Chapter fourteen Cashlynn
Chapter fourteen
Cashlynn
“Thank God you’re here. I’m starving.”
Hazel opens her door, peering at me with one eye barely open as I stand on her doorstep with bags of food in my hand from Astrid’s bakery and coffees from Keely’s Caffeine Kick.
“Sorry it’s so early, but I’m freaking out. I snuck out before Parker woke up.”
Hazel yawns loudly as I walk past her. “Well, your text last night said this was an emergency, so as soon as the caffeine kicks in, I’ll help put out the fire.”
Walking into Hazel’s apartment reminds me a lot of my place back in Philadelphia.
There are tons of framed photos on the wall, mostly of her family, but some of the Carrington Cove beaches.
Everything is decorated in browns and greens, very earthy tones with pops of white and blue for color.
It’s welcoming and homey, but still very modern.
“Did you take all these pictures?” I ask as I set the bags of pastries on the kitchen counter and move closer to admire the display.
“I did—except that one.” She points to a photo of her entire family. “This is the last one we took before Dad passed.”
The frail man in the middle of the photo catches my attention instantly. “How long ago did he pass?”
“Almost two years now,” she says, melancholy in her voice.
I turn to look at her and see tears welling in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, I just…”
She brushes a tear from her cheek. “It’s okay.
I prefer talking about him instead of trying to pretend like he never existed.
It keeps his memory alive, and I was lucky to have him as my father.
In fact, if you ask my brothers, I got the best version of him, so I won the lottery in that respect.
” She turns away from me and goes over to the coffees, plucking one out of the tray for herself.
“Parker doesn’t talk about him.”
Hazel huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, well, I think we can agree that Parker isn’t big on talking, period.”
I join her at the counter, holding the other coffee like a lifeline, and then blurt out, “Parker and I slept together last night.”
Hazel spews her coffee all over the floor. “Hot damn! You did it? You got him to snap?”
“Yes, but I think he knew what I was up to.”
Her brows draw together. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he told me as much—while he was fucking me.”
Hazel nods her head slowly. “Nice.”
I throw my free hand up in the air. “Nice? This is not nice! He came home from work, all pissed off about something, saying he needed to talk to me. I was busy and asked him to wait, but he wouldn’t. So we argued, and then the next thing I knew, he was fucking me on his workout bench.”
Hazel holds a hand up. “I know this may sound shocking given how invested I’ve been with this plan since the beginning, but I do not need to know details about the sex. Just knowing that it happened is enough information for me, all right?”
“What do I do, Hazel?”
She takes another sip of her coffee while she mulls it over. “What did he do afterward?”
I think back to how he acted, and I think that’s what has me so confused. One minute, he was whispering dirty things in my ear and contorting me into a human pretzel, and the next, he acted like nothing had happened. Shocker.
“He went right into the conversation he wanted to have before the sex.”
“And what was that about?”
“Seth is convinced that Parker and I aren’t a real couple, and he’s threatening to expose us.”
Hazel purses her lips. “Expose what?”
“That’s kind of how I feel, like what could he possibly find to prove that our story isn’t real, but still…Parker was freaked out about it.”
“And then after that? After you talked about Seth?”
“He walked inside, took a shower, and went to bed.”
Hazel face-palms herself. “God, my brother is an idiot.”
I wrap my arms around my body. “I don’t know what to do, Hazel. What if this was all a mistake? You said he would open up once we had sex, and—”
“I didn’t say that, the other girls did,” she corrects me. “But knowing Parker, he was just as up in his head as you are right now.”
“I feel like I’m trying to crack a freaking walnut with my bare hands,” I say, exasperated.
Hazel laughs. “Yeah, sounds about right. And as for Seth? That guy is a maggot that needs to be torched.”
I cringe. “Wow. That was a vivid image.”
“I’ve never liked him and, given how he’s reacting to your dad retiring, my gut was right on the money.”
“Parker said he’s never had a good feeling about him either. I wonder if my dad sees it.”
“You should definitely ask him the next time you see him.”
“We’re supposed to have lunch this week.”
Hazel nods. “Then do your due diligence and hold up your end of this bargain. Make sure that Seth has no chance of your father choosing him.”
“I will. Now, what do I do about Parker?”
She gestures for us to sit on the couch and as we do, I notice a sliver of ink on her forearm that wasn’t there before. “Wait. Did you get a tattoo?”
