Page 72 of Parker
“No. Not yet. But I think she was getting there.”
“So you two…got together? While you were in Vegas?”
“You saw the video, man.”
“In every sense of the—”
“Yep. Pretty much.”
“So…you two—”
“Yes. Last night.”
“Wow. Okay. And since there’s nothing on earth that would make Parker do something she didn’t want to do, she must havewantedto be with you,” he says. “I mean, yeah, I saw the video. She wasn’t exactly pushing you away in the phone booth.”
“Sawyer. Come on. You know me! I wouldneverpressure her to do something she didn’t want to do.”
“I know. I know. It’s just…it’s hard to get my head around it.”
“It was consensual. All of it. Everything.”
“If it wasn’t,” says Sawyer, dead serious. “I’d kill you.”
“You wouldn’t have to,” I tell him. “I’d already be dead. She can look out for herself, that’s for sure. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it when she gets home…but that part of the video when Parker punches Rick Jones in the eye? That was because a little bit of food fell on her shirt, and he leaned forward to lick it off. She didn’t like that.”
Sawyer laughs. “Now,that’smy sister.”
“Hell, yes, it is,” I say, grinning at the memory of Rick walking back into the convention center with a red, angry ring around his eye. It’s the first time I’ve smiled since being thrown out of her room. “Here’s the truth. I love her, Sawyer. I always have. I’d doanythingfor her.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” says Sawyer with a sigh. “But I actually believe you.” He laughs softly. “You and Parker. I mean, I believe you, but I also can’t believe it.”
“She hates me right now,” I say. “So ‘me and Parker’ may never happen.”
“That video’s gonna shake her up bad,” he says. “She’s private. And proud. And having her love life splashed across the internet sucks. Especially since the dude she’s making out with is well-documented as someone she intensely hates.”
“Yeah,” I say. “The whole thing is just…oh, god. The worst.” I pause for a second, picturing her face in the rays of an early morning sunrise, soft and willing beneath me.I want this. I want you. And I promise you, if this goes the way I think itwill, I will definitely want to do it again. “It was going so well, Sawyer. So fucking good. I just…Fuck. I don’t know how I’m going to fix this.”
“Give her time. Parker gets mad fast, and when she’s mad, she’s mean. But when she cools down, she’ll be sorry.”
“I don’t know,” I tell him. “I don’t think it’ll be that easy. The Jones’ video…I think it triggered her. It brought back her feelings about all the times I teased her and pranked her and gave her a hard time. I thought we were getting past that, but suddenly she was…different. She shut down. It was like the past week didn’t happen at all.”
“That sucks, man.”
“Yeah. Like I said, I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t think I can help you…the only person who might be able to give you a hand is Harper. She and Park are super close, you know? All I can say is give her time. She’ll eventually cool down, and then you might be able to talk to her again.”
“And lose all the ground I made this week? Fuck.”
“Not ideal,” says Sawyer.
“No,” I say, “but if that’s the way it has to be, then that’s the way it’ll be. I’m done dating, Sawyer. I’m done fucking around. If I’m gonna be with someone, it’s gonna be Parker, or no one. I’ll wait for her. I’ll wait until she’s ready to talk to me again…no matter how long it takes.”
“You know what?”
“Tell me.”
“I like this version of Quinn for my sister,” he says.