Chapter Fourteen
Audrey
“I did not invite you so you could play bartender,” Amiya says as I fill the metal shaker with ice.
“You didn’t invite me; I’m a party crasher. The least I can do is mix a few cocktails,” I say.
“You girls are with Parker and Anson. That means you’re guests, not crashers,” she corrects.
I secure the lid, raise the container over my shoulder, and shake the concoction vigorously.
“We’re not with Parker and Anson,” I stress.
Her brows draw in confusion.
“I mean, we came with them, but we aren’t with them , with them,” I clarify.
She glances over her shoulder to where Heather is seated with Anson, the two of them sharing a plate of ribs. Parker is beside them, chatting with Lennon, but his eyes are on me.
“Are you sure they know that?” she asks.
“Parker does, but I can’t speak for the other two,” I say.
She turns back to me, and we both start to laugh. I take the shaker, fill two martini glasses, top them with prosecco, and garnish them with a cherry.
“What’s this one?” she asks as she takes one of the glasses.
“Marasca fizz. It has cherry liqueur, bitters, a pinch of brown sugar, and maraschino cherries with champagne. Or, in this case, prosecco.”
She takes a sip.
“Damn, that’s good,” she says.
“Right?” I say as I claim the other glass.
“That’s it. You have a standing invitation. Parker or no Parker,” she declares loudly.
“Hey,” Parker shouts. “I heard that.”
“Sorry, handsome. If I have to choose, I’m keeping Audrey,” she calls and winks at me. “Hopefully, you’ll win her over, and it won’t come to that.”
His eyes come to mine. “I’m trying.”
The glass doors that lead to the deck open, and Avie steps in.
“Lennon turned the hot tub up. It’s perfect now. Grab your glasses and come on.”
Amiya follows her, and I quickly mix another round of fizzes. Then, I grab the shaker and my drink.
“Need some help?”
I look up, and Parker is beside me.
“Can you carry the ice?”
He picks up the bucket I filled and opens the door for me. Avie and Amiya are already climbing into the steamy water.
“Hand me my glass,” Amiya calls.
Parker sets the ice bucket on the table by the tub and fetches her cocktail from where she left it.
“Thank you.”
I set mine on the ledge and pull my sweater over my head. I drop it into a lounge chair and tug my leggings down to reveal the black bikini underneath.
I hurry to the edge of the hot tub, and Parker offers me his hand. I grab it, and he helps me up the slippery steps.
I moan as I settle down into the bubbly warmth. The jets against my back feel like heaven.
“You getting in, handsome?” Amiya asks.
Parker’s eyes are on me as he answers, “In a minute. I need to change. Do you ladies need anything first?”
“I think we’re all set,” Amiya replies.
He walks back inside, passing Heather as she comes out to join us, and Avie grins at me.
“You’ve got that man all kinds of twisted up.”
“I’m not doing anything to him.”
“Maybe you should,” Amiya suggests, wagging her eyebrows.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Heather says as she climbs in beside me. “Take him for a spin.”
“He’s not a car,” I say.
“You know what I mean.”
“What am I missing? Why wouldn’t you want Parker? He’s a great guy. Single, funny, sexy,” Amiya asks.
“They were high school sweethearts. He broke her heart back then, and she’s not over it,” Heather shares.
“Yes, I am. And there’s more to it than that, and you know it.”
“Like what?”
I look back at Amiya. “He ghosted me. I thought we were in love, but he disappeared in the middle of the night without even leaving a fucking note. I cried myself to sleep for months. I never heard another word from him until he walked into Whiskey Joe’s one night five years later and acted as if nothing had happened.”
“And you’re still pissed,” Amiya surmises.
“And I’m still pissed.”
“That doesn’t sound like the Parker I know, but I don’t blame you. I’d be pissed too.”
“I don’t blame her either. That’s why I think she should take him for a spin. He was the one she gave her virginity to. Think about how much better you’ve gotten in bed since then. I’d love a chance to have hot, sweaty sex with my first one more time. If for no other reason than to show him how damn good I’ve gotten at it,” Heather says.
“She’s has a point. I’d love the chance to sleep with the guy I gave my cherry to again. I’d rock his world,” Avie says.
“Bitch, you are a happily married woman,” Amiya says, then looks at me. “But you should totally do that. Then, you could ghost him.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I say as I take a sip of my cocktail.
“Afraid you’ll catch feelings?” Amiya asks.
“Or maybe she never stopped carrying a torch for him,” Heather accuses.
“Trust me, any torch I carried for Parker Alston burned out a long time ago,” I insist.
“Torches can be reignited easily enough. All you need is a spark,” Avie says as Parker reemerges, wearing nothing but his swim trunks and a sexy smile. His eyes bore into mine.
“And sparks seem to be flying all over the place,” Amiya says under her breath.
I narrow my eyes at Parker. “It’s my turn.”
He joined us in the hot tub, and the five of us soaked until our skin started to prune. Now, he and I are sitting by the firepit, wrapped in towels and playing a game of Twenty Questions.
It was his idea. He said if the two of us were going to be friends, then we should get to know each other better, and I’d had just enough alcohol to agree.
So far, neither of us has learned anything about each other we didn’t already know. I still love pasta, and he still loves all shellfish. We both like a good cup of coffee. We’re both Carolina Tar Heels and Panthers fans. I still run, and he still sails. I enjoy fishing. He enjoys fishing.
I guess we haven’t changed as much as I thought.
“All right, hit me,” he says.
I pluck the cherry from my glass as I consider my next question and decide to mess with him a bit. I’m playing with fire, and I know it, but his nearness, combined with the alcohol, is making me brave.
“What do you like nowadays?” I ask as I roll the cherry with the tip of my tongue before sinking my teeth into it and tugging it free from the stem.
“Like?” he asks as his eyes watch me intently.
“In the bedroom?” I ask matter-of-factly.
His eyes snap up to mine as his brows lift in surprise. “I’m pretty open-minded. What about you?”
I suck my bottom lip between my teeth while I pretend to consider the question. “I like it all. How do you feel about being tied up?”
His lips quirk. “Me or you?”
“I wasn’t talking about the two of us. I’m being hypothetical.”
“So am I. Who would be tied up, Audi? Me or you? Hypothetically.”
“You,” I reply before thinking better of it.
He leans over the side of my chair, plucks one of the cherries from my glass, and pops it into his mouth. “Whatever turns you on, sweetheart.”
Well, that wasn’t the response I’d expected.
“Whips, floggers, anal beads—it all turns me on,” I lie.
It’s not that I’m a prude. I like sex. I like it a lot, but BDSM isn’t my kink.
He laughs.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re not gonna scare me off, Audi. I’d let you tie me up, and I’d take great pleasure in working at the knots while you had your fun. But when I got free”—his eyes flit down to my chest, where my breasts are peeking out of the top of my bikini, and I feel my breathing become erratic—“I’d be returning the favor. You’d be screaming my name as I made you come with my fingers, my tongue, and my cock. So, do your worst with your little whips and feathers because I don’t need them.” He pauses as he ponders something. “Although the anal beads might be fun.”
I swallow hard as sweat begins to bead on my forehead, and I swear if there wasn’t a houseful of people I barely know only steps away from us, I’d crawl onto his lap so he could show me what his fingers could do.
I start to speak, but nothing but a squeak comes out. Parker’s mouth turns up in a triumphant smile.
Motherfucker .
He turned the tables on me and beat me at my own game.
“I hate you,” I quip as I grab my glass and down the rest of the cool liquid.
“No, you don’t. You just hate the fact that you don’t hate me.”
Maybe he’s right. The thought scares the shit out of me.