She looks down at her arm, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a hummingbird. “Not exactly.” Her cheeks turn pink, which makes me press further.
“Why are you blushing?”
She sighs dreamily. “Let’s fix your problem and then I’ll tell you about mine.”
“Okay…” I flick my eyes back and forth between her face and arm, but then Hazel pulls me back to the topic at hand.
“As for my brother, I would have asked you how he was this morning, but you said you snuck out before he was up, so I don’t have much to go on here. So, my advice is…just play it cool, and act like nothing changed.”
My jaw falls open. “That’s it? That’s your advice?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know what else to say. The other option is to corner him and make him talk. There’s only two ways he can react.”
“Which are?”
“He caves and finally addresses the tension between you two. You can be truthful with him about what you want, and then hopefully when your business is up and running, you two will agree to give this a real shot. Or, he walks away from you again, at which point I’d say cut your losses.”
“But…but I don’t want to cut my losses.” I clasp a hand over my heart. “I want your brother.”
Hazel eyes me over the rim of her coffee. “Congratulations, you just passed the test.”
Laughter spills from my lips. “What?”
“I’m just making sure you’re not giving up on him, because Parker needs someone who won’t stop fighting for him.”
“Then what do I actually do?”
“You go home, jump his bones, and then right before he’s about to come, grab him by the dick and make him talk to you.”
I blink at her slowly. “Maybe I should have called Willow.”
She shrugs. “It’s early and my brain isn’t firing on all cylinders yet.”
Shaking my head, I consider whether Hazel is right. I’ve followed her advice thus far, and look where it’s gotten me. But I know I’m so close to getting Parker to see what’s right in front of him. If I give up now, I’ll never forgive myself.
No regrets, Cashlynn. Remember?
“I’m going to corner him today.”
Hazel nods approvingly. “I think that’s the right move.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes. If things blow up…” I glance around her apartment. “Do you have space for a roommate?”
She laughs. “I don’t think that will be necessary. My brother may be stubborn as all hell, but he’s not stupid—though he has his moments. Don’t all men?”
I take a sip of my coffee just as my eyes fall to the hummingbird on Hazel’s arm again. “Okay, so back to you and this hummingbird.”
Hazel’s smile grows instantly. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened, Cashlynn, but…do you believe in signs from the universe?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, I think my dad was giving me one.”
Goosebumps break out over my skin. “Oh my God…”
“Yeah.” Her eyes glisten, but she blinks away the tears.
“I was sitting at Keely’s, doing some editing and responding to emails because sometimes working outside of my studio makes me more productive,” she says as I nod in understanding.
“And all of a sudden, this man walks up to me, and I swear, if I had a picture in my mind of what my perfect guy would look like, he would have been it. Tall, lean but muscular, covered in tattoos, and I’m pretty sure I saw a tongue piercing. ”
My eyes widen. “Ooh, nice.”
“Right? So he strides up to me and sits down in the seat across from me. When I took my earbuds out, he asked me if he could draw on my arm.”
“What?” I laugh in disbelief.
“Yeah, it was really bizarre, and for a moment, I thought it was his version of a pick-up line. But he explained that he was fulfilling a bucket list item of sorts, and noticed I had beautiful, bare skin.”
“Oh my God. My stomach is all tingly right now.”
Hazel giggles. Full-on giggles. “Believe me, as I watched him draw on me, I couldn’t fight the way my body reacted. It was like his touch flipped a switch connected directly to my clit.”
I bark out a laugh. “I bet.”
“But when he was done, he just stood from the chair, thanked me, and left.”
“He didn’t ask for your name? Or number?”
“Nope. He was gone before I could even process what the hell happened.”
“Do you think he’s local?”
She shakes her head. “I’ve never seen him around here before. He was probably a tourist—this town is full of them, as you know. But it was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.”
“I can’t believe that. It’s so romantic and…”
“Unreal, right?”
“Yeah… Why do you think it was a sign from your dad?”
Hazel stares down at the bird. “When he was dying, I asked him if he would visit me, and he told me I was stupid to think he wouldn’t. He said he would come to me as a hummingbird because he knew how much I love them. So now, whenever I see one, I like to think he’s here with me.”
I blink away my own tears threatening to fall. “I love that. I definitely believe it was him, Hazel.”
A tear slips down her cheek. “Maybe. But now the question is, what was he trying to tell me?”
“I wish I had an answer for you.”