With a gentle push, she started to head toward the back stairs. She slammed to a stop. What was she doing?
“Parker, I’ll be fine,” she said. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m just going to head home.”
“You’re not going over there by yourself and it’s too late tonight for me to take you. Go get in bed,” he said with a growl.
“So growly,” she muttered, heading for the back stairs. She didn’t know how she could refuse that offer. Parker was obviously not interested in listening to reason.
Astrid let herself quietly into his apartment. She hunted down one of his T-shirts and a pair of shorts with a drawstring. Stepping into the bathroom, she turned on the water as hot as she could stand it before getting in.
She used whatever guy soap she found to wash off the beer, food, and more than one memory of a hand on her ass as she walked by. She was exhausted, but at the same time, she couldn’t remember when she had felt so alive.
Toweling off, she slid on the large T-shirt and shorts. The couch was still empty. She slipped into Parker’s room, settling into bed. She knew this was a habit she was going to have to break soon, but it felt so safe there. She didn’t miss sleeping in her sketchy apartment.
Wanting to move out of the dorms her junior year, she had applied for the only single room in one of the campus apartments. It had been barely livable.
The underclassmen that had filled the other bedrooms had been worth the trouble though. She had loved becoming friends with Karlie and Sam especially. Their boyfriends, Max and Dean, had only added to the fun.
Astrid heard Parker locking up the apartment then the shower turned on a few minutes later. She had almost fallen asleep when she heard the bedroom door creak open quietly. Parker slipped inside, looking around the room.
She watched in the semidarkness as he slowly crept to the dresser and dug inside one of the drawers for something. Reaching over, she turned on the lamp sitting on the nightstand.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t think to grab anything to sleep in earlier.” She felt her mouth go dry as she was presented with the view of Parker in nothing but a towel. It was wrapped around his waist and held up with one hand.
She took in his wet hair, still dripping slightly at the ends. Slowly her eyes journeyed down the chiseled planes of his chest covered in tattoos. The towel hung low across his hips, accentuating the muscles that formed that panty-meltingVand the trail of hair that disappeared below it. More tattoos peeked up from the edge of the towel.
“I thought I could sneak in without waking you. Oh, here we go.” Parker spun so the side where he held the towel together faced Astrid. Bending down, he fished a pair of sleep pants off the floor next to the dresser leaving him in nothing but the towel’s version of a loincloth.
As if in slow motion, Astrid watched a powerful thigh push him up from the floor. A defined hip rotated until he was once again standing. She wasn’t completely positive, but she was pretty sure her ovaries caught fire at that point.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Astrid realized her mouth had dropped open as she rose up on her hands for a better view.
“Sure, sure,” she mumbled, staring at him.
“Well, good night. Sorry to wake you.”
“Wait, there’s something I need to tell you about tonight while I still remember.” He stood waiting. Was it her imagination or had the towel slipped even lower? The longer she waited the deeper the valley between his eyebrows grew in concern. “Umm, maybe after you put your pants on.”
“Oh right, sorry. Close your eyes,” Spinning so his back was to her, Parker dropped the towel. Astrid did not close her eyes. What woman in her right mind had that much discipline? How did an ass get that tight anyway? Is that what lifting crates of alcohol all day did for you? If so, she approved.
He pulled up the sleep pants and turned back around. He sat on the bed near her knees, waiting for her to say something. With a shake of her head, she cleared her throat.
“So tonight outside the movie theater, your brother was kissing this cute little blonde girl.”
“That’s because Liam is a giant horndog,” Parker said without missing a beat.
“I wasn’t talking about Liam.” With a groan, he lay over on the bed until he was on his back next to her.
“Not Ronan. He was the good brother.” Parker covered his eyes with an arm. Reaching over, Astrid turned off the lamp so the light from the living area was the only thing lighting up the room. The lamp was bright. She assumed that was why Parker had covered his face.
“I’m not trying to rat him out. I just thought you should know. In case you haven’t covered everything you should with him.”
“Covered everything about what?” he asked, moving his arm so he could look at her.
“You know.”
“I guess I don’t. What are you talking about?” He stared at her for a minute as her face slowly turned red. She was pretty sure that even in the partial darkness, he could see it. Finally, his face morphed into a smirk. “Oh, you’re talking about sex. Hmmm, I’m sure I at least covered through rounding second base.”
“Parker.”
