27. Parker
27
PARKER
I arrived at Archer House twenty minutes later, parking behind my Lucid Air at the curb, and I entered through the back door, already holding my breath for that punch of need I knew I’d experience when I saw her again.
But she wasn’t the first face I encountered upon entrance.
Damien and Keene were in the kitchen together, where Dugger was tearing his way through a hot pocket and Damien was sitting across the table from him, reading something on his phone.
They both looked up in surprise as I dragged ass through the back door with a moody grunt.
“Well look what the cat yakked up,” Keene greeted with a quick smirk. “I almost had you written off for dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Close enough,” I muttered as I went to the cabinets to fix myself a coffee from their Keurig.
Neither of them said anything, just watched as I prepared my mug and then carried it to the table to sit at the opposite end as Archer.
“Seriously?” Dugger asked as I took my first moody sip.
I shuddered, hissing at the heat, and then muttered, “What?”
“How many days did this bender last?”
“Depends,” I croaked. “What day is it?”
The other two chuckled, even as they glanced at each other in concern, no doubt wondering what was making me nosedive this time. “It’s Thursday, man,” Damien finally answered.
“Damn.” I took another sip, and my body finally started to adjust to the coffee.
Damien and Keene exchanged another glance before Damien quietly asked, “What caused it this time?”
I scoffed. “The sun dared to rise. Fuck, I don’t know. Do I need a reason anymore?”
I definitely couldn’t tell them the truth, that I couldn’t stop wondering how long it’d take for them all to drop me if they ever learned what I’d done to Alec; that I’d do it again in a heartbeat if given the chance; that I’d actually come here, hoping to find an opening for that very chance.
God. I had to be the worst friend on the planet.
I wiped a hand over my face, exhaling heavily.
“This coffee’s missing something,” I muttered, shoving my chair back to stand again.
“Oaklynn moved the creamers to the door of the fridge,” Damien advised. But sugar and cream had not been what I was talking about. Going directly to the liquor cabinet, I pulled down a fifth of Crown and opened the cap before pouring a generous serving into the coffee.
“You know, I don’t think anyone who actually lives here drinks as much from that cabinet as you do,” Keene groused.
I sent him a dirty glance as I returned to the table and slumped down, gulping heavily. Then I relaxed back in my seat, let out a breath, and finally said, “I’m the one who keeps that cabinet stocked , motherfucker. What’re you whining about?”
Keene’s mouth opened with no handy reply. Then he glanced at Damien and asked from the side of his mouth, “Does he really?”
Damien shrugged. “I certainly didn’t buy all the shit up there.”
With a defeated scowl, Keene slumped lower in his chair and shut his trap.
“That’s what I thought,” I crowed.
And a blessed victorious silence fell over the kitchen.
I took a long, satisfied swig, only to glance around and finally dare to say, “Quiet around here. Where is everyone?”
“Oh. Oaklynn’s at work,” Damien answered.
“And do not go into the living room,” Keene advised. Lowering his voice, he leaned toward me with a commiserating grimace. “It’s turned into Breakup Central in there.”
For some reason, my thoughts went to Hope. Immediately thinking she’d been as torn up about the end of our weekend as I had, I glanced toward the living room, only for Dugger to dash all my hopes and dreams by saying, “Our new roomie has commandeered the place and done nothing but watch breakup movies nonstop for over a week now.”
I lifted my brows in amusement. “Seriously? And no one’s, like, checked on her?”
Keene sniffed. “I mean, Foster and Raina stop by every other day to bring her food and new boxes of tissues and shit. Then they clean out all the trash that’s accumulated around her. But…” He shrugged.
I snickered at his obvious misery and then lifted in my seat to yell toward the opening of the living room. “Hey! Have you tried watching Kill Bill yet? Classic revenge girl movie!”
“Whoa. What’re you doing?” Keene hissed, slapping my arm when no response came from the living room. “Now it’s going to be nothing but Uma Thurman for a week straight. So thanks a lot, fucker.”
I merely laughed. My first laugh of the day. “God, you are so sensitive. Is it that time of the month, Duggie?”
