Page 38 of Love Beyond the Illusion
“I had to eat cucumber sandwiches and drink fruit-infused water all day with that damn woman. I think I deserve an entire medium cheese pizza to myself.”
I draw my head back and release my arm from around her shoulders to look her in the face. “Why are you so cool?”
“It’s hard work, but between the two of us, someone has to do it.”
I look down, grinning. “Sassy Pipermight be my favorite.”
She giggles, slips out of my arms, and flips onto her stomach. “Hmm, let’s see what we can find,” she mumbles and grabs her phone from the other side of the bed, leaving her cute, round ass in the air. The sheer fabric of her coverup is riding higher than where her toned legs meet her bottom. My mouth waters at the thought of the only thing that’s separating me from her delicious skin being that thin, hot pink bikini.
I quietly bite my fist.
“According to Google, the closest pizza place is right down the street. It looks like they have great reviews, and we could walk there to pick one up?” she suggests, crossing her legs behind her back. Now, her bright pink-polished toes are in the air, taunting me as her feet pump up and down on the bed.
Sweat beads form on my forehead. “Perfect. Let’s go,” I say, popping up eager to get my mind out of imagining my face inside of her ass.
Piper twists her body around, propping herself on one elbow. “Yeah? We’re walking?”
“Yep. Let’s go,” I say again before grabbing my jacket and heading toward the door.
“Wait, let me change first!” she says, crawling off the bed.
I only have to wait by the door for a few minutes before Piper emerges with tight jeans on, a hoodie, and a pair of bright pink Converse. I can’t take my eyes off her as she slings her purse across her body and walks toward me.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I blink a few times. “I’ve just never seen you in such casual clothes.”
“Is that weird?”
“No.”
“Then, why do you have that strange look on your face?” she presses, twisting the strings on her hoodie.
She looks adorable, yet sexy at the same time. I warm at the thought of her jumping on me for a piggyback ride while her arms are wrapped around my neck. She brings this playful and carefree spirit out of me. I can almost feel her heartbeat against my skin.
“It’s nothing.” I open the door for her to step out first.
We walk the short distance down the narrow restaurant and hotel-lined street. Our arms and shoulders brush against each other here and there, but she keeps her hands securely tucked into her hoodie pocket, and I do the same, hiding mine in the front pockets of my jeans.
“What was it like growing up out here?” We cross the empty street.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s a small town, so everything you could imagine living in a small town would be—plus tourists.”
Piper glances up at me from the corner of her eye. “And you came all the way to Arizona for college? Aren't there great colleges here in California?”
“Yeah, but I wanted to get away. I needed something different. I wanted to live in a place where I could be myself. I was tired of being ‘Bradley Wines.’”
“I can understand that. You wanted to get away—to breathe,” she continues as we approach the red doors to the pizzeria. “To just be yourself.”
“Exactly.” I smile.
The delicious smell of crisp pepperoni pizza hits us when we walk through the doors. The packed small restaurant buzzes with people dining at red and white checkered tables, and the sounds of arcade games fill the air. Piper and I take our spot in line behind a couple and a young boy.
We both stare up at the illuminated menu on the wall behind the order counter.
“We’ve already established that you’re going to be eating an entire medium cheese pizza by yourself,” I tease her, bumping her shoulder with mine.
“That’s right.” She giggles and nudges me back. “You better order your own because I’m not sharing.”
