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He’d already made my coffee the way I liked it.
“Bless you,” I mouthed at him before taking a sip.
It only took a few moments to realize he was talking to one of his asshole parents.
“I didn’t call off the fucking wedding, Mom! Erin—” He clamped his jaws together. “No… no… I told you I… whatever. Fine… I… You weren’t there! Why do you even care when you couldn’t be bothered enough to—”
He closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest. I could see the slight wobble in his chin that warned of imminent disaster, so I grabbed the phone and hit the Off button before pocketing it. His parents had lost the right to upset him a very long time ago as far as I was concerned, and I had no qualms about protecting him from them, no matter how rude it might seem to others.
“Bacon or sausage?” I asked cheerily before opening the fridge door to pick one.
“Don’t care,” he said flatly before walking out of the room. I knew he was most likely going to shower so he could have an emotional reaction without witnesses. Sometimes I chased after him and forced my comfort on him in similar situations, but today I got the sense he needed time to himself.
I got busy cooking his favorites instead. By the time he came out in his snug long underwear, I was putting two plates with elaborate fried egg and sausage sandwiches on the kitchen table next to a couple of glasses of orange juice and ice water. I tried not to stare at the way his thermal layer clung to his muscles, and I sure as shit kept my eyes above his waist.
Mostly.
I busied myself getting us fresh mugs of coffee. “I forgot to text Tiller to ask him where we should go. Surely there are some good runs on their mountain. The ski resort isn’t open to the general public this winter. It’s only special access right now. I don’t think the downhill operation is fully staffed yet.”
Parker swallowed a bite of his sandwich. “It’s not. He keeps begging me to come on board to run the ski school, but I told him I can’t leave Rod and the program in Vail.”
I knew Tiller and Mikey had approached him about joining the ski operations manager they’d hired, but we’d all known he’d never leave the Rokas family. “It’s too bad, though. If I came on board full-time, think how great it would be if you were here, too.”
I’d said it as a joke, as a throwaway comment. He’d never consider leaving Rod and the future ideal plan of running their program with Erin. But Parker stopped eating and looked thoughtful.
“Now that Erin and I aren’t together, maybe I could reconsider.”
I almost choked on my coffee. How did I politely remind him that despite this temporary insanity on Erin’s part, they were still going to end up together like always? Getting back together was what they did.
Thankfully, the doorbell rang before the conversation could continue.
Parker was closer to the door, so he got there first. A man’s voice said, “Hey, cutie. Aren’t you unexpected? My, my… look at those muscles. You sure know how to—”
“Excuse me.” I yanked the door open more fully to reveal a man about our age with noticeably good looks and trendy clothes. “Can I help you?” I asked.
His eyes widened. “Oh, woah. I wasn’t told there were going to be two of you. I don’t do DP, but…” He eyed Parker up and down, taking his sweet time about it, before tossing me a more cursory glance. “There’s always spit roasting, and I can see how that would be a happy solution to our little dilemma.”
I stepped in front of Parker and growled at the inappropriate stranger. “What the fuck?”
He blinked at me. “I’m liking the angry vibe, but go easy on me, man. I thought one of you needed some tender loving care. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
I felt Parker’s body brush against my back as his chin came to rest on my shoulder. “Are you a massage therapist? Because Julian could use—”
“You have the wrong house,” I said quickly, elbowing Parker back from the open door. “Sorry. Have a nice day.”
I closed the door and locked it before turning around to pretend like none of this had happened.
“Jules?”
“Need more coffee?” I asked.
“Uh, no? I have a full mug that you poured me like fifteen seconds ago.”
“Then maybe drink it,” I said before taking my seat and shoving the sandwich in my mouth.
“Hmm. You know, I thought the plan you mentioned yesterday was more… theoretical. But if you prearranged some… ah… male encounters this week…”
I choked around the solid mass in my throat before coughing out, “Male encounters?”
“Hookups. Grindr stuff.”
I glared at him. “I didn’t.”
