Page 87 of Dear Mr. Brody

That seemed to placate her, for now, but I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it until she’d actually met him. If that ever happened, I figured she never needed to know the details of how we’d met.

“They’ll work out,” Marcos said, stacking a few patterns together, he stuck them in his bag. “You’re practically in love with the guy already.”

“In love?” Mom asked, her tone filled with what could only be described as delight.

Fucking Marcos.

“I think it’s time for you to move out,” I said, and his head tipped back as he laughed.

“You wish,mijo.”

Right then, I really did.

Donovan

“Hey.” Parker smiled at me from my office doorway, and I still couldn’t get over how good he looked in his dark-washed jeans and steel gray button down. He’d had his appointment with Anders today, and I thought it was cute that he’d dressed up like it was a job interview. “You ready to get out of here?”

“How did it go?” I asked, closing my laptop.

He walked in and shut the door behind him. “I think it went well. Anders is fucking intense.”

I laughed as I stood, wrapping my arms around his waist. He leaned on the edge of my desk as I pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, to his jaw, below his ear. “Did I tell you how much I like you in this shirt?”

He buried his nose in my neck and inhaled. “Yeah, about a dozen times since I got here.”

Leaning back, I ran my hands up his chest. “We should go out to dinner to celebrate.”

“You don’t even know what Anders said.” He bit the corner of his lip, his smile giving him away.

“I already know he wants to sign you, Park. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Then, I guess we should celebrate.”

“You decided to sign?” I asked, and he nodded. “Parker, that’s—”

“Fucking crazy.” His smile fell and he lowered his head. “The shit I write… it’s bits and pieces of the stuff I have in my head. What if I can’t ever write an entire book?”

“He’ll help you. Push you when you need it.” I rested two fingers under his chin and lifted his head. “You can do this.”

“I want to believe that.”

“Anders is only a facilitator. Write what you want, Parker. You don’t owe anyone anything. If you never write a book, or if you write twenty. Do it for you and no one else.”

He cupped the back of my neck, his eyes falling to my mouth. “We don’thaveto go out.”

“I want to take you out.”

He kissed my bottom lip, the heat of his breath sweet against my skin as he spoke. “A real date, in public and everything?”

I rested my forehead against his. “I should have taken you out sooner.”

“Van…” He framed my face in his hands, his blue eyes boring into mine. “We’re midterm, soon it will be finals week, after that you can take me wherever the fuck you want. I don’t care about where we eat food, as long as you’re there, I’m happy.”

“We can—”

Parker’s mouth captured mine with a hungry kiss, a low groan rumbling in his chest as his hands threaded through my hair. His hold tugged at my scalp, and I pressed against him. I was already hard for him, my cock brushing his thigh. I thought about what it would be like to be on my knees for him, here, in my office, behind my desk. Heat gathered along my groin, my heart beating faster and faster, the voice in my head whispering,ask him for it, ask him for it,as his mouth opened and our tongues swept against each other. He tasted like mint, and Parker, and God, I loved the way he took what he wanted. I wanted to be that bold. I wanted to sink to my knees and—

There was a soft knock on my door, and I broke away from his mouth. His cheeks were red, his pupils dilated as he stared back at me.