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With playoffs starting soon, he’d been laser-focused on any little mistakes that could cost us during the next four games. Except for my fumble. Rightfully, he should have been all over my ass for the mistake, yet here we were driving to his parents’ house with freaking Christmas music playing like some Hallmark movie.
How the hell did he even find Christmas music in the middle of nowhere? My brows drew together as I realized we never listened to the radio. Parker always cued up something from one of his playlists. My gaze landed on the AUX cable illuminated by the blue light from his console. I sat up, letting the blanket pool around my waist.
“What playlist are we listening to?” I grabbed his phone from under the bag of chips between us and scrolled through. “This is your Chill the F* Out playlist? The one you listen to before every game?”
Parker flushed slightly, and suddenly, my bad mood was gone. He shrugged. “I like Christmas music. It brings back good memories of home. You’ll see.”
His chill playlist was the only one he hadn’t shared with me, and this had to be why. Being a good and loyal girlfriend, I didn’t bring up his reaction to finding out my secret. Admittedly, they weren’t the same level of serious, but it was hard to resist the chance to tease him.
Christmas wasn’t a big deal to me. Without Dad, I’d basically stopped celebrating. He hadn’t cared all that much either, but he’d put in an effort. No point in muddling through for only myself.
For Parker, though, I’d do my best to be excited.
I yawned, suddenly exhausted. It wasn’t late, but we were cocooned in the warm car, I had my burrito blanket, and Parker’s touch filled me with delicious low-key tingles. Carefully, I set his phone back in the console.
“You’re a surprising man, Parker, and I’m glad I’m here with you.”
He turned the volume down to a low murmur, then caught my hand and kissed it. “Sleep, Lorelai. It’s a long drive. I’ll wake you up if I need you to take over.”
I curled onto my side with Perry Como crooning in the background and watched him drive until my lids got heavy.
* * *
“Baby,I need you to wake up. I’d love to carry you inside, but I’m fucking exhausted.” Parker’s voice pulled me from the quiet darkness of sleep, and I cracked open my eyes to a less quiet darkness.
The rumble of the car’s engine had stopped, but water burbled somewhere nearby. Parker crouched in front of me on the passenger side of the car, his hair sticking up in places from him running his hands through it.
“There we go. Almost there, just a quick walk to the house and up the stairs.” His voice sounded tired, and I tried to kick start my brain.
“We’re here? Why didn’t you wake me up to drive?” He wasn’t the only one exhausted. Sleeping in a car wasn’t exactly restful at my height.
“Didn’t need to. I’ve done this trip plenty of times. If you can talk, you can get your ass inside.”
I focused on the house mostly visible through the windshield. Pine trees surrounded the driveway, a mass of dark shadows, but pale pink light tipped the horizon behind the two-story modern farmhouse. A perfect rosy glow haloed the house, and for a second, I wondered if Parker had waited until that exact moment to wake me up.
But Parker wasn’t looking at the cute house, he was watching me, waiting patiently for me to get out of the car so he could go to bed.
I stretched my arms above my head, and a chill hit me through the open door. Fuck, December in the Rocky Mountains was cold. I wouldn’t risk my Wisconsin cred by saying so out loud, but I couldn’t stop the shiver that took root in the base of my spine.
Parker offered me a tiny smile and tucked the burrito blanket back around me. “Come on. It’ll be warm in the house. We can leave everything here until later.”
I let him pull me from the car, and to my embarrassment, he had to catch me as I crumpled. My left leg was asleep from hip to toes. Together, we hobbled into the house, which appeared to be unlocked.
The interior felt big and airy, but I missed the details while I tried to wiggle feeling back into my foot. We crept through the quiet hush inside the house, our steps silent on the carpet. Parker led me upstairs to a hallway of closed doors and ushered me into the second on the left.
I sighed when I spotted the king-sized bed. It crossed my mind his parents might not want us sharing a room, but by that point, I didn’t care. I just wanted to sleep horizontally, preferably curled up next to Parker.
Apparently, he had the same thought because he didn’t even strip down like he normally did to sleep. He toed off his shoes and unwrapped the burrito blanket from around me, tossing it onto a shadow on the other side of the room. I stood there swaying slightly until he threw the covers back and gently pushed me toward the bed.
I didn’t need any more prodding, and Parker climbed in right after me. A low hum of contentment rumbled in his chest as he pulled me back against him. I didn’t bother trying to keep my eyes open any longer.
Surrounded by Parker, I relaxed as a warm curl of happiness spread inside me. Deep in my mind, a hazy dream formed of going to sleep like this every night, without worrying who might see us when we woke up.
* * *
The next morning,sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains, and Parker had buried his head under the pillow. I knew from experience he’d sleep until his body had refueled, so I got up and stretched.
Parker grumbled at the empty spot where I’d been, making me smile. I could always go back to bed—we almost never got to sleep in—but I wasn’t tired any more.
