“Dammit!” Ben jerked back his head. “What the actual fuck? I was just mouthing off! The jerk was giving me a hard time because I was a virgin. I was a teenage punk who just said something stupid.” He rocked back on his heels. “Piper is going to kill me. I will need to grovel at her feet for weeks. Buy her a truck load of her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.”

“You shouldn’t have lied,” Eric gritted out.

“I lied for a day! And I was just a stupid kid! I felt like shit about the lie so I went back to Clarence the next morning and told him the truth!” He ran a hand over his face. “The asshat called me ‘Ben the Virgin’ for weeks after that. But I wasn’t going to let people start spreading rumors about Piper. I got my shit together and told the truth because no one has ever mattered to me more than she does.” Now he closed the distance between them. Stood toe-to-toe with Eric. “That’s why I’m asking you right now—what the hell is going on? Why are you doing all of this for her?”

“Because she matters to me, too. She’s been in my life just as long as she’s been in yours.” That was all he’d tell his brother. Because what was happening between him and Piper—she’d asked that he not say anything to Ben.

Did the woman realize he’d do anything for her?

Ben sucked in a deep breath. “They didn’t all end well.”

Eric frowned.

“Some of those guys wanted more from her. More than she was willing to give them. They didn’t know about her past. They didn’t know why she shut them down so fast when they started pushing for a commitment. They wanted more. Some of them were pissed when they didn’t get it.”

Anger flared within him. “I’ll need those names.”

Ben backed up. “Yeah, I thought you would…Grady Fox? You’re gonna want to put him at the top of the list.”

***

“You didn’t have to come shopping with me.” Piper glanced at the bags Eric was carrying out of the store. “I mean, I know you have work to do. A company to run. And I’m a big girl. I’m used to shopping on my own.”

Yeah, of course, he knew she could shop on her own, but he wanted her safe. To him, safety meant she stayed close to him. He hit a button on his key fob and the Benz’s trunk popped open. He dropped the bags inside, and the small, pink bag with the discreet lingerie logo slid to the side.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He eyed the small bit of white lace—