drew on the basketball court last night in front of my mother.
“Don’t you ‘nothing, Mom’ me, young lady. Now tell me what’s going on.” The concern in her voice was just as sincere as the curiosity. I hadn’t ever discussed with her why I’d broken up with Drew in the first place, but I had a feeling she understood anyway.
Unable to take it any longer, I pushed past the lady’s gentle hold and sat up, removing the cucumbers from my eyes to see that everyone else had done the same and they were all looking at me.
“Good grief. Aren’t we here for Dannika and Luke? Not to dissect my non-existent love life?”
“Didn’t look that non-existent to me when I peeked out my window at about one o’clock this morning.” Mia waggled her eyebrows and my cheeks flamed. “Did you know our room looks out over the basketball court?”
My mother gasped, her head snapping in my direction. “Piper! Did you meet Drew at the basketball court? You aren’t in high school anymore!”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Mom, I know- wait. How did you know Drew and I used to meet at the basketball court in high school?”
It was Mom’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’m not an idiot, Piper. Of course, I knew you snuck out to meet Drew. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t?”
My mouth gaped. “Apparently, the kind who knows, but doesn’t say anything about it.”
Mom just shrugged her shoulders. “I was way more worried about him sneaking into your room at night, but since you never came to me pregnant, I decided not to worry about it too much.”
“Mom!” I was scandalized.
“What?” She pulled her chin back. “You woke up screaming in the middle of the night if he wasn’t there,” she paused, her lip trembling. “I figured getting some sleep was better than no sleep. Besides, he promised he me he would be a complete gentleman. And I believed him.” Her eyes twinkled through the moisture welling in them. “Mostly.”
Completely forgetting about the green goop, I put my hands up to my cheeks. �
��You mean you talked to him about it?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I knew she’d talked to him about our naps in my room, but I had no idea he’d told her about sneaking in my room.
“Well, of course, I did. He slept at our house more than at his own. Did you really think we never ran into each other?” Mom grinned as she glanced around the room at my friends and Dannika’s mom. “Drew has a real sweet tooth. He used to wake up in the middle of the night and raid my snack cake stash. I should have bought stock in those little crispy rice things he likes, I bought so many of them.”
I was shocked. Astounded. “You have a snake cake stash?”
Mom frowned. “Well, not anymore. I keep it out in the open now since no one’s around to go looking for them.”
I didn’t miss the loneliness in her voice as she admitted that. “Mom-”
She waved my concern aside. “Oh, stop. I’m more excited about these goings on Mia saw out on the basketball court last night. So, tell us. Did he curl your toes?”
My jaw dropped again. I’d never heard my mom talk like this before. In fact, when we were kids, she told Luke and I she was asexual and that was why she wasn’t married and wouldn’t ever get married, but she wanted kids and so she’d gone to a sperm bank and had us.
“Mom!”
“Yeah, Piper, did he curl your toes?” Dannika was no help. When I looked over, her eyes sparkled with the same mischief glowing in everyone’s eyes as they watched me squirm.
“No use denying it Pipe. I saw you with my own eyes.” Mia grinned. “It seemed to me Drew was getting reacquainted with your lips, as well as your legs.”
Oh. My. Goodness! I fanned my cheeks with my hands even though they were covered in green goop. “Stop. Just stop.”
“Can I use this for my next book, Piper? This is great material.” Tierney had a pen poised over a notebook in her lap where she’d apparently been taking notes.
Dating: For the Assist Page 16