I turn my head toward him. “I don’t know if you realize this, but Sharry’s is closed right now.”
“I don’t know ifyourealize this, but I know where she keeps the spare key.” He winks before climbing out, and I’m not far behind.
This was one of the things we used to do when we would sneak out. Parker’s first job was here, and he picks up the rock next to the back door to reveal the key that’s always there.
“You’d think Sharry would move that by now.” I shake my head.
“She doesn’t change much,” he replies, unlocking the back door for us to enter.
“This is stealing, you know?”
“Not when I leave money.”
“But you don’t.”
He rears back, looking at me. “Yes, I do. I always have.”
I open my mouth to say something but then snap it shut because I don’t know how to respond to that. I always felt bad when we would do this because we were technically stealing, but Parker always reassured me it was fine. And I believed him because I always did without a second thought.
We go inside, keeping the main lights off and using Parker’s phone flashlight as our only light source. Everything seems to be in the same place it was when we were younger.
“Still remember what I get?” I ask as Parker collects two of the premade waffle cones.
“Of course I do.”
I jump onto the counter where the cash register is, my feet dangling in front of me as I watch him. “Just know if you get it wrong you have to take me home.”
He chuckles. “Why? Is this a test or something?”
“Yup, you said we’re being teenagers again. And as teenagers you never got my ice cream wrong.”
“Good point, but we aren’t going to doeverythingwe did when we were younger. Getting arrested now can mean actual jail time.”The humor in his voice is evident as he slides open the freezer to scoop out the ice cream. I try not to stare at the way his arms fill out his T-shirt better than they did when we were younger. How the tattoos wrap around his skin and send a bolt of heat between my thighs.
It makes me think of the other things we can’t do that we did when we were younger.
“I was neverarrested,” I insist to distract myself. “Just brought home by the cops.”
“Three times.”
“It didn’t count,” I lie. “In my defense, I didn’t know it was against the law in Washington to lie about your family being wealthy.”
“You were arrested for being a minor in possession.”
“I wasn’tarrested,”I insist again. “I didn’t get taken to jail, it’s not on my record, henceforth, ergo, not arrested.”
Parker shakes his head, laughing while continuing to put together the ice cream cones.
“And to be fair, I thought saying my parents had money would help my case not make it worse.”
“Lil, the cops knew youandyour parents.”
“You’re using a lot of logic over there, and I don’t like it.”
He laughs again, stepping closer to me. I have to fight my legs to stay close together and not let him stepin between them. Because I may let him. He holds out the cone between the small distance my knees are forcing between us.
“Tell me how I did.” His voice is deeper, and it’s doing some things to me it shouldn’t.
I snatch the cone from him, and lick around the top to give my mouth something else to do that isn’t blurting out something crazy. I shouldn’t even be surprised that he really did remember. Down to the rainbow sprinkles on top of the cookie dough ice cream.