“Fuck you.” He scowled. “I’m fucking serious. Langston suggested Hope Floats to her on Sunday, so we’ve been plagued by Harry Connick Jr. for the last four days straight.”
I probably would’ve scoffed in amusement and called out a few more movies, just to defy him, but the mention of Hope had my blood surging and my attention successfully diverted.
Grateful for the opening to bring her up, I said, “Where are the twins anyway?”
She and Alec couldn’t be far, what with my Lucid Air sitting right outside and Alec having nothing but a bicycle to take her anywhere.
“Making cutesy sibling videos together in Younger’s room?” I guessed.
Keene snorted and rolled his eyes, but Damien was the one who answered, “I think they took a walk on Bridleway to get some Froyo, actually.”
I shrugged out a grunt. “How long is she going to be in town, anyway?”
“Good fucking question,” Keene grumbled. “Aside from a few days this past weekend, she’s been over here every damn night, hogging all of Alec’s free time.”
“Aww,” I told him sympathetically. “Are you missing out on quality memories you could be making with your bestie instead?”
“Screw you,” he muttered moodily before glancing at Damien. “And you too, by the way.”
“Me?” Damien lifted his brows in surprise. “What the hell did I do? I was just sitting here.”
“You made her feel all warm and cozy and welcome when she first arrived. If she decides to stay longer, it’ll be your fault. I mean, what the fuck was wrong with you, anyway, by inviting her to supper ? Jesus, man. It’s like you wanted her to pick on you.”
“Meh.” Damien merely shrugged. “Stupid psychology classes made me understand her more, that’s all. She doesn’t bother me so much these days.”
“ Understand her?” Keene lifted unconvinced eyebrows. “What’s to understand? She’s a freaking terror. The end.”
“No. She’s really not.”
“Excuse me?” Keene glanced around the kitchen for support. When he paused on me, I only shrugged, so he spun back to Damien and demanded, “What the hell planet have you been living on? Have you forgotten about all the times she made you uncomfortable and terrified and damn-near triggered to the point of sucking your thumb and rocking in a corner?”
“I remember everything,” Damien said. “But I know why she does it now, so?—”
When he lifted one shoulder, Keene’s mouth fell open. He glanced toward me again, but I shook my head, not getting it either.
He turned back to Archer. “Then, please enlighten us, oh wise one. How in the fuck could she possibly have a good reason for putting a sign saying ex-bed-wetter on my locker door?” Lifting his finger, he straightened in his chair to announce aloud, “Which is a goddamn lie, by the way.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Damn. I forgot about that one. Classic.”
Keene flipped me off while Damien said, “Our group’s like a yard full of chickens. We have a pecking order.”
Keene squinted at him in confusion. “What?”
“For example,” Damien went on. “Parker can flip both of us shit all day long, but we can’t really dish it back, or if we do, it’s ineffective because he’s higher on the pecking order.”
After a single, confused blink, Keene exploded, “What the fuck ever. Ohrley’s not higher on no damn pecking order than I am.”
Damien merely lifted his brows. “Uh, yes, he is.”
“Facts,” I agreed with a self-assured smirk.
Keene scoffed at me in disgust and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, “I can flip you shit if I want to.”
I opened my arms in invitation. “Try it, fucker. See how far it gets you.”
He narrowed his eyes in displeasure, then snorted and glanced away, not engaging.
“Like I said,” Damien continued. “There’s a pecking order of sorts among us, and sadly Alec’s on the bottom.”
“Bullshit,” Keene snapped, his instant reaction being to defend his best friend. “Younger ain’t no bottom of the food chain, or whatever. He’s good people.”
“I didn’t say he was bad. Good or bad has no bearing in it,” Damien assured. “I’m saying there’s an order of dominance between the seven of us, and he’s—you know.” With a cringe, he admitted, “The least dominant.”
“The fuck if he is.”
So I asked Keene, “Then who is? You ?”
“Hey, fuck you,” Keene pointed with a snarl, but I only lifted my brows in amusement, letting him know he couldn’t faze me. Because I outranked him.
