Chapter 21
PRAYING FOR A MAGICAL INTERVENTION
LEVI
Parker was in my space, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
I was on edge, and I didn’t think it was going away anytime soon.
I opened the fridge to grab the beer and leaned into the frigid air, hoping it’d cool me off a bit.
Because my body felt heated. Too heated.
The kind of heat that would probably only go away with a cold shower.
I should have protested when Parker announced he was staying with me, but I’d been too shocked. Now I was stuck with him for the night.
Except it really didn’t seem like an inconvenience. Nope. Not at all. It felt like temptation.
I pulled the two bottles of beer from the fridge and turned to look at Parker.
A faint blush stained his freckle-covered cheeks. His ginger hair was a mess, which was to be expected considering the number of times he’d dragged his fingers through it today. His mouth was twisted in a way that suggested he wanted to smile, but something was holding him back.
“Hey,” I said, setting the bottles on the counter. The glass clinked against the marble countertop.
“Hey,” he said back. The smile that had been flirting with his lips a moment ago broke free.
Fuck, he was gorgeous.
Today, when he’d panicked after finding out about magic, I thought I’d lost him. That’d scared me more than I wanted to admit, even to myself.
Honestly, I still could lose him.
Once he had the chance to think about everything he’d discovered today, he could decide to walk away. A sharp pain shot through my chest at the thought of never seeing him again.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go sit and finish these drinks. Then we can turn in for the night. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be another long day.”
I swallowed down all the things I wanted to say to him.
Instead, we walked to the sofa and sat. Parker positioned himself so he faced away from my bed.
Was that intentional? I wished I knew what he was thinking, but I was too afraid to ask.
My mother would have been disappointed in me.
She believed strongly in open and honest conversations.
It would have to come eventually, but I wasn’t quite there yet.
So we sat. We drank. Then we very platonically took turns in the bathroom to change into something more comfortable for sleeping.
I dug out a stash of blankets I’d recently set aside to donate but hadn’t dropped off at the thrift store yet.
There wasn’t a lot of space to store excess things in my apartment, but thankfully I’d kept those around a little longer.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, my eyes went straight to Parker, who was rearranging the blankets and pillows on the sofa.
He was wearing a pair of plaid lounge pants and a T-shirt that was so threadbare I swore I could see the shadow of his chest hair through it. He tugged at it like it bothered him.
“Is something wrong?”
He looked up at me.
“You’re pulling at your clothes.”
“Oh, uh…” His gaze dropped to his shirt. “I don’t normally wear anything to sleep, and this shirt feels a little tight. But I’ll be fine.”
I swallowed hard and tightened my grip on my bundle of dirty clothes. I bit my tongue, so I didn’t offer him one of my shirts. The last thing I needed was to see him in my clothes. It was bad enough that I was now envisioning him naked.
“Uh, we can keep the bathroom light on,” I said, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Parker glanced up. Our eyes caught. “Oh. Um. I’m sure I’ll be fine without it.”
“It’s quite dark in here at night. It’s a strange place.” I shrugged. “It’s no problem.”
He bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Levi.”
I nodded sharply. I wanted to tell him to quit fussing with the blankets and come sleep with me in my bed. I wanted to tear off his shirt and see if I was right about his chest hair. I wanted to…
“Uh. Okay.”
“Thanks for this, Levi.”
Ugh. He kept saying my name. It made me want to hear him pant it or scream it or…
I hurried toward my bedroom area and shoved my clothes into the hamper. Then I spun around because I realized I wasn’t a very good host. No surprise there. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had stayed in my inner sanctuary.
What might he need? What did people usually complain about at the motel?
“Do you think you need more blankets? Is that pillow okay? Do you want a softer one? A firmer one? Thinner? Thicker? Oh. Do you want a glass of water?”
“Everything is good.” Parker smiled at me and waved away my concerns. Then he crawled under the covers. He wiggled around a little to get comfortable, then he sighed. Was that a contented sigh? Or a discontented one? I didn’t know.
And why was I still staring at him on the sofa?
I climbed into bed and dove under my own covers. I turned out the other lights with a flick of the switch beside my headboard. The wedge of light from the bathroom sliced across the dark room, but that wasn’t what kept me awake.
Nope. It was Parker.
He wasn’t overly loud; he wasn’t snoring, nor was he talking in his sleep. But I could hear him breathing and the faint rustle of his blankets when he changed positions. And knowing he was there, a few feet away, was the best kind of temptation. Or was it the worst?
But he wasn’t staying with me because he was actually my boyfriend. We were pretending, no matter how he’d responded to that kiss. Fuck. I never should have done that.
He was here tonight for protection against the hunters. And I would protect him. With everything I had. Even my life.
“Hey, Levi? You still awake?” Parker asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m truly sorry I laughed earlier. I wasn’t laughing at you. I just… It was a lot to take in all at once, and my mind kind of went into overdrive creating what-if scenarios.”
“It’s fine.”
“No really,” he said. “You’re, uh, very impressive as a minotaur. I’ve never seen one before, not in real life… Well, I guess you knew that, because like obviously I hadn’t. But still, yeah. Impressive.”
I snorted, even as my cheeks heated, and a warm sensation fluttered through me.
“Anyway, I wanted to make sure you knew that. Because ever since everything happened this afternoon, I keep feeling like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.
But I’m not scared. Not of this whole magic thing, and definitely not of you.
I’m not with those hunters and I’m not going to let them hurt you. Okay?”
My fingers tightened in bed linens. I didn’t know what he expected me to say. I could tell him that he was still in shock and that he shouldn’t make promises like that until he understood what he was saying. I opted for the easy response instead. “Okay.”
“Good night, Levi,” he whispered.
“Good night, Parker.”
I released a shaky breath, then I closed my eyes and prayed to the Eternal Magic for sleep. Because the only way I was going to get any rest was through magical intervention.