Chapter 3
PARKER
Iblink, unable to believe what I’m seeing.
Sleep and alcohol make my vision blurry, but sadly, it’s not enough to make me think I’m dreaming.
I wish I was.
The street before us is clogged with fire engines and ambulances. Lights are flashing, and sirens are blaring. People are rushing around everywhere, either trying to help or to escape.
Ripping my eyes from the people, the knot in my stomach tightens as I take in my building.
Bright orange flames are licking up the sides, black smoke billowing into the sky.
“Oh my god,” I gawp, unable to process what I’m seeing.
“Your apartment is at the back, right?” Linc asks, his voice full of disbelief.
“Uh…y-yeah.”
Fear rips through me as I think about my neighbors. About the young family next door. The elderly man with the softest dog I’ve ever met who live opposite me.
I press my hand to my stomach as the food and drink I’ve overindulged in tonight threaten to make a reappearance.
“It’s going to be okay,” Linc assures me, although his voice is lacking conviction.
He can’t make me promises like that, and he knows it.
My gaze returns to the carnage before us, and the second I see a familiar face, I throw the door open and run for her.
“Maddie,” I cry as she watches her husband and a paramedic help her young son and daughter into the back of the ambulance.
They’re walking, so that’s a relief.
Maddie twists, and the second she sees me coming, she bursts into tears.
Instantly, I gather her up in my arms, my eyes locked on her husband, George, over her shoulder as he lowers his daughter to the gurney.
“It all happened so fast,” Maddie cries, clinging to me like a lifeline.
“You’re okay,” I assure her through my own tears. “You’re okay, and so are your babies.”
At the mention of them, she rips herself from my hold and races toward the ambulance.
Both of them sit there listening to every single word the paramedic says. Their cheeks are black with smoke, and their eyes are heavy and tired, but they’re okay.
George gathers Maddie in his arms, and they cling to each other.
Lifting my hands, I wipe my tears away, feeling utterly alone.
My world has just gone up in smoke—quite literally—and I’ve got no one to hold me like that.
I might be on the cusp of getting everything I’ve ever wanted career-wise, but what about everything else?
It’s New Year’s, and I was about to return home to my apartment alone, yet again.
I suck in a ragged breath, and a cough erupts. I’m standing out on the street, and the smoke is affecting me. I can’t even begin to imagine what Maddie, George, and the rest of my neighbors have been through.
Fuck. I hope they all made it out.
I stumble back, staring up at my building as it burns.
The firefighters are already trying to tackle it. They might be succeeding, but to my untrained eye, there seems to be more fire than water, even with the rain, and that isn’t a good sign.
A sob breaks free as I think about my home.
Sure, it was never my forever home, but it was my safe place all the same, and I loved it.
It’s stupid and I feel materialistic as fuck, but thoughts of all my things make the tears fall faster.
The clothes and decorations I’ve purchased while on shopping trips with Casey.
Silly gifts that Rett sends me from his travels around the country for games.
Christmas and birthday gifts from my parents.
The drawing Sutton did for me that I have pride of place, pinned to my fridge.
As I break down, a set of arms wrap around me.
I startle, not expecting anyone to be comforting me when they’re all living their own nightmare right now.
But then his rich, manly scent hits my nose a beat before my cheek presses against his firm chest, and the tears fall faster.
Linc.
With one hand banded tight around my back, his other hand sinks into my hair, holding me tighter than I think I’ve ever been held before.
It’s…too nice. Too much.
But at the same time, I’m powerless but to accept it.
Voices float around me, but I don’t have the energy to pull my head from his chest. The image of our building burning is seared into my head; I don’t need to look up and see it all over again.
I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen enough to ensure the image will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life.
Linc’s chest vibrates as he says something, but I don’t make out any words.
The next thing I know, we’re moving.
“W-what—”
I look up and find we’re walking back toward his car. His arm is locked tightly around me, and I shamelessly cling to him. If I don’t, there’s every chance I’ll end up in a pile on the damp ground. At least that’s what I tell myself because I can’t cope with any other reason right now.
“There’s nothing we can do here but get in the way,” he explains, his voice soft.
Another sob bubbles up my throat when he releases me to open the passenger door, and thankfully, I manage to catch it before it erupts.
He helps me get in as if I’m a child. He pulls back, and I expect him to move out of the way and close the door, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he lingers, his eyes bouncing between mine as if he’s searching for something.
I blink, forcing another tear to fall.
Without missing a beat, Linc reaches out and catches it with his thumb.
“It’s going to be okay, babe,” he says softly before leaning forward and pressing the sweetest kiss on my forehead.
It does very little for my fragile state.
He pulls back, checks on me again, and offers a sympathetic smile before backing away and closing the door.
