Page 2

Marcus

C lenching my fists, I turn back when Parker whispers my name.

“What are you doing in my room?” I grit out, looking left and right. This has to be a joke, right? It’s been a long-ass day and all I want to do is shower and crash, not deal with my ex-boyfriend being in my hotel room.

“This is my room,” Parker says, still gripping his towel. Fuck, he’s naked under that towel. And damn it, he still looks as good now as the last time I saw him. His blond curls are soaking wet and it’s obvious he just got out of the shower. His light blue eyes are staring at me, and like before, they suck me in. His lean ivory body is on display, his blush-pink nipples are just begging for my teeth. Fuck no, Marcus. Not again.

Turning my head to the side, I set my eyes on the window behind him.

“This has to be some kind of mistake.” I snatch my phone out of my pocket and pull up Kendra’s name. The phone rings before going to voicemail, so I press Call Back and try again. “Pick up the phone,” I murmur, closing my eyes.

“If you’re trying to call Kendra, I left her on her bed. We might have had a bit too much to drink at the bar earlier and she needed to sleep it off.”

My eyes snap up, locked on Parker once again. He’s rocking on his feet, not making eye contact with me.

“I’m going to go down to the front lobby and see what happened.”

I don’t wait for him to respond before I turn away and head straight for the elevator. My mind is racing and I need to get away from him as soon as possible. Parker has always been my weakness. I’ve always craved him, and seeing him again—naked no less—has my walls wanting to crash down.

And I can’t let them fall.

Pressing the button for the lobby, I watch as the doors close, and then I shut my eyes, leaning my head against the cool metal wall. I knew it was going to be hard seeing him, but I didn’t realize just how tough it would be. I haven’t seen or talked to him since we broke up. He called a few times and left a couple of messages, but I wasn’t ready to hear from him. To this day, I’m still not sure why he broke up with me and as much as I want to say that I don’t care, I do.

Parker in his towel flashes in my mind, my dick thickening in my slacks.

“No, bad boy. Stop,” I whisper to my dick as we continue the ride down.

I stride over to the counter, flashing the young lady my best smile. “Hi, I’m having some problems with my room? I went to use my card, and it seems as though another person is already in the room?”

“Oh my goodness, what? That can’t be possible. Let me check it out. What room are you in?”

“8115.”

The lady at the counter types away at the keyboard. “And what is your name, sir?”

“Marcus Williams.”

“Ah yes, it says here that someone reserved the room for Marcus Williams and Parker Olsen.”

“Excuse me? The room should be only in my name.”

She stutters and I can tell I flustered her. “Um, well, the r-reservation is under both names. It was reserved with the Roberts wedding b-block when all the other rooms were reserved. I’m sorry it wasn’t booked under just your name.”

I sigh loudly, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Can you please book me another room?”

“I’m sorry, but we’re completely full.”

“There’s not one open room in this whole hotel?” I ask, my blood pressure rising. This can’t be happening.

“I’m sorry, sir. We’re a destination resort, we tend to sell out pretty quickly. I know for tonight we’re completely booked. I can put your name down now and if we have a room open up tomorrow, I can let you know right away.”

“Fine,” I concede. “Please write my name down.”

“Okay, I’ve got it here. Oh, and again, I’m so sorry for the mix-up.”

“It’s not your fault.” I rap my knuckles on the counter before turning around. “Fuck,” I whisper to the lobby.

I’m striding over to the elevator when a thought hits me. Walking back over to the lady, she eyes me warily. She probably thinks I’m back to complain.

“Where’s the closest bar?” I ask, needing the alcohol badly.

“If you walk down there, we have one that overlooks the water, or you can head up to the sixth floor and there’s one there.”

“Thanks,” I tell her, walking straight down the hall to the closest bar.

When I get inside, I smile, loving the place that my sister picked out even if I’m upset at the moment. Sitting down on the stool, I wave my hand for the bartender and wait as he makes his way over to me.

“Hey, what can I get you?” he asks as he reaches me, wiping down the counter with his rag.

Looking behind him, I take in the three shelves lined with different bottles of alcohol. I eye each bottle until I find one I recognize. “I’ll take a shot of that blue bottle right there.” I use my finger to point at the bottle on the middle shelf.

“Good choice.” He grabs the bottle with ease, flipping it over and pouring me out a shot. I quickly down it before muttering, “Another.”

The bartender chuckles and pours me another one. “Trouble in paradise?” he asks, pushing the shot glass toward me.

“Something like that,” I mutter, downing the second shot, wincing as it goes down.

“Need to talk about it?”

I glance at the bartender and yes, he’s attractive, and while I would love to vent to him, unleashing my baggage, all I can picture is Parker. My ex. The man I’m going to be stuck in a room with for the next week.

“Maybe another time,” I tell him, pulling out some cash and passing it across the counter. “Thanks.”

Exiting the bar, I debate walking around, but decide to head back to the room. I left all my luggage right outside the door, so I need to make sure I get it brought in. I take the elevator back up to the eighth floor, my hands sweating at my nerves.

I don’t know how to do this, but I have no choice. Hopefully, Parker leaves me alone, and we can get through this week in peace. After stepping off the elevator, I head back toward the room, noticing my luggage is no longer in the hallway. Using my keycard, I swipe it and push the door open, noticing my suitcases placed right inside the entryway.

I pause with my hand on the handle, wanting to turn around and run, but knowing I can’t. Walking down the short hallway, I come to a stop when I see Parker lying on the bed, shirtless in a pair of flannel pants. His hair is still damp, his black square glasses on his face. He closes the book he was reading, placing it on the nightstand next to him. My mind jolts back to a memory of finding Parker in my bed when we first started dating.

