“You should stay,” he responded.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself,” he said, holding up both hands in surrender.
“Yeah? Well, I’m not sure I can,” she said. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down into another kiss.
When the catcalling commenced in the back hallway, she turned him loose. They were going to do this then. He was going to start a relationship with the sexy coed that had been haunting his dreams for a year now. He needed to get back to those articles on the best sexual positions. Shit. That meant he was going to have to stop throwing down about Max and Dean taking up with college girls.
“I’d better take you home,” he agreed after some consideration. Astrid wasn’t just some barfly he could forget the next morning. He needed time to plan. Taking her hand, Parker walked outside to the alley where his SUV was parked.
“I’ll run your car over tomorrow. What time do you need it?”
“Whenever. You can just pick me up for my shift if you want.”
“That works.” He opened the passenger door and helped her get settled before walking around to his side. Shoving the transmission in drive, he pulled out of the alley to drive across town.
He couldn’t stop the smile when she let him wrap his fingers around hers as they drove. A part of him was trying not to panic at what he was feeling. His world was shifting. It had shifted so far in the last couple of years that he wasn’t sure he even recognized it anymore.
He parked in front of her apartment and walked around the SUV to help her out. This time when he held out his hand, she put her keys in it. He transferred them into his other hand, holding the first one out again.
“Does this mean we’re more than friends now?” she said, taking his hand. He knew he deserved it. He had been acting like a dick for a while now, flipping back and forth. One minute he was all over her. The next he was giving her the brush-off.
“Okay, I deserve that. Do most friends you know kiss the fuck out of each other while dry-humping on a table in a bar?”
“Mmm, I guess you're right.” He knew she was teasing him. She gave him a sly glance as they climbed the steps to the stoop. He wrestled the door open.
“Handholding, kissing, and dry-humping.” She smirked as she squeezed past him. “I can’t imagine what second base must be like.”
He narrowed his eyes at her as she threw his words back in his face. She was so fucking adorable. Even when she was throwing shade. Maybe, especially when she was throwing shade.
He followed her up the stairs and unlocked the apartment door. After making a round of her apartment, he stopped by her room.
“No more than the usual creatures running through your apartment as far as I can tell.” He didn’t make a move from the door as she untied her shirt and pulled it over her head. It felt like it was a hundred degrees in the apartment. He couldn’t decide if it was from the heat of the day or his blood boiling in his veins.
“Good, all I want is a shower and to fall in bed for the next eight hours.” She kneeled on her bed to pull open the window. Was that a thong he saw peeking above her shorts? How was he supposed to control himself with her bent over on the bed like a sacrifice?
“Fuuuuck,” he growled.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, climbing off the bed.
“I need to leave before we round all those bases in one night.”
“Oh,” she said, a wicked smile gracing her pouty mouth. “I guess you’d better go then.”
“Yeah,” he said, running his hand through his hair. She licked her lips and his cock jerked in his pants. Turning quickly, he started for the stairs. “Make sure the door locks behind me.”
“Parker, wait.” He turned to face her, begging his hard-on to go down at least a little before he had to drive back across town. She sauntered to him and rose on her toes to place a slow, sensual kiss on his lips.
“Good night.” She walked back into her bedroom. Yep, that hard-on was going nowhere for a while.
“Good night, Astrid.” He took the stairs two at a time to prevent himself from following through on his earlier threat. He’d follow through soon, there was no doubt about that. He smiled at the thought of her screaming his name as she came around his cock. But first, he had some research to do.
ChapterEleven
“Hello?”Astrid should have let the phone ring through to her voice mail, but she was still half-asleep when she answered.
“Astrid, honey? I was just calling to see what you’ve been up to. It seems like I haven’t talked to you in a while.” Astrid let out a silent groan. It was her mother calling first thing in the morning. She loved her parents, they were amazing, loving people, but they could also be a bit much.
