13
PIPER
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Trinity’s words might have suggested she was apologetic to whomever she was speaking, but her hard, chilled tone told another story.
I groaned and tried to turn over as she released an irritated huff. Strong arms locking around me stopped me from moving before I’d even made it onto my side. Startled by the halt of my half-asleep repositioning, I snapped my eyes open to clash with the magnificent blues that could only belong to one person.
It took a few seconds before the sleep fog faded from my brain and I could make sense of where I was. I knew I was on the bus, but instead of my bed in the sleeping compartment, I was still on the couch. Little by little, the night before came back to me.
Finishing off the ice cream with Cannon while we watched a movie. At one point, we’d raided the pantry and gotten more snacks. One movie had turned into two, and I’d fought sleepiness because I hadn’t wanted to say goodnight. But I must have lost the fight and fallen asleep. How I’d ended up stretched out on the couch—on top of Cannon—was still unclear.
Yet there I was, lying on my stomach, my body molded along every inch of Cannon’s. He was still wearing the basketball shorts he’d had on when he got to the bus, but now, his shirt was gone, and I wasn’t sure if I’d drooled on him during the night or not. That embarrassing detail seemed trivial, however, as my brain quickly caught up to how my bottom half was practically glued to his.
And the way his rock-hard cock was pressing into my core in a way that made me want to rub against him. A few little shifts of my hips and I knew I would go off like a bottle rocket. No doubt screaming just as loud, as the world exploded around me.
The look in his eyes told me he was all too aware of how turned on I was. There was no way to hide from him how wet and ready I’d become.
“You can’t be serious,” Trinity gritted out, reminding me that we were definitely not alone. “This is all news to me. Why wasn’t I told about the merger?”
Something in her tone caught my attention, and I glanced over as she began to pace from the kitchenette to the couch and back again. Trinity’s face was gray as she held the phone to her ear with one hand and pushed her hair back from her face with the other. The slightest strand that touched her face seemed to irritate her, and she kept brushing it away as she listened and paced.
“The security team for all the tours is my business, though,” she snapped. “Especially when it comes to the one I’m managing… Whatever. I don’t even care right now. What I do care about is that you’re putting him on my tour. What the fuck do you mean, there isn’t anyone else? There are plenty of other replacements. I can name ten off the top of my head.” She paused at the couch when she reached it once again. “So pull them from that tour for this one and put him there! I told you I wouldn’t work with him again, Barrick. I wasn’t joking.”
Cannon stroked his hand down my back and cupped my ass, pressing up into me. The jolt of pleasure that shot through my entire body was too much to ignore, and vaguely, I realized we were covered by a blanket. Trinity wouldn’t be able to tell that his hand was squeezing my ass even if she bothered to look our way. His gaze locked with mine as soon as I shifted my head, his eyes glittering with a need that I suspected matched my own. Lifting his head, he pressed his lips to my ear.
“I can’t stop what’s about to happen,” he whispered, sounding almost apologetic. The feel of his breath on my skin made me shiver, and I couldn’t help squirming against him. The ache between my legs was building by the second, so painful I couldn’t think past easing it. “I’m going to come in my shorts. Especially if you don’t stop rubbing that sweet pussy against me, sugar.”
My legs spread a little wider of their own free will. Cannon’s groan was so low I didn’t hear it, but the vibrations rumbled through me, going straight to my clit. I laid my head back on his chest and watched Trinity as she continued to yell at Barrick while she paced once again.
I rubbed my right hand down Cannon’s bare chest, making his breath come in choppy pants. “Shh,” I hissed when my hand reached the top of his shorts and slid inside. Thankful for the blanket covering us both, I wrapped my hand around his cock. There was no time to savor the feel of him or explore the long, thick shaft.
All I could think about was finding the relief we were both desperate for. It had been building for days, and I couldn’t take it a second longer.
Pulling him free, I shifted my oversized sleep shorts and panties aside while Trinity had her back to us, and I guided his cock right to my pussy lips. She stopped at the kitchenette table, growling something into her phone. She could have yelled it, and I still wouldn’t have understood what she said. All I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears.
The tip of his cock was already leaking as I pressed it between my lips, rubbing the head over my clit. It was a mistake, because I saw stars and would have cried out at the pleasure if Cannon hadn’t covered my mouth with his hand.
Unable to wait another second, I shifted just enough to take the first few inches of his cock. The way he stretched me as he entered was too much—too damn good. I’d never taken something so big, not even a toy. But the stretching of my flesh didn’t hurt. He thrust his hips without seeming to mean to, and I took a little more. A thick vein rubbed along my favorite spot, and it was game over for me.
My entire body seemed to contract as I came all over his cock. His fingers bit into my ass, and I felt him start to erupt, thick ropes of come filling me as we both shook from the power of our shared release.
But there was no time to enjoy or savor the moment. Trinity continued giving Barrick hell, thankfully with her back still to us. As she started to turn, I moved quickly, pulling Cannon free and flattening my body against his again. We were still trying to catch our breath, but she didn’t appear to notice as she began to pace, her blue-gray gaze glaring off into space and not taking us in.
