Claimed By The Best Man: A Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance Read online

  Yes. Even a Marine gets lonely.

  Even a Marine has needs.

  Desires.

  The group stays pretty tight for one about to break up and go their separate ways, but it only feels like that because I’m in a hurry now.

  Urgent to get Piper alone, to talk to her.

  To be closer to her.

  There’s mention of a final, full dress rehearsal before the big day next week and again I hear my voice almost shout over everyone else.

  “Only one?” I ask, making Rhys cover his mouth, laughing. Giving me that I told you not to mouth off look.

  But I mean it this time.

  Will I only get to see Piper one more time before the wedding?

  It’s not enough.

  I already crave her and she’s standing four fucking feet from me.

  “A final rehearsal before the ceremony,” Denise says icily, narrowing her eyes on me before giving a different kind of look at her friend, Clara.

  The look of someone who just wants to get home but is dependent on someone else to get them there.

  “We’ll see you two soon, buddy,” Rhys says, reaching up slightly as he pretends to choke me with one arm.

  As close to an emotional ‘thanks for coming’ if ever there was one from him.

  “Careful with that dress, sweetie,” Clara chimes in, and Piper looks at me again.

  Her eyes wide now, pupils dilated with the same arousal I can still feel in my groin.

  “I’ll get her home in one piece,” I promise.

  Vowing to learn more before I let myself fall as hard and deep as I know I already am.

  I thought I was just at the edge, but letting Rhys, Clara, and Denise go ahead of us, I feel my hand gravitate to the small of Piper’s back.

  Gently guiding her out front, no one seems to notice the nuclear explosion going off inside me when I finally rest a hand on her.

  Except for Piper.

  She gasps a little, then her whole body relaxes into the gentle pressure I apply. Transmitting more than just a gentleman might as he leads a young lady to his car to drive her home.

  I feel her looking up at me briefly, but I daren’t look at her until the others leave.

  I really can’t because I don’t know what I’ll do or say next when I lose myself in those deep blue pools.

  Having said our goodbyes to the group, it’s a short walk in the opposite direction to my truck, and I feel the loss when I take my hand off her back.

  Not wanting to appear totally possessive, but reminding myself to find out more about her.

  Get to know her, even though my instincts, my gut tells me to just grab a hold of her and tell her what she’s doing to me.

  “It’s huge,” she exclaims, giving me another stab of near panic.

  I thought I’d adjusted my aching dick just so, making it run straight up the zip of my jeans.

  “Your truck,” she adds, a slight smile playing on her lips once she spots my work truck a few yards ahead.

  “How’d you know it’s mine?” I ask quirking a brow.

  “It’s the only thing on the street that you’d fit into,” she says with a knowing grin, having made her own calculations.

  Oh, I’m sure there’s at least just one more thing on this street I could fit into. Given a chance.

  I help Piper into her seat first, making sure she’s buckled up. Having to lean over to show her how the belt rig works, both of us breathing a little heavy when my arm brushes her chest, making her gasp and me grunt.

  “Sorry,” I murmur. “Just these aren’t regular seat belts… Off a Humvee originally,” I explain.

  “I don’t mind,” she chirps, trembling slightly as I turn my head. Our faces barely two inches apart.

  The warmth of her breath brushing my nose as she bites her lip. The heat from her body already fused with my own.

  “Let’s get you home then,” I hear myself tell her. Sounding like an echo from far away as I gently close the door.

  Rounding the truck from behind, I adjust myself again, feeling a heavy trail of warm precome dripping from my tip.

  All ready for her.

  I want to drive that home into her, not drive her home to her mother’s.

  We sit in silence for almost half the way, my foot light on the gas, my brain about to burst because I have a million questions, but none of them seem like the right ones.

  “So…” We finally both say at the exact same moment, turning to face each other at the first red light.

  Our shared laughter breaks the ice, and I realize she might be feeling the same way I do.

  Maybe. But it could just be my wishful thinking.

  Wanting to ask so much, but not say too much in case it puts one of us off or bores us.

  “You first,” I instruct her, pained when the light turns green and I have to take my eyes off hers.

  But I need to focus.

  She’s precious cargo, and my mission is to get her home safe.

  Anything else I can get from her along the way is a bonus.

  “Ooh,” she draws out. “Can’t you go first?” she asks innocently. Her hand absently reaches for me, resting on my arm as I drive.

  Adding a new dimension to my hardness, just from a single touch.

  “Please?” she begs.

  “Alright,” I concede.

  Here goes nothing.

  “You’re all grown up since the last time I saw you,” I say. “Must’ve broken a few hearts along the way, or is there someone special?” I ask, trying to sound casual but regretting my words instantly.

  I feel her hand slip from my arm. Feel her whole energy shrink.

  It’s the one thing I need to know, and I’ve broken all the rules of interrogation by asking the real, most obvious question first.

  Idiot.

  “I mean… I was just…” I stammer.

  Ah shit.

  “There’s no one,” Piper whispers hoarsely, looking out the window and growing silent.

  I realize in a split second not just how I’ve fucked up our first moments alone together, but also just how emotionally sensitive she really is.

