Page 11 of Meant To Be

“Was that good advice?” I asked after we shook hands.

He nodded. “It was clarifying. I do love her, but I’m not sure I’m ready. But if I think about not asking and that being the end of us together, well, fuck, I don’t want that. I’m going to do just what you said. I’m going to tell her I’m worried, and we’ll go from there.”

“I’m starting to think I should charge you for that advice,” I said with a slow grin.

He chuckled. “Thanks, man.”

A second later, he was out the door. I stood there in the bathroom, wondering about Piper.

More importantly, I wondered how the hell I was going to get through one night with her in a hotel room, much less four nights.

Chapter Eight

DYLAN

It was late by the time we got back to the room, and I was plain exhausted. Piper stood at the foot of the bed, hands on her hips as she studied it. She spun around and opened the closet beside the dresser. “Ha! I knew they’d have extra pillows.”

A moment later, she had removed the three extra pillows in the closet and lined them in the center of the bed under the covers. “There!” She looked at me with a satisfied smile. “It’s like two twin beds.”

I chuckled. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

“Well, I didn’t want one of us to sleep on the floor.” She looked down at the floor in question, tapping a foot on it. “It’s hard.”

That wasn’t the only thing that was hard. I nodded. “It’s wood. Wood tends to be like that.”

When her cheeks went pink, I realized my unintentional double entendre. I flashed a grin, trying to play it off. “Just sayin’.”

Hours later, I woke in the darkness. The two twin beds idea was total bullshit. Those three pillows Piper had placed between us had scattered, and I didn’t know where they were. I felt one mashed up against the headboard between us. Between our bodies was nothing. Piper slept in a large loose T-shirt and a pair of leggings. She was plastered to my side with one of her legs draped over mine. I could feel the plush give of her breast against my rib cage.

I lay still, trying to will my body to calm the fuck down. Piper shifted beside me, making this sweet little sound in her throat and letting out a sigh. She cuddled a little closer to me.

I gritted my teeth, my eyes wide open in the darkness as I stared up at the ceiling. I started counting imaginary sheep. I eventually gave up and carefully slid away from her, moving in increments, relieved when she remained asleep. I felt the mattress shift as I rolled carefully to my side. I brought my feet to the hardwood floor. It was cold and decidedly hard. I knew I wouldn’t have had a good night’s sleep there, but it was clear I probably should’ve opted for that.

Once I stood, I waited, listening to the sound of Piper’s breathing. It never shifted out of its slow, steady rhythm. I took a quiet breath in the darkness before padding with stealthy footsteps into the bathroom and closing the door behind me. My cock was so hard I didn’t even think I was going to be able to go to the bathroom. I turned on the shower, stepping into the icy cold blast of water.

Even though it probably made the most sense to take matters into my own hands, literally, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Not with Piper through that thin wall in the bed on the other side.

For fuck’s sake, she was my best friend’s little sister.

The cold shower did the trick. By the time I stepped out, I was wide awake, but things had shriveled up, so to speak. I chuckled to myself. That should keep me sane through to the morning.

Chapter Nine

PIPER

“Oh, come on. Let’s go together.”

Dylan had suggested we go skiing today. Fresh snow had fallen the night before. Although the inn wasn’t a ski lodge, he, of course, knew of some backcountry trails nearby.

“Where are we going to get our skis?” I asked what I thought was the obvious question.

“I already checked with Lucy. She told me where we can rent some just down the road. Let’s go for it. Just for a couple of hours. It’ll be fun. Unless you want to stay here by yourself in the room.”

I didn’t want Dylan to know my pointless secret. I might’ve grown up in the mountains here, but I’d never been great at skiing. Not like my brother. I’d had a bad skiing fall once in high school and had been a little nervous about it ever since.

I decided to tell him the truth and braced myself for some teasing. “I had a scary fall while downhill skiing in high school. I’m not good at it.”

“We’ll just stick to the cross-country ski trails. Nothing downhill. I promise.”

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