Page 18 of The Moments You Were Mine

I prickled. “Don’t call him that.”

He raised his hands as if in truce and then reached out to tug on one of my braids. The friendly move hurt my heart in that way memories from my childhood always did, reminding me of holidays spent with Parker, his family, and my dad that had ended in my being sent home to a family and an estate that my birth had broken.

My family may have started to mend itself in the last few years, but it wasn’t ever going to be completely whole. Just like I’d never be whole. I had too many scars left from my childhood.

Parker was just one more of them.

I stepped away, heading for JJ and away from the memories threatening to pull me under, but Parker’s words halted me. “Ducky…” I looked back. “Don’t let it go months before we talk again. I can’t do it. Iwon’tdo it.”

It shouldn’t have thrilled me, the promise in his voice of what he’d do if I ghosted him again. It frustrated me that he still had this much power over me.

I’ll never say yes to you…

I swallowed and nodded, because the simple truth was, I couldn’t do another six months without him either. As much asit hurt, I still needed him in my life, because we weren’t just friends. We were family.

I arched a brow and asked, “Still listening to that heavy-metal crap?”

He smiled, and it changed Parker’s face from stern and growly into the eighth wonder of the world. A miracle. A sight you couldn’t compare to anything else on this earth. “Metal is the god of music. Don’t you forget it.”

“I swear I’ll have you loving country music before the end of the decade.”

“Not likely.”

We shared a grin, and then I turned and walked away. I felt his eyes on me the entire way to JJ. When I reached my boyfriend, he opened the car door, and I slid inside. After he climbed into the driver’s seat, he glanced out the windshield to where Parker was still watching us.

“You haven’t seen him in months, and yet he shows up tonight out of the blue? Seems suspicious.”

“It wasn’t out of the blue. I called him,” I said.

JJ’s mouth tightened. “I was right here, Fallon. Right on the beach. Why didn’t you call me if you needed someone?”

Why hadn’t I? “I figured the Navy SEAL would know how to defuse the situation.”

“Ace and I are friends. I could have calmed him down.”

I didn’t have a response. I simply turned to look out at the ocean as JJ drove out of the parking lot. My emotions were all over the place. Memories clawing at me from when I was fourteen and thought I was going to die, old wishes and buried dreams reemerging after seeing Parker again.

I didn’t want any of it. I didn’t want to be the Fallon whose stepdad had been murdered and who’d almost been killed herself. Or the girl who’d destroyed a family. I didn’t even want to be the heiress who had a ranch and a five-star resort waiting for her after graduate school.

For a few more years, I wanted the easy life I’d built here. I wanted to be the center of someone’s world. I wanted JJ and my friends to see only the college girl with no responsibilities. The equestrian champ. The future veterinarian.

Once I had my license, I’d go back to the ranch and take on the legacy my stepdad had left for me. I wanted that future. But for now, I needed this—classes and parties and surfing. I needed to be a simple college girl and nothing more.

Chapter Six

Parker

HUMAN

Performed by The Killers

TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO

HER: Thank you again for showing up tonight, especially after I’ve spent the last few months ghosting you.

HIM: Nothing will ever stop me from coming when you need me.

Will watched from the corner ofthe couch in my rental as I tossed my keys on the side table.