Chapter 11 #2
Hayden’s smirk turns cruel at my words. He crosses his arms over his broad chest, fixing me with the kind of stare that only a few weeks ago would’ve had me crumbling to the ground.
But after a while with these guys, I’ve learned they’re all just young men with enough problems to stack up and make killers.
But the question is… what made Hayden a killer?
And why is he so upset at the idea of Jacob never coming home?
“What are you asking, Mason?”
“I’m asking if you and Jacob are in a relationship.”
Hayden whistles and rolls his eyes. “Wow, you really don’t know shit.
You think I’m so upset because Jacob is behind bars?
I’m upset because the mission is fucked and Robin isn’t answering…
and I’ve got nothing to fucking do. Besides a paper that’s due in two days that I’m going to have to pull out of my ass. ”
“Nobody calls him Jake.”
Hayden tics again, then awkwardly clears his throat. “Parker does.”
That I know, but I’ve only heard him do it once. “Does he?”
“You know… You don’t get much insight from Parker, do you? Makes sense, he’s our silent killer. Mr. Quiet. Never really know what he’s thinking.”
Hayden’s struck my last nerve, but I don’t let him see it because I know that’s what he wants.
He’s deflecting all the worry he’s feeling onto me, trying to make it my problem.
But if there’s one thing I’m not going to start worrying about, it’s Parker’s and my relationship.
If I’m secure in anything, it’s Parker. The way he looks at me says it all.
“Well, you seem better than you did at the table earlier, so I’ll stop prying. But we have to try to get Jacob out, if not for you, then for Parker.”
Hayden tics again but leaves the study without another word.
He leaves the door open, and I take a few steadying breaths once he’s gone.
Jacob. I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes shut tight in exhaustion.
I don’t know what we’re going to do, and if Hayden has his way, we’ll probably all go down in a blaze of glory.
I’m not averse to more violence, but I’m definitely not in favor of any more of us going to prison.
When I exit the office, Parker is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a patient look on his tired face.
“Hi,” I say quietly, softly smiling his way.
“Hi,” Parker echoes. He looks both ways, then nods toward my bedroom at the end of the hall. “Got a few minutes for your man?”
I smirk. “Depends on what it’s for. Also, I really like you saying that.”
Parker quirks his head. “Saying what?”
“That you’re my man.”
Parker’s smile turns deep and wanting, and my insides go topsy-turvy at the sight.
Pleasing Parker is so easy. He never leaves me guessing and always happily takes what I’m willing to give with a thankful hand.
I think Parker has been starved for love his entire life, and every ounce of love I give him nourishes him down to the bone.
It’s a heady feeling to give someone as rawly powerful as Parker everything he needs.
Me? Just plain Mason. It’ll never get old.
“I’m your man and you’re mine, right?” Parker asks, clearly pleased.
I flush but hold his gaze, giving him a nod that makes him look somehow even more ecstatic, despite our current circumstances.
Parker lets out a sigh and steps forward to tug me into his arms. I go because he’s not left the house, because he’s showered, because he’s germ-free for the moment and so very, very mine.
My brain is quiet and happy in his arms, my body leaning against the strength of his with an ease I never once imagined in my life.
“We’ll figure out Jacob,” I murmur into the softness of his shirt.
Parker squeezes his arms tighter around me. “I know, but we’ve also got to figure out Hayden.”
“He’s… weird?”
Parker snorts. “Good word to settle on, but yeah, he’s weird. Jacob seems to keep the weirdest parts of him in check.”
“Is he mentally all right?”
Parker shrugs. “I’ve never asked him, which probably makes me a piece-of-shit friend, but I try to make this all as easy on him as I can. He’s the boss. We all know that.”
“When you say he’s the boss… Like, he doesn’t call the shots, does he?”
Parker pulls away to rub his hands up and down my cold arms. He smiles happily when my skin warms up and pebbles under his touch.
“He’s not Robin. Of that, I’m sure. Hayden is just very analytical, plus he’s very black or white.
To him there’s no grays. Which is why he and Jacob go at each other like cats and dogs, because Jacob and I…
We live somewhere in the middle. Nothing is as straightforward as Hayden would like to believe.
” Parker sighs in anguish, then leans his cheek against my cheek as if it’s his favorite place to be.
“Hayden is going to want to go to war to get Jacob out.”
“Don’t you?”