I walk into my bedroom, my back aching and my feet tired. Today was a long day at work, and all I want to do is crash in my bed and fall asleep. I stop short when I see a sleeping Parker in my bed, his glasses perched crookedly on his face, an open book laid across his chest. With soft movements, I grab the book, placing onto the dresser next to him.

His eyes slowly blink open, and he flashes me a smile. “You’re home.”

“And you’re in my bed,” I tell him, sliding in beside him.

“Is this okay? I might have convinced Kendra to give me her key to your place. I know how stressed you were about your appointment today, and I wanted to give you a friendly face to see when you got home.”

“Fuck, you’re so damn perfect, you know that?” I grip his chin, pulling his face toward me, placing a soft kiss on his lips. “How did you know I would need to see you today?”

“I mean, you’re always happy to see me,” he snickers, pushing at my chest, straddling me. “But I figured after a long day, a home-cooked meal plus a back massage would be the best.”

“You made me dinner?” I ask, flabbergasted. Parker is always finding new ways to surprise me, but cooking me dinner is something I know must have taken a while. “You don’t cook though.”

“I did it for you. No big deal,” he tries to play it off, but it’s a very huge deal. Parker isn’t a cook. He’s an order-in-every-night-of-the-week type of guy. I’ve never even seen him boil water.

“Thank you. I love you.”

His eyes widen at my words, hearing them for the first time. Parker and I have been dating for a few months, taking things slow. I’ve been feeling this for a while, but neither of us has said the words out loud yet.

“I love you too,” he whispers, leaning down to kiss me roughly.

Pulling away, I playfully slap his ass, laughing. “So, how about that dinner and back rub?”

I’m still staring when he sits up and runs a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know we were sharing a room.”

“Yeah, me either,” I mutter. “Apparently, the hotel is completely booked, but they’ll let me know as soon as a room opens up, and then I can move my stuff.”

“Oh,” he mumbles.

Turning away from him, I walk back to the door and grab my luggage, bringing it back to the main part of the room. It’s then I notice for the first time that there’s only one bed. I sigh again, irritated at the whole situation.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay,” he says. He snatches the book back off the nightstand and starts reading again.

Grabbing some shorts and briefs, I also pick up my toiletries and head to the bathroom. As soon as I close the door, Parker’s scent hits me full force. I breathe in deeply, knowing he used his body wash to shower earlier. He’s always used a peach-scented body wash, and it seems as though that hasn’t changed.

I turn on the water before undressing and tossing my dirty clothes into the corner of the bathroom. Placing my hands on the counter, I lean forward and close my eyes.

“You can do this,” I whisper to the empty room. “So what if he tore your heart out of your chest and broke it? You can handle this. Besides, you only have to be in the room with him at night. Easy.”

I spend way too long in the water, my thoughts running wild. The last time I saw Parker flashes through my mind and I close my eyes. I have never cried as much as I did the day he left me. I loved Parker with every inch of my being, and it still hasn’t gone away. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where he hasn’t worked his way into my mind at least once.

Or the times when I’ve picked up the phone, aching to call him, only to put the phone back down and distract myself. He’s still under my skin and I fear he always will be.

Knowing I’ve been stalling long enough, I get out of the shower and dry off. Slipping on my briefs and shorts, I curse when I realize I didn’t grab a shirt. Oh well, it’s not anything he hasn’t seen before.

I step out of the bathroom, all the steam leaving the room behind me. Glancing at the bed, my body slumps down when I see Parker passed out in it. It’s a sight I’ve seen a thousand times before: Parker knocked out, his book lying face down on his chest, glasses still on his face.

Walking over to him, I slowly pull his glasses off his face, then grab the book and place them both on the nightstand. Parker stirs but otherwise doesn’t wake up. I watch as he snuggles into the blanket, a small sigh leaving his lips.

I make my way to the other side of the bed, sitting down easily. My eyes keep finding their way to him, so I take a minute to actually look at him. I haven’t seen him in almost a year, but he hasn’t changed all that much. Sure, his hair is a little longer, but besides that, he’s still the same. He has this small mole right above his right eye, and thick, plump lips I used to crave feeling on mine. His hand comes out of the blanket, and I freeze when I see the black band on his wrist.

A black band I also have one of, but no longer wear. Tilting my head, I study the bracelet, wondering why he’s still wearing it. With gentle fingers, I touch the band, closing my eyes when I remember when we bought them together.

It was a spur-of-the-moment trip, and we headed out of town for a few days. We found a nice little town outside the city where we got away from the noise. One morning, we went out to visit the little shops that lined Main Street, and we found this beautiful mom-and-pop jewelry store. We weren’t planning to go inside, but we were drawn in by all the jewelry throughout the room. I was eyeing the rings, but saw Parker had his heart set on the black bracelet. I didn’t buy it then, but I returned to the store later that day while Parker was preoccupied and bought it for him. Only to find out that he had bought me the same one.

Parker shifts in his sleep, and I jerk my hand away. With a sigh, I gaze at the bed, unsure of what to do. I don’t think I can handle sleeping in the same bed next to him. Standing up, I walk over to the closet, instant relief flooding my body when I see the extra blankets they have stashed away.

I grab a blanket and then pull the chair that’s sitting in the corner closer to the bed. After turning off all the lights, I find my way to the chair, plopping down and covering myself with the blanket. Turning my head, I look out the window, seeing the night sky and the stars shining brightly over the ocean. It’s such a gorgeous place and yet, I can’t seem to enjoy it.

My eyes wander back over to Parker, who’s sleeping peacefully. Closing my eyes, I will myself to fall asleep. I’ll have to deal with all this tomorrow. But for tonight, I just need to sleep.