Chapter 6
Parker
I stood in front of Lara, her mouth slightly open, and I had the wickedest thoughts.
I stared at her soft pink lips and all I wanted was to tell her that if she leaned forward, she could put her lips to work.
I wanted to groan out loud as I stood there.
I wasn’t even sure why I’d come over to the couch.
Maybe it was the way she looked at me when I walked into the room.
She’d been shocked I’d come straight from the shower.
I had to admit I wanted to see her reaction, and then when I stretched and my towel slipped, her eyes had widened and I’d almost laughed.
She had definitely thought the towel was going to drop and she was going to get a view.
I wonder what she would have done? I shook my head slightly.
I shouldn’t be thinking these thoughts. It was improper.
She was Mila’s best friend and I’d known her for years.
She wasn’t like other girls. I couldn’t just expect her to get on her knees and pleasure me and be okay with that.
“Hello, Earth to Parker?” She jumped up and tapped me on the shoulder. “You okay?” Her big brown eyes glanced into mine.
“Yeah, why?” I could feel heat where she’d touched my skin, her fingers warm and smooth on my skin.
“I asked you a question and you just spaced out.” She blinked at me. “So I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I was just thinking about your horrible taste in breakfast foods.” I winked at her and she laughed.
I grinned then and reached over and brushed a piece of hair away from her eyes, unable to stop myself.
“Sorry, you had hair in your eyes,” I said to her as she stared at my hands in a confused way. “I didn’t want you to get blinded.”
“Thanks for thinking of me,” she said with a small smile, and she took a step back.
I thought about really trying to shock her, but then decided not to.
Why play with fire? If there was only one woman in the world who was off-limits, that wasn’t so bad.
I knew Mila would kill me if I messed around with Lara and then moved on.
That would just be awkward for all of us.
Plus, I knew Lara’d had a crush on me when we were younger.
I wasn’t sure if she did anymore, but I knew I wasn’t looking for anything serious.
There would be nothing worse than us hooking up and then her expecting something I wasn’t willing to give.
“Anytime.” I nodded and stepped back. “Okay, I’m going to go and change.”
“Okay,” she said and sat back on the couch.
I stared down at her for a few seconds, her eyes meeting mine innocently as she sat there.
I studied her face for a few seconds and it suddenly hit me that she really was quite beautiful.
My heart stopped for a second and I felt confused.
What did I care if she was beautiful? There were many beautiful women in the world.
Many beautiful women who it would be a lot less complicated to mess around with.
“I’ll be sitting here, patiently waiting,” she said with another smile, a wider one this time.
“Good,” I said with a nod and walked out of the room, wondering why all of a sudden I felt so pleased. I walked to my room and frowned as I opened my bedroom door. There was something about Lara that was starting to get to me and I really didn’t like that. Not at all.
“Chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes?” I laughed as Lara eagerly scarfed down her maple syrup–covered pancakes. “I’ve seen everything now.”
“Try some—they’re delicious.” She grinned at me through her bites.
“I think I’m okay. I don’t need diabetes.”
“Blueberries won’t give you diabetes.” Her eyes twinkled as she continued eating.
“No, but the chocolate and syrup will.” I laughed as I dug into my spinach and feta cheese omelet. I took a bite of my whole wheat toast and watched as Lara made a face at my plate. I laughed as she licked her lips and her tongue darted out to get a drop of syrup that had run down her chin.
“Delicious,” she said again, as she paused to take a sip of her coffee.
I just stared at her as she drank, and then I looked around the diner we were in.
There were families all around us, little kids laughing with happiness, parents struggling to stay awake, waitresses bustling around hoping to make big tips, elderly couples enjoying each other’s company and the discounted meal, and while the feeling of being part of a more mainstream setting would have made me uncomfortable in most instances, at this moment I didn’t mind.
I was happy. I was having fun. Being with Lara was easy.
I wasn’t sure why I’d never really realized that before.
In all our years of being friends, or rather, all the time she’d been best friends with Mila, I’d never really seen her as more than another annoying yappy girl.
Though sometimes I had appreciated her beauty and sexy ass.
“So what exactly did you and Mila want to talk to me about?” I asked her as I remembered that this was meant to have been a joint breakfast—that Mila had called me yesterday, urging me to meet her and Lara for breakfast because they wanted to talk.
“It was really Mila that wanted some advice from you,” Lara said with a wary smile, her eyes looking like a deer in headlights as her face went slightly red.
“Oh God, she’s not having problems with Ryker already, is she?” I groaned and shook my head. “I’m not sure what she wants me to do.”
