by Wendy Vella
“What?” Jack stopped slouching on her doorframe. “How come I have to do that?”
“Because I cooked the last three nights, and it’s your turn. So you do that or I don’t save your scrawny hide.”
His smile was slow and knowing. “Now, we both know that I have one of the finest butts in Ryker.”
“Get out of here.” She hurled a pillow at him. Laughing, Jack left, telling her to be ready in five minutes.
She shrugged out of her jeans and replaced them with exercise tights, then pulled on a thick zip-up hoodie. Tugging on a knitted cap, she quickly laced her feet into trainers. Leaving the room, Piper decided to try Joanie again after the game. She could have a flat battery on her cell, or be out somewhere.
The house was big and rambling. They’d repainted, knocked down walls, and made it the perfect fit for them, but it was the kitchen they all loved and spent most of their time in.
Open-plan, with a huge table, wood burner, and large cooking range, this was Piper’s mother’s domain. It had spacious benchtops and plenty of cupboards, and something was usually simmering on the hob. She found Jack there eating a chocolate chip cookie.
“We’ll still be one short,” Jack said, getting to his feet, “but all good, it’s only the Pissants, anyway. We could beat them with three.”
“Peasants!”
“Whatever.” He hustled her out the door and down the stairs. She was in his pickup seconds later. “So, about your pissy mood, what’s the deal?”
“No deal,” Piper said, looking around her. “And I am not pissy.” The sun was out today and the air cool and crisp. Leaves were falling, and the vista turning with the weather into a symphony of fall colors. Ryker really was beautiful, but this transition from summer to winter was one of Piper’s favorite times of year.
“There is definitely a deal.”
“No, there really isn’t.”
“You know what I think?”
Jack drove with one hand on the wheel, elbow resting on the open window. The air was cold, but bracing, and Piper didn’t mind it. She guessed he was a looker, all the Trainer males were, but to her he was still that annoying cousin she’d come to live with many years ago. He’d been angry like Luke and Joe then. Angry and ready to rebel. Her mother had nipped that in the bud, but she hadn’t been able to stop Joe derailing... or Piper, for that matter.
“What?”
“I think Dylan Howard has you bent out of shape.”
“Ha, funny guy.”
He sent her a look, and suddenly he was no longer Jack the laid-back Trainer. Not many people saw this side to him, the man who didn’t take any crap from anybody and would protect what was his with everything at his disposal.
“Not so funny, actually. I’m a watcher, Pip, and I’ve been watching you when he’s around. Two weeks he’s been here, give or take a day or two, and I’ve noticed he makes you uncomfortable and edgy. You’re aware of him, just as he is you.”
When she’d first come to live with her cousins, Piper had learned fast that they were protective of their own, and when she became one of them, suddenly that protection widened and tightened. Especially because she was the only girl, the sister they’d never had. She’d also learned to hide what she felt and evade the truth where necessary, but still, like she knew them, they also knew her.
“He’s hot, no secret there.”
“He’s a closed book, and a cold fish. Nothing like you.”
“Awww, that’s so sweet.”
“Don’t try that shit with me, I’ve known you for years.”
“What shit?” Piper looked out the window. It didn’t take long to get anywhere in Ryker, yet the short trip to the courts was taking an age today.
“Evading the issue. I don’t have a handle on Dylan Howard yet, but I will, and until then you keep your distance.”
“What? You’re not seriously telling me to stay away from someone?” She would have laughed if she wasn’t angry. Because since she’d turned down a night of sex with Dylan Howard she hadn’t been able to get him or his hot body out of her head.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Luke and Joe like him, but I’m not sure yet.”
“Jesus, Jack. I can take care of myself, and while we’re on that subject, you need to stay away from that Jessica Lamont. She’s trouble.”
“The hell you say?”
“She just wants to add you to her list of conquests.”
“Sounds like my kind of woman.”
“Don’t you get sick of that?”
“That being?” He raised a brow.
