Wilder (The Wild Ones 3)

I never really liked that woman, and she always avoided us.

I decide not to say that, since the lady never caused us any actual problems.

“We never read her letters, let alone her books,” Reese adds as her smile slowly falls. “Not until two months ago when we got word she’d passed. We went to the funeral and saw so many people there we didn’t know at all, and they all hugged us when they found out we were her grandkids.”

Piper nods as she clears her throat. “She never said anything bad about us, apparently. In fact, she had bragged about every small accomplishment in our lives. We’d never even talked to the woman.”

“She was the only one from the family who has ever bragged on us,” Reese adds as she stares over at the mostly finished blunt.

“I think we’re getting too deep, Piper. That stuff just makes my mind slow down enough to hate myself worse,” she adds very seriously.

Piper nods like she wholeheartedly agrees. I’m just thankful that Hale hasn’t fucked anything up for us yet. I really expected him to tank, but I think he’s making way more progress than I am.

“What about your life?” Piper asks me like she’s ready for me to change the subject.

“You’ve met my family. You were a popsicle, but you still met them,” I tell her as Reese pulls her feet out of Hale’s lap and deliberately snuggles up to him, putting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his waist with a sense of overfamiliarity.

His smile looks like it could break his face. Fucker.

Piper just gives me a wary eyebrow arch when I let my arm drape across her shoulders instead of the back of the couch. I don’t move it, and her lips simply twitch as she looks back down at the book in her hand.

“Your mom is interesting,” Piper finally says.

“She’s batshit crazy,” Hale amends.

I nod in total agreement. “Baby fever is going around. We’ll avoid my mother for a while. I suggest avoiding his aunt too,” I add, gesturing over at Hale.

“Why your aunt?” Reese asks.

Hale clears his throat a little. “We’re going to do some sledding tomorrow if you girls want to come with,” he says instead of answering.

Reese glances over at me for whatever reason, and then Piper.

“Sounds…fun,” Reese seems to force herself to say. “I haven’t played on a sled since I was ten. We do a lot of skiing though. Maybe after we sled, we can hit some slopes? Or do you have any slopes?”

“There are tons of slopes to go down, but we usually only do skis on the water,” Hale tells her very seriously. “Right now, the majority of the lake is frozen solid,” he adds.

Reese gives an uncertain nod, and I just smile as I watch him start to tank.

Finally.

Now I’ll look like the fucking winner and Piper will hopefully loosen up more before our end-of-the-date kiss that I’ve been waiting for all night.

It seems like she only gets sexier as the night goes on.

“So do you live nearby, too?” Piper asks him, showing way too much interest in Hale just because she’s looking at him instead of me.

“My family owns all the land around this section of lake. A few hundred acres or so. My cabin’s not far from this one. I don’t live with my mother,” I tell her, feeling like an ass the second Hale smirks at me like he knows I was trying to impress her.

How am I still the one fucking tanking?

“I have a small spot on the far side of the lake back that way,” Hale says as he tosses a thumb over his shoulder. “I recently moved into my sister’s abandoned cabin to keep it from going to shit. Homes need someone living in them or they fall apart. We built that cabin together, and I don’t want to see it suffer,” he adds.

“Aw. That’s so sweet,” Reese says as she leans up and kisses Hale’s cheek, snuggling even closer to him.

Un-fucking-believable. I saved Piper’s life. That alone should have her practically in my lap. Just sayin’.

“So, we’re on for sledding tomorrow?” I ask Piper, looking down.

She shrugs. “What the hell? Sledding sounds harmless.”

“If not, you know there will be a hero around to save you,” I dutifully point out, since absolutely no one is praising me for that, and I’m way more fucking awesome than Hale Vincent.

“Are we going to be sledding on ice or something?” Piper asks in a worried tone.

“Oh, that’s right! With all the craziness, we haven’t even talked about how you saved my sister’s life,” Reese says with wide eyes. “Sorry. We’re ungrateful douches, but we’re working toward being better people.”

I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.

“Oh, right. Thank you for saving me and stuff. It was somewhat eclipsed by the breeding experiment talk,” Piper says as she leans her head toward me a little bit.