“I don’t think she’s having problems with Ryker.” Lara smiled and shook her head. “You’ll have to ask her next time you see her.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Though it wasn’t nice of her to stand you up as well. You showed up at my place pretty early.”
“Yeah, she should have let me know.” Lara nodded and looked down. I noticed that her tongue was licking her lips again and I wondered what they tasted like most right now: chocolate, blueberries, syrup—or a mix of all three.
“Though I suppose a free breakfast doesn’t hurt.”
“Free?”
“Yeah, it’s on me.” I winked at her. “Does that get me any rewards?”
“Rewards?” She looked at me curiously.
“Rewards, points, treats?” I grinned at her, not sure why I was flirting with her, but not wanting to stop.
“Why would you get a reward?”
“Because you want to give me one?”
“Haha, I want to give you a reward?” She glanced up at me under veiled eyelashes. “What makes you think that?”
“The way you’re licking your lips and staring at the pancakes so lovingly. I think I’ve taken you to fantasyland.” I winked at her.
“Fantasyland?” She cocked her head and laughed. “With some pancakes?”
“I think I’ve given you a food orgasm, at least.” I stared into her eyes. “Right?”
“A food orgasm?” she said, her face turning slightly red. “Really?”
“Yeah. Though I suppose a real orgasm would have been nicer.” My voice dropped as I stared at her, wanting to see how she’d react, knowing I was close to crossing a line. A line that was almost invisible.
“Um . . .” She looked away from me and I felt a knot turning in my stomach.
“Too far?” I asked her a bit too loudly, but wanting her to know I was joking, even if I was only half joking. I was confusing even myself at this point.
“Yes, too far.” She laughed, her eyes looking back up at me, a light of some emotion I didn’t really recognize reflected in her irises.
“You’re used to it, though. With me.” I laughed and reached over. “Let me try these awesome pancakes before you scarf them all down.”
“You want to try them?” She looked surprised. “After all that smack talk?”
“Hey, I’m the king of smack talk.” I laughed and grabbed her fork and pressed down into the pancake and then took a large bite.
It was overly sweet, though the pancake was of a good texture.
The blueberries melted in my mouth along with the chocolate and I could feel an immediate sugar rush going to my head.
Lara was looking at me expectantly, wondering how I was going to react to her meal.
I was about to make a joke and tell her it was gross and overly sweet and a sure race to diabetes, but something stopped me.
“Not bad.” I chewed and swallowed and gave her a smile.
“I guess I know why you’re so sweet,” I said and gave her another small wink.
“I told you they weren’t that bad.” She smiled back at me happily, her face alight and glowing as she stared at me. “Now give me my fork back. You can’t finish them.”
“Darn.” I laughed. “I wanted to eat about ten more bites.”
“Oh, Parker.” She burst out laughing. “You don’t even like them.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked her questioningly.
“You don’t like sweet stuff.” She giggled. “You forget I know you well.”
“I don’t mind sweet stuff.”
“You much prefer savory to sweet.” She shook her head. “And I saw your face when you took a bite just now, you winced for a second. And then you touched your forehead as if the sugar had run there immediately.”
“You noticed all that?”
“What can I say? I’m observant.” She grinned. “So while I thank you for pretending you thought my choice of breakfast was delicious, I know you didn’t actually think that.”
“Aww, foiled again. You got me.” I sat back. “So you got any plans for the rest of the day?”
“Not really.” She shook her head. “You?”
“I was going to watch the game.”
“The game?” She looked confused and I laughed. “Basketball?”
“Nah.” I grinned at her. “It’s football season.”
“Oh, okay.” She gave me a weak smile. “I had no clue.”
“It’s okay.” I laughed. “Most girls don’t care.” I paused then. “Wait, some girls care, I know that. Don’t think I’m sexist.”
“I don’t think you’re sexist.” She grinned. “I don’t care if you think I’m into sports or not. We both know I’m not.”
“You used to play tennis, though.”
“Yeah, but I never watched it.” She looked up at me then in surprise. “I can’t believe you remember that. I didn’t even play for very long.”
“There are a lot of things I can remember about you.” I grinned. “A lot of things you wouldn’t want me to bring up to your future husband.”
“Yeah.” Her expression changed and I wondered if she was worried that I’d let out all of her secrets on her wedding day. My heart started beating erratically as I thought about Lara getting married.
“I can’t believe Mila and Ryker are getting married,” I said, not enjoying the tightness in my chest. “We’ve gone and lost our best friends.
” I tried to laugh, though the noise sounded awkward to my own ears.
“What will we do now?” I said again, trying to sound normal.
I looked down at the table for a second.
I wasn’t sure why I was feeling out of sorts.
Maybe I was more upset about Ryker and Mila getting married than I’d thought initially.