“A girl’s got to protect herself, Pip-Squeak.”
The darkness flicks across her gaze again as Piper turns to stare at me with wide eyes. Maybe she’s expecting me to say something or insist that we stay here with Eden but I’m not going to. The look in her eyes is the same one Tate gets sometimes and I have no doubt if the worst case scenario happened, Eden would handle herself just fine.
Nodding, I wrap my arm around Piper’s waist. “All right, I guess we’ll just get out of your hair then.”
“What?”
Eden smiles her thanks as Piper bores a hole into the side of my head. “Have a good night, y’all.”
“Oh, we will be talking about this later,” Piper says, pointing a finger at her best friend as I pull her into my side and my body relaxes at the contact.
“Mmhmm,” she calls as she stands up and grabs one of her cameras off of her desk. “Looking forward to it.”
As she walks away from us, I release Piper’s hips to grab her hand and lace our fingers together as I grab her purse off of the counter and hand it to her. She eyes me but before she can say anything, I flash her a smile.
“I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She arches a brow. “What kind of a surprise?”
“Huh?” I ask, feigning innocence as we open the front door and step outside. She stops and puts her free hand on her hip as she stares me down with that “tell me now” look.
“You said there was a surprise.”
“Did I?” I ask, scowling at her and shaking my head as I pull her around the passenger side door and open it. “Huh… I don’t remember.”
“You’re a liar.”
I shake my head again, fighting back a grin. “No, I swear… Are you hungry?”
She gets this cute little smile on her face and I swear I can read her mind. Memories from when we were kids flash through my mind and I mirror her expression. Right after I got the Bronco, we used to love to just drive around with the windows down and Piper cuddled into my side. After a while, we would go to the little hole in the wall burger place downtown - the kind of restaurant that only the locals know about with big greasy burgers and the best French fries you’ve ever had - and we’d drive down to the river, put the tailgate down, and cuddle in the back while we ate. It was part of the inspiration for the night and I hope she remembers.
She shakes her head, still stuck on demanding to know what her surprise is when her stomach growls and she lets out a surprised laugh. “Yeah, I guess I’m a little hungry.”
“Jump in,” I say with a nod. “And we’ll go grab some food.”
The defiant look on her face tells me she wants to argue but when her stomach growls again, she climbs up in the truck and I don’t miss the opportunity to guide her up with my hand on her ass. As she plops down in her seat, she rolls her eyes at me, fighting back a grin and I shut the door before jogging around to my side and slipping behind the wheel. Her stomach growls again as I start the truck and I laugh as I point over my shoulder.
“I may have fibbed a little bit. Check the back.”
She spins around and rises up on her knees to look behind the bench seat. She lets out a squeal that makes me laugh and when she sits down again, she has the brown paper bag in her hand with Mike’s Burgers and More logo on the front. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath and lets out a moan that makes me sit up a little straighter.
“Oh my God, Wyatt. It smells so good.”
I smile. Seeing her happy makes me happy and I just hope we take care of this threat so I get to do it for the rest of our lives. “Dig in, Pip.”
She squeals again, practically wiggling with excitement as she peels open the bag and looks inside before meeting my gaze with a scowl.
“There is only one meal. Aren’t you hungry?” she asks and I shake my head.
“Naw, I ate earlier and I’m still full.” It’s a lie. I haven’t been able to eat much of anything in the last few days, too worried about Piper and too worried about my club to get anything down but I don’t need her knowing that. She would just worry about me and I need all of her attention to be on making sure she is okay. After studying me for a second, she sighs and scoots across the seat until she’s pressed against my side and when I glance down at her, she holds a French fry in front of my lips. Fighting back a smile, I turn back to the road and bite it in half.
“Do you want to know a secret, Wyatt?”
I nod, peeking down at her again as she eats a fry of her own. “Sure.”
“You never were a very good liar.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, feigning ignorance but I know she’s right. At least, when it comes to her. One look in her green eyes and I would be spilling my guts but it’s always been that way. She nudges me, meeting my gaze with a no-nonsense look on her gorgeous face.
“You have to take care of yourself, too. I’m not going to let you fall apart.”
I nod to her food, ignoring her comment. “Eat your dinner, baby.”
We spend the rest of the drive cuddling in silence as she eats and when we pull onto the old first road that we used to take to the river back when we were kids, I see her grin out of the corner of my eye. This place holds so many damn memories for us and if I could, I would buy this land and build her a house facing the water but the old man who owns this ground has known my parents since I was a little kid and he has always said that he’ll die before he sells it. The good thing is, he was always cool with letting us come down here anytime we wanted.
“Here,” Piper says as I park the truck at the end of the dirt road and I glance over at her as she holds half of her burger to me. I shake my head and determination flashes in her eyes. “You need to eat and I won’t get out of the truck until you do.”
Rolling my eyes, I swipe the burger from her hand and take a bite. As soon as the flavor explodes across my taste buds, my stomach growls like my body is suddenly remembering how hungry it is and I inhale the rest of the food before glancing over at her. She is turned sideways in her seat, staring at me with a cocked brow and her arms crossed over her chest.
“Not hungry, huh?”
I narrow my eyes. “Watch it, Pip.”
“Or what? You’ll spank me?” she asks, rolling her eyes as she turns away from me and I grin. When she glances back at me, she lets out a little shriek and fumbles for the door handle but I grab her first and drag her into my lap as I press kisses up her neck. She straddles my thighs and I groan against her skin.
“That’s not a bad idea.”
She shakes her head and steals a kiss. “Don’t even think about it, Landry.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll be very mad at you.”
I grin as I thrust up into her. “Yeah, but then I’ll make you very happy.”
She is trying desperately to stay focused but I can see the smile threatening to break through and I thrust up again. Her lips part and she lets out my favorite sound, that sexy little sigh, so I do it again.
“Wyatt,” she breathes, gripping my shoulders in both hands and my cock strains against my zipper. Shit, I love hearing her whisper my name like that. In that small fraction of a moment, nothing else exists but her and I.