Page 110 of The Fire

“I like you right on top of me,” he said, his words slurred. “This way I can keep an eye on you. Make sure you don’t wander off while I’m sleeping.”

He patted my ass firmly, his eyes closed.

“I’m not the one who left,” I reminded him, bracing on my forearms so he wouldn’t have to take all my weight.

“Fine, then.” Parker waved a hand in the air. “SoIdon’t wander off. Whichever.Shhh.Sleepy time now.”

I snorted, then very deliberately leaned forward to suck his neck. His eyes flew open.

“Wait. What are you doing?” he demanded. “Jamie! We just…ungh…” He tilted his head so I could have better access. “Jameson, seriously. It’s been like ten minutes,” he moaned. But I could feel him hardening against my stomach already. “Oh, fuck. I get it now. I so, totally get it.”

“Get what?” I asked, sucking harder.

“So, so many things,” he sighed biting his lip. “Remind me to tell you a story about Ricky and his wife… sometime. A time that’s… not now.”

“You sure? Because I can stop if you want,” I teased.

Parker grinned up at me, a devilish light in his eyes, and laughed. “Fuck me forever, Jamie. Don’t ever stop.”

Epilogue

Parker

“Good morning, O’Leary!”Pete Daley yelled. “Happy Lilac Day to all of you! Here’s a brand-new song we’ve been working on for ya!”

I snorted as I flipped burgers on the portable grill Jamie and I had set up on the fairgrounds sometime just after dawn that morning. It was barely eleven, but the heat and humidity had already reached what the weatherperson had called “unseasonable warmth” and what I called the eighty-seventh layer of hell. And that wasbeforemy boyfriend plastered himself to my back with his hands at my waist and whispered, “You think Pete knows Lilac Day isn’t really a holiday?”

I laughed out loud, not even caring about the way our combined sweat glued us together, because there’d never again be a time when I didn’t want every part of Jamie pressed against every part of me, even if it meant we were gonna melt into a puddle right there and then.

And then Pete’s band launched into their song.

“Did… did Pete just Rick-roll us?” I demanded, as a country version of “Never Gonna Give You Up” began playing over the speakers. “Pete’s gotten taller since middle school, but not a lot brighter,” I muttered.

“Eh, he’s a decent guy these days. Since Dex left town.”

“If you say so,” I allowed.

Jamie put his lips to my neck—to thatone particular spot—and breathed, “I do.”

“Hey, unfair,” I said, spinning around and brandishing my metal spatula at him. “You can’t use that move outside the house.”Otherwise I’d never utter a cogent sentence in public again.

“Is that a new rule?” my boyfriend demanded innocently, hands up and grin spreading across his gorgeous face.

“No, it’s not new, as you very well know. Also? Stop with the… hotness.” I moved my spatula up and down in front of his body, gesturing from his booted feet, up his muscular, hairy legs, past the shorts that showed off the curve of his ass and the t-shirt that clung to his broad chest, to his hair, which glowed bright copper in the sunshine. “It’s very distracting, and I have wings to prepare. Soon-to-be-award-winning wings.”

Jamie braced his hands on his hips, and his smile somehow got even wider. “And you’resureyou wanna do thishere?” He waved a hand in the air, indicating the already crowded fairgrounds. “Now?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I am very extremely positive. Our bar shall be called ALL HAIL PARKER’S AMAZING WING BAR.” I moved a hand through the air in a half circle, like I was spelling it out on an imaginary sign.

Jamie scratched a hand over his chest, and his mouth twitched beneath his beard. “Not even Jamie and Parker’s, huh?”

I glanced up at the corner of the tent like I was thinking about it and allowed, “We can put ‘now featuring Parker’s boyfriend Jamie’ at the bottom.”

Jamie stepped closer again and grabbed me by the waistband of my jeans, pulling me into him again. “Thoughtful of you.”

“In smaller print, of course,” I warned.

“Of course,” he agreed solemnly, pressing a kiss to my lips.