As my heart rate slowly lowered, I could hear Cannon’s doing the same. The hand on my ass moved higher, rubbing up and down my back soothingly, while his other hand caressed my cheek. I felt him kiss the top of my head, and I clenched my eyes closed.
My mind was a whirlwind of emotions. I’d never come so fast or so hard in my life. It had been so damn good that all I wanted was to do it again. And again. But this was Cannon. What had just happened couldn’t happen again. Not without losing a part of myself I wasn’t ready to give to anyone, least of all him.
“Pipes,” he whispered when he felt me stiffening. “I’m sorry.”
I lifted my head with a frown. “What are you sorry for? I’m the one who—” I broke off and glanced at Trinity, but she was in her own angry little world with Barrick. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“This isn’t how I imagined our first time,” he muttered frustratedly. Grasping my chin, he turned my head to look at him. “Do you regret it?”
What a loaded question. I did regret it, but…
“I would have regretted not doing it more,” I admitted.
Pain filled his eyes, but he nodded in understanding. “Are you…okay?”
The question confused me for a moment, and then I felt his come leaking out of me. Shit. “I have an IUD.”
I expected relief to fill his eyes, but he seemed to flinch instead. “That’s not what I meant. You were so tight, sugar. It’s a wonder I didn’t nut the second the tip was in. Did I hurt you?”
Before I could answer, Trinity ended her call with a muffled shriek and threw her phone at the wall. It bounced off and crashed to the floor, shattered screen side up. Cannon and I just lay there, gaping up at her. I’d known her from birth, had grown up with her, considered her just as much a cousin as Doe and her boneheaded brothers. In all of those years, I’d never witnessed Trinity throwing a single tantrum. It was rare that I’d even seen her get pissed enough to raise her voice.
She didn’t need to. Having shadowed her mom and Emmie over the years, she’d mastered the technique of broadcasting her displeasure with a single look.
“Trin?” I murmured cautiously. “What’s wrong?”
Right before my eyes, she seemed to crumple. Her face, flushed with anger only seconds before, turned gray even as her eyes filled with tears. Being careful to keep Cannon’s lower half covered, I slipped out from under the blanket. She swayed, and I sprinted across the distance separating us, wrapping her in my arms just as she started to fall to her knees.
“H-he’s coming h-here,” she sobbed.
The secret she’d shared with me played through my head, and I tightened my arms around her. Tucking her head against me, I glanced over at Cannon. “We’re going to need a minute.”
He grimaced but stood, thankfully having already tucked himself back into his shorts. “I need to use the bathroom anyway.”
I waited until I heard the bathroom door close behind him before helping Trinity stand. On shaky legs, she made it to the couch. She dropped down, her elbows going to her knees and her head in her hands. I hurriedly pushed the blanket away, unsure if evidence of what Cannon and I had been doing was on it or not. My brain was still having trouble comprehending that I’d done something so reckless. The fact that my panties were soaked with a mixture of both our releases had me pressing my thighs together even as I rubbed my friend’s back.
“What happened?” I asked, trying to get her to talk.
“B-Barrick called. To let me know. About David’s replacement.” She gulped between sobs. With effort, she tried to stop crying, but it only made her cry harder.
I pulled her head to my chest, just letting her cry it out. The pain I could feel coming off her in waves made me wonder how long this had been building. Had she shared her miscarriage with anyone other than me, or had she buried it? If she’d hidden her affair with that Jarrett asshole, then I could only assume she’d kept her pregnancy a secret too.
Having to go through something like that alone was unimaginable to me. I knew I never could have done it and remained sane.
Cannon came out of the bathroom, changed from his shorts into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He took one look at Trinity, and I saw his face morph into something dark yet protective. “She okay?” he mouthed, but all I could do was shrug. Neither of us had ever seen Trinity so fragile before.
Her phone, still on the floor, started ringing. But the shattered screen couldn’t show who was calling. Trinity stiffened at the sound and sucked in a long, steadying breath. Slowly, she got herself under control before lifting her head and scrubbing her hands over her tear-soaked face. “Barrick and Braxton merged with Jarrett’s smaller security company. They’re partners now. Jarrett has better connections in Europe that they need to expand. There are multiple tours going on right now, and they had no one else they could pull in to take over for David.” She pushed her hair back from her face with a dry laugh. “Jarrett is joining the tour.”
“Shit.”
“I tried to get Barrick to pull someone else and have Jarrett fill their spot, but Jarrett is an equal partner now. He can do whatever he wants, and apparently, he wants to be here.” Anger filled her eyes, and she got to her feet. Stomping over to her phone, she picked it up and powered it off. “Fuck him. Let him come here. He won’t find the same, pathetic girl waiting for him like some loyal puppy.”
“Hell yeah!” Cannon encouraged. I hid a smile at his enthusiasm, despite his not knowing why she was so upset and pissed at Jarrett. But that didn’t matter to him. Trinity was family, and we supported each other—blindly, if we had to. “That’s the spirit, Trin. Kick his ass, sweetheart.”