“I don’t,” Hollin admitted, “but I’ll be at the wedding for your dad, and you can show me.”
“Okay!” she said, completely satisfied.
Hollin arched an eyebrow at me, and I shrugged. Kids. It was out of my control.
After lunch was finished, we all sat around outside, eating homemade ice cream. Hollin’s phone dinged three times in a row. He’d been ignoring it, but the last one finally made him pull it out.
“Excuse me,” he said and then got on the phone.
Peyton raised an eyebrow. “What’s that about?”
Her guess was as good as mine.
“No idea.”
But when Hollin came back, he was beaming. “Emery had her baby. A healthy boy named Logan Christopher.”
“Oh, lovely!” my mom said.
“I’m so happy for them,” Peyton added.
“Logan Christopher,” I said. “It’s a good name. And Emery is okay?”
“Totally fine.”
“That’s wonderful,” Abuelita said. “An Easter baby.”
We all celebrated the news, and after we ate more than our share of ice cream, I followed Hollin out the front door. We walked in silence to my Jeep, and I leaned back against it.
“So, that’s my family.”
“They’re wonderful.”
“Yeah?” I asked. “I mean, I think so, but…other people…”
“Don’t matter,” he said at once. “If anyone else has ever looked at your family and not thought they were incredible, they don’t matter. You’re so lucky to have been raised in a big family like that.”
“Well, thanks. You have a big family here, too.”
He shrugged. “Nah, not really. My mom died when I was in college. My aunt Lori only moved back and she married Vail. Campbell left after graduation. It’s just been me and my dad and Nora. I only recently got my cousins and Campbell back.”
I hadn’t known that. He didn’t exactly talk about his family, except how proud he was of Campbell and Nora. Almost as if he were their dad more than their older brother.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed your time.”
“I did.” He slowly threaded our fingers together. “Can I take you out on a real date now?”
“Right now?”
He grinned. “No. I’ll make it a real date. I’ll pick you up and everything. Your favorite flower is?” he prodded.
I shook my head. “Tulips.”
“Got it,” he said with a wink. He tugged me forward. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
Then, his lips were on mine, and all thoughts fled my mind. I’d kissed Hollin that day on the tour bus. But we’d been drunk and frantic. The entire purpose had been to get our clothes off. This was…not that. This was so much more. Sweet yet claiming, and soft yet unyielding. It was everything I wanted a first kiss to be and more.
And by the time he pulled back, I was breathless and leaning against him.
“I had a good time,” he said against my lips.
“Me too.”
“Friday?”
I nodded and met his baby-blue eyes. “Friday.”
22
Hollin
It had been years since I’d gone on a proper date. The kind that my dad had prepared me for as a kid. Not that I’d been a complete asshole, but flowers certainly hadn’t been in my repertoire.
So, when I knocked on the door to Piper’s place, holding a bouquet of tulips, I was definitely not prepared for Blaire and Jennifer to be standing there expectantly with wide, excited eyes.
“Oh my God, flowers,” Jennifer said.
“Those are beautiful,” Blaire said. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Me neither,” I admitted with a self-deprecating laugh. “Is…Piper here, or am I just seeing you two?”
“She’s still getting ready,” Jennifer said, opening the door wide so I could come inside.
Blaire took the flowers into the kitchen, where she arranged them in a vase.
“That doesn’t sound like her.”
Blaire grinned. “No, it doesn’t. She might be talking herself out of it.”
My eyes darted down the hall. “Uh, should I go say something?”
“No,” Jennifer said quickly.
“We told her we’d kick her ass if she backed out,” Blaire said.
“That’s not promising.”
Blaire winked at me from under her baseball cap. “She likes you. She’s just stubborn.”
“I like stubborn.”
“We know,” Blaire and Jennifer said at the same time and then broke down into giggles.
I waited patiently for Piper to come out of her room. I didn’t know why she was nervous. We’d talked all week. I’d texted her while we were both at work and called her at night to talk. It was unlike anything I’d ever done before. Not for a long, long time at least. Normally, I got bored before this point. But not Piper. There was not a single thing about her that was boring.
Finally, the door cracked open, and Piper stepped out. My jaw nearly hit the floor as I took in her short black dress and flats. I’d told her we were going somewhere casual when she asked on the phone, but somehow, she made even a casual dress look incredible. It hugged her curves in all the right places. Her thick, dark hair was down in voluminous waves, and her makeup was subtle but smoky. Her lips were a cherry red that made me wonder exactly what they would look like, wrapped around my dick. I was still male after all.
I cleared my throat. “Wow. You look great.”
She smiled almost shyly. “Thanks.”
“I brought you flowers.” I gestured to Blaire, who foisted the bouquet toward her.
“Oh, tulips.” She smelled the blooms that I’d gotten in every color, and her eyes met mine again. “I love them.”
“All right, you crazy kids,” Blaire joked, “I’ll hold down the fort. Have a good time.”
Piper shot her a look. “Thanks, Mom.”
Jennifer pulled Blaire back, and they both stifled laughs. They were enjoying this. All those times Piper and I had argued, had they known that it would lead here? I certainly hadn’t. I’d enjoyed watching her squirm. And now, I wanted her to squirm in all sorts of other ways.
“Ready?”
Piper nodded, and we left her house. She stopped when she got to the bottom of the stairs. “What is that?”
I arched an eyebrow. “That is a motorcycle.”
“You…drove your Harley here for our date?”
“Yeah. It’s perfect weather for it.”
“I’m wearing a dress,” she protested.
“You’ll be fine,” I said with a smirk. “The dress is pretty long anyway, and you’ll have your legs around me.”
She met my gaze with a stubborn glint in her eyes. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Sure would.”
“We could take my Jeep,” she offered. “It has sides and four wheels, and if you want your hair to blow in the wind, I can make it topless.”