“Man whore.”
“Harsh, and I am selective. Every relationship is mutual, and they always leave smiling.”
“Ewww, that’s revolting.”
“Jealous, Pip?”
“Asshole.”
“Prude.”
Jack and Piper were friends, in fact they shared a lot more than a house. He was her confidant, just as she was his. She’d dealt with his angers and frustrations, dealt with his pain, just as he’d dealt with hers. But one thing she never agreed with him on was his womanizing. Jack had a different woman every week, and never one that lasted.
“So, Howard?”
He was also tenacious.
“Let it go, Jack.”
“I’ll be watching you.”
“There won’t be anything to watch.”
“How’s Joanie?”
Piper sighed. “I don’t know. I thought she was good when I was there, but I’ve been having doubts lately.”
“So call her.”
“I did, she’s not picking up.”
“Maybe we can go see her next week?”
“Really? That’d be great, Jack.”
“Sweet, we’ll work out a day later. For now, you need to get your head in the game, ’cause we have the Pissants to beat.”
“Peasants, Jack. Pilker Peasants. Maybe you should try and remember that as they’re coming back to the house after to wash up and share a meal.”
“Yeah, maybe. Be good when the rec center is done, then we can do all that stuff inside and not have them invade our place.”
“Sure.” Piper looked at the footings that were being laid beside the courts. Joe’s pet project was coming to fruition. He’d worked hard to get that passed, and plenty had opposed him, but he’d won in the end. “But for now, be nice.”
The courts were crowded as they pulled up. It was a loosely organized comp that had six teams who rotated game times and places. Due to the travel, players often stayed over, but the Peasants were only a three-hour drive, so they’d leave after a meal.
There weren’t many games left, as it was already cold and the rec center wouldn’t be finished in time for the winter season.
Piper only filled in when the numbers were down. She couldn’t play regularly because she was usually working.
“What the hell is he doing here?”
“Who?” Piper searched the people milling around and found who Jack was talking about.
“Dylan Howard.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Come on, Dylan, I know you play, because we did in school.”
“Are you really short a player, or just trying to get me on the court so you can rough me up?” Dylan looked at the park ranger who was standing beside Joe Trainer. Both were dressed in shorts and basketball jerseys.
He’d come out for a jog, nothing too taxing, a simple loop around town following the river, and he’d been ready to head back to the house when Joe Trainer pulled up beside him.
“Okay sure, the roughing up will be a bonus, but we are short a player.”
“You don’t have to, Dylan, if you’re not used to this kind of thing anymore. I mean let’s face it, you being a city boy now and all, this could be quite hard on you,” Joe said with a straight face.
“I’m an adult, Trainer, I don’t let that shit goad me anymore like it once did.”
“Sure you do, you still have that vein right there.”
Joe pointed to his neck, and Dylan resisted the urge to place his hand there. No one had made that vein pulse since he’d left Ryker... or at least not that he’d noticed.
“It was always a barometer for your moods, bud.”
“Maybe he’s just soft now, Joe. It happens, I hear, when you don’t get regular exercise. Hell, look at that fat hanging over the waistband of his shorts.”
“I ran here,” Dylan drawled, “after using the weights in my dad’s garage.” He didn’t need to defend himself, anyone could see he wasn’t carrying any spare fat. He kept in shape, needed to, to keep his mind sharp and fit for the long hours he sometimes pulled at work.
“Pfft,” Fin said. “Weights and a jog. My grandma can do that.”
Dylan was not about to let these two know he was enjoying himself. He didn’t do this stuff in New York. Okay, he had a few people he loosely termed friends, and even played basketball weekly, but nothing like this. No one teased Dylan, or came at him, because most were colleagues who respected, and yes he could admit it, feared him a bit. He could be an asshole when required, and had heard people say he was as warm as a polar blast.
