laugh, too, and that was another thing she really liked about him. Their banter was just as fun as it had always been, except now their sexual comments were directed at each other, not generalized as they were when they were with a group of friends. She kept waiting for him to try to change her, but he wasn’t, at least for now.
Unless she counted his unwillingness to take their relationship to the next level.
“Earth to Piper,” Kase said as he walked into the kitchen. He tossed a sub on the counter. “Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but this just came for you.”
“I didn’t order a sub.”
He shrugged. “Well, someone did.” He hiked a thumb over his shoulder and said, “Me and a few of the guys are going to eat across the street at La Love Café. Want to join us?”
“No, thanks. Apparently I have a sub to eat.”
“Cool. At least whoever ordered it knows what you like. See ya.”
As he walked out, Piper picked up the sub and turned it over. TWELVE-INCH MEAT LOVER was scrawled on the side of the wrapper with black marker. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Sounds like someone’s in trouble,” her sister Talia said as she walked into the room, her high heels clicking along the hardwood floor. “I just saw Kase; he said it was okay to come in. Am I interrupting?” Like Ben, Talia took after their father. She was tall, with dark hair and a careful demeanor. She was a professor at Beckwith University, not far from Windsor Hall, and the most even-keeled of Piper’s siblings.
“Hey, Tal. Not at all. What’s up?”
Talia pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose, smiling like she knew a secret. “I keep hearing about you and Harley being a couple. Mom’s all wound up about some big matchmaking scheme she and Harley’s mother concocted, and Willow said you and Harley have been together every day for almost two weeks. I know how you feel about committing to more than one date, so I figured I’d come to the source and see if the rumors were true.”
“Yeah. They’re true.” She handed the sub to Talia and said, “What do you make of this?”
“A sub?”
“A twelve-inch meat-lovers sub, which was delivered right after Harley sent me this text.” Piper navigated to Harley’s text message and handed her phone to Talia.
“I’d say Harley knows you like meat-lovers subs. Why?” She set the sub on the counter.
“No.” Piper sighed. “I mean, yes, he knows I like them. But that text? If you didn’t see the sub, what would you think?”
Talia bit her lower lip, her cheeks instantly turning pink. “Something dirty?” she said just above a whisper.
“Yes, something dirty! Ugh.” Piper paced. “I don’t know what to think. Is there some new dating rule about not having sex until the hundredth date or something? Am I that out of the loop?”
“Because he sent you a sub?” Talia asked.
Piper glowered at her. “No! Because he won’t have sex with me.”
“Oh!” Talia’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait. Really? Guys always want to have sex, especially with you.”
“Well, not Harley. We’ve done everything else, and I don’t know why he won’t go there.” They’d even had full-on phone sex last night after she’d gone home. It had started just as it had the other night. Their flirty texts had progressed to sexting. But last night when things started to get hot and hectic, Harley had called. She’d never had phone sex before, but with Harley she wanted to try everything. Even though that all-consuming desire had freaked her out, nothing could have stopped her from playing along with him. After days of his cutting her off before they could consummate their relationship, she’d been so sexually frustrated she’d held nothing back. He was even more demanding on the phone than he’d been during their sexting sessions, and he seemed to love that she was just as much of a control freak as he was. She’d given him commands as explicit as those he’d given her, and they’d ended up putting their call on speakerphone because they’d both needed the use of two hands. Harley’s demands, the heat and control in his voice, and the thought of him touching himself had sent her over the edge. When he’d ground out her name in the throes of his own release, she’d come even harder. Afterward, when they were both sated, their voices raspy, he’d told her in explicit detail what he’d have done