Page 9

Parker

“ Y ou shouldn’t say things you don’t mean,” I tell him, putting my hands on my hips, not wanting to get my hopes up.

“I don’t say anything I don’t mean. But we don’t need to worry about that now. Come on, our ride’s here.”

A four-door, forest-green golf cart pulls up beside us and I laugh. “Is this our ride?”

“Yeah, the place we’re going isn’t too far. It’s actually still part of the resort, but it’s easier to get to by golf cart.”

“I am so damn excited to see where we’re going. Even if I did just have a freak out.”

Marcus and I sit in the back of the cart, my hand flying out to grab the ‘ oh-shit handle ’ as it takes off. We ride through the resort, the wind blowing my curls wildly, while the sun beats down on us, warming us up. I laugh when we hit a dip, and the cart goes flying, my stomach feeling as though it’s in my throat. Turning my head, I look at Marcus, who’s already staring at me, smiling.

“I promise, this crazy ride is worth it,” he yells over the sound of the roaring engine.

“I trust you,” I tell him, glancing out at our surroundings again. My eyes drift over the white sand in the distance, the blue water in view. The cart bumps again before coming to a stop.

“We’re here,” the driver tells us. “You just need to go through the gate right there,” he says, pointing to a huge wooden gate up ahead. “It’s an open beach, so you may go anywhere you like. The shuttle runs every thirty minutes, so keep an eye on when you would like to head back.”

“Thank you,” both Marcus and I say together.

Marcus jumps off the cart, reaching his hand out. I grab hold, using it as leverage as I head down. He waves goodbye to the driver and leads me through this wooden fence where I stop in my tracks at the view in front of me.

“Flamingos?” I question, my head scanning the beach where I can see dozens of flamingos walking around.

“They call it Flamingo Cay. It’s home to so many of them. It’s an area of the beach that’s closed off and is only for adults. There are cabanas in the water or there’s an open bar down by the shore.”

“And what do the flamingos do?” I ask, cautiously stepping closer to one.

“They roam around freely. Nothing traps them here, yet they live here. We can even feed them.”

“This is amazing. I didn’t even know something like this existed. They’re beautiful. I wanna touch one.” I walk ahead, getting close to a flamingo before stopping. Shit, maybe I should bribe it with something first. Looking around, I see a tall wooden booth a few feet away, hidden under a white canopy. There’s a sign saying they have flamingo food, so I bounce over there, Marcus trailing along behind me. After charging the food to the room, I smirk at Marcus before making my way back toward the flamingos. “I think they might be more willing to let me pet them if I feed them first.”

“Sounds like you,” he mutters, grabbing some food from my hand.

Placing my hand on my hips, I go to say something when I realize he’s right. I shrug, placing my hand out toward the flamingo. “Everyone loves food. It makes you a happier person. Especially when it’s chips and queso.”

“Oh, trust me, I haven’t forgotten your love for that. Or the fact we would have to head out to your favorite Mexican restaurant at least once a week.”

We both stand side by side, our hands stretched out to the animals. “It’s an addiction I’ll never be able to give up. And when you top it with some margaritas. Chef’s kiss.” I blow a kiss, and Marcus laughs. The flamingo eats all the food before it walks away from us. “What should we do now?”

“Come on, let’s head to the bar. Get a couple drinks, and then we can go to the sand.”

“Sounds good.”

There’s only one seat available at the bar, so Marcus lets me sit on it as he stands behind me. We both order our drinks, which the bartender whips up quickly. The entire time I’m sitting on the stool, I can feel his heat behind me. He’s not even trying to pretend to put space between us. He’s right against my back, as though he’s staking his claim and letting everyone know I’m his.

A flutter appears in my stomach at the thought, but quickly deflates. I’m not his. Not anymore.

The bartender sets down our drinks and Marcus reaches across the bar top with one hand while the other one lands on my waist. He leans down, his mouth right beside my ear before he whispers, “Come on, let’s head down to the cabanas.”

My body trembles at his proximity, and I close my eyes to catch my breath. The past few days have felt like a fantasy. How we’ve gone from barely looking at one another, to being out at a hidden beach just the two of us. Maybe it’s because we’re the only ones here right now we know, outside of Kendra and Tim, that is. But I’d like to think that the fact I told him about what happened with my anxiety and how I sabotaged myself means he’s forgiven me. Or we’re at least on the road to forgiveness.

