Page 90 of Love Me Boldly

“Huh,” I said instead.

Graham laughed. “You still don’t give anything away, either.”

“Trust me,” I drawled. “I’ve given away plenty.”

It was meant as a joke, but it fell as flat as his expression. Pushing his lips out to the side, he nodded. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with a thinking face.

“How long until the pizza is coming?”

“Why? In a hurry to get out of here?” There was no teasing glint in his eye, only narrowed eyes filled with worry.

“No. How’d you hear about Scalecki’s?”

“Met Billy at the store across the street yesterday morning.”

“Ah…he’s a good man. He give you any other tips?”

“Said Caroline’s food isn’t too shabby, but I already knew that. And to answer your question, pizza will be here any minute.”

“So…”

“I never told you why Piper said Sophie and I were engaged.”

“So we’re just gonna jump into it all then.”

Graham chuckled, like he thought my sarcasm was adorable, and sipped his wine. “If I’m only guaranteed a few hours, then yeah.”

“All right.” I tried to relax back into the chair but found it impossible. Not because of the furniture. It was worn and comfortable with large armrests. Any other day, I could sit curled up in the chair with a blanket, a cup of tea, and enjoy the view with a good book.

Tonight wasn’t that night.

“Hit me with it,” I said and leaned forward to set my water down.

“I told you that we all grew up as friends.” At my nod, he continued. “Sophie and I were obviously really close. I can hardly think of a time when I didn’t know her. I’m pretty sure our moms became best friends when they were pregnant or something.”

I smiled. It would have been so lovely to have been friends with someone for that long.

My heart thumped in my ears. He’d had such a different life than mine. Outside of losing our moms, we had practically nothing in common, and yet, what he had was what I always wanted. What I wanted to give Jonah.

I opened my mouth to tell him all of it, but the words stuck to my throat.

“Piper.” Graham sighed. “Piper moved in later, around the time we were probably Jonah’s age, now. All three of us were best friends for a long time.”

“I remember.”

“She didn’t have an easy life, and all those years ago, I didn’t think it was my story to share, but really, her family was a mess. She had an older brother who was in trouble all the time and a dad who really wasn’t nice to her or her mom. He cheated a lot. I think he even hit or hurt her mom. She kind of clung to Sophie and me, especially our parents. She needed that stability, and when I lost my mom, all of that got worse. I told you once that she wasn’t a bad person, just protective.”

And then she lost Sophie…

It all made sense. The way she so rudely handled everything, tried to physically shove me out of the way at the first game of his I went to. Suddenly, I saw Piper in a whole new light, and she wasn’t necessarily the villain I’d painted her as. “She was hurting and didn’t want to lose you.”

“Exactly.” He leaned forward and brushed his hands down his thighs. “When I grew up and started playing hockey and getting other friends”—he looked at me and blushed—“and girlfriends, Piper started seeing that shift. By then, my mom was sick. She got it in her head that since Sophie and I had known each other forever, we should be together. It wasn’t that Sophie and I hadn’t considered it. There might have been a kiss or two, and yeah, I loved her, but not that way.”

“The box Piper handed you that day.”

“So stupid.” His nostrils flared, though, and there wasn’t anything funny about it. “It was a plastic ring I won for Sophie when we were kids. In one of those gumball machines.”

I nodded.

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