Page 122 of Ozzie

I narrow my eyes. “That’s a given.” I swallow. “You know, I’ve dated but I haven’t really done the serious relationship thing. I guess I’m kind of scared I might mess up.”

Her hand moves up to my cheek as she cups my face. “Wow, I’ve never seen you like this.”

I roll onto my back, immediately missing her hand. “Idiotic?”

“Vulnerable. I like it.”

I turn back to her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. And I’m not worried. You may not have been in a relationship with a woman, but you have best friends who have stuck with you for years. You know how to be good to people. That’s all I need.”

“But I’m not worried I’ll lose them. We’re brothers for life. If I lost you—”

“You won’t. And don’t worry, if you do something I’m not happy about, I’ll let you know.”

I grin. She’s perfect. But I’m supposed to be comforting her. “Wait, this shouldn’t be about me. I’m sorry.”

She pushes me onto my back, then climbs on top so she is straddling me. “Don’t be sorry. Vulnerable Braxton is sexy as hell. And just what I need to take my mind off of everything.” She leans down and kisses me as my hands firmly grip her hips.

“Say my name again.”

She licks her lips. “Braxton.”

I press up against her, and she moans, reminding me that her door is wide open and her cousin is down the hall.

I still. “We can’t do this here.”

As if on cue, Durango’s footsteps move down the hall toward us. Thankfully, her door is at the end, so he can’t see us yet. She jumps up, leaving me with a very obvious erection. I sit up, grabbing a pillow just in time.

“Hey, Trip is looking into some things for me. And I got a call from Reed. He’s trying to reach you.” His eyes go to the pillow I’m holding and then to Piper.

I glance over, and she’s flushed. This doesn’t look good.

“Shit. I was gone for two minutes and you two couldn’t keep your hands off each other?”

He runs his hand through his hair. “This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

“Sorry, not sorry,” Piper says with a grin.

“I’ll meet you two in the kitchen.” He shakes his head and leaves the room.

Piper climbs back onto the bed, and the lust in her eyes tells me she has one thing on her mind.

“Now!” Durango yells, causing us both to jump.

“Guess fun time will have to wait,” she says.

I hop up and leave her to get ready for the day. “Hopefully not for too long.”

CHAPTER 35

Piper

Three daysafter John was shot, he is released from the hospital. That’s pretty fast, in my opinion, considering I thought he might die. While we couldn’t get any information from the hospital due to privacy laws, Durango was able to find out more information from the police when he went in for further questioning.

It turns out John was not shot in the chest as he’d claimed, but the shoulder. He did lose a lot of blood, and they were concerned he had lung damage, so they kept him for a few days for observation. But of course, John is fine. He always comes out fine.

Fortunately, no charges are being pressed against my cousin. It is clear what he did was in defense of me.

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