Parker shakes his head, mussing my hair up with the movement, which makes me snort with laughter. I can feel Parker’s smile in the air, the way everything lightens just enough to make me feel okay.
“I do. I’ll get him home, but I’m not going to risk blowing the world up to do it. Whereas Hayden will want to go nuclear.”
“I asked him if they’re in a relationship.”
Parker pulls away with wide eyes. “You what?”
Lifting my hand, I caress Parker’s unshaven jaw, enjoying the feel of the stubble against my palm. He’s wearing his glasses, which always makes him look so soft. “He called him Jake last night, and Jake again when we just spoke. Does that mean anything to you?”
Parker frowns, then looks behind us, gaze locked on something down the stairs.
When he turns back to me, his eyes are watery.
I feel like I’ve misstepped somehow, made a grievous mistake just by mentioning the nickname, but then Parker dips down to kiss my brain into silence.
He backs me up against the wall, cupping my jaw in the palm of his hand, tipping my head back to kiss me exactly how he wants.
I gasp into his mouth, then shiver with my entire body when he presses his thigh against my groin.
“Parker?” I mumble against his mouth.
“I love you,” Parker says, voice thready, lips still delightfully moving against mine.
“I’m fucking in love with you, and I don’t want to wait one more second not saying it because if something happened to either of us without me ever saying those words, I think that’d be the biggest travesty of all time. ”
I stare at him in shock, which is the worst move of all time because Parker looks a little terrified of all the words he said, and even more terrified when I stay silent.
Words escape me though, so I’ll have to show him another way.
I grab his face and pull him to me, kissing him with all the emotion I’ve built up over the past few weeks.
He tastes like Parker; not toothpaste, not mouthwash—he just tastes like him and also a hell of a lot like mine.
“Do you… Do you?” Parker asks against my mouth.
“I love you too. I think you’re my puzzle piece.”
Parker snorts and kisses me harder, his laughter pouring into my mouth like its own type of medicine.
My nose clanks against his glasses, so he pulls away to tug them off, but I stay him with a hand on his neck.
A curious smirk tilts up the side of his mouth, but he just pushes his glasses up higher and continues to kiss the air from my lungs.
We kiss for so long that my lips feel numb when he finally pulls away. I reach up to fix his hair, tugging the tie out and twisting his hair back up into a little bun with a few strands hanging loose. His eyes are tender and raw as he watches me take care of him.
“I want to—”
The doorbell rings before Parker can finish his sentence.
Why are we always being interrupted? Parker kisses me once more on the mouth, then grabs my hand and drags me down the stairs.
Dante and Reid are sitting at the kitchen table, eyes turned toward the front entrance.
Hayden stands in the backyard, casted arm slung over his head as he stares out at the yard like it contains all the answers to the universe.
“I’ll get the door, you can sit with Dante and Reid,” Parker says, gently shoving me toward the kitchen.
I stand firm and narrow my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my house. You can open the door if you want though.”
“Mason, really, just let me be—”
“No.”
Parker stares at me. I stare back at him.
Finally, Parker sighs in defeat and heads toward the door.
He aims a look over his shoulder as if to say stay.
I let him order me around and duck back a little so I’m in a good position to see who’s at the front door.
Parker opens the door halfway and heaves a sigh of relief.
He swings the door open to reveal a tall woman with a jet-black bob and a hot-pink pencil skirt with a matching blazer.
She shoves past Parker to look around the house, almost takes a step in, but Parker grabs her arm roughly.
“You’ve got to take your shoes off,” Parker orders, voice firm and brooking no argument.
The woman balks. “These are Jimmys.”
“Off,” Parker repeats.
“Madness,” the woman gripes, but she toes off her black heels so that her feet are bare minus her stockings. “Better?”
Parker nods in acceptance. “You may proceed.”
She stops in front of me with a curious look. “Who are you?”
“I’m—”
“This is my boyfriend,” Parker tells her, eyes sharp as he comes around to take my hand in his firm grip. “He’s part of the crew now.”
“All righttttt…” The woman lets out the loudest sigh I’ve ever heard, then looks around the room. “Where’s the blond one?”
“There are two of us now,” Reid yells out, but he stands and heads toward the back door anyway.
“I forgot.” She turns back toward me and offers her hand. “I’m Alexis, the attorney who keeps them all out of federal prison.”