“There are people in my apartment,” she whispered. She guessed that whispering was instinct. If they hadn’t woken up while she was on the phone with her mother then chances were good she wouldn’t wake them up now.
“What?” Parker said, sounding much more awake.
“I opened the door to get some coffee and found some girl sleeping on my couch. There are two guys on the floor. They must be from the party upstairs last night. Somehow the apartment door is open. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to call the university police.”
“Stay in your room. I’m on my way.” She could hear him moving around his apartment. A door was opened. She heard something mumbled to his brothers before he came back on the phone. “I’m walking out the door right now.”
Astrid swore he must have set a land speed record. He stayed on the phone with her the entire drive over. It still surprised her when he appeared under her window fifteen minutes later.
“Drop me your keys out the window,” he said softly into the phone. She climbed to the head of her bed and popped the screen loose.
“Parker?” she said quietly, holding the keys out.
“I’m right under your window.” Leaning forward, she managed to stick her head out until she found him looking up at her. She dropped the keys into his hands. “Stay in there until I tell you it’s safe to come out, okay?”
He spun on his heel and stomped around to the front door of the house.
“What the fuck is happening here?” she heard him growl inside her apartment a few minutes later. She was desperate to open the door to see what was happening. She knew though if anybody could handle this situation it was Parker. He was used to handling drunks, breaking up fights, and threatening wandering hands pretty often.
Pressing her ear against the door, she heard mumbling from male voices.
“Did you just tell me to chill?” she heard him ask. “Get your motherfucking ass off the floor and say that to me again. You decide to crash in my girlfriend's apartment and tell me to chill?”
Girlfriend? Holy shit. Maybe he just said that in the heat of the moment. He told her they both knew they were more than friends. This was the first time, however, that it finally sank home. She was the girlfriend of the hot-as-fuck bartender with the tight ass. She wasn’t just about to wake up and this would all have been a dream.
Pressing her ear back to the door, she heard what sounded like wrestling. Her hand reached for the door. She hesitated, thinking of how pissed Parker would be if she got hurt.
Girlfriend, damn, that was starting to grow on her. She was busy staring out into space, visualizing what all of the benefits of being the girlfriend of someone as hot as Parker would include when she realized it had grown quiet outside her door.
“Parker?” she called out. She heard nothing. She was in the process of turning the knob on the door when footsteps rang out from the stairwell. That tread was branded in her mind. She flipped the lock on her door.
“Baby, can you come out here?” She stepped out to find Parker standing in her living room. She had to swallow to keep the drool from running out of her mouth.
He stood in well-worn jeans slung low on his hips, a tank that showed every ripple of muscle on his torso, and his “shit-kicking” boots. His name for them, not hers. His hair was a mess from jumping out of bed quickly.
In one hand, he held his bat that he kept behind the bar, and in the other, he held the guy from upstairs by the back of his neck.
“I am so, so sorry,” her neighbor said. “Your scary-as-shit boyfriend told me what happened. I promise it will not happen again.”
“Don’t fucking cuss around my girlfriend.” She was trying to decide if she should laugh at that statement or feel bad for the poor guy. With a last shake, Parker turned him loose. He took the chance to fly from the room.
“Are you okay?” Parker asked, tossing the bat on the couch. He pulled her into his arms.
“I’m good now,” she answered, melting against his chest. He pushed her back, looking anxiously up and down her body as if to assure himself she was okay.
“You scared me.” Pulling her back into his arms, he stood holding her for what felt like an eternity. It felt amazing. It felt like something a boyfriend would do.
“Here’s some money,” her neighbor said, skirting Parker. “For the food. Let me know if it’s not enough.” Wasting no time, he all but ran back out the door. Parker walked her over to the couch and sat down. He settled her on his lap.
“Fucking asshole,” he mumbled.
“Parker,” she said, meeting his eyes with a soft smile. “I’m fine.”
“I’m not. What if it hadn’t just been some kids that got in? What if you had been seriously hurt?” Astrid sat back, taking his face in her hands.
“But I wasn’t. I just overreacted. That’s all,” she assured him. She hated that she had scared him. She could feel his hands shake slightly as they held her.
She brushed her lips across his. Hopefully, the small distraction would settle him. His hands wrapped around her waist. He picked her up, rearranging her until she was straddling his lap.
