Piper

I wish I could say I felt better after my talk with West, but all he did was open more doors of doubt. I’d thought we had more time. More time to get to know each other. More time to lie in bed and do nothing. Just time. But time has never been on my side.

And, now, he’s getting out his luggage for his trip to Boston tomorrow.

My ticket has been sitting on the table since he checked in for the flight, and printed out the passes. He didn’t have to print them; he could have used an e-ticket on his phone, but he wanted me to see it. He wanted the option to be right in front of my face, for it to be real.

His plan is working. Between his luggage and that damn ticket, all I can think about is what it’ll be like if he goes on this trip without me and accepts a position with a network. Just like that, one quick flight up north, and we’ll be over.

My life is in Florida. It always has been. But I wonder how much I’ll really have left once West is gone. That’s why I run my fingers across my name on the ticket, wondering what my life would be like if Florida weren’t in the picture. This trip isn’t about West taking a new position in another state. It’s about us and our staying power, whether we can make it work in any city in America.

West catches me staring. He wraps his arms around me from behind, and I melt against his chest. He’s fresh from the shower, smelling like minty toothpaste and his body wash.

“Come with me, Piper.”

It’s not a matter of not wanting to go. I want to be with West. But, no matter how hard I try, all I hear is Tilly’s voice in the back of my head, reminding me I’ll never be able to keep West happy. Just like he’s tired of Florida, he’ll get sick of me. Bored.

When I don’t respond, West turns me around. “Will you please talk to me?” he asks. “Tell me what’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours.”

I run my palms up his chest and over his shoulders, avoiding his eyes. If I look into those, I’ll cave, and I’m not ready for that. “Some things are better left unsaid,” I tell him. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have left.”

He picks me up so fast, I scream. And then my back’s against the wall, and he’s grabbing my ass so hard, I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t leave marks.

“Whether I get on that plane with or without you, we’re not over. So, do I need to fuck some sense into you, Piper? Is that what you need?”

I shake my head, but my words contradict my actions. “If you want to.”

Leaning his forehead against mine, he takes a deep breath, and then he says, “Whatever she said to you, let it go. Don’t listen to her.”

“What if she’s right?” I whisper.

West growls and pulls us away from the wall. Instead of letting me down, he carries me to the bedroom and lays me in the center of the bed. With his hands pressed into the mattress on either side of my head, he traces every inch of my face with his eyes. Finally, he says, “Tilly doesn’t get to call the shots anymore. This is the last time her name will ever be mentioned when you’re underneath me. Understand?”

“Yes. But what about when I’m on top?”

He smirks and shakes his head. “Such a smart-ass. She’s not in my life anymore, Piper. You are. Just you.”

“And that’s how you really want it?” I ask him. “Me and not her? I’m enough for you?”

His eyes narrow, and then he blinks slowly and lets it sink in. “That’s what this is about?”

“You’re amazing,” I tell him. “But I’m nothing like her.” I don’t dare say her name after the warning he gave me. Still, I can tell it bothers him that I don’t trust his feelings for me. That I think they’re all based on lust and swinging.

He climbs into bed beside me and pulls me until my body is resting against his chest. “Have you ever stopped to think that I want you because you’re nothing like Tilly?”

“No, I guess not.” I haven’t. Not even once.

His fingers trace patterns on my back, and I’m still trying to figure out what he’s drawing when he says, “Just because she’s what I had doesn’t mean she’s what I want. Or even what I need.”

He’s tracing my name. Even when he’s with me, I’m on his mind.

“I just assumed you had a type.”

“And what type would that be?” he questions.

“Fake boobs. Blondes with big mouths and zero inhibitions who like strap-ons.”

His chest rumbles beneath my cheek, and I can’t help but smile at his reaction. I shouldn’t joke about that last part, but if I can’t laugh about it, it’ll eat away at me until it kills me.

“That’s why I fell for you, Piper. You look so sweet and innocent, yet your mouth always surprises me.”

“Just my mouth?”

“Nah,” he says. “Before we ever spoke, your sexy lips and dark eyes drew me in. They fucked me before you ever touched me.”

I grab his hand and guide it between my legs.

He goes willingly but says, “I’ll touch you, but I won’t make you come until you talk to me.”

“Fine, I’ll go with you to Boston,” I tell him. “I’ll even have fun.”

His fingers stop rubbing me through my panties, and he pulls his hand out from between my legs.

“Why did you stop?”

He grabs my hips and pulls me on top of him, so I’m straddling his waist.

“Because you gave me the answer I wanted. Now, I just need you to mean it.”

“I do mean it. You’re what I want, West. I’m just having a hard time believing I’m what you need. I wasn’t enough for Cannon.”

“Let me guess; this was all part of Tilly’s speech?”

I stare at my fingers and nod. “She has pictures. Really awful pictures of her fucking Cannon. It was like being in your house all over again, watching it happen.”

West runs his hand over his face. “You know I have to say something to her. I can’t let this go, Piper.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. If you talk to her, it’ll only make it worse.”

“When I’m done with her, she won’t come near you again. I can promise you that.”

Anything he says won’t help my case. I’m scared that Tilly won’t stop and that those pictures will end up all over the internet, shaming the two of us and ending Cannon’s career. Then, they’ll both come after me.

“West, you can’t. Please.”

“Are you with me?” he asks.

“What do you mean? I’m sitting in bed with you.”

“I’m asking you if you’re mine, Piper. Are you my girl?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to handle this. I can take care of myself.”

We both know that’s a lie. Without West, I’d be stuck in that house with Cannon while he walked all over me and did his worst with his words.

“Where would you be if you weren’t here right now?”

I think about it, hating that if I wasn’t still living with Cannon in our house, I’d probably be in a shitty hotel, scraping together what I could to get by. There’s no way I’d have gone to my parents. Not unless I was ready to tell them all about Cannon’s dirty little secrets. And that we were swingers.

“I get it,” I tell him. “I need you.”

“We need each other, baby. This isn’t about me saving you. It’s about me showing you what you deserve. And I’m not going to stop until you believe me. That also means, I’m going to handle Tilly. Not because you can’t, but because it’s the right thing to do.”

The right thing to do. That’s what got me here in the first place. Not long ago, I thought the right move was to strengthen my relationship with Cannon. Look at where that’s gotten me—more confused than ever, on my way to being divorced, and in the middle of a shitstorm with the woman I used to swing with. I barely recognize my own life anymore.

But, if I don’t go on this trip, how will life get any better? How will staying here, being miserable the entire time he’s gone, be any different?

It won’t. I’ll still be afraid of Tilly. Cannon will still be calling the shots with the divorce, and I’ll wish I still had West by my side.

I need to go. Maybe I can’t run from my problems, but I can put them on hold for a little while. “I’m in, West.”

West grabs my wrists and flips us over, so I’m on my back. And then he pins my arms above my head and lifts up my shirt, sucking a nipple into his mouth.

“West,” I moan. “I have to pack.”

He releases me from his mouth and says, “You’re not going anywhere. You did your part. Now, I’m going to reward you with my tongue.”