He’d been back in Ryker longer than planned and still hadn’t made plans to leave. This, he’d told himself, was due to his father still being in hospital, Charlie, and Ava. And they were all legitimate reasons, but there was another one too. He didn’t want to leave. It was that simple. Coming here was giving him time to reflect on his life and the man he’d become.
“Yeah, but it’s all good, Dylan. Don’t worry about it. You go on and sit on the seats. I’ll get the knee blanket Aunty Kitty knitted for me out of my car.”
“Fuck you, Trainer, and I know for a fact you don’t have an Aunty Kitty.”
“Ouch,” his old friend said, smiling.
“Dickhead.”
“Shit for brains.”
“My shit for brains were always sharper than yours.”
“Sure, but then like I said, you were softer,” Joe added.
“You sure you won’t cry if I hurt you?”
Fin placed a hand on his chest. “I’m gonna try real hard not to, city boy.”
“Hey.”
“Jack.” He watched Joe smile over his shoulder. “Dylan’s agreed to fill in for us. Asked real sweet-like that we go easy on him though, as he’s not used to physical exercise.”
Jack Trainer moved into his line of vision and looked from his brother to Dylan. There was reserve there, something he’d not seen with Luke or Joe. He hadn’t decided if he liked Dylan or not, and while this wouldn’t normally bother him, he found it did with a Trainer.
“I think I have a riding helmet in the pickup, city boy, if you’re worried.”
Dylan raised a hand. “All good. I think I can handle it, thanks.”
“Hi.”
He turned as her voice reached him, and there stood the torment of his dreams. Piper Trainer, dressed in tight black exercise leggings and a zip-up hoodie. At her side was the large, shaggy Buzz, who woofed a greeting and came to Dylan for a scratch.
At the lodge Piper had told him she didn’t go for one-night stands, and while he respected that now, it sure as hell hadn’t gone down easy at the time when he’d had the taste of her on his lips and her scent in his nostrils. Two weeks later, his body was not showing signs of forgetting what she’d felt like pressed against him.
“Hey, baby girl.” Joe moved in and hugged her. Piper raised her face for a kiss. “Thanks for filling in.”
“Like I had a choice.”
“Always a choice, sweetheart, but we like it when you’re here, it lends our team some class. Having said that, we have the city boy here now. He’s adding that and the softer side.”
Dylan rolled his eyes, and Piper laughed. He’d been worried about the way she’d be with him after that night. Worried she’d avoid him, but whenever they’d crossed paths she’d smiled, or lifted a hand, as if he’d not had his hand up her shirt cupping that soft, full flesh of her breast.
“Okay, the Pissants are here, so let’s get busy,” Jack said.
“Pissants?”
“Pilker Peasants. Jack thinks he’s being funny by nicknaming them,” Piper said.
“I am funny.” Jack lunged at his cousin, who simply stood her ground, dropped her shoulder into her cousin’s stomach, and winded him.
You had to love a woman who could stand up for herself… not in the literal sense, of course. It was just a figure of speech, Dylan reminded himself.
They threw the ball around, and did a few layups. Piper knew her way around the court, and he couldn’t help but admire her moves.
“Not sure I like the way you’re looking at my cousin, Howard.”
Jack Trainer appeared at his side.
“Which way is that, Trainer?”
“I believe the correct term is lasciviousness.”
“From what I hear that’s a regular word in your vocabulary.”
“She’s my cousin.”
“I know, and she’s also an adult. But here’s the thing, Jack. I like and respect your older brother enough that I would never do anything to his family that would be disrespectful.”
“Whatever.”
“You got a problem with me?”
“I got a problem with the way you look at my cousin.”
“Like I said, she’s a big girl, and for the record, I like her and I’d never do anything that she didn’t agree to.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jack now looked seriously pissed off.
“I think you know, and I find it ironic that you of all people are talking to me about this.”
Color filled Jack’s cheeks.
“Pot and kettle, Trainer, maybe you should think about that before you come at me.”
