Page 8

Marcus

P arker steps out of the bathroom and all the breath leaves my lungs. Fuck, he has to be teasing me. The fact he’s walking around the room in only a towel. He has to know what he’s doing to me.

Playing around with Parker in the ocean earlier was everything I’ve ever wanted. The way we laughed freely and things weren’t awkward. How I wanted to pull his body against mine and claim his lips. Having to refrain from doing exactly that was hard. Every time he was within inches of me, I had to stop myself from making him mine again.

And now he’s teasing me in a towel and I don’t know how much self-restraint I’m supposed to have.

“Sorry, I forgot my clothes,” he murmurs as he slowly makes his way to the dresser. I watch as he rummages around his clothes, trying to find something to put on. Every time his body moves, all I do is hope the towel will fall onto the floor, letting me see his perfect ass.

“It’s fine,” I tell him, still waiting for the towel to slip.

Parker straightens, a pair of lace panties in his hand as he turns around. His eyes scan me, and then over to the bathroom door before the unthinkable happens. He undoes the knot of the towel at his waist and it flutters down to the floor. My eyes widen and my breath comes out labored, watching him slowly slide his panties up his legs, the little lace strip nestled tightly between his cheeks. Parker looks up at me, a hint of a smile playing on his face before he turns around and hunts through his dresser again, his perfect ass on display. This time, he pulls on a pair of plaid joggers, but it’s too late; I’m already rock-hard. My cock needs to be inside him.

“The shower is all yours,” he says, walking around the bed and sliding into the space beside me.

“Hmm?” I ask, gazing at his lean chest. Parker doesn’t have rock-hard abs, but his body is tan and toned and begging for me to trace with my tongue.

“The shower. You can use it now.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.”

With shaky legs, I stand up and head to the bathroom, but not before looking back at Parker and wishing I was bold enough to make a move. We stare at each other for a few seconds before he picks up his book off the side table and opens it. Not wanting to stand here and ogle him any longer, I close the door and turn on the hot water.

I spend way too long in the shower, my mind on Parker. Imagining what he would have done if I had walked up behind him while he was only in a towel and pulled it off him. Would his chest rise rapidly if I sank to my knees before him and took him in my mouth? I bet his body would shake if I trailed my finger down his taint and played with his hole.

My dick is rock hard, and I know I can’t go back into the room with it like stone. Grabbing body wash off the counter, I pour some into my hand and then grab hold of my cock. My eyes roll in the back of my head and I moan, the echoes bouncing off the shower walls. I should probably be more quiet but I don’t care. At this point, I hope Parker hears me.

I take my time, working my cock roughly while taking turns between playing with the head and giving myself hard strokes. The last time I had sex was with Parker, and I didn’t realize how badly I was missing it. But not just sex. The connection. The cord that connected Parker and I. Sex with him was always fantastic, but once we fell in love, there was nothing like it.

Closing my eyes, I imagine Parker is in the shower with me, my cock buried in his ass, his face pressed up against the wall. My hand slams down on the tile, and I groan again, wishing he would hear me and walk in here. I whimper, ‘ Parker ’ each time a shiver runs down my spine. It doesn’t take long before I’m coming all over the wall, the spray from the shower washing it down the drain.

I stand under the water, trying to catch my breath before turning it off and stepping out of the shower to dry myself off. Wanting to give Parker a tease of my own, I walk out of the bathroom wearing only my towel. My eyes find his and I notice his cheeks are bright red and he’s breathing erratically. His blond curls are all over his face and wild, as though he was running his fingers through them.

“Have a good shower?” he rasps, tracking me from the bathroom to the dresser.

“The best,” I wink, dropping my towel and letting him see me naked. He swallows roughly, scanning me from head to toe. His head turns away and I snicker, putting on my briefs. “Would you want to watch a movie with me?”

“Uh, sure. Did you have anything in mind?” he stammers, his chest still rising quickly.

“We can look and see what the hotel has.”

I don’t bother putting on any pants, deciding to stay in my briefs and shirtless. Turning around, I plop onto the bed right next to Parker. I crowd into his space, reaching across him to grab the remote from the side table. With my face in his neck, I inhale deeply, the scent of peach surrounding me. God, I love the way he smells. I pretend the remote is out of reach for a few seconds, giving me some more time to be up close to him. I eventually pull away, turning on the TV.

“What do you want to watch?”

“Is The Office on?” he asks, his eyes glued to the TV. He keeps glancing toward me out of the side of his eye and when I look down at his pajamas, I can see he’s hard. He squirms on the bed and I turn away, knowing I’ve already teased him enough for tonight.

I scroll through the channels, getting lucky when I see his favorite show is playing. I put it on, then lie back on my pillow, placing my hands behind my head. Parker gets comfortable lying under the blanket. I watch as he fluffs the pillow, huffs, then sits up and does it again. Without words, I open my arms and Parker crawls into them, laying his head on my chest. He sighs contently and I drop my hand to his back, holding onto him.

