Page 78 of Somewhere Along The Line
“Hmmmm.” She smiles sweetly. “Helping people. A good cup of coffee, obviously.” She raises the to-go cup she’s been carrying from our first stop. “The attention of a tall, handsome man with stunted social skills.”
“Hey! That’s my line!” I blurt, reaching forward to grab her by the waist. She squirms out of my grip so she can still face me.
“It’s true, you know,” she says. “Ever since I met you on the train, your presence has been like a drumbeat, quickly becoming a steady rhythm in the background of my life. It’s the sort of dependable consistency that frees me to go off-beat when I need to. Because I know I can slip back into the music after, and the piece will still be beautiful because you’ve been keeping time. I didn’t know how much I needed that, how much I loved it, until the thrumming was gone.”
She glances down at her feet, not wanting to dwell on the time we were apart. Her eyes meet mine as she continues.
“You keep me in line, James. You call my heart to tick in time with yours.Youmake me tick.”
The cold stoniness that used to live in my chest is now something vibrant, something unmistakably alive. Piper makes me tick too.
“Can I be honest with you,” Piper asks, “since we’re starting over?”
“Of course. Tell me the truth, P. Please.”
A small frog springs up in my throat. I thought shewasbeing honest. That last bit was the most authentic exchange we’ve ever had; certainly, the most vulnerable. What else could there be?
I spot the bench we sat in previously, about three-quarters down the mile-long loop and lead us there. We sit close.
“I lied to you. In the car when we were running errands. I told you I was happy working at Fundament, that I was happy when I was with Henry. I wasn’t. I never was. Turns out I didn’t know what happiness felt like.”
I wrap my arm around Piper’s back and pull her even closer. She’s still not close enough. She reaches up to grab my hand that dangles from her shoulder.
“My turn to be honest,” I reply, holding her gaze. “Can I tell you what I wanted to do the day we first sat here?”
“What exactly was that?”
“I wanted to wrap you in my arms just like this.” I rest my chin on the top of her head and breathe in whatever magic she puts in her hair. “And then pull your legs over mine.” I scoop up her legs and drape them over my lap, forcing her to twist toward me so we’re no longer side by side but instead face to face.
“I wanted to cradle your jaw and push my fingers behind your ear.” I lift her chin gently, bringing her mouth a centimeter from mine. “So I could kiss you like this.”
My lips brush against hers slowly, tenderly. This will be the kind of kiss we shared in my car, the best first kiss I’ve ever had. The one we could’ve had on this bench if I’d found the courage. I nudge Piper’s lips open and slip my tongue in to tangle with hers, deepening as we find a rhythm.
A soft, satisfied sigh escapes her throat.
“What I really wanted,” I remove myself from her only long enough to say the words, “was for you to make a sound like that. For me to be the one who pulled it out of you.”
She adds a thought of her own before diving back into the kiss. “I’d be happy for you to hear every one of my sounds.”
My dick sends up the signal to leave, not willing to be patient for another second when she has a mouth like that. God, I love her mouth.
“How about we go… somewhere else…” Piper suggests, sensing (or feeling, who I am kidding) that we need to get somewhere private.
“Can I take you home?” I ask, immediately wishing I’d specifiedmyhome. Sami being at her place doesn’t make it “somewhere private.”
“Pleasetake me home,” Piper replies, grabbing my hand and yanking me up from the bench, my long legs trailing hers as she speed-walks toward the train. Her eagerness to get to the station only intensifies the situation in my pants, which is unfortunate because this Elvis costume has no give.
“I may have to find a different seat for this ride,” I joke, swinging my coat to try to cover my lower half as we near a sprint. Sitting next to her on the train, her leg pressed against mine, but not being able to touch her the way I want to? Straight torture.
“I’ll tell you where I want you for the ride, James.” Piper smirks as she says it, her innuendo heavy in the air as we dart into the third car.
This will be the longest commute of my life.
We stumble into James’sfoyer, and it’s a miracle we’re alive given how little attention we paid to our surroundings on the way home. I kick off my shoes, hang up my coat, and head to the kitchen before he can pull me in for another kiss.
It’s not that I don’t want one, I'm just desperate to peek in his fridge first.
In fact, I want to ransack this whole place to uncover all of James’s secret quirks and habits. I rip open the appliance door and find exactly what I expect: a leftover pizza, some whiskey, and two jars of hot sauce. It’s a shame no one lives in this nice of a home; James basically squats here.
