“Piper doesn’t…she doesn’t get serious.” Ben seemed to be carefully considering his words. “You know what it was like when her dad cut out on her mom all those years ago. Her mother, Jesus, she was shattered. Drank herself to death after he left. No matter what Piper did, she couldn’t get her mom to stop grabbing for the bottle. She couldn’t get her mom to see there was still a life worth living.”

Beneath his desk, Eric’s hands clenched. Piper’s dad had left her family when she was fourteen. He’d run off with a younger woman. Divorced Piper’s mom. Started a new life somewhere. As far as Eric knew, Piper hadn’t seen or talked to her dad in years. As for her mom…

Her mom had died in a drunk driving accident during Piper’s second year of college. Eric had gone to the funeral. Ben had been at Piper’s right side. And Eric had been at her left. He’d taken her hand, and he’d just held her. She hadn’t cried, but her expression had broken his heart.

I knew I was in trouble back then. Maybe I always knew.

“After her mom died, that was when she broke it off with that Grady guy, too. They got into some kind of fight just a few days after she buried her mom. I think it was because the jerk didn’t show up for her mom’s funeral. He was on some kind of fraternity trip, instead. She needed him, and he wasn’t there. Piper…” His stare locked on Eric. “She doesn’t trust easily. She doesn’t believe in forever. She lives in the moment. She doesn’t want commitment because she doesn’t think it lasts. To her, there is no relationship that will last forever.”

So many things were clicking into place now. “Except her relationship with you.”

Ben nodded. “Because I don’t want anything from her. Never have. That’s the thing about best friends, you know? I am her constant, and I always will be.”

Eric surged to his feet. “We had to ask Piper for a list of her lovers so we could investigate them.” He paced toward the window. “You weren’t on the list.”

Ben gave a quick bark of laughter. “Uh, yeah, no big surprise.”

Sonofa—He spun to face his brother. “I heard you, back in high school, tell Clarence Wells that she was your first.”

Ben gaped at him. “What?” Then his eyes widened. “Dumbass!” Ben jumped to his feet. “You didn’t tell Piper that shit, did you?”

Well…