I do trust him. That’s the problem. I lean into him and whisper, “I know.”
The word I’m trying to say lodges in my throat, trembling before it escapes.
“Trust.”
He doesn’t push and I’m not sure why. Parker lifts up thesheets and pats the mattress for me to slide in, and when I do he presses my back to his front, tight and comforting. He’s the most patient man I’ve ever met. No questions. He just waits patiently for me to say something.
But even though I feel safe and protected, I can’t admit what I saw and did nothing to stop it.
TWENTY-EIGHT
PARKER
Granny’s land sits an hour or so outside of the city and everything feels quieter except when you turn onto the unpaved road and gravel pops under the wheels.
It’s not silent out here. There’s a hush blanketing the landscape that surrounds you and settles into your bones. The kind of place where the air smells like trees, not fast food. A place where you can breathe.
I glance over at Annika in the passenger seat. She’s been quiet and didn’t laugh when I told her that Jaylen got a drink thrown at him last night at a bar.
Her fingers rest against her thigh, tapping once every few seconds. Grounding like she taught me. So now when I line up, I tap my fingers against my leg to zone in.
“Nervous?” I ask.
She exhales gently. “A little.”
“Of Granny?” I can’t help the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.
She shoots me a look. “There’s a lot of you and if she can wrangle all of you then yes, I’m scared.”
“That’s fair. Dad says we get our competitiveness from her side, even though he was the one to play in college and pro.”
I slow as the party barn comes into view, strings of lights already glowing against the early evening sky. Cars line the wide-open grass parking lot, and we hear laughter carrying across the open space.
“She’s going to love you,” I add.
“You don’t know that. What if she thinks I’m a gold digger?”“She won’t. I’m not a king. I have no gold,” I counter.
She scoffs, “Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean. You’re a professional football player making millions.”
A harsh, almost maniacal laugh escapes. “Nope. I didn’t go top ten in the draft. I wanted to play with my brothers, so I took way less money. This is my contract year so if I don’t catch the ball, Sutton can’t pay me what I’m worth. I need to lock in because I want to stay in Austin… with you and my family.”
She studies me for a beat like she’s trying to decide if I’m being truthful.
That’s the thing. I understand why she’s hesitant. And why she calculates every decision. But I don’t do that with her. There’s no second guessing. She feels part of me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks.
I shrug and raise a brow. “That I’m not making millions?”
“No, I don’t care about that. About it being a contract year is extra pressure.”
I push the gearshift into park, jump out and open her door.
“You didn’t have to open my door.”
“Are you joking? Granny would skin me alive if I didn’t perform my gentlemanly duties,” I tease, sort of.
She squeezes my hand, pressing on her toes to give me a quick peck on the cheek. She has on a blue-jean jacket layered over a floral v neck dress. I can’t take my eyes off her. How her cleavage shows just enough to make my mouth water and the sway of her hips when she walks.