My heart squirms. I want to make him smile again, large enough for those dimples to appear.
“How did you meet Anna?” he asks.
“She came to class on the first day drunk and sat next to me. She thought I was someone else—her friend, Janice.” I snort. “She spent the whole hour calling me Janny-Wanny.” Parker’s warm laugh mingles with mine. “She’s been hounding me to go clubbing with her pretty much every day since. That and get a tattoo or more piercings.” I gestureto my ear. “She swore it wouldn’t draw attention, but you noticed it, so…” I shrug.
“There isn’t much you could change without me noticing,” he says, and something flutters in my stomach. “It looks great.”
Why is he giving me compliments? I doubt Rose would approve. “Is Rose your girlfriend?” I blurt.
“What?” Parker says, all emotion leeched from his voice.
I fiddle with the hem of my dress. “Well, I mean, you’re always together. And you were so avoidant about my dream. I thought she might be the reason. You’re different when she’s around.”
“I’m sorry, Ella, I’m trying to—” He runs a hand through his hair. “Interacting with the past can alter your memories when you return to the future. We call it memory splitting. Your original memory overlaps with a new one, and once it’s done, you’ll never remember which memory was real.”
“So, you change the past, but you can’t remember how?” I ask.
“That’s the thing. Changing the past isn’t possible. I mean, you can make small ripples by interacting with it, but nothing will changelong term. McGregor used to say it was nature’s way of balancing itself out. For example, you can stop someone getting on a plane, but if they really want to go, they’ll get on the next one.” He shrugs. “Or they won’t. Either way, it won’t change the grand trajectory of their life. Meddling in the past won’t achieve anything other than splitting your memories, and I don’t want that to happen to me. It’s easier for me if I keep my distance. And as for Rose, she’s like—an annoying sister.”
A knot of tension releases in my chest. But—asister? I tilt my head to the side, but my whole body follows, and I catch myself before I slump over. “Why are men so clueless when it comes to women?”
“You’re the psychology major, you tell me,” he says, another grin playing on his lips.
“I’ll let you know once I figure it out. Which I will, once I’m a boss clinical psychologist with my own private consultation rooms.”
“Okay, Ella,” he says with a low chuckle. “Time to go to bed.”
“Can’t. Lost my keys,” I say, my eyelids drooping.
“Where’s Anna?”
“She went home with tongue-ring guy, but it’s okay.” I gesture to the floor. “I’m going to sleep here.”
“What a great idea,” he murmurs.
“I’m a clever woman.” I smile, closing my eyes, and Parker sighs.
“I know. Come on.”
I open my eyes and he’s on his feet.
“You can sleep in my bed. Just be quiet because Rose needs her sleep.”
Looking up at him, my head lolls back against my door and the corridor spins.
He suppresses a laugh. “Okay, Ella. I need you to get up.” I stand and trip, giggling. “You need to be quiet, remember?” he whispers. “And don’t forget your jacket.”
“Okay.” I follow him through his half-furnished apartment to the bedroom. The light from the living area spills over Rose, lying on her side on one of the single beds.
Parker gestures to the empty bed against the opposite wall. “Sleep there. I’ll be in the living room.”
“Okay.Wait,” I say as he turns to leave. There’s no sofa in the living room, only a hard wooden floor.
“What?” he whispers, pausing inside the doorframe.
“I can’t let you sleep on the floor”—hiccup—“after you’ve given up your bed to stop me from doing the very same thing.” But what’s the alternative? I stare at the single bed and nerves flood my vodka-soaked body. I’ve never shared a bed with a man. And his bed istinyand he’senormous. My eyes crawl up his expansive chest and over his defined jaw, hitching on his lips. I won’t be able to sleep knowing he’s on the cold floor because of me. I finally reach his eyes, a deep bronze in the dim light. “We’ll share the bed.”
“Are you coming on to me, Ella?” He arches a dark blond brow, that adorable dimple appearing in his cheek, and heat floods my face.
