Chapter 44
LINCOLN
Her sweet, floral scent fills my nose as I hold her, her body trembling in my arms.
I fucking get it. This place…her home…
It may not have burned, but the damage is devastating. I’m sure there are things that we can salvage, but she’s lost so much.
I soothe her the best I can, whispering words of support and rubbing my hand up and down her back, but I have no idea how much it helps. This isn’t my area of expertise. If she really wanted support, she should have done this with Casey. She’d have known exactly what to say and do.
She was going to do this alone, a little voice points out.
Fuck, I’m so glad I didn’t allow her to do that.
The minutes stretch on as she sobs in my arms, and I stand there helplessly, trying to be the man she needs in this moment.
As time goes on, the self-doubt begins to set in hard.
If you were helping, she’d have stopped crying by now, right?
You have no idea how to support someone else.
Why haven’t you said anything? She needs you.
“P-Parker?” I stutter, needing to banish the voices in my head.
She sucks in a ragged breath, her grip on me tightening for a beat before she finally pulls her head from my chest.
My breath catches as she stares up at me with big, beautiful, teary eyes.
That look…it’s like being hit by a truck.
Suddenly, I’m a teenager again, staring at the girl I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember, breaking down because her asshole of a boyfriend shredded her heart.
Pain rockets through me.
All I wanted to do that night was help. And just like now, I did everything wrong.
But it’s Parker. I’m powerless to resist.
My heart begins to race as memories from that night collide with this moment.
She continues gazing at me. Her eyes are red, her makeup smeared everywhere, and her cheeks are wet.
She’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. And watching her in pain is the worst thing in the world.
Her hands shift, and I startle at the movement as they slide around my front and then up my chest. Her brows pinch as if she’s deep in concentration, learning the lines of my body. It’s not necessary; after only a few weeks, I feel like she knows my body better than I do.
But then, my brain short-circuits when she wraps her arms around my neck and lifts up slightly on her toes.
The air between us crackles like a live wire, and I swear, I have to be dreaming. Sure, we’ve become close over the last few weeks. But this…
It’s never felt like this.
My head drops, closing the space between us.
Desperation, grief, and the need for an escape roll off her. She’s using me. Just like she did that night.
But I don’t care.
Parker Donnelly can use me for the rest of my days, and I’d die a very happy man.
“Parker,” I whisper, both terrified to do something to stop her, but also needing to give her the option.
Her lips part, and I swear the quietest, softest, “please,” I’ve ever heard in my life slips past them.
Fuck it.
In a heartbeat, my lips are on hers and my grip on her body has tightened again, pinning her up against mine.
I kiss her sweetly, once, twice, testing to make sure she’s really into this before I begin to deepen it.
The second she feels my tongue sneak out and trace her bottom lip, she groans.
Her mouth opens, giving me the access I crave, and that’s it. I’m done for.
One hand lifts to cup the back of her head, my fingers twisting in her hair as the other drops to her ass. Her ass that’s been taunting me in these fucking leggings every day for weeks now.
Her own arms tighten around my neck, and she stretches up on her toes to meet my height.
Our tongues slide against each other, and I swear it’s the best thing I’ve felt in years.
Kissing has never really been my thing. A means to an end.
Unless it’s Parker.
But then, everything is different with Parker.
I lose myself in her taste, sweet but slightly salty from her tears, the soft yet desperate way she kisses, the soothing yet slightly painful way her fingers twist in the hair at the nape of my neck.
I swear the fire that rages through my body is far hotter than the one that ripped through this building not so long ago.
Everything surrounding us falls away; the only thing that is important is her.
I don’t know how long it goes on for. It could be just a few minutes, or we could be standing there an hour. Time no longer exists.
But I do know that when she pulls back, it’s nowhere near long enough.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“Never apologize for that,” I rasp, my voice thick with desire.
Parker shakes her head. “That wasn’t…”
Predicting what she’s trying to say, I make the decision for her.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, taking a step back and giving her little choice but to come with me.
She hesitates, but only for a second.
“My things,” she whispers.
“I’ll sort it,” I promise.
“But tonight is my last chance to get in here.”
“I’ll sort it,” I repeat.
There’s no way on Earth I’m letting this place be cleared out before she has a chance to go through it and see what she can save.
“Linc,” she warns.