Dylan walked away without telling Jack Trainer he didn’t have designs on his cousin... because that would be lying. He did.
The umpire was Miss Sarah, and she was assisted by her sister. Mr. Goldhirsh, who Dylan had soon realized was something of a legend in town, was there in the capacity of a first aider. The man was everywhere, and wore so many hats it was hard to keep up with where he would appear next.
“I expect this to be a fair game, but a hard-fought one,” Miss Sarah said through a megaphone that was hardly necessary, as she’d been a schoolteacher and could reach the back of a crowded hall without raising her voice.
“She always says that,” Piper appeared at his side, “and uses that megaphone, because it was her father’s and he loved basketball.”
“Just how physical is this game going to get?”
“Very, but it’s all good, because you’re on my cousins’ team. They were nearly banned a few years ago for being overly aggressive.”
“You’re shitting me?”
“Maybe a bit.” She smiled up at him.
He wasn’t sure what it was about this woman. Why did he feel a sudden burn in his chest when she was close? Why could he smell her scent and remember exactly what it felt like to kiss her, days after doing so?
“But they are aggressive.”
“But not you?”
“No actually, I’m worse. I had to be growing up with them. They toughened me up pretty quickly.”
“You weren’t always tough then?”
Something passed over her face and then it was gone.
“No, I wasn’t, but coming here changed that.”
“What were you like?”
She shrugged. “Not really the time or place for that story. So let’s play ball. You ready, city boy?”
“Sure, but I’ll go easy on you. Just stand near the hoop, and I’ll send you some nice easy passes,” he teased.
She flipped him the bird before walking away. Dylan kept his eyes up, because he noted Jack Trainer was watching him. The hell of it was, the man was right, he did have lascivious thoughts about Piper. He just had to stop wanting to act on them.
Tip off went the way of the Pissants, as Dylan now thought of them. A tall, physica
l team, with no women. Right off, he knew he was going to enjoy the game. The verbal jabs just added to the fun, and in seconds he’d had an elbow to the ribs and one to the gut.
“Hell, you doing okay there, sweetheart?” Joe smiled at him. “That’s gotta hurt. You go on and take a break if you need it.”
“Well hell, Joe, you missed that shot. I hear your sight goes when you hit a certain age,” Dylan called back.
He caught the ball Jack Trainer rocketed at him, accompanied by a scowl.
Dylan dribbled it toward the hoop and saw Piper going wide; she then ran the baseline, and he looped the ball to her. She went up, caught it, and put it through the hoop.
“Nice work!” Mr. Goldhirsh yelled. He was sprinting up and down the sideline; the man had inexhaustible energy.
The game was fast and physical, and while he initially kept an eye on Piper he soon realized that there was no need. Her cousins ignored her and sent her balls that a few men would struggle to catch. She was fit, fast, and could jump.
“Slick move, city boy,” Joe said as they high-fived.
Dylan felt alive as the game progressed. Sweat poured off him, and his body would hurt like hell tomorrow, but he couldn’t remember enjoying a game more.
The rules were more loose guidelines, as far as he could see.
“Aww come on, Miss Sarah, that’s a foul!” Fin roared. “You’re killing me here.”
“You watch your mouth, Fin Hudson, or I won’t make you your weekly fix anymore!”
“She always says that,” the ranger groused. “But those little scones with the brown sugar on top are addictive.”
The Pissants were down by two and called a time-out. The Ryker team huddled.
“So is Aunt Jess setting up for the after match, Joe?” Fin asked.
“Doesn’t she always?”
“She’s making chili cheese dogs,” Jack said, wiping his forehead on Piper’s sleeve.
“Fuck, I love those.” Fin sighed. “My mouth’s watering thinking about a beer and chili cheese dogs.”
“Luke’s arrived,” Piper said, straightening.
“Sweet, he can sub for someone. Maybe the city boy, as he’s got to be getting tired,” Joe said.
“We have cheesecakes too,” Jack added.
