Page 19 of The No Touch Roommate Rule (That Steamy Hockey Romance #2)

Chapter

Ten

PARKER

I find her under a tree in the park, curled up between the roots of a giant crepe myrtle in her yellow sundress.

She has her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped tight around them, balled into the smallest version of Makena, which is pretty damned small.

With a personality like hers, it’s easy to forget how tiny she is sometimes, but sitting on the curb with her dad’s arm around her, she looked so little.

She looks even smaller now, after he kicked her while she was down.

And yeah, I get that he was only trying to help, but fuck…

It’s like he has no idea who his daughter is. I mean, has he met her? I’ve never encountered a more stubborn, pigheaded person. Or one more committed to living her dreams. Her dreams are her reason for being. Take those away from her and you have…

Well, you have this.

A deeply sad woman, imploding with grief while pink petals rain down on her hair. And no, she’s not broken. Makena still has a rally or five left in her, there’s no doubt in my mind about that, but the kind of future her dad wants for her?

It would break her. Destroy her. Leave her a shell with no firecracker left inside.

And I, for one, think that would be a fucking tragedy.

The world needs firecrackers.

Just like it needs gluttons for emotional punishment, who keep trying to pet the wild horse, no matter how many times it runs away.

I stop at the edge of the tree’s shade, leaning on my crutches, trying to figure out what to say to make this better.

But I saw what was going on beneath the surface back there.

Her dad is terrified of Makena being Makena.

Probably has been for her whole life. Consciously or not, he seems to have a deeply held belief that she is an irrational person who makes terrible decisions, and the only way to keep her safe is to bully her into being more like him.

But she can’t be more like him, even if she wanted to be. So, she pushes back. And when the pushing back is met with doubling down on how ill-equipped she is to function…she runs.

I mean, what other choice does she have?

If someone looked at me like I was a tragic disappointment every time I didn’t follow their script, I’d probably develop a sprinting habit, too.

I thought I had it bad, with my parents who couldn’t give two shits what I did most of the time. But now I’m thinking having one who cares too much, in all the wrong ways, would be even worse.

She looks up with a sharp sniff, blinking as she spots me across the grass. Her forehead furrows, and for a second, I think she’s going to tell me to leave her alone. But then she sighs and shakes her head. “Fine. Yeah. You’re right.”

“I didn’t say anything,” I say, picking my way across the uneven ground. “But I will say that chasing after you is going to be a lot easier once I’m cleared to ditch the crutches on Monday. I could probably ditch them now, but I’ve committed to religiously following doctor’s orders.”

She sniffs as I lower myself onto the grass, close but not too close, “That’s smart. You don’t want to fuck around with your recovery. It’s important.”

“It is,” I agree. “But so is yours. And I’m serious, I don’t think you should give up yet. There’s got to be someone else you could appeal to, some less assholey asshole higher up the insurance ladder.”

She wipes at her damp cheeks. “Yeah, maybe.”

“You don’t think so?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Gerald seemed pretty sure of himself.

And if the same thing is happening to lots of people, like Luis and his family, it’s probably a real thing.

A shitty thing, but…a real thing.” She glances down, picking a pink petal off her knee.

“My dad’s right. I should have read the contract more closely. This is my fault.”

I frown. “Or it could be predatory insurance practices, like you said.”

“Why not both?” She tosses the petal to the grass before resting her chin on her bent legs. “A little of this, a little of that, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because I’m back to square one either way.”

“You’re not at square one,” I say. “You have proof that you can run a profitable restaurant. That’s huge, and something banks will pay attention to when you apply for a loan to start your next profitable, tasty business.”

She winces like she’s in physical pain. “Oh God, don’t remind me.

I still have a small business loan. It’s almost paid off, but…

fuck. Now I’ll be handing over eight grand to pay off equipment that will never cook again.

” She picks another petal off her leg, throwing it to the ground with more force.

“And I know this is just the way things are, but it just… It feels so unfair.”

“It is unfair,” I say. “I’m sorry.”

She sighs again, her shoulders sagging. “But at least I don’t have children depending on me. I can’t imagine how stressful that must be for Luis and Lila. Letting myself down is hard enough.”

“You didn’t let yourself down. Stop that shit. You were the victim of a natural disaster, and now you’re getting it up the ass a second time from the insurance company. Which isn’t right. Especially without lube.”

