10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Parker
“So, what’re your plans for tomorrow evening?” Gretchen asks, but I barely hear her. My eyes are glued on the creep hitting on Amy. I recognize the type. He’s after one thing tonight, and he saw Amy alone...
“I have a party to go to,” I finally answer her absentmindedly. Don’t get me wrong, Gretchen is cute and even nice, but I’m not into her. “You?”
“I don’t know yet,” she says timidly. “But maybe we could exchange numbers? I’d love to pick your brain again.”
Ripping my eyes from Amy’s trainwreck, I finally gaze down at her. “I don’t give my number out. I’m sorry. You can add me on Facebook or something, but I’m not really looking for anything right now. ”
“Oh...” Her voice trails off as she glances in Amy’s direction. “I see.”
I have no idea what she might or might not be insinuating, but I don’t even acknowledge it. “It was nice to meet you, though. You seem great, and I have no doubt you’ll find something to do tomorrow evening. But...” I pause to sigh. “It looks like I need to go and rescue my friend from that creep.”
“They look like they’re getting along just fine,” Gretchen reasons, looking confused. “I don’t see why she needs to be rescued.”
“Lots of red flags,” I answer curtly, then down the rest of my hot chocolate. I toss it in the trash and head toward the two of them, where they stand on the edge of the grass. Thank goodness the band is taking a break.
“How about we head back to my pl—”
“Hey,” I interject, wrapping my arm around Amy’s shoulders. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
She looks up at me, confused. “Um...”
“This is my sister—and yeah, she’s single,” I say before Amy can even process what I’m doing. “But you don’t really fit the bill of what she’s into. She prefers men with more class.”
The guy’s jaw ticks. “What are you tryin’ to say? I don’t have class?”
“Parker...” Amy’s eyes grow wide. “What are you—”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say.” I drop my arm from around her and take a step forward, encroaching on the guy’s personal space. “I saw you pick her out and come over here, acting like a predator. She’s not going back to your place.”
The guy growls and steps toward me. “Women like a man who knows what he wants.”
“Stop it, Parker.” Amy grabs my arm. “He wasn’t being that bad.”
Not THAT bad.
“Yeah, this isn’t worth it,” the guy grunts, backing away from me. “I’ll find someone who actually appreciates the experience I can give them.”
“You’re disgusting. Get out of here,” I snap.
The guy has the audacity to shoot us a wink before disappearing into the crowd. I turn to Amy, fuming.
“I’m going to walk you home now,” I say through gritted teeth. “We need to make sure that weirdo isn’t going to follow you.”
“I don’t want to go home,” Amy argues, folding her arms across her chest like a stubborn kid. “I’m here to find a date for tomorrow evening. I don’t want to be alone on New Year’s. I’m tired of being alone—and you just ruined it!”
“Did you seriously think that guy was going to be your date?” I exasperate, throwing my hands into the air. “Amy, he was clearly trying to take advantage of you. He just wanted to get laid, and you were a prime target.”
Her expression falls, and I hate that it makes me feel so sympathetic for her. “I—I mean, I thought he might’ve been a little overzealous, but it seemed like he was genuinely interested in me. ”
I sigh, shutting my eyes for a moment and running my hands over my face. “Amy, he ... he just wasn’t a good guy, okay? He probably thought you were hot, but he clearly didn’t have an interest in who you are as a person. He was trying to take you home within five minutes of talking.”
“Oh.” Her voice is quiet as her eyes fall to her hands. “I guess you’re right.”
“Yeah,” I huff. “So, please let me walk you home. This thing ends in an hour, anyway. Everyone has already kind of paired off.”
“What about Weston?” she asks, looking up and around.
“He’ll be fine,” I snort, gesturing to where he’s standing with a brunette woman looking up at him with googly eyes.
“I don’t know why I have such horrible luck with dating.” Amy starts to walk toward the exit, and I trot to catch up with her.
“These events aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, but I think I’ve said that enough times. So, the truth is, I don’t know. Maybe love isn’t all that easy to find—or maybe it’s not worth all the pain.”
She looks up at me. “I really want to find someone.”
“Well, maybe you should try another method. Maybe just try to meet someone organically instead of forcing someone’s hand.”
“But I want a date for New Year’s Eve.”
“That’s in twenty-four hours, Amy. Can’t you just go to the party and hang out without having a date?” I lead the way out of the park and she walks closely beside me, her arm every so often brushing mine.
And I’m very aware of it.
For reasons I don’t understand.
“You looked like you hit it off with Gretchen,” Amy says instead of answering my question. “That was really cute. Did you get her number?”
I hesitate, meeting her gaze for a split second. “No, I didn’t. I’m not interested in her like that.”
“Right.” She rolls her eyes. “You’re not interested in anyone.”
“Nope. I’m not.”
“My birthday is on Valentine’s Day,” she says randomly, her eyes cast out in front of us as we exit the park and head toward her apartment building. “I’m turning thirty.”
