kick to the gut.
Not the time to realize it. Four-hundred pounds of weights rested on my shoulders as I bent in mid-squat. Love was the one force in the world that could bring a man to his knees. A panicked drop in the middle of the rep would be what broke his knees.
The weights clattered against the bench, locked into place as I collapsed against the ground. I dumped water over my head and waited for the room to stop spinning.
Leave it to Piper to knock me on my ass.
I had no idea it was even possible for me to love someone. Whatever warmed in me for Piper was inspired by a heart that hadn’t beat for anyone or anything…ever.
And the baby?
God, I missed the meatball.
By this time in the day, she was usually tossing herself at the weight room’s baby gate Walking Dead style. She’d press against the plastic mesh, reach her fingers through the holes, and babble about her day, her favorite shapes, and tried to count out ten reps for me.
I might have been miserable without Piper, but I was goddamned lonely without Rose.
My life of quiet and solitude was shattered, and I couldn’t have been happier. I liked what I felt for Piper. That warmth. The confusion. It quelled the beast and excited the man and proved that I could be…
Normal.
I showered and dressed, popping up the stairs two at a time to find Piper.
But something was wrong.
It had been weeks since she first paced in the foyer. She peeked between the curtains and grew more and more frustrated as whoever she tried to reach on the phone refused to answer. Her voice cracked with a boiling rage.
“Jasper, I don’t care where you are or what you are doing. Call me back this instant.”
Her panic crushed me. She ended the call, waited ten seconds, then dialed again. Her hands trembled as much as her bottom lip. She was on the verge of tears, and that was a swipe of salt poured over my wounds.
I took her hand. “What’s wrong?”
She pushed me away, but her fingers curled in my shirt before she freed herself. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
I didn’t let her get away. “Piper.”
“I’m handling it.”
Yeah, not well. “What’s happening?”
She swallowed the hesitation in her voice, eyes wide and wild. Her hand tangled in the curls that escaped from her ponytail.
“Jasper isn’t back with Rosie yet.”
I checked my phone. “It’s not even seven o’clock.”
“He was supposed to bring her home at five.”
That prickling rush of heat and adrenaline returned.
Blinding.
Consuming.
Piper called Jasper again, and she searched out the window for the imaginary car that’d pull up the driveway. It didn’t come, and he didn’t answer. She ended the call and gripped her phone under her chin. She faced me again, her expression crippled with fear.
Fuck. I had to help. I had to do something. My knuckles cracked as my hands twisted into fists.
But getting angry wouldn’t fix anything. She needed to be comforted. Someone to support her. Someone to reassure her that everything would be okay—that I would make everything okay.
“He’s two hours late. Hasn’t called. Hasn’t texted.” Piper shook her head. “I have no idea where he is with her. What if something happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“She’s still so little, and he doesn’t understand that she’s just a baby.” Her voice hardened. “She might have choked on her dinner.”
I wasn’t letting her freak out over hypotheticals. “The kid inhales her food. Choking would mean missing the meal, and you know she’s not gonna do that.”
“What if she’s hurt?”
“I’ve seen her swan dive off the couch and bounce. She’s not hurt.”
Piper nodded, too much, stalked by panic.
“What if he took her?” she whispered.
Five little words that would have us piss ourselves in terror.
No. No way. I wouldn’t let Piper suffer such thoughts.
“What if he’s just an asshole and is stuck in traffic?” I guided her away from the window and into the den. She sat on couch, but she refused to stay still. I knelt before her and took her hand. “He’ll bring her home soon. I promise.”
“I could just kill Jasper.”
Not if I got there first. “If we don’t hear from him in a few minutes, we’ll talk about our options.”
Piper probably thought I meant going to the police. I had a better idea, one that included driving to the bastard’s house and ripping him apart, asshole to mouth.
No one upset Piper. No one threatened her baby.
I’d get Rose back to her momma, no matter the cost.
Fortunately, I