His hand stays on my lower back as we trek through the warm sand, the sun beating down on us. We reach the cabanas, and he guides me to one on the far-left side that’s secluded. There’s a bed and a couch with two small tables. The cabanas are like the ones at the resort, except for the fact there are flamingos walking around.

I sit down on the bed draped in white sheets and Marcus takes up the spot next to me. Neither of us is saying a word; we’re sipping our drinks and avoiding eye contact. Honestly, it’s awkward as hell right now. Which sucks because things haven’t been this awkward between us—ever. Not even when we first broke up.

“Is this as awkward for you as it is for me?” I ask as Marcus busts out laughing. “I mean, at first it wasn’t awkward. But now we’re sitting here on this bed overlooking the water and I’m not quite sure what to say.”

“I didn’t think it was awkward. I thought we were both enjoying the quiet. It’s like that with us. We can sit together and not say a word.”

“Oh. Are you sure? I assumed, since you weren’t talking to me, you had nothing to say. My mind automatically went to worrying you thought it was weird being here with me.” There goes my mind, constantly thinking the worst of a situation.

“Parker.” He scoots closer and takes hold of my hand. “If I didn’t want to be here with you, then I wouldn’t be. I planned all of this. The cabana, the private beach, everything. Because I wanted to spend time with you. If I didn’t want to be around you, then I would be holed up in the hotel room, or I would be on the treadmill getting a workout in. But that’s not what I want.”

“Okay,” I whisper, choosing to believe him. “Would you want to swim around for a little? Then maybe go see the flamingos again before we have to head back?”

“That sounds perfect.”

Marcus and I spend the next hour in the water, splashing around and having a blast. I’ve smiled more the past two days with Marcus than I have in the past year. There’s a lightness in me again. Not only being around him, but having him know the reason I left him. I feel as though I can breathe for the first time since I walked away.

The sun begins to set, so Marcus and I finally get out of the water and go back up the wooden stairs to the cabana. When we reach our spot, there’s a table set with food and candles lit around the room.

“Did you do this?” I ask, looking around the space wide-eyed.

“I put in an order for the food. I didn’t know they were going to do the rest.”

“Ah, okay.” I deflate. Of course, he wasn’t setting it up as a date. The resort probably puts up candles for every dinner.

“You hungry?”

“Starving,” I tell him, using the towel to dry my wet curls. Marcus pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit down. I smile while taking the seat as he pushes in my chair for me. “Thank you.”

He takes the spot across from me and we pull the top off our plates. I grin when I see he’s ordered me a steak with a loaded baked potato, which is one of my favorites. I glance at his plate, seeing he has a huge chicken breast with vegetables, and I snort, my hand coming up quickly to cover the sound.

“I know, I know. It’s boring and bland. But even though we’re on vacation, I have to try to eat at least a bit healthy,” Marcus says, cutting a piece of chicken off and popping it into his mouth.

“Hell no. This is the one time you should eat everything unhealthy. All the desserts and carbs. You’re missing out.”

“I probably am. Do you remember—” He cuts himself off and I wait to see if he will continue. When he doesn’t, I prompt him.

“Do I remember what?” I ask.

“Do you remember that vacation we went on to Florida? When we were lying out on the sand under the full moon?”

“How could I forget?” I tell him, thinking back to that night.

“Damn, Marcus. I can’t believe we’re actually here.” I tell him, looking at the strip of tiki lamps lighting up the walkway.

We’ve just finished eating dinner and decide the best thing to do next would be to walk along the shore. The full moon is out, illuminating the path in front of us, the tiki lamps offering a soft yellow glow.

“Coming here was definitely the right decision. Even if you didn’t want to come at first,” he jokes.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to come. It was that I’d never been here before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But fuck, I’m so glad you convinced me.”

“Being here with you is perfect, Parker. Anything we run into would be worth it with you by my side.”

“Always so cheesy,” I joke, grabbing hold of his hand and interlocking our fingers.

“Only for you. You’re it for me, Parker. The one person I can see myself with for the rest of my life. Do you remember the time I called you stressed out about work, and when I came home, you had the table set with my favorite Chinese food? You had ‘The Office’ queued up and ready to go, too.”

“Of course. That was when you called me and I could hear it in your voice how much you needed to turn off your brain for a while. There wasn’t much I could do, but I did what I could.”

“You did everything you could. That was the moment I realized I love you. The fact you stayed up late and set up my apartment to make it as stress-free for me as you could. I couldn’t ask for anyone better for me. I’ve never met someone with a heart as big as yours.”

