Page 49 of The First Time
She shakes her head.
"You're a Mal in training."
She mimics Mal's breathy style as she sings a line ofBetter Days. "Oh—" She inhales dramatically— "Baby"— she sighs as she exhales— "I know—" She lets out a low grunt— "You know—" she takes a long inhale. "Better days." She laughs as she exhales. "I don't know how he does it so fast."
"It's easier to do if you don't think about it."
She tries again. She lets out a groan. "Oh Baby, I know—" Her voice gets breathy, needy— "you know better days." She takes a slow, deep breath and looks to me. "Better?"
Too much better. I'm used to Mal's voice enough to tune out thoughts of how he sings like he's in the middle of a vigorous fuck. His style is undeniably sexy.
But when it's Piper... god damn, I'm getting hard just thinking about it.
"That bad?" Her voice is light. She's teasing. She looks into my eyes, studying my expression. Her face lights up with realization. She knows it's not bad. She knows why I'm distracted. "Let me try again." She takes another slow breath. This time, she nails the breathy, sexy,I'm in the middle of fucking hard and about to comestyle. "Oh baby, I know you know better days."
"Fantastic."
She beams. "Thank you. I'll keep practicing for my debut."
"Your debut?"
"Karaoke. Usually, I do Britney, but this will be a lot more fun." Her eyes go to my building's locked door. "You have any stuff in the back?"
"It's on the bus."
"Oh. I guess you'll need to get that sometime."
"Just clothes." I unbuckle my seatbelt, open the door, and step outside. "I have more."
She gets outside too. "Oh, well, I can ask Ethan to grab them, hold onto them for a while."
"I will."
She shifts her weight between her legs. It's like she's suddenly nervous.
I only hope she isn't working up the nerve to invite herself up.
I don't have it in me to say no.
Not tonight.
Fuck, there are two things I want right now, and both of them are off limits.
I might want her more than I want to be high.
And that might be worse news.
I can check myself into rehab again. I can convince Mal, Ethan, and Joel I'm serious about recovery.
But if I fuck Piper...
There's no way I convince Ethan or Mal I'm anything but the piece of shit who used their sweet, innocent baby sister.
She moves around her car until she's next to me. She moves closer. Slings her arms around my neck and looks up into my eyes. "I'll see you around."
"You too." My palm presses against her lower back. Then I'm pulling her into a hug and wrapping my arms around her.
It feels good, holding Piper.
