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He pulls me against his chest in a hug, and I know I should step back and run, but I can’t seem to make myself do it. Parker is safe. He’ll make everything okay again. When I’m with him, there’s no Tony. It’s just the two of us.
“It’s okay,” Parker whispers. “I’m here.”
I press my face into his chest and breathe in his familiar scent, taking in everything I can. Then I steel myself and pull away. “I need to go.”
“I’ll pay for you.” He clenches his fingers around my wrists. “I’ll pay, Rhys. Just stay.”
I shake my head. “You can have anyone you want, Parker. You’re only paying for me because you feel sorry for me.”
“No, it’s because I like you.” His voice softens. “I want to be around you.”
I bite my bottom lip, trying to close off the last of those traitorous tears. “You shouldn’t.”
“Well, I do.” He releases one of my wrists to reach up and cup my cheek in his palm. “I’m so sorry you for what they did to you.”
“It’s okay,” I say even though it’s not.
His thumb rubs my cheek gently. “You want to take a bath with me? It’ll help with the pain.”
Even though I like him, the idea of doing anything with him right now makes my stomach clench. I’m not sure how much more my body can take. But he’s paying for me.
I offer him a small smile. “Okay.”
Parker leads me by the hand into his bathroom and starts the water while I strip my clothes off. I don’t look at him. I don’t look in the mirror. I don’t want to know what bruises line my body right now. I don’t want to have to see them.
But I can feel Parker’s gaze on me, and it seems like all the air is getting sucked out of the room. “Fuck, Rhys, it’s bad.”
I sink my teeth into my lower lip to give me something else to focus on so I don’t start crying again. I don’t know why I’m letting it affect me so much this time. Maybe I let myself get too used to Parker’s gentleness.
“Come on,” Parker murmurs, tugging me toward the tub. He helps me sit down, and the hot water feels so soothing on my body that I almost whimper.
He slides in next to me, close but not touching. Somehow, it feels even more intimate than when we slept together. “Just relax,” he says. “This will help, okay?”
I nod, then lean my head back against the tub. “It’s been a really long time since I’ve had a bath.”
He smiles a little. “Me too. I used to take them a lot when I lived with my dad.”
“Because of what he used to do to you?”
“Yeah.” His smile dims, and he falls quiet.
I watch him from the corner of my eye, wishing I could help him in some way. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt him. I’m pretty jaded from having lived with Tony and worked for him, but not so much that I could understand why Parker’s father would beat him.
“The water helping?” Parker asks when the silence stretches.
“Yes, thank you.” The part of me that Tony created is urging me to reach for Parker under the water. To take his cock in my hand and stroke it like I know he likes it. But Parker’s staring at the wall opposite the tub with a faraway look in his eyes. I don’t think he wants anything right now other than for me to simply sit with him.
So I try to relax and let my muscles let go of some of the tension that’s been on them for the last few days. I know that eventually I’ll have to get up and get out of here. Parker can’t realistically pay for me that much longer, and I’m not going to let him. I really can’t come back to him after this.
Hell, I shouldn’t have come back here today. But he was waiting for me. And I’m just selfish enough to take the few precious hours I have with him. Because when I’m with him, I don’t feel like a hooker. I feel like just Rhys again.
Parker reaches for my hand under the water and brings it up, past the soap bubbles, all the way to his lips. He kisses my palm gently, his lips just a whisper on my skin.
It feels good even though I shouldn’t let it.
I curl my fingers into my palm, as if I can hold the kiss against my skin forever. I wish there was a way that I could.
Once we’ve been in the water long enough for my skin to start wrinkling, Parker pulls me out of the tub and helps me wrap a towel around my waist.
