AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’d be sad, so I guess you’d have to comfort me, then.”
I snort, and he laughs. “Tell me something. You hike regularly? On purpose? Without a gun to your head? With no one forcing you?”
“Yeah, I like it.”
I almost trip on my own feet when Parker moves in front of me, blocking my way. He tilts his head to the side and smiles. “You realize you’ve been skirting around something we need to talk about, right?”
I blow out my cheeks and release a long breath. “What do you mean?”
His smile only grows wider, the dimple between his brows deepening. “The kiss.”
Despite how much I desperately try to control my reaction, I can feel the warmth blooming on my face. “Oh. Now? You want to talk now? I can barely breathe while walking, and you want to talk.”
“Okay, then. I know a place where we can stop.”
The incline becomes more demanding, and I hear him huffing, too. My muscles are so unaccustomed to this type of activity that I can practically hear them scream in agony. I am so gonna be sore for the next seven days.
We reach a point cloaked in mist but has a huge boulder on the side. I unceremoniously slump on it, not caring that I look like a wet rug. Taking a long drink from my tumbler, I let my heartbeat return to its normal rate.
Parker sits beside me, and we stay quiet for a few minutes before he breaks the silence. “You often thank people with a kiss?”
I whirl my head so fast I feel like I’m having a whiplash. “Why? Do you often ask people you help for a kiss?”
His shoulders shake, and he levels me with a look that says, What do you think?
“Fair. To answer your question, Piper, no. I only ever do that to you.”
The snort comes out of me before I have time to think about it. “Right. You flirt with everyone.”
“Oh, how dare you? Who are we talking about?”
“I don’t know. The lady on the third floor.”
“Jenika?”
“Maybe? The beautiful girl with long, black hair.”
Parker bursts out laughing. “Jealous?”
“Not on your life.”
He swallows the remaining water in his tumbler and moves to kneel in front of me. He rests a palm on my knee and the air around us shifts. Turns charged. Something zapping through the space between us, and I try to focus on what he’s telling me. “She’s my cousin’s girlfriend. I’m a generally pleasant guy to be around with. At least that’s what my friends tell me. So what you consider flirting is just me being nice.”
“That didn’t bother me.”
He raises one brow and nods, visibly trying to stifle another smile. “Okay.”
“You also ask me out every single chance you get.”
“Because I want to go out with you, but you never take me seriously.”
I remember last night, how I tossed and turned and was unable to sleep because of the way he kissed me. My body felt hot all over, and it didn’t matter how cold my bedroom was, I burned.
Out of desperation, I was on the verge of touching myself, imagining his hands all over me, but I couldn’t. I knew I’d only end up frustrated and disappointed. But I did tease myself, running my fingers along the sides of my breasts.
That thought has me rubbing my thighs together, and Parker must have seen something change in my eyes because his face darkens and his hand flexes on my knee.
Maybe he senses the desperate yearning within me because he pushes himself from the ground, bringing me with him, and in one swift motion, he sits on the boulder while I straddle him.