“I know it’s sucky for Younger,” Damien continued sympathetically. “But it’s true. And Hope knows it too, so I’m pretty sure she’s subconsciously become his protector of sorts. Since she knows he can’t go after any of us without consequences, she does it for him.”
“Just what’re you saying?” Keene demanded with a glare. “That Langston’s the head cock in our group? I sure as hell ain’t buying that .”
“No,” Damien murmured with a thoughtful frown. “Actually, I don’t know where she would rank. But I do know she doesn’t care. She’s only concerned with keeping the rest of us occupied with her antics so we’re not picking on Alec. She probably even knows she couldn’t best us; but she’s going to distract and annoy us anyway, just so her little brother can have free rein of the yard and eat as much grain as he pleases while we’re busy dodging her beak.”
“Man, you’re whack,” Keene said. “Seriously. I think those psychology classes warped your brain because absolutely none of that made any sense at all.”
Damien only shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if you’re too slow to understand or not,” he said with his own smirk of dominance. “After realizing Hope’s actions stem from her self-sacrificing nature to protect Alec, I respect her more now. Sorry.”
For the longest moment, Keene could only stare at Damien, blinking occasionally. Then he sniffed in disregard and waved an unconcerned hand. “Whatever. I don’t pick on Younger.”
“Yeah, you do,” Damien told him. “We all do. Without even realizing it. We love the guy and would die for him, sometimes we even let him get his way because of our affection for him, but we still subjugate him. And he takes it like a champ.”
Keene scowled hard as if he wanted to argue. But then he muttered, “Well, Hope’s still a bully.” And he stood up to stomp from the kitchen.
“Congratulations, Archer,” I deadpanned as I took a drink from my glass. “You just ruined his life. The poor kid’s not going to be able to hate Langston after this, and he’s not going to know what to do with himself anymore.”
Damien only chuckled. “He’ll figure it out.” Then he studied me for a moment before asking, “What about you?”
“What about me?” I asked, glancing around in confusion.
“You gonna stop hating her too?”
I scoffed. “I never hated her to begin with. I’m just rude and pissy to everyone.”
“True,” Damien agreed with a casual nod. “But you were pretty harsh with her last week at supper, though.”
“Was I?” I asked as I took another sip. “Didn’t notice.”
When he lifted his brows, silently entreating me to be honest, I sighed and relented. “Okay, fine. I can see now that she’s not evil incarnate. I’ll ease up.”
Nodding in satisfaction, he said, “Oaklynn likes her.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, well, Vargas likes you too, so you gotta take her judgment with a grain of salt.”
Damien only snickered and shook his head. “Dick,” he murmured in amusement.
I smiled back and took another drink just as the back door flew open, and a laughing Hope spilled inside with Alec right behind her.
And just like that, everything inside me tightened almost painfully. I sat up straighter and stared hard.
But it’d been four days since I’d last seen her—since I’d last been inside her—and all the insistent yearning that had been plaguing me sprang back to life with a vengeance.
My central nervous system nearly fried itself out with the overload of sensory emotions I experienced. Prickling skin, accelerated heartbeat, dipping stomach, aching jaw, burning eyes, thickening cock. My body went fucking haywire. Yet the only outer reaction I displayed throughout all of it was to sit there like a dumbass as I stared her down.
She jumped and staggered to a halt when she spotted me, causing Alec to bump into her and laugh, catching her arm to steady them both.
Momentarily forgetting him, she stared back. Then her throat worked through a swallow, and her gaze went to Damien before shifting back again.
“Excuse us,” she said, waving and speaking collectively to the room as she hooked her arm through her brother’s to pull him across the kitchen and through the door to the rest of the house, laughing along with him again after they passed.
I didn’t say a single word in reply the whole time.
Releasing a breath as soon as she was gone, I unclenched my hands and took a measured drink, knowing that Damien had turned his attention to me.
After inhaling deeply, I set the glass down precisely and then finally glanced his way.
“See,” I said. “I can be nice to her.”
He threw back his head and laughed, having no idea how much I still wanted to race after her and drag her off to somewhere private.
God, I was screwed.