Page 17 of Meant To Be

One of my hands rested between her shoulder blades. I could feel her heart beating with the pace of it gradually slowing, in tandem with my own.

“Oh,” I echoed back to her.

Maybe it should’ve been incredibly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t. I felt too stripped bare to talk much. We disentangled ourselves, and I slipped out of bed to dispose of my condom in the bathroom.

Piper took her turn in there after I came out. We crawled back into bed together. She didn’t make the pillow barrier, and I couldn’t help but tease.

“No pillow wall?” I asked as the bed dipped under me when she slipped under the covers.

She rolled to face me, and I saw the curve of her smile against her cheek. “It seems kind of silly now.”

“Oh, it was silly before.”

She cuffed me lightly on the shoulder. Without thinking about it, I coaxed her closer as I curled an arm around her back. She didn’t resist, softening against me.

Her plush curves pressed into my side. I wasn’t much of a cuddler. In fact, the last woman I’d dated had complained about it. She’d said I wasn’t affectionate enough, and she felt like I just wanted sex.

I’d never experienced the urge to be affectionate like this. Here, in the darkness with Piper, I didn’t want to question it. My cynical mind waited in the quiet shadows, looming there to remind me of all the reasons it was stupid to let myself fall for anyone.

Chapter Fourteen

PIPER

The following day, there was chatter about a storm rolling in. It was supposed to bring the dreaded wintry mix of snow and ice.

I brushed away any worries. We were here for this weekend with good food, good music, and good company. I wasn’t even letting myself think about the fact that Dylan and I had showered together this morning or what he had done to me with his fingers while we were in there. The man was talented.

Maybe it was the two orgasms. Orgasms tended to put me in a good mood. We didn’t need to think about me kneeling at his feet in the shower, the water from the shower rolling down my back as I brought him into my mouth and teased him to a climax.

He seemed to be in a good mood too. We went down for the buffet-style breakfast, met some of the other guests, and chatted. Dylan and I considered going cross-country skiing again but decided against it because of the weather. We both knew icy roads in the Appalachian Mountains could be dangerously treacherous. The threat of black ice was always there. With rain mingling with snow on the winding mountain roads, those conditions could spell disaster.

Perhaps it was because I had known Dylan for years, but I trusted him. He was my brother’s best friend. No matter what happened, he wouldn’t be an asshole. Neither of us had expectations. Not even a little.

Here and there, the reality that we were both moving to Alaska feathered along the edges of my thoughts, reminding me of the possible complications. But I didn’t need to think about those.

“Are you ready?” Dylan’s voice broke into my train of thought.

I glanced over. He stood in the doorway to the bathroom in our room. We planned to head back downstairs.

I set down my hairbrush as I smiled over at him. “Whenever you are.”

His eyes held mine, the look there warm. My belly shimmied, and my pulse started to speed along. He glanced down. “You need some shoes.”

I rolled my eyes as I walked past him, bumping my shoulder against his. “They’re here.” I stepped into them.

When I turned, he was right there. He took a step closer, and my back bumped against the wall.

My insides went molten at the heat flashing in his eyes. I barely sucked in a breath when he took one more step. I felt the heat of him like a blast from head to toe. “What are you doing?” I asked breathlessly.

“This,” he said before he bent low and brought his mouth to mine.

He cupped my cheeks as he bent low. It was just a kiss. Our tongues twined together just once before he lifted his head. His hands remained on my cheeks as he stared into my eyes.

I whimpered. The moment passed quickly, but I felt as if a link held between us, catching on my heart and cinching tight. I was almost off-balance when he stepped back and reached for my hand.

I didn’t know what we were doing, but we were together for this unexpected weekend. I savored the feel of his hand around mine as we walked down to where we could hear the band warming up.

The band was mid-set when everything went black. The sound of the wind howling outside whipped through the suddenly quiet space. Someone in the band called out, “Power’s out!”

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