37. Chapter 37
Chapter thirty-seven
Parker
“Do you want to talk about it?” I run my hand along Laiken’s bare calf as we sit on the couch.
She showered while I made us some hot chocolate. I have no idea where her head is now, and I don’t want to push. But I’ll be here when she is ready.
“I’m angry.” She stares down at the cup in her hand. “I’m angry that this could happen. I’m angry that I wasn’t vigilant enough to notice. I’m angry that he’s going to get away with it.”
“He’s not going to get away with it,” I insert.
“It’s been six, almost seven years, Parker. What proof do I have? The fact I had no hangover and the girls say I wasn’t drunk?” She shakes her head. “What if I was seen leaving with him?”
“Leaving with him and consenting to sex are two different things, baby.” I reach over and tilt her chin. “We’ve already got someone checking into his record.”
“I thought there was a limitation in Texas?”
“Ten years for criminal, five for civil.” I clear my throat.
Of course I’ve already researched it.
“But it’s my word against his.” She shifts on the couch. “You know, I don’t know if him drugging me is the worst thing or not.”
My hand moves over to find hers, intertwining our fingers. “What do you mean?”
“I feel like the only thing saving me right now is the fact that I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything. Is it horrible that I’m glad I don’t?” Her eyes fill with tears, so I take the mug from her hand and set it on the coffee table before I tug her to me.
“No, it’s not horrible.” I press a kiss to the crown of her head.
“You cope however you need to.”“I’ve spent so long feeling guilty.
Feeling like an embarrassment.” Her voice hardens.
“And for nothing. Because I didn’t make some reckless decision.
I didn’t sleep with a terrible human just to get back at you.
” She cranes her neck to look up at me. “I’m angry that he used me.
But…Trace.” A tear slips down her cheek.
“How am I supposed to regret the thing that gave me him?”
“I don’t know, baby.” I run my thumb along her cheekbone. “You don’t have to regret it. But you don’t have to accept it either. He hurt you. He assaulted you, Laik. He should be punished.”
“He calls me a whore,” she whispers. “When he gets angry. He has the nerve to call me that after he did what he did.”
Anger races through my veins. Yeah, I’m going to kill him. Slow and painful.
Then it hits me.
“The paternity test.”
“What about it?” She frowns.
“You need to get it.”
“But that just proves Trace is his and we alre—” she breaks off.
“You’ve never had biological proof before, right?” I ask.
“No.” Her eyes widen. “But it still doesn’t prove anything. And honestly, I’m not sure I want to dig up that night. He’s in the public eye. That means it will all be public. This doesn’t just affect me. It affects Trace too. I don’t want anyone to treat him differently. Or treat me differently.”
I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “I know it’s complicated, but it’s a start. And I’ll be right here with you. Every step.”
Our eyes lock, a million unsaid words tethered between us. I love this woman. More than life itself. She’s the strongest person I know besides my mother. The two women I’d burn down the world for. And I’m about to burn down anything in my path that keeps her from getting justice.
“I will do whatever it takes to protect you both. No matter what.”
“Parker…” Her whisper is quiet, her eyes pleading for something I don’t think I can give her.
There’s longing. Fire. Desire.
“You’ve had a long day, Laik.” I shift away. “You need to get some rest.”
“But I don’t want to rest,” she counters.
Stubborn as ever. Her hand trails down my tattooed arm and latches onto the back of my hand, her fingers fitting so perfectly over mine. “The last person to touch me was that monster.”
The confession lands like a blow to the stomach.
“What do you mean?” I lean up from the cushions.
“I mean, the last man to touch me in that way was him. And I don’t want him to have that. I don’t want his touch on my skin. I want yours.”
My breath stalls, and I blink. Seven years?
“Are you saying you haven’t…done anything with anyone else since…that night?” I ask, needing clarification.
Since me.
She sheepishly glances at her lap. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Relief floods me. The fact that she’s even entertaining the idea of us in that way. But I can’t cross the line. Not tonight.
“Firefly…”
She pushes up to her knees, putting her eye level with me. “I don’t want to think about what happened. I just want to feel you again. I need to feel you, Parker.”
Her strained voice has me wrapping my arms around her waist. She climbs onto my lap, her eyes hooded while those pouty lips land on my jaw. Slowly, she slides them across my skin, landing a soft kiss at the corner of my mouth.
My hands glide up her sides, then stop before I pull back to look at her face. “You want to feel me?”
She nods.
“I’ll make you a deal. You get my arms. My mouth on yours. You get my whole fucking heart, Laik. But that’s all tonight. I want to give you everything and I will. But not like this. Not after the day you’ve had.”
She studies me, her eyes turning from slightly disappointed to complete adoration.
“Your heart is mine?”
I smirk and grip her chin lightly. The same way I used to do when she would ask me questions she should have known the answers to. “It’s always been yours, Firefly.”
Then I do what she asked. I kiss her.