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I’d finally had enough. “What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Can’t a man have some space?”
I couldn’t help but smile at his hypocrisy. “Really? This coming from the man who literally almost put his hands down my shorts in bed this morning?”
His ears turned pink. “I told you already. I thought that was my dick.”
“Mine is ten times larger than yours, hardly something you could mix up,” I teased. Despite his mercurial moods, Parker had been good company this week. I’d enjoyed the chance to have him all to myself for once.
“N-no, n-not n-necessarily.” The red blush had seeped from his ears to his neck. Parker rarely got embarrassed. That was more my style.
I stepped back and focused on his face. “What’s going on? You know I don’t care about you spooning me, right? I’m used to it by now.”
He didn’t say anything or look at me. Apparently, the sandwiches were way more interesting.
“Are you embarrassed you almost felt me up?” I joked. “Because I wouldn’t have minded that. Feel free to make liberal use of my dick in the mornings if needed. I wouldn’t want you to think I was an ungenerous host.”
He still didn’t say anything. His body radiated stress, but his focus remained on the food.
Was he offended? I’d been kidding. He and I had always been able to joke about anything before. But for some reason, today was different. My stomach twisted with worry.
“Parks? Is this your Erin shit coming out? Are you ready to talk about it yet?”
“I don’t have Erin shit. And, no, I don’t need to talk about it.”
I took the hint and gave him even more room. After refilling my water bottle, I sat down at the kitchen table and watched Parker. He was dressed in soft gray joggers with a red ski patrol hoodie and thick wool socks. He’d taken a shower after we’d spent a couple of hours outside, shoveling snow off the long driveway, trying to fix a broken floodlight on the garage that Parker insisted needed to be in working order for security reasons, and hauling in more firewood. His damp hair stuck up in a messy arrangement, and yesterday’s beard shadow gave his chin a golden-red glow in the light coming through the kitchen window.
I remembered him as an awkward preteen with a face full of acne and a big gap between his bottom front teeth. He’d loved listening to guitar ballads, watching competitive skiing on television, and chewing grape-flavored bubble gum. Despite having shitty, neglectful parents, he’d been the most optimistic middle schooler in history and had a joy of life that had kept me from sinking into my more pessimistic nature.
This man had been the most influential positive role model in my life, and now he was hurting. I wanted to help, but I didn’t really know how.
When he set two plates down on the table, I murmured my thanks before digging in. The sandwich was amazing. We ate in companionable silence for a while until the doorbell rang. This time, I got up to answer. I was expecting an Amazon delivery of some things for the kitchen, but when I opened the door, it wasn’t a delivery driver.
“Oh. Hi,” I said, recognizing the man from the bar where he’d been talking to Parker. “Can I help you?”
“It’s you,” he said with a wide grin. “From the other night. This is a nice surprise.”
I felt Parker move up behind me. The man’s smile dropped. “Oh. And you, too.”
“What are you doing here?” Parker asked gruffly before moving around to face me. “Julian?”
I looked between the two of them. “I… have no idea what’s going on.”
The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Rocco Valentine. I had a date scheduled with…” He cleared his throat. “Jay Thick. I’m assuming that’s a fake name.”
Parker snorted. “Like you’re one to talk. Rocco Valentine? Really? That’s—”
I felt my face ignite. “No,” I interrupted loudly. “I’m Julian Thick, but I didn’t schedule a date with anyone.”
Parker stepped back and set his jaw. “It’s fine. You can go ahead.”
I snapped my eyes to him. “Excuse me? Like I need your permission? I’m saying I never arranged anything. If I had, I wouldn’t lie to you about it, and I sure as hell wouldn’t lie to this man, who’s obviously gone out of his way to show up here.” I looked back at Rocco. “Sorry.”
He was hot and fit, exactly the kind of guy I would have loved to have shown up at my door if Parker wasn’t around, but Parker was around, and I was not about to kick him out so I could get some hot ass.
Eating a BLT with Parker trumped fucking a stranger any day of the week, even a sexy one like this guy.
Rocco looked from me to Parker for a beat before letting out a soft laugh and shaking his head. “Okay. See you later.”
