“What’s that?” She had such a curious expression on her face that I had to stop myself from calling her a dumbass. What did she think I was going to say? How many different solutions did she see to this problem?
“What’s it worth to you?” I asked her with a grin.
“Parker! It’s not worth anything.” She glared. “Just tell me.”
“Okay, well...” I paused for dramatic effect and laughed at the anticipatory looks on Mila’s and Lara’s faces.
“Just say it,” Mila groaned, and I put my hands in the air.
“Well, the secret to carrying it all back...” I said, pausing some again before continuing, “is to take two trips.”
“Two trips,” Mila repeated after me, dumbfounded, as if not fully comprehending what I’d said. “You’re an asshole, Parker.” She shook her head, and I laughed and gave Lara a look. Lara was trying not to laugh, and I gave her a small wink as our eyes met. She started laughing then and a small rush of warmth spread through me at her laughter. My heart expanded for a few seconds as I looked at her and I wondered momentarily if this was what love felt like. What would it be like to feel this lighthearted happiness on a daily basis? Was that even possible?
“I guess you can start telling him the story as I go and work as the scullery maid,” Mila said as she left the room.
“So... ?” I looked at Lara with a soft smile, trying to ignore the bitter feelings that were starting to emerge as I waited for her to tell me about the dick she was dating.
“I don’t have to say anything.” She shook her head and I could see that she was embarrassed. “It’s really not much.”
“Look, I don’t mind,” I said too roughly, so I made a big scene of clearing my throat so that she would think that the reason I sounded annoyed was more related to being sick as opposed to being extremely annoyed.
“Well, if you’re sure,” she said uncertainly.
“So go ahead, spill it,” I said, trying not to grit my teeth and ask her instead why she hadn’t returned my texts or messages.
“So Luke and I went out last night,” she said hesitantly, and it took everything in me to not tell her to just get on with it. I didn’t want to hear her story. I didn’t want to know anything about Luke. I didn’t want to hear her story at all. I didn’t care if she never saw him again. I didn’t care if I never heard about him again. He could drop off a cliff and die for all I cared.
“Continue.” I nodded, keeping all my other thoughts inside.
“So everything seemed to be going well,” she continued softly. “We had a lot of good eye contact, which is a good thing, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.If he wants to get in your pants, I said inside.
“So we were joking around and I thought everything was going really well.” She paused and I watched as she nibbled on her lower lip. I stared at her lush pink lips for a few seconds and tried just to think about how they would feel on me, sucking. I felt myself growing hard at the thought. What would she do if I reached over and pulled her on top of me? Would she let me take her again? Did she want that as well? Maybe that would make her forget Luke. Maybe that was what I needed to get over the craziness in my head again. Maybe I needed to have her again.She was still in my blood and I hadn’t had my fill of her. I wanted to touch her, feel her, wanted to be inside of her.
“Yeah, continue,” I said, trying to distract myself from where my thoughts were going. I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself from getting carried away if I kept thinking about making love to her. And I knew the last thing I needed to be doing was trying to seduce her again.
“Well, it was weird,” she said. “The mood just really changed at one point and I don’t know why.”
“What do you mean the mood changed?” I asked her, genuinely curious. Was it over between her and Luke already? I couldn’t help feeling smug and happy inside at that thought.
“Well, the smile left his face and he started talking about how he had to go home,” she said softly.
“Oh?” I gazed at her. “What happened right before that?” Yup, it was over! I wondered if it would be too much if I asked her to come over to my place to watch a movie?
“Honestly, I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Nothing. I don’t remember anything happening. We were just talking. I didn’t say anything untoward, I don’t think.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t make much sense, though. Something had to have been said for his mood to change.” I pretended like I still cared about the conversation while I thought about sliding inside of her from behind. I wondered if she liked doggy style. Who was I kidding? What woman didn’t like doggy style?
“The conversation was fine, I thought.” She sighed and I could see a hurt and confused expression in her eyes. “We were just talking and then I got a text message.”
“Ooh, did you check your messages during the date?” I asked her. “That might have pissed him off.” I wondered who had texted her? Was it another guy? I frowned. Was she talking to more than one guy online?
“I didn’t check anything.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to be rude, so I didn’t check.”
“Okay.” I frowned. So maybe she was really into this guy if she wasn’t even checking her messages on the date. For some reason, this displeased me even more and I tried to shake the feeling off. I couldn’t believe my mood was going up and down with the conversation. What was wrong with me? Was I becoming a girl?
“Yeah, I hate when guys are on their phones on dates, so I never do it,” she said softly.