  I could give up. I could tell myself it’s hopeless, that a girl half my age could never feel anything for an older guy like me. But I wasn’t trained in the art of quitting.

  I wasn’t shown how to surrender or how to tell myself to give up when the bullets start singing past my ears.

  No.

  I’m a Marine and I’ll see this through to the end, taking whatever end result I get, knowing I’ve given it a hundred and ten percent.

  “Me neither,” I tell her simply. Hoping she reads my true meaning with those two words.

  Happier than hell there’s no one standing between me and her, and happier still when she turns to look up at me again.

  “Really?” she asks, trying to hide her own growing smile.

  “Really,” I confirm.

  Feeling myself relax for the first time in what must be twenty years as I notice her smile stick for the rest of the way back to her place.

  A smile I vow to keep in my memory forever.

  The first night we really met.

  Chapter Four

  Piper

  Mom never mentions Reeve, and Rhys? Well, he’s more into my mom than talking to me about his best friend.

  So when I hear from Reeve’s lips that he’s single, I just about burst with joy.

  That damp patch between my legs threatening to leave a freaking puddle in his truck seat.

  Am I still kidding myself, like I’d actually stand a chance with someone as perfect as he is?

  Maybe he thinks I’m just a kid still?

  God, I hope he doesn’t remember that time I threw up all over him… He probably does. Who could forget something like that?

  But he’s too much of a gentleman to even mention it.

  Sure, he’s old enough to be my dad, but age is just a number.

  I mean, look at the guy.

  I’d never have picked him for a day over thirty, but I know for a fact that he and Rhys are the same age, forty-two. Give or take a few months.

  Reminding myself I promised only to keep it as a fantasy, so as not to feel hurt, I’m buzzing all over by the time we get back home.

  Already planning the coffee or snacks I can prepare for him, any excuse to keep us talking, keeping us close before mom and Rhys…

  Get home.

  Pulling up to our house, I can see they’re already there.

  “They must’ve beat us home,” I murmur bitterly.

  “Rhys is a bit of a lead foot,” Reeve sighs.

  Once inside I’m hit with the double-whammy to boot.

  “Honey? Why don’t you run along and get changed? Us grown up’s have something to discuss with Reeve,” Mom tells me, making me turn red with embarrassment.

  Talking to me like I’m a little kid all over again.

  Rhys gives a sympathetic but knowing look, matched only by Reeve’s look of sudden annoyance.

  But, I have to remind myself: Her house. Her rules.

  “Fine,” I snap, giving mom a look so fierce, so angry, I couldn’t care less anymore about her or her stupid house.

  Maybe she can find another bridesmaid too.

  This freaking sucks.

  I try not to act out like a brat, but my thumping feet and bedroom door slamming behind me are all I can hear through the thoughts in my head and the tears I know I can’t stop.

  I feel stupid as I flop onto my bed, not caring about the damned dress that still doesn’t fit.

  Punching my pillow. Wanting it to feel the same hurt I do.

  Thinking about Reeve. About how we just spoke. Having him brush against me.

  Stupid.

  Thinking a g
uy like him… And me…?

  Who am I kidding?

  My tears die down after a while and a kind of detached state of nothingness comes over me after a good cry.

  Not a feeling of confidence, but a feeling like nothing really matters.

  That the worst has maybe already happened before it even began. And all in my imagination.

  “Go away,” I growl when there’s a hollow knock on my door, imagining its mom come to say sorry for the millionth time in my life.

  “Piper?” A familiar, deep voice asks. “Can I come in?”

  Reeve!

  I bolt upright, sniffing back my emotions and wiping the tears with my palms.

  Catching a glimpse of myself in my mirror, the phrase ‘looking like shit’ would come as a compliment right about now.

  “Just a minute,” I croak, working double-time to slip out of my dress and into some sweat pants and a sweater, opting for no bra or panties.

  No time for that.

  I unlatch my door and trying to act nonchalant, I raise my brows in question as I look up at Reeve.

  “You okay?” he rumbles, looking down at his feet before shifting his eyes to mine again.

  I can only shrug, afraid if I try to speak I’ll throw myself at him, needing to feel his arms around me.

  “Your mom… Uh… They wanna talk to you,” he murmurs, as I realize he’s not shy or nervous.

  He’s trying to contain himself for a different reason.

  Like he’s just learned the biggest secret in the world but can’t or won’t say anything just now.

  “I’ll be there in a sec,” I say, trying to sound disinterested, but also unable to close my door on Reeve.

  We stand in silence for a good minute before I hear my mom calling out to us both.

  “Reeve? Is she coming out?”

  He twists his mouth and reaches out for me with his big mitt only to hesitate at the last second.

  “C’mon. It’ll be alright now, I promise,” he says.

  Telling me in a way I know is the truth.

  I’d trust him with my life, but when he looks at me like that? When he focuses on nothing but me.

  I’d walk across broken glass and swim through lava just for a look like that.

  To hear him promise me everything’s gonna be fine.

  I follow him down to the living room, noticing how he has to stoop just a little under the arched doorways in our old place.

