In pure Staci style, she took us straight to one of the hottest guys in the room. I tried to pull away from her as she made a beeline for him, but she didn’t let go of me until she wrapped her arms around him.
“Hey, Stac.” He was talking to her, but as he pulled her tighter against his chest, he was staring at me.
He was tall, covered in tattoos and had hair so short that I could barely tell the color. But it was easy to see the bright blue of his eyes and the mischief they held.
“Liv, this is Neil.” Staci pulled away from him and wagged her eyebrows at me.
I attempted to tell her to cut it out without Neil seeing me.
“Neil, this is Liv.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Liv.” He pulled my hand in his, and he stared into my eyes as his strong hand shook mine.
“You too.”
He had a hint of smile on his lips, and I found myself wanting to lean in closer to him. But the thought of Parker popped in my head. It seemed to happen any time I had the slightest interest in anyone else.
I searched the room for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I wasn’t even sure if he would be here. I assumed he would since Staci said all the artists came, but she hadn’t specifically said he would be here.
Neil leaned against the bar behind him, and his leg brushed mine.
“Would you like to sit down?” He pulled the bar stool out for me.
I climbed up on the stool, and he was so close that the smell of his cologne surrounded me. It was light, yet masculine, and although I loved the smell of it, I loved another smell more.
“So Liv, what do you do?”
“I’m the receptionist at Forbidden Ink.” I shrugged my shoulders because it seemed unimpressive compared to most of the people here.
“Ah. So that’s how you know Staci.” He held a glass of dark liquor in his hand, and I watched as he pressed it to his lips. “You work with Parker then, huh?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah. I work with him.” I scanned the crowd again and this time I saw him. He was making his way over to us, and he looked like a fucking sin. His hair was perfectly styled out of his face, and it seemed to only accentuate his strong jaw. He wore a solid black t-shirt and jeans, and somehow the intricate tattoos that covered his skin made them seem anything but simple.
“Hey, Neil.”
“Hey, man.” Neil immediately stood and hugged Parker then Brandon.
“I see you’ve met my girl, Livy.” Parker looked at me as he said the words, but I only rolled my eyes.
“I didn’t realize she was your girl.”
“That’s because I’m not.” I piped in making Brandon chuckle.
Neil smiled at me before looking back to Parker.
Parker dropped his smile and looked at Neil head on. “She may not be mine now, but she was once and that means she’s off limits.”
“Are you kidding me, Parker?” I stood from my stool ready to smack him in the back of the head, but Brandon got to me before I could.
“Let’s go dance, firecracker,” he whispered in my ear while I stared daggers at Parker.
“I don’t want to dance.”
“Go dance, Liv. Have fun.” Neil smiled at me before darting his eyes back to Parker. For what I wasn’t sure? Approval.
“What a pussy,” I said to myself causing Brandon to laugh as he pulled me away from the both of them.
There was a slow song playing and no one dancing in the large bar, but Brandon didn’t care. He pulled me against him as if we were two people too in love to care what others thought about us.
“Why were you over there all snuggled up to Neil when you clearly still have feelings for Parker?”
“I do not have feelings for Parker. Why are you being such a cock block?” He twirled me around causing my dress to float around me before pulling me back against him.
“A cock block? If Neil got his cock anywhere near you, Parker would kill him.”
“Parker’s getting married. He doesn’t have the right to care.”
Brandon dipped me back, and the whole bar went upside down. When he lifted me back against his chest, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Just because he’s getting married doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother him.”
I tried to pull out of Brandon’s hold, but he held me firmly against him.
“So, he gets to parade his fiancée around like it doesn’t fucking break my heart every time I see them together, but I can’t talk to a guy because it might bother him.” I blew out a frustrated breath.
“You’re right.”
“I am?” I asked confused.
“Yeah. You clearly don’t have feelings for Parker anymore.”
I buried my face in his chest, and he pulled me closer to him. “If it helps at all, I think he still has feelings for you as well.”
“It doesn’t,” I murmured against his shirt.
“I didn’t think so.”
L I V
Four years and five months earlier
“What’s wrong with you?” My brother was looking at me suspiciously, and I was worried that he knew about us.
“What are you talking about? Nothing’s wrong with me.”
“You’re,” he pointed up at my face, “all smiley and shit.”
“I’m just happy, that’s all.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“Uh huh.”
I could have told him the truth. I could have told him that I had just had the best night of my life with his best friend, but I wasn’t that stupid.
“Is it because graduation is tomorrow? Nothing really changes except you don’t have to go to school.” He leaned his head against the back of the couch and changed the channel on the TV.
I hadn’t even thought about graduation until he just mentioned it. I had been so distracted by Parker that I really hadn’t thought about much else. I hadn’t even decided where I was going to go to school. I had received a scholarship to the University of Tennessee and another to the University of Georgia.
But Parker made my decision easy. There was no way that I was going to leave him to go to Georgia. There was nothing that could make me make that decision.
“Yeah. I guess it is.” I thought about the cap and gown that hung in my closet. Mason and Parker would be there to watch me walk across the stage in it. I’m sure my mother would be there somewhere as well if she remembered, but she would probably be late and she would probably be on the arm of some man I didn’t recognize.
I spent the rest of the day getting everything ready for tomorrow. I ironed the soft pink dress that I would wear under my gown, and I laid out my shoes. I pulled out the one piece of jewelry I actually cared about, a simple string of white pearls that belonged to my grandmother. I didn’t really know her well since my mother never took us to visit her, but she left the pearls to me in her will, and somehow, they felt special.
When I looked down at my outfit all laid out, I could feel the excitement bubble inside of me. Even though I wouldn’t be leaving this place, I felt a piece of freedom settle into me that I had never felt before. I didn’t know if it was graduation or Parker.