Coldness washes through me the second we’re separated. I hate it, but I’m powerless to stop it.
It only lasts five seconds because then he’s back, dropping into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.
He spins the car around, putting the devastation behind us.
Relief rushes through me, but it’s quickly followed by guilt.
All of my neighbors are back there in the thick of it, and I’m being driven away unharmed.
I have no concept of time, but as we drive in silence, a thought hits me. I sit upright.
“Where are we going?” I bark, my heart racing.
“My place,” Linc says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“No, Linc. I can’t. Just…” I rack my brain for a place I could go.
Casey would always be my first port of call. But she’s just moved in with Kodie, and it’s New Year’s. It wouldn’t be fair to insert myself into their life. Casey would tell me it’s okay, and Kodie probably would too, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.
“Take me to a hotel. I’ll get a r-room a-and…” My voice breaks. I hate it.
“Fuck that, Parker. I’m not leaving you alone with nothing.”
“I won’t let Rett kick your ass,” I muse, trying to ignore the way my chest swells at his words.
“Even if he could kick my ass, I’m not worried about him.”
“I can’t stay with you,” I argue. “I’m about to be your trainer. That’s—”
“Parker,” he sighs, lifting his hand from the wheel to comb his damp hair back from his face. “Like I said earlier, we’ve been friends far longer than anything else. And plus, loads of the guys have roommates. It’s not a big deal.”
“I’m not being your roommate,” I state as he takes the final turn toward his building.
I might know where he lives, but I’ve never been inside. Honestly, I dread to think what I’ll find. It’s probably the epitome of a bachelor pad. Fucking hell, there are probably women’s panties and bras everywhere. Beer cans. Dirty dishes.
I shudder at the thought.
I’m not a neat freak. But I do like my home to be at a certain level of clean and tidy—something that I can’t imagine Linc sharing.
I’ve heard stories about the team hanging out at his place.
I bet it’s all giant couches, huge TV screens, and more game consoles than one man should possess.
I’m going to hate it.
“Okay, so where are you going to go?” he asks, an amused lilt to his voice that pisses me the fuck off.
“A hotel, like I said.”
“It’s New Year’s, Parker. Everywhere decent will have been booked up months ago.”
“Okay, so take me somewhere that's not decent. I’m not a flashy hockey player who expects the finer things in life. I don’t give a shit if I have to live out of a shitty motel for a few weeks.”
“Absolutely not,” he states before turning toward his underground garage.
I suck in a deep breath as the roller door rises for his fancy Porsche. I want to keep fighting, but as he pulls into one of his many parking spaces—benefits of owning the penthouse—my body is shutting down faster than I can control.
My eyes are locked on the white wall of the garage as he kills the engine.
He doesn’t move or say anything for long seconds. They’re agonizing, but I can’t do anything about it.
“Come on, let’s get you into bed,” he finally says before pushing the door open.
His words drag me back to reality almost as much as the slam of his car door. What he said to piss me off at the party earlier rings out in my head, and a little bit of my previous frustration edges its way in.
“I’m not sleeping in your bed,” I hiss the second he opens my door.
“Whoa,” he says, rearing back a little as if I just slapped him. “I was gone for like, three seconds,” he reasons.
“Earlier, you said about getting me into your bed. That is not what is happening.”
He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Jeez, I was just trying to have a laugh with you earlier, babe. I hate to say it, but you looked sad. That’s why I came over to perk up your New Year’s.”
“Oh great. So not only was it a midnight kiss I didn’t want, it was a pity kiss at that.”
He sighs. “It wasn’t out of pity, Parker.”
“Then why?” I probe.
He’s Lincoln Storm. The Joker, the Playboy, the guy you go to if you want a good time.
He saw an opportunity to fuck with me, and he went for it.
It wasn’t the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
His playful grin drops, and his eyes soften. “Because no one should start a new year feeling sad, Parker. Least of all you, when you’ve got so much to look forward to.”
My mouth opens to say something, but I quickly discover I have no words.
He’s right. No one should go into a new year feeling how I was in the seconds leading up to the ball drop. But is being irritated by your best friend’s brother when he decides to kiss you unannounced any better?
I’m yanked from my thoughts—literally—as he reaches in, grabs my hand, and effortlessly pulls me from the car.
On any other day, I might fight him, especially as he doesn’t seem to be in a rush to release me.
I breathe a sigh of relief when his hand finally drops mine, but it only lasts a second, because as we wait for the elevator to take us to his penthouse, he throws his arm around my shoulder and tugs me into his body.
“Come on, Little P. I hate seeing you sad.”
“My life just went up in flames. I’m allowed to be sad,” I mutter as we enter the enclosed space.