The Private Serials Box Set(81)
“Hey, Pipe, it’s okay. I’m here.” His voice was tender and I was reminded why all of us were here to begin with; because Piper had been in danger and because Preston had protected her. It was moving to see him hold her, a protective big brother. Although, I imagined their bond went even deeper than that. Twins always seemed to be closer than normal siblings.
When she finally pulled away, she made sure to turn away from everyone, but I couldn’t miss her wiping away the tear that had fallen down her face. I was both equally touched at the emotion she was showing toward her brother and surprised to watch their interaction. I looked back to him and his face was pained, matching hers.
Piper made it back to her seat and Parker gave her a smile, ruffling her head as she sat. Preston walked to the table and shook Parker’s hand, then slapped the back of his shoulder.
“Thanks for vacating the apartment last night. I hope you didn’t have a hard time finding a place to crash.”
Parker laughed. “No problem. I stayed here on the couch. In fact, we had a great time.”
I made my way to the table, taking the only available chair, sitting next to Sam.
“Hey, sunshine,” she said to me with a smile.
“Hey. Sorry I disappeared.”
“Listen, the three of us have been working like dogs to make sure last night happened,” she said motioning between herself, Parker, and Piper. “This is what we wanted; the two of you together.”
I smiled hard, but I blushed harder. It was unnerving thinking about all our friends and family plotting to get us back together, all of them knowing we’d spent the night reuniting. Sam placed her hand over mine.
“Are you happy?”
My eyes glanced to Preston and his smile was so radiant and beautiful. I couldn’t help the corners of my mouth turning up to match. I looked back to Sam and nodded.
“Good. Then mission accomplished.” She patted my hand again, then went back to eating the muffin that sat in front of her. Suddenly, I was starving. I stood up and went into the kitchen, searching for a muffin like Sam’s, but was halted when Preston pressed his front to my back, sweeping my hair from one shoulder, and planting a kiss right on my neck. I shivered, his kiss awakening every nerve in my body.
“Do you want a muffin?” I asked, trying to keep our interaction PG for everyone else’s benefit.
“A muffin sounds fantastic.” I tried to ignore my mind’s insistence that he was being dirty, and simply grabbed a muffin and put it on a plate. I turned and the friction caused by my front running along his chest caused my heart to speed up and my nipples to harden instantly.
“Haven’t you had enough sex yet? After last night and this morning, I would think you needed to recharge a little.” I tried to press the small plate between us, but he wasn’t budging.
“Have you had enough of me?” he asked, feigning insult. He took the small plate from me, but just to place it on the counter behind me. Then he moved in, both hands pressed to the counter, caging me in. His head moved slowly until his lips were pressed against my ear, and any space between us had been eaten up by his long hard body pressing into mine. “I only got to enjoy you for a few nights before circumstances took you away from me.” He moved down and pressed small kisses along my neck, teasing me. “So, forgive me if I want to get as much of you as possible.”
“Okay,” I whispered, afraid if I spoke too loudly everyone in the dining room would hear how needy I was. “But, not in front of everyone.”
“Hmmm,” he growled in my ear, his voice so low and gravelly, my body pressed into his even more. But then he gave me what I wanted and pulled away, but not before placing a very quick, chaste kiss to my lips. Then he took his muffin and sauntered back to the table and I was jealous of his ability to look completely unaffected.
I turned back to the counter and took a few deep breaths, steadying myself before I returned to the table, taking my seat again.
“So, what’s the plan now?” Sam asked, looking first to me and then to Preston.
“Well, now that you have everything under control here, I should probably head back home,” Parker said.
I looked to him, saddened by the idea of him not being around. “Who will I run with?”
He laughed and then took a sip of his coffee. “I’m sure Preston wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see you running on the beach. And hey,” he said, lifting his hand in the air, gesturing toward me, “if you ever make it back to Portland, we can run together there.”
I frowned. Parker was a great running partner.
“Don’t look so sad, sunshine,” Sam said. “I’ll run with you while I’m here.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You’re staying?”
“Listen, I didn’t come to Hawaii to stay for a few nights. I took a couple weeks’ worth of vacation I’d been saving up. I mean,” she said, placing her hand over mine, “I hope you don’t mind if I stay a while.”
“Oh, my God, of course not!” I was nearly bouncing up and down in my seat, so excited by the thought of getting to spend some real time with Sam. “What about you?” I asked, turning to Piper.
She shrugged. “I have nowhere else to be.” She said the words with a smile, but the overwhelming emotion was sadness. I got the feeling that for the month we’d been living together, she’d been shielding me from the troubles she was facing, keeping her emotions inside. I hated how she’d been hiding things from me and I wanted to make her open up.