Her lips twitch at the edges. “Anal without lube is always a bad idea.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I confess. “I’m not into sticking it in the poop hole.”

She huffs softly beneath her breath. “Prude.”

The hint of laughter is all the encouragement I need to double down. “What? You like it in the poop hole? For real? I mean, not to kink shame you or anything, but you’re a tiny woman. I bet your poop hole is tiny, too. Doesn’t it hurt? A big ole dick shoving into your itty-bitty pooper?”

“Well, with you it probably would,” she says, tossing a petal my way. “Mr. Monster Cock.”

“Why, thank you, my lady.” I press a hand to my chest and give a little bow.

“You’re such a clown,” she says, with a fond shake of her head that I like more than I should.

“But I’m a clown with a big dick, so it’s okay,” I say. “It’s like short guys. If they’re short but have a big dick, they don’t have to have a Napoleon complex or feel weird about being short. Like Jean-Louise.”

She pulls a face. “Jean-Louise isn’t short.”

“Well, not to you, short stack. But at five-eight, he’s the shortest guy on the team. But his dick situation is even more obscene than mine.”

“Because you’ve looked, of course,” she says, the sparkle continuing to creep back into her eyes.

“Of course,” I say, refusing to be shamed. “It’s a locker room. Looking is part of the drill. Not being creepy about it, obviously, but a guy’s gotta see where he stands in the pecker order.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m so glad I’m not a guy. Though I have done my share of staring at Elly’s boobs. She just has the perfect boobs. I’m so jealous of them.”

“Why? I mean, I haven’t seen them completely out for show and tell, obviously, but from what I have seen, your boobs are nothing to sneeze at.”

She sits up straighter, glancing down at the front of her sundress. “Really? They’re so small.”

“They’re well-proportioned. And perky. And sexy.” I clear my throat. “And we should stop talking about them, or I’ll start embarrassing myself again.”

She looks up, a grateful smile curving her lips. “Thanks.”

“For being a pervert who gets an erection every time you look at me sideways?”

She shakes her head. “For following me. And getting my mind off things.” Smile fading, she shifts her focus over my shoulder, toward the water feature burbling at the entrance to the park. “And for not thinking I’m a pathetic loser with daddy issues.”

“I mean, who doesn’t have daddy issues, right?”

She leans back against the tree, gaze still distant as she says, “I don’t know.

Elly worshipped her dad, but he died when she was a teenager.

That’s its own kind of issue, I guess. I just wish…

” She sighs. “I don’t know what I wish. I wish he were different or I were different and it wasn’t so hard all the time.

” She turns back to me as she adds in a softer voice, “I don’t want to be a big baby who runs away from my conflict or whatever.

I really don’t. I just… Instinct takes over.

When things get like that, I don’t know what else to do. ”

“And why would you?” I ask in an equally soft voice. “Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m guessing you didn’t have much practice with healthy conflict resolution growing up.”

“You’re not crazy.” Her lids droop, as if just thinking about the past makes her tired.

“My mom doesn’t do conflict at all. And Dad…

Well, you saw Dad. He’s always right. Always.

” She exhales a rueful laugh as her eyes close and her head falls back to rest against the tree.

“And I mean, in this case, he is literally right about reading the contract more carefully. I made a serious mistake, but that doesn’t mean my business was a failure. I was doing really well.”

“You were. I’m sorry he can’t see that and be proud of you.”

“Yeah, me, too.” She inhales, keeping her eyes closed as she adds, “But I can’t have any more feelings today. I’ve already had too many. Gotta turn them off for a while. If I keep going, I’ll get a rash.”

“Understood.” And I do understand, but it also makes me sad.

I wish she didn’t have to turn her feelings off. I wish her dad and the insurance company hadn’t hammered her even further into the pain pit when she was already at rock bottom.

I wish she’d let me fuck her until she’s happy again.

Or at least give her really excellent oral or a massage or pull her onto my lap and cuddle her until she doesn’t feel so alone in the world.

Or, I don’t know…fly her to Aruba or something. It’s easier to forget about your problems for a while when they’re not staring you in the face every day.

“Why not?” I mutter, brilliance bubbling in my brain.

Mack cracks her lids. “Why not what?”