“You two are going to be trouble together,” Mason grumbled as he threw back the rest of his drink.
Brandon put his arm around my shoulder and Parker watched him like a hawk.
“Maybe you and Brandon should date,” Emily said sarcastically, but Brandon and I looked up at each other.
I wasn’t attracted to Brandon. Was he hot? Hell yes, but from the moment I met him, I knew we were going to be great friends. We were too much alike. Would we make a good couple? No. Would we make the greatest dynamic duo ever? Absolutely.
“I don’t think Livy could handle me.” Brandon was grinning at me, and it was impossible not to feed off his energy.
“Oh, Brando.” I patted his cheek. “Go ahead and believe that, sweetheart.”
“I can do this thing with my tongue,” Brandon started, but Parker interrupted him.
“You do realize her brother is sitting right there, right?”
“Mason is your brother?” Brandon put his hand against his chest in fake shock.
“He is.” I laughed.
“Well this is just tragic.” He put my hand in his. “Best friends then?”
“Do we get a secret handshake?” I raised an eyebrow.
“What kind of barbarian do you take me for? Of course, we’ll have a secret handshake. Don’t worry, Parker.” He looked up at his friend who was still watching us. “I’ll keep it clean since her brother is right there.”
Parker rolled his eyes, and I decided that Brandon and I were going to be great friends. If I couldn’t avoid Parker while I was here, I could at least piss him off with his best friend.
L I V
Four years and five and a half months earlier
Parker was acting weird. I had been avoiding him since the almost kiss, but today, he seemed to have a different plan. Because he wouldn’t get out of my space. No matter where I moved, he seemed to mirror me.
We had been at the lake all day with my brother and some of their friends, and it was a good day. Parker had laid his towel out next to mine and his eyes were glued to me as I pulled off my tank top and blue jean shorts.
But I didn’t care. At least that was what I was telling myself.
He watched every movement of my hands as I spread sunscreen over my skin, but I attempted to avoid looking at him. I put on my large sunglasses as he pulled out his sketchbook, but I avoided looking down as the pencil in his hand moved rapidly against the paper.
His gaze kept flicking to me, and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I lay on my stomach and tried to relax in the warm summer sun.
The sun heated my skin, and as badly as I hated to admit it, the feel of Parker beside me made everything else disappear.
“Hey, man. Where’s Madison?” some guy asked, causing me to stir.
My face was smooshed against my towel, and I was pretty sure there was a small amount of drool trailing down my chin. But my ears perked up at the mention of her.
“I couldn’t tell you,” Parker said without much thought.
“What, you can’t keep your woman in line?” I rolled my eyes at the idiotic comment.
“She’s not my woman anymore.” Parker paused and my heart leaped out of my chest. “We broke up yesterday.”
He broke up with her.
He broke up with her.
Did she break up with him?
Did he break up with her for me?
The mound of questions started rolling through my mind. Was it because of our almost kiss? Did it have absolutely nothing to do with me?
Instead of showing how interested in the answers I really was, I kept my head down against my towel and pretended to do nothing but bathe in the sun. But my heart was beating out of my chest.
After a few minutes, Parker finally broke the silence.
“You don’t have anything to say?”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me, but I peeked my eyes open and looked up at him through my arms.
“Yes. I’m talking to you.” He leaned closer to me and I breathed in the scent of his cologne mixed with the sunshine.
“Why would I have anything to say?” I sat up, stretching my arms above my head causing his eyes to drop to my chest.
“You’re good at a lot of things, Livy, but lying isn’t one of them.” He smirked, the right side of his mouth slightly higher than the left.
“Well what do you want me to say?” I pulled my hair out of my ponytail and shook it out.
“Tell me what you think.” He was watching me closely, and I loved it. I fucking loved every second of it.
He still had his sketchbook in his hand. He always did. He was constantly drawing and doodling. Instead of answering him, I reached out and pulled it away from his chest. The drawing was a portrait. Something that he must have been working on for quite some time due to the intricate lines and shading. As I stared at my reflection on the paper, I didn’t recognize the girl in front of me.
Half of my face looked normal, what the rest of the world saw, what I saw, but the other half was covered in flowers, wings, and bursts of wild lines. There was no order. It was chaotic and beautiful and ran off the page. You couldn’t tell where she began and where she ended.
“It’s beautiful.” I ran my finger lightly down the page, tracing the line of my nose.
“You’re beautiful.” He was staring at me in a way he never had before.
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear before his eyes skirted to my brother.
Did he want me to be happy that he and Madison broke up? Would it really change anything? We still had my brother to worry about.
But not right now, Mason was being Mason, and he was on the side of the ledge about to jump in the lake. I’m sure all the girls waiting below would be more than impressed by him, and he knew it too.
“Do you want to go for a swim?” I said breathlessly.
Parker stood and reached his hand out for me. I placed my hand in his much larger one, and he followed me to the edge of the water.
The cool water hit my overheated skin as I dipped my toes into the lake. Parker was right behind me. I could feel him. Whether it was the heat of his body or his presence alone, I knew he was there, and when I leaped into the water headfirst, I knew he would follow me.
And when I came up for air, he was the first thing I saw.
He was the only thing I saw.
His hand slid against my hip under the water, and even though it was ninety degrees outside, chills bumps covered my skin. I could feel the calluses on his fingers from him constantly having a pencil in his hand.
He wrapped his other hand around mine, intertwining our fingers. Our exchange hidden under the dark water of the lake.
“What are we doing, Parker?” I whispered even though no one else was around us.
“I don’t know.” His hand tightened against mine. “But I can’t stay away from you any longer.”
P A R K E R
Present
Brandon was a fucking idiot. Was he one of my best friends? Yes. Did he enjoy making my life miserable for his own sick enjoyment? Fuck yes.
He called me yesterday to tell me that he offered Livy a job and she took it. When I asked him if he told her that I owned half the business, he just laughed.