Almost Just Friends (Wildstone #4)(80)

“Seriously, this is going to cost me a fortune,” Emmitt muttered, still eyeballing his schedule. “And you put Sonya and Danita on the same night! Are you crazy? I don’t have that kind of stamina!”

“They’re separated by two hours,” Gavin said. “It’s the only night they were both free.”

“Fine, but you’ve got to find a way to cancel Carol on Wednesday.”

“Why? You’re wide open that night.”

“Yes,” Emmitt said. “But she was arrested at Walmart last week for driving one of those electric carts while drinking wine from a Pringles can in the parking lot. I don’t date felons.”

Gavin clapped him on the back. “You play, you pay. Remember, this is your way of apologizing, so don’t chintz. Go all in, make them feel special. Do what you’ve got to do to keep your life status quo.”

“Is that how it’s done then?” a voice asked, and they all turned in unison to find CJ standing there.

Piper watched the “oh shit” look hit Gavin’s face, but he quickly smoothed it over with an easy smile. “You already know how it’s done, remember?”

CJ shook his head, turned, and walked out again.

Gavin watched him go, a muscle working in his jaw, but he did not go after him. There was a lot of healing that needed to happen there, she knew, but she also knew that the kind of chemistry and history those two had was worth fighting for. “Nice self-sabotage,” she said.

Gavin shook his head at her. “Said the kettle to the pot. And I’m fine, I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.” And with that, he pivoted and strode into the crowded living room. The opposite way that CJ had gone.

So he wasn’t going to fight for love. He’d never been much of a fighter. It’d always been easier for him to walk away. She got that. But she also got that some things were worth digging in for and holding on. At least in the movies anyway. She started after him, but could see him talking and laughing with a group of Emmitt’s fishing buddies. If he was going to put out the illusion of truly being okay, then she was going to have to let him.

Cam slipped an arm around her. “I was thinking we could slip out for a bit.”

She met his heated gaze and thought maybe it wasn’t just in the movies after all. “To do what?”

“Anything you want.”

“Still standing right here,” Winnie said. “Although I have no idea why. You kids be careful now, you hear?” And then she too vanished into the living room crowd.

“Anything I want?” Piper repeated to Cam. “That’s a lot of power to just hand over.”

He laughed. “Babe, the power’s always been yours.”

Since she’d spent most of her life feeling as if it was the exact opposite, this sounded appealing. Very appealing.

“Like that smile,” he murmured, wrapping an arm around her, nudging her back against the pantry door.

“Well, I did just realize that my siblings are finally fully functioning adults.” She slid her hands along his jaw, loving the feel of his several-day-old beard beneath her fingers. “And that I’m not needed right now.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Maybe I need you.”

She smiled. “How can I help you?”

“I was thinking a few drinks, maybe some food. And”—he put his mouth to her ear—“me licking either one of those things off your body.”

She actually quivered. “So what’s stopping you?”

He picked her up and she locked her legs around his waist. Grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the counter, he handed it to her before walking them out the back door.

She held on tight, laughing. “The party—”

“No one will even notice we’re gone.” He was moving with her at a good pace. A man on a mission. “Besides,” he added, “you just agreed to my favorite meal.”

“Which is what exactly?”

“You.” They were moving down the dock toward his boat now.

With another laugh, she forgot to be afraid of the water as he boarded with her. He took them below deck, setting her on the narrow galley counter.

“Hey,” she said. “Do I look like the sort of girl who lets a guy lick whiskey off of her—” She gasped when he gently tipped the bottle a little, letting a few drops of the amber liquid hit her collarbone and throat. Then he lifted her up and licked it off, trailing his tongue up her neck to her ear, before taking the lobe between his teeth, making her moan.

He smiled against her. “I’m going to take that as a hard yes.”

PIPER WOKE AT what appeared to be dawn, which meant she’d gotten maybe three hours of sleep after she and Cam had ravished each other. And speaking of Cam, she found him with his head propped up by his hand, watching her sleep. “Oh, crap,” she said. “Was I snoring?”

He smiled. “No.”

“Drooling?”

“Only a little.”

He was kidding. Probably. Just in case, she swiped a hand over her mouth. “Why are you watching me sleep?”

“When I’m stressed, you center me. I told you once before, you’re better than swimming the lake.”

She took that for the compliment it was. “You don’t usually seem to give in to stress like the rest of us mere mortals.”