“I’ll always do what I can to support you in life.” I shrug, knowing without a doubt I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with Marcus.

“I really do love you, Parker.”

“I love you, too.”

We keep walking down the path until the rocks turn to sand, and the only thing lighting up the path is the moon.

“Well, what do you know?” Marcus says, cutting through the silence.

“What?” I asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“We might have veered off the path a little too far.” He stops in his tracks, twisting his head.

“Huh?” I glance around the beach, seeing that we’re completely alone. We’ve reached a strip of sand that’s secluded and has a tall rock wall on both sides.

Marcus crowds into my space, forcing me to walk backward until my back hits the wall. His nose trails up the side of my neck before he places a gentle kiss there that has me whimpering loudly. “Do you know the things we could do here all alone?”

“Things like what?” I breathe out, grinding against his leg that’s perched in between mine.

“Things like this.”

Marcus drops to his knees, pulling down my shorts in one swift swoop. My dick pops free before his mouth sucks me to the back of his throat. He licks and sucks at my cock, driving me wild. My head takes turns between looking at Marcus on his knees and making sure no one happens upon us.

“Marcus,” I moan, thrusting my hips harder into his mouth.

He pops off my dick, licking at the head. “Yeah, baby?”

“I’m going to come.”

“Then do it.” He takes me back into his mouth and before I’m ready, I’m shooting down his throat, a loud groan leaving my lips.

He stands up, kissing me roughly, the taste of me on his lips. My hands fumble into his shorts, pushing them down over his ass. I grab hold of his shaft and start stroking him while I continue fucking his mouth with my tongue. I jerk him for a few minutes until he’s coming all over my stomach. He bites down on my lip, and I smile, giving him another kiss.

“You’re my soulmate, Parker. Nothing will come between us, do you understand? I plan to grow old and gray with you.”

“I love you, too. And you better plan on it. You’re stuck with me.”

We quickly dress ourselves before running back down the walkway toward the crowds. Our laughter fills the space, my love for Marcus always growing.

“Being here sort of reminds me of that. I mean, of course, things are different now. But us being together on the beach, hidden away from most people… my mind instantly goes back to that.”

“Now that you’ve said it, that’s all I’m going to be thinking about.”

I look into his eyes; his pupils are dilated, and he breathes heavily. “Fuck, Parker. We had some good times, didn’t we?”

“We really did,” I whisper. All I want to do right now is shove out of this seat and make my way over to him. I would plop myself in his lap and run my hands over the waves in his hair before claiming his lips. The courage inside me builds, and I’m just placing my hands on the armrest to stand up when a resort employee walks into our cabana.

“How is everything today?” he asks, looking at me and then glancing at Marcus. He does a double take, his eyes trained on him and not leaving.

“Everything is perfect, thank you,” Marcus tells him, offering a small smile.

I roll my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Please let me know if you need anything. Anything,” he purrs, before giving Marcus one last look and disappearing to the next cabana.

“ Anythingggg ,” I mimic, rolling my eyes again.

Marcus laughs loudly, tossing his head back. “I see jealousy still suits you.”

“I am not jealous,” I mutter. “But for all he knows, we’re together, and here he is, standing in front of me, flirting with you.”

“Parker, he wasn’t flirting with me.”

“Bullshit. Yes, he was. Whatever,” I huff, slamming my arms back down on my chest.

“You’re so damn cute when you pout,” Marcus tells me, sitting up in his seat. He leans over the table, and I follow his actions, leaning across on my side. “I’ve always loved your jealous side, Parker. It never failed to turn me on to see you get so feral over anyone who tried to take my attention away.”

“Yeah, well... your attention should always be on me.” My eyes widen when I realize what I said, and I quickly stutter out more words, trying to correct myself. “Well, I-I mean not now, but, uh… then, back then… your attention should have been on me.”

“My attention is still always on you.” We stare at one another before he continues talking. “Come on, we should probably head back. I think my parents are here.”

“Oh, okay.” Every time I think we’re getting closer, he cuts it off before it can really begin.

We clean up the cabana and then make our way back to where the shuttle Jeeps are. We only have to wait for a few minutes before a forest-green Jeep comes barreling down the road. When it comes to a stop, we jump inside, replacing the passengers who just arrived. The entire ride back to the resort, my mind replays my past with Marcus. I already know I’ll never get over him and now I just have to hope we can find our way back to each other.