“Shush, babe,” I whisper in her ear, loving the way she shudders the second my breath hits her skin. “Trust me to take care of you.”
She swallows thickly, and I know instantly that she’s thinking about that night. It does nothing for the tent I’ve pitched in my sweats. Thankfully, with everything going on, she’s too distracted to notice.
Silently, we make our way back down the stairs, my arm locked around her shoulders.
Her body continues to tremble, and every now and then, she lifts her hand to wipe a tear.
I fucking hate it. But aside from taking her away and removing the stress, I don’t know what to do to fix it.
The second we both step outside, we both inhale a deep, clean breath of air. I swear, it’s never felt so good.
“I’m sorry for—”
“Whoa,” I say, turning toward her and taking her cheeks in my hands.
Her eyes are dark, sadness etched into every single one of her features. My thumbs wipe her cheeks, clearing away the silent tears that continue to fall.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t ask for any of this.”
Her eyes search mine. I don’t know if she finds what she’s looking for, but after a few seconds, she sighs.
“I know, but if I weren’t so tired then—”
“This week has been a lot,” I assure her.
She’s not the only one who’s feeling a little broken.
“But as much as I want to tell you that it’s going to get easier, the season is speeding past, and things are only going to get wilder as we hit the playoffs.
” She raises a brow at my confidence. Sure, there’s still a chance we could fuck it all up, but with our current position and determination, I have every belief that we’re going to make it.
How far we get is another question entirely.
“We’ve just got to make the most of the downtime while we have it and know that summer is coming. ”
She hums in agreement.
Stepping closer, I press a kiss on her forehead before promising, “Everything will work out, little P.”
She nods, her fingers twisting in the sides of my hoodie.
There’s a huge part of me that wants her to demand we continue what we started upstairs, but I’m aware that we’re now standing on a sidewalk, and that I really need to get her home.
“Come on,” I say, reluctantly taking a step back and leading her toward my car.
Just before she climbs in, she looks back up at her building with tears in her eyes again.
“I loved my place here. It was my home, you know?”
Pain cuts through my chest. She hasn’t just lost a place where she slept. She’s lost her safe place, her home. And I can only imagine how hard that must be.
“I know, babe. I know,” I say, pulling her in for one more hug before I allow her to drop into my car.
We drive with the music on low and her ragged breaths filling the air. She’s trying to be strong, but all she wants to do is break down. I’m torn between letting her fight it because listening to it will be heartbreaking, and growing a pair and allowing her to get it all out.
In the end, the only words out of my mouth are, “Are you hungry?”
“Umm…a little, I guess.”
“Did you have lunch?” I ask, aware of how busy she’s been with everyone today.
“I grabbed a cereal bar at some point.”
“That would be a no, then. Any preference?”
“Whatever you’d like.”
When I’m sad, there’s only one option.
Taking the next right, I head toward a place that I hope will bring her the kind of joy I got when I was a kid.
“McDonald’s?” Parker asks in surprise as I pull into the drive-thru line.
“Yep,” I agree, my heart beating out of my chest.
Will she remember?
“Your happy place,” she whispers to herself, and I can’t fight my smile.
“What would you like?”
“Your choice.”
Leaning on the door, I give the lady behind the window an XL version request of what I always used to enjoy before tapping my card and moving forward.
Parker doesn’t say anything, but when I glance over, she’s got a soft smile playing on her lips that I can’t help but mimic.
“Now what?” Parker asks once I’ve loaded her lap up with food.
“Now we eat, obviously.”
“In here?” she asks, looking around my spotless car.
“Hell yeah,” I agree as I pull into a space as far from everyone else as possible.
“But your car...it—”
“It’ll be detailed at the arena tomorrow.”
Parker laughs, but she doesn’t hesitate in moving her seat farther back as I do the same to give us more space.
We divide up the feast between us and dive in.
“I can’t remember the last time I did this,” Parker confesses, her voice lighter than it was only a few minutes ago.
“Me either. I didn’t realize how much I needed it,” I say, dipping another nugget into some BBQ sauce and throwing the entire thing into my mouth as Parker slurps on a milkshake.
“Thank you for tonight.”
“Nothing to thank me for,” I muse, going for a handful of fries. “And it’s not over yet. There’s still time for a few more surprises.”
When I look up, her cheeks are glowing, and I can’t help but wonder what she thinks I might have up my sleeve.
Was our kiss only the beginning?