“Okay...” I try to read her face, feeling like I’m missing something very important. “You want a birthday party or something?”
“No.” She smiles slightly. “Maybe just a boyfriend.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Why?”
“Because I just want to find love, okay?” She stops and spins around to face me. “I want to find someone who cares about me, and I want a wedding—and kids. I’ve worked so hard to get where I’m at in my life, and I missed out on finding someone to share it all with. I’m tired of being alone, Parker.”
“I get that, but finding love isn’t going to fill a void or something.”
She sighs, adjusting her black beanie. “I don’t need to fill a void. I just ... I don’t know. I guess I just want a boyfriend. I want to share Valentine’s Day with someone. It’s my favorite holiday, it’s my birthday, and I’ve never gotten to celebrate Valentine’s with a significant other before. ”
“Well, I don’t mean to make you feel worse, but ... realistically, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”
Amy lets out a frustrated groan. “Yeah, you’re not making me feel any better.”
“Okay, okay,” I say calmly. “Sorry.”
“A lot can happen in two months, Parker. I’m going to have a boyfriend by then.” Her tone is as defiant as her expression, hardening under the streetlights.
And I can’t help myself. “Oh yeah? You wanna bet?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re seriously mocking me right now, and it’s disgusting.”
“Not as disgusting as the guy you were talking to tonight,” I say matter-of-factly.
“You know what? Fine . Let’s bet on it.”
“Alright. I bet you can’t find a boyfriend in time for Valentine’s Day. But if I’m wrong, I’ll buy you those Band Allen concert tickets. Two of them. One for you, and one for your boyfriend.”
“Deal, but you better start saving because those concert tickets are expensive.”
I laugh. “Don’t hold your breath. I doubt it’ll happen.”
“Well, I’m not giving up on love. Two months is plenty of time to fall in love. You just wait and see.”
I purse my lips. “Okay. But if you lose, you have to buy me concert tickets to the jazz band I want to see on Valentine’s Day. ”
She immediately agrees. “Okay, perfect. And if you need someone to go with, I’ll even torture myself with listening to jazz music for you.”
I raise a brow. “But you like jazz music.”
“Not with you,” she fires back, huffing like a little kid.
I fight not to smile. “Okay, Amy. Whatever you say. Come on.”
Her shoulders and chin stay up as she resumes stalking toward her apartment building. “You’re going to be sulking when you have to buy me and my boyfriend those concert tickets.”
“Uh, huh.” I laugh, trotting to catch up with her. For a petite little thing, she can really move. “Keep dreaming.”
“Thanks, I will. I refuse to let someone like you kill all my dreams.” She glares at me, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re literally so bitter—a fun sponge, really. I don’t understand how you have so many friends.”
“What an insult,” I quip, unable to take her seriously. “I’m really not that bitter. I’m actually quite happy with myself and who I am—I don’t need someone else in the picture. I’ve seen love go wrong too many times. It’s not worth the trouble.”
She doesn’t say anything to that, and we make the rest of the walk to her apartment building in silence. She stops just outside the door, her expression shifting as she glances around.
“What?” I ask, looking around, too.
“I ... Do you ... ugh .”
“You good? ”
“I’m ... um ... do you think that guy might’ve actually followed us?”
I blink a couple of times and then sigh when I realize I scared her. “Oh ... no, I don’t think so.” I glance around to be sure, scanning the faces on the street. New York is busy right now and full of tourists who have decided to spend the holidays here.
“Could you ... could you walk me up?” Her question makes my heart flip, and I blame the cold—or something.
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can walk you up,” I say, giving her a half-smile. “Let’s go.” I grab the door and pull it open for her. She slips through, flashing me a sheepish smile. I follow her to the elevator, feeling guilty for freaking her out.
But also, she needs to understand the risks. There are a lot of creeps in the world, and no, I can’t be sure that the guy she was talking to was a full-blown creep... But he was a walking red flag.
“So ... you never told me where you live,” Amy says quietly as we ride the elevator up to her floor. “You said it’s not far from here?”
Only twenty-two blocks away.
“Not far, no,” I reply, dodging the question. If I told her that I lived on the other side of the city, she might think I’m the creep for walking her home.
“Do you think you could walk me to the party tomorrow?” she asks as the elevator dings and we step out.
“Uh...” Talk about way out of the way. “Sure.”
She leads me to her apartment, stopping to punch in the code. “It’s just a studio apartment. I wasn’t sure what the cost of living would be like, so I wanted to make sure I could afford my rent comfortably.”
That’s ... that’s smart, actually.
“You wanna see inside?” she asks as she opens the door.
My heart is pounding in my chest. I glance down at my watch. “Nah, I probably should get home. Maybe some other time,” I say stupidly.
She meets my gaze, her thick lashes and bright baby blues borderline breathtaking under the lights. “Okay, well, I’ll send you the link to my concert tickets.”
Right. The bet.
“And I’ll send you mine. Good night, Amy.” I spin around, and once she shuts the door, I take a deep breath.
Free concert tickets. Cool.