AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I meant what I said, Summer. If we’re doing this…I won’t share you. Ever. You’ll have me and I’ll have you, and there will be no one else between us.”
“There isn’t anyone else, Parker.”
“Last night doesn’t happen again. I won’t tolerate it, and I will hurt someone…anyone that touches what’s mine.”
This intense and possessive side to Parker makes my belly flutter with an excitement I’ve never felt. It’s got me all hot and bothered just looking at him, and he knows it because he inches closer until our naked bodies are pressed together. The heat of his passion is inescapable, serving to only lure me deeper into his charmed web.
“Okay.” I nod, flattening my hands to his sides while my chin rests on his chest.
Looking down at me, Parker continues. “We’ll have to be careful. I…I won’t fuck you without protection, even on the pill, and it’s not because I don’t trust you or think badly of you. One mistake is enough, even if it gave me Easton.”
“He’s wonderful.”
“Yes, he really is.” Parker smiles back with his hands smoothing up and down the curve of my back. “Still, I couldn’t do all of this again.”
“I understand.”
“And I know that he adores you, but we have to be so careful with him…around him. There are enough people that think I’m a terrible father and enough reasons for them to think so, but—”
“Stop.”
Until now, I’ve let him talk and dictate his rules because I’ve always known he’s a control freak. It’s why he’s a hands-on boss. Always there and ready to step in. It’s what makes him Parker. However, I can’t listen to him talk shit about himself when I know for a fact that he is a brilliant father to Easton.
“You told me last night that you won’t have me thinking I’m anything other than incredible. Well, I won’t stand by and let you believe that you are anything other than an amazing dad. And it doesn’t matter what Ellen says, and I know it’s her. She always has something to throw in your face whenever she brings East back…”
“She’s not entirely wrong though, is she? Raising Easton in this place is selfish. He needs more…a real home.”
“Home isn’t a place; it’s the people that love you. Trust me, Parker, you can live in a palace and still not have a home. There are also a lot of shittier places to grow up.”
Sucking his lip into his mouth, he looks genuinely torn. As though he wants to believe me but he can’t.
A moment of quiet passes between us. It’s not uncomfortable, not for us, but I can see all the doubts he wears about himself darken his gorgeous eyes. Even if I’m not qualified to give him advice on parenting, I try to ease the trepidation surrounding us.
“It doesn’t matter how much I want you…” I press a kiss to his chest, rolling onto my toes so that I can press another to the underside of his jaw and another to the corner of his mouth. “Believe me, it’s a lot. So much so that my heart is running its own private cardio session right now.”
With a light chuckle, the ghost of his grin appears, tugging at one side of his face before it grows into a soft smile.
“I fully expect Easton to be your priority all the time,” I tell him, molding my hand to his face as I promise, “And I won’t let you forget it.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
That’s all he says before he takes me into the shower. We don’t do anything other than make out until we’re breathless and then wash ourselves. But it’s the best shower I’ve ever had in my life, followed by watching him make pancakes in the small kitchenette while I cut up some fruit. We’ve barely sat down to eat when there’s a loud knock at the door. Insistent too when we try to ignore it. Talk about a sense of déjà vu.
Parker opens the door, and Easton jumps into his arms. His little happy cries of “Daddy” melt my heart.
Then it thaws when the ice queen barges her way in once again. Wonderful.
Her cold eyes take one look at me sitting at the breakfast bar in Parker’s shirt, and she explodes.
“What the hell? You’re screwing the help while I’m looking after my grandson?” Her nasally voice echoes in the vast room, affecting me like nails on a chalkboard.
“Ellen.” Parker’s firm tone shuts her up, but it doesn’t stop the vein from throbbing menacingly in her forehead, nor the angry tapping of her heels against the floor.
“East, buddy. Why don’t you sit here and have some breakfast with Summer while I talk to your grandma, okay?” He lifts him with ease and slips him onto the stool beside me, giving me a smile before he returns his attention to Ellen.
“Yeah! Sum, Sum, Sum.” Easton steals my attention, his expressive eyes lighting up at the pancakes on the breakfast bar. As Parker leads Ellen into the hallway, I put a pancake on my plate for East and proceed to make a funny face out of the fruit. His giggles of approval make me laugh, and he helps me to make another one for his dad.
The door closes, and I look up to see Parker alone. He has that look again. Half-frustrated, half-defeated. And I hate it. I want to go to him and kiss his frown away, but I won’t cross the line while Easton’s here. It’s not fair to anyone.
