17. Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Parker
“What’s wrong?” I ask, catching Laiken by the wrist as she tries to brush past me.
“Nothing.” She tugs her hand away and her eyes bounce around the yard.
“You afraid someone will see me touching you?” I lift a brow.
“No.” She straightens her shoulders. “But you are my patient. It’s not—”
“Come on, Laik. Stop with the excuses.” I gently grip her wrist again, guiding her to the side of the house. “I’ve had my mouth on every square inch of your skin. We can set aside the bullshit boundaries.”
Her eyes widen, and she jerks her arm away. “Maybe I don’t want you to touch me? You ever thought about that, you arrogant jerk?” she hisses.
My boot shifts, stepping closer as she matches me a step back. Her pulse flutters on her neck, one of my favorite indicators that she likes whatever is happening.
“You sure?” Another shift closer. “Your pulse is racing,” I murmur as I reach up, dragging a calloused thumb across the smooth skin of her neck.
Her warm breath fans across my chest, her eyes searching my face. I want nothing more than to press her sweet lips to mine. To taste her again. But things need to be said. Things that matter and I don’t want her regretting anything before she knows the truth.
So I let my thumb gently caress her pulse, watching her shoulders relax. “Tell me,” I coax. “What’s wrong?”
She holds my gaze but drifts her eyes away after a couple of tense seconds. “Everything is fine.”
Her voice is strained.
“Is it Rhodes?” I ask, the name tasting like a dangerous venom.
Her silence is my answer.
“He’s bothering you?”
She lets out a breath. “No. I mean, yes.” She slips out from between me and the wall of the house. “He calls sometimes.”
“What do you mean by sometimes?” I cock my head to the side, trying to read her body language.
She’s fidgeting.
“I handled it, okay?” She reaches back to tie her hair up in a ponytail. “I’ve been handling him for the last six years without you, so like I said, I’m fine.”
“Laiken.”
She pauses at the tone in my voice. Then, reluctantly, her expression softens.
“Look, every couple of years, he gets in this ‘I want to know my son’ phase, except it’s more like he shows up unannounced, yelling, and demanding to see Trace even though he’s not even on the birth certificate.
After a few days of not getting what he wants, he’s gone again and we can breathe. ”
Yeah, I don’t like that.
“You let the sheriff know?”
“I’ve called, but it’s sporadic, so it’s hard to keep up. Just when I think he’ll leave us alone, he shows back up.”
“And has he? Shown back up?” I cross my arms.
She nibbles at her bottom lip. “No. Not in a while. He just wouldn’t quit calling today. So I answered. Same song and dance.”
Fire lights in my veins. The fact that not only has this piece of shit had Laiken’s body in his hands, but he’s got the most amazing son he’s missing out on. Then he shows up out of nowhere to shit on the happiness they are trying to build.
“Don’t sweat it, Parker. His threats are empty,” she assures me.
“He threatens you?” I growl.
“No!” she quickly interjects. “Not like, physically.”
“I don’t give a fuck what way it is. A threat is a threat.”
“I promise, it’s under control.” She holds her hands up. “I’d never let him get to Trace. Ever.”
I nod, knowing she wouldn’t let Trace be harmed, but I’m not fully convinced. I know men like Rhodes. Eventually, their threats turn into action.
“Parker!”
My name is bellowed from behind me, so I swivel my head to see Cooper round the corner of the house.
“We’re back at it. Trying to be done by five.” He shoots us a coy grin. “We’re going to the Mayson Jar tonight. That means you too, Laiken. Ari is babysitting. Band starts at seven.”
His interruption breaks our moment, and she’s already got those walls reinforced, ready to head back to the front.
So I tip my hat before following Cooper to the barn. “See you at seven, Firefly.”
Then
“You coming with me?”
Laiken flashes me a smile, curling the thin blanket up under her arms. Her bare shoulders are on display, her beautiful skin shining under the midnight moon. We’ve been meeting down by the tank on the ranch every single night since I got back from the circuit.
“That’s the plan.”
I run my thumb along her exposed collarbone. “Have you thought about what you’d like to do? I mean, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll always take care of you.”
She grins. “Actually, I thought about doing something related to physical therapy. I could be the one to patch you up when you get bucked off.”
I scoff. “I don’t get bucked off, baby.”
She tilts her head back on a laugh, her beautiful voice echoing in the empty pasture.
“Well, we have time to figure it out.”
“How is that going to work since no one knows about us?”
Her smile falters and she pushes up on her elbows. “Parker…”
I chuckle. “It’s okay, Firefly. I’m not angry. I like having you all to myself.”
Which is true. Laiken is just the kind of person who keeps the ones she loves close.
But not too close. She’s been even more insistent that we stay private since her dad passed.
I know it’s her way of protecting herself, so I understand.
But sometimes I want to hold her hand in a crowd.
Walk into the Mayson Jar with her in my arms. Let every man who looks her way know she’s mine.
“We can tell once everything settles with my mom. Brady was arrested again this week. I don’t want to rock the boat.”
I’m lying flat on my back, resting on the blanket laid out beneath us. I rise to a sitting position, keeping the blanket covering my naked ass.
“Damn. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” I reach out and lace her fingers with mine.
“It’s okay. Maddox bailed him out again.” She pushes up to sit next to me. “We’re still trying to figure things out, you know?”
I nod. “I get. It took my mom and me a while to get settled when Dad took off. It’s an adjustment period. Might not be the same length for everyone. Don’t ever think I will hold that against you.”
She smiles, then lifts our hands and presses a kiss to the back of my wrist. “I love how you get me.”
With my free hand, I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “You’re easy to get, Laiken. Pure and good, through and through.”
My world had become so much brighter since she walked into it.
“I’m not sure about that.” She blushes. “Considering what I let you do to me a few minutes ago.”
I bark a laugh. “You did get a little dirty, didn’t you?”
“I did no such thing!” She gasps.
“I do recall you begging me to go deeper. Harder. Faster.” I nip at her lip as she laughs.
“I hate you sometimes,” she mumbles.
“I love you.” The confession flows so naturally I almost didn’t realize I said it. But fuck, I meant it.
She stares at me, the laughter dying between us.
“I mean it, Firefly. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”
Tears prick her eyes before she whispers the words I’ll never forget. “Good, because I love you too.”