This is how we used to watch TV before, with Parker cuddled up on my chest, a blanket pulled over both of us. We both snuggle in, and I eventually drift off to the sound of Olivia Benson in the background and Parker wrapped in my arms.

I blink my eyes open, only to flinch and shut them when the sunlight hits my eyes. Rolling over, I pat the space next to me only to find it cold to the touch. Opening one of my eyes, I look across the bed to see it’s completely empty.

Where’s Parker?

I sit up in bed, looking around the room. The door to the bathroom is wide open, and he’s nowhere to be seen. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s already nine, which means he’s probably out to breakfast with Kendra. Tossing the blankets off me, I get up and get dressed, deciding to head down and meet them for breakfast.

I take the elevator down to the first floor, finding the restaurant easily. I spot Parker, Kendra, and Tim in a corner and I stride over to them, taking the seat next to Parker.

“Good morning, all,” I chirp, placing my hand on Parker’s knee.

Parker whips his head in my direction before looking down at my hand. “G-g-good morning,” he stammers.

“Nice of you to join us,” Kendra jokes, smiling at me.

“Sorry, I slept in, and someone didn’t want to wake me up, apparently.”

“Sorry,” Parker mumbles. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to wake you up or not. We stayed up pretty late watching TV.”

“It’s fine.” I squeeze his knee before deciding I’ve already taken a risk and I better not push it. I take my hand off and signal for the server. “What time do Mom and Dad come?”

“They’ll be here in a couple of hours. But Tim and I are planning to go for a couples’ massage in an hour, and then we’ll meet up with you all once they get here.”

“You’re ditching us again?”

“You’ll be fine. I’m sure you and Parker will find something to do.” She stares at me before looking at Parker, and I know she’s assessing what’s going on with us. The last thing she knew was that I wanted nothing to do with Parker and could barely stand being in the same room as him. And now, here we are, talking and joking.

After eating, Kendra and Tim take off, leaving Parker and me alone once again.

“I feel as though we should just assume we won’t be seeing much of them this trip. At least not until the wedding,” I tell Parker, resting my hand on his lower back and guiding him out of the hotel.

“Well, she can’t get rid of me that easily. I planned her bachelorette party, so she’ll be stuck with me then.”

“Tell me more. What did you plan?”

“I booked a limo to take us to this club. She’ll be able to dance and drink all she wants. I’m planning to stay completely sober the whole night so she can let loose.” He bounces on the balls of his feet excitedly. “What are you doing for Tim’s?”

“He wanted to go down to a cigar club. Drink some liquor and smoke some cigars. He’s definitely not the stripper type, which I’m thankful for.”

“Oooh, strippers. Damn, I should have thought of taking Kendra to a strip club. I would have enjoyed that. Hmm, maybe I’ll change things around.” Parker laughs and I join him, unable to hold back how happy I am at this moment.

“Are you okay with hanging out with me until Mom and Dad come?” I ask, rubbing my finger along his lower back as we continue walking.

“Of course, have anything in mind?”

“I do. Do you trust me?”

Parker stops in his tracks and turns to face me. “Of course I do.”

“Okay, come on.”

I grab his hand and drag him from the outside of the hotel toward the area where they have the excursions. He waits for me off to the side while I talk to the manager at the front desk. After signing up for the adventure, I make my way back to Parker, who’s biting on his thumbnail.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing,” he lies, his eyes darting to the side.

“Parker, tell me.”

“I trust you. I do. But I don’t know what we’re doing or where we’re going and I’m feeling anxious. Do I have everything I’ll need for it? Do I need to run back to the room to get something? Will there be enough water? Is the tour guide going to drop us off and leave us, or will they stay with us? What if the car breaks down on the way there?”

“Hey, hey,” I soothe, grabbing his hand and rubbing my thumb against his wrist. Leaning my head down, I wait until he makes eye contact with me before continuing. “Come on, let’s go ask the guy your questions so he can answer them.”

“Oh no, no. We don’t have to do that,” he tries to tell me, but since his hands are shaky and his voice cracking, I’m going to call bullshit.

“Then I’ll ask. I’ll feel better knowing.”

I take Parker’s hand, and we walk over to the man at the desk. I ask him each question Parker just word vomited to me. He answers each of my questions, not making any of them feel stupid or too small to ask. Once he answers them all, I look at Parker and he nods.

“Thank you,” I tell the man as we walk back to the waiting area.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Parker whispers while wringing his hands.

“Is that you being anxious? What just happened?”

“Yeah. I can’t explain it sometimes. Sometimes I’m fine, but then it’ll hit out of nowhere like that and I’ll start imagining all the worst things. Even when I know it’ll be fine, it’s as though my brain doesn’t want me to realize that and keeps pushing worst-case scenarios.”

“Did having him answer all your questions help?”

“Surprisingly, yes. It’s not always that simple. But I think him answering the questions and also knowing you’ll be there with me has made it easier.”

“I plan to always be here, Parker. Always.”