“I’m not into that.” Mikah swiped his hand over his jaw, rubbing at his stubble. “Would have thought Zee would be the rider in such a scenario. Not that I think of him…”
Piper held up her palm. “I get it. Siblings are for married missionary only.”
“Right.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to a bedroom toy, or two, there were just so many to have packed and brought on the road to your mom and dad’s.”
“So many.” He stepped from one foot to the other.
She checked out his big toe expecting to see damage, but it wasn’t like that bouncy bit of pink rubber dildo could have hurt him, not physically. Psychologically sure. She couldn’t look away. He had nice feet. They hadn’t deserved the run-in with his brother’s fiancée’s sex toys.
* * *
They had the weirdest breakfast ever. Everyone was on their best behavior. Piper felt quite chill herself. Let Dr. Francesca throw some shade at her Heimlich maneuver skills this morning, try it, see how that goes down.
“We’re going to head up to Canada. Meet up with the team. Get an early start. Hit the road and take advantage of this sunshine.” Mikah looked ready to say even more of the same thing.
Piper touched his arm so he’d stop making it weird. She pointed her thumb at her generic Snowers jersey. “I’m ready to meet up with the team.”
Francesca arched her eyebrows and pinched her lips. She turned her face toward Mrs. Czerski, indicating Piper was stepping forward with the wrong foot somehow. A telling look, which Piper would have sworn that Mrs. Czerski would have shared with Francesca yesterday, but today, Mrs. Czerski acted like she didn’t notice and took Piper’s arm. She rose. “Give me a minute, dear, I’ll help you out with travel clothes. The rest of you keep at your breakfast, and excuse us ladies.”
Hmm, former models evidently prioritized clothes over food. Piper’s stomach rumbled, but refusing wasn’t an option.
Mrs. Czerski led her to the stairs, up to her room, and to her huge walk-in closet. The hanging clothes were grouped by style and color. “I wanted to thank you for saving me last night, I must have looked so silly.”
“No.” No more than anyone who was choking. “Everyone has to cough into their napkin sometime.”
“You are too kind.” Mrs. Czerski walked down to an ice-blue section. “Wives and girlfriends wear their guy’s jerseys or conservative sophistication when traveling or at the game. She selected a light-blue cashmere sweater. “This will be perfect on you.”
“Oh, I’m not…Mikah and I are not…we really do just work together.” Piper flushed. And they kissed without commitment fairly often, but she wasn’t writing that on a truth flag and waving the pole about.
“Let a mother hope. Now try this on and meet me at the vanity.”
Oh, that was sweet. Mrs. Czerski was impossible to shut down when she was being friendly. Piper switched out her top for the designer softness. No wine today, nothing would come off of this fabric. “This is gorgeous, but I’ll mess it up, and Mikah and I are simply friends. We haven’t…we don’t…” They had kissed and touched. She didn’t do that with her guy friends ever. What were she and Mikah really? By now, she should know how to define their relationship.
“Sit here.” Mrs. Czerski patted the rose-gold cushion on her vanity stool. “Your makeup is lovely, let me pull up that gorgeous hair for you.”
Piper sat.
Fifteen minutes later, her hair was done in a sophisticated French twist. She received a spritz of obscenely expensive perfume, and she was headed back downstairs.
Francesca’s eyes bugged, and her expression was envious. But that was the end of their interactions because the goodbyes were smooth, and they were outside loading the car before any other awkwardness ensued. Even the sunshine had burned off much of the bitter cold.
“Drive safe,” his mom said.
His dad waved. “Call us when you get there.”
* * *
“Your mom was really nice, your sister too.” Yikes, Piper wasn’t meaning to point out that Francesca hadn’t been friendly, but Francesca had been the one who’d made the budding rivalry obvious. Piper toyed with her hem. “Your mom insisted on the top.” So Piper would fit in with the significant others. What would Mikah think of that?
“You look great. You did before.”
Okay, nice, but was he oblivious to the message behind her outfit? Or he was pretending not to get the secondary meaning. “Thanks.”
Mikah remained quiet.
Ask him about their romantic status. Ask him his intentions. Set up the next hour and a half to be awkward if she got the wrong answer? No. Piper flipped the radio station and lowered her seatback to look out at the cold terrain. “I don’t like how the air feels up here, like it’s trying to hurt us, but the snow is pretty.”