  Doorways I always thought were bigger than average until just now.

  Mom looks like she’s just sucked on a lemon, far from forgiving my little outburst earlier.

  Rhys is as easygoing as ever though, sharing a knowing smile with his best friend as Reeve takes a seat, leaving the single-seater for me.

  All the ‘grown up’s’ look like some kind of panel of judges or specialized committee.

  “What is it?” I ask, curious beyond my control now.

  Mom starts, but Rhys talks over her before she can get started.

  “Your mom and I have been thinking,” he pauses. “About when we’re away on honeymoon…”

  Ugh! Here we go again. What have they planned now? Sending me to a convent? Having me cast in bronze so I have no freedom at all?

  My look seems to slow Rhys down, and mom seizes the chance to butt in and tell it like it is.

  How it’s gonna be in her house while she’s away.

  “We can’t leave you all alone, sweetie. And Denise is tied up with other things…”

  I feel my eyes shift to Reeve’s, who’s suddenly studying the ceiling with a great interest for some reason with his mouth clamped in a half-smile.

  “…Apart from the only person available, he’s the only one Rhys would trust to watch over you. And just at night times. You’re still free to do what you want during the day,” Mom adds. Almost excusing herself now, looking to Rhys for backup.

  Relieved when he takes over again.

  “I’ve asked Reeve to watch over you while we’re gone,” he explains.

  It’s happening, they’re not asking if I want him to watch over me or not.

  “Like your mom says, it’s just for the nights. He can sleep in the guest room. You’ll hardly know he’s here.”

  My mind starts to fragment, feeling like a jigsaw puzzle I’m struggling to complete even though the last piece is right in front of me.

  “Reeve,” I murmur, sounding like a lobotomy patient.

  Rhys shoots his best friend a glance, then looks to me again.

  “If there’s one man I know who could protect anyone from anything, it’s Reeve,” Rhys says, his eyes meeting mine, full of conviction.

  That Marines truth shining through them.

  “It’s only for a week,” Mom reminds me. “Rhys has to work once we get home. And then there’s the other thing,” she adds, everyone except Reeve shifting a little nervously in their seats.

  “The other thing?” I ask, wondering just how much better my night could get.

  Mom and Rhys gone for a whole week, and Reeve staying here, to watch over me?

  I almost pinch myself as they’re telling me, but feel the dread rising soon after.

  The trade-off tone in my mom’s voice.

  “About moving in with Rhys and me once we’re back. You didn’t think we were all gonna live in this tiny place, did you?” she asks.

  It’s Reeve’s turn to interrupt.

  A low growl comes from somewhere deep inside him as he leans forward, resting his big elbows on his knees.

  Looking like he could pounce if he had to.

  “Maybe we can talk about that later,” Rhys is quick to add, noting not just my reaction, but his best friend’s too.

  “It’s been a long day, so why don’t we all get some rest. An early night?” he suggests, standing and eying Reeve then the front door, signaling their own private conversation about to happen outside.

  “You wanna talk about it, sweetie?” Mom asks, sounding tired, like the whole day’s effort to keep up appearances has drained her to nothing.

  “We can talk in the morning,” I tell her. Glad to get back to my room.

  Gladder still to realize I have a whole week of Reeve to myself coming up which even cancels out the nightmare thought of having to move in with Rhys and my mom.

  I like Rhys, I really do.

  But living with my mom and Rhys, in a totally strange house?

  Closing my eyes, I make what I guess must be the closest thing to an actual, genuine prayer.

  Just let Reeve care for me. Let him see me for who I am, not what I look like… And please! Have him take me away from all this.

  But how will I survive the week before the week?

  He’s only just left and I already need him back again.

  In one day, one stupid pre-rehearsal, I’ve gone from the pitiful bridesmaid whose dress never fits, to quite possibly the luckiest girl on earth.

  A whole week with Reeve!

  It cancels out everything else, nothing could make me happier right now.

  There’s a sudden tapping at my window, which makes me jump until I recognize the huge outline of the man himself.

  In a heartbeat, I’ve slid open the window, his perfect teeth glowing in the semi-darkness outside.

  “If I’m gonna be your minder, then you have to do what I say,” he says in a low voice, leaning closer at the same time I do, our noses almost touching through the screen as he lowers himself to be at my eye level.

  It’s the most thrilling thing I’ve heard, and an instant tsunami for my already quivering pussy.

  I try to say something in reply. Anything.

  I have so many questions, but in his gravelly voice, he only gives me a simple instruction as if our lives depend on it.

  “Just make sure it’s me who picks you up for the next wedding rehearsal. We’ll talk more than,” he says firmly.

  Robbed of the power of speech, I can only jerk my head up and down, feeling it starting to spin at the same time.

  This is turning into the best day ever.

  “But that’s days away,” I finally manage as I drop my gaze to the floor. Hoping he would climb through the window, toss me down on the bed, and show me just how he intends to look after me.

  But there are only the leaves of the bushes moving when I look up.

  Reeve doing what he’s been trained to do, appear and disappear at will.

  There’s one place he’ll always be from now on though. In my heart. Forever.