Page 33

CHAPTER 33

MUST BE DOIN’ SOMETHIN’ RIGHT BY BILLY CURRINGTON

Brianne Archer:

I dance on the floor that’s practically bouncing up and down with the music and the beat. I laugh wildly, Dakota behind me and Valerie and Leah in front of me, all of us dancing together. Dakota takes my hand and spins me and we dance together. Celebrating tonight is going to be easy when we won like we did, when Parker killed the game as well as he did. The song starts to fizzle out and I start a train, holding Dakota and Valerie’s hands, pulling them with me. Both of them reach back and grab Leah and we fold into line to run toward the bar. I hit the wooden top first and it’s easy to laugh out loud right now. It feels easy and free and so welcome.

“Hey! Baby B.” I look at Leah and she eyes me. I raise my eyebrows.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask her.

Things aren’t weird between Leah and me even with the things that happened between her and my brother. We just exist around each other. I see her as the estranged older sister I never had.

“So, it’s obvious now that I was wrong in assuming you and Dakota were together, right?” She asks and Dakota, Valerie, and I all laugh.

“Well yeah, I tried to tell you,” I tell her.

“So, Parker Thompson?” she asks and my lips part in shock.

I don’t know why I expected anything else from her. Leah is cold and calculated in everything she does usually. She’s perceptive, especially over all of us. We’re her little minions. She says jump, we say how high. I’m not surprised she picked up on it, but I wonder in my head if it was something I did. If I was the one who showed my cards to her without knowing it.

“Your silence is speaking volumes, Baby… I would just tell her,” Dakota chuckles.

“It’s not that serious, but yeah,” I lie partially.

It shouldn’t be that serious, but to me, it feels like it is. It feels like it could be detrimental to me one day—that’s how much it means.

“I asked Bellamy last year if he was worried about his sister dating one of his friends and he said you didn’t mess with football players and never have… In my head, I thought about how it was probably his fault you didn’t, not because you weren’t interested. I guess I was right,” she smirks and I roll my eyes.

“Parker is… It was an accident. I mean… We didn’t purposely fall into this and neither of us are very sure of anything…” I notice Leah’s eyes lift from me just like Valerie’s do, looking behind me.

I furrow my brows and start to turn, but don’t make it all the way before I feel hands on me. Parker is unashamed, and uncaring as he presses my back to his chest. He wraps his right arm around my waist, keeping me against him, and takes his left hand to turn my face to him, his hand grasping my jaw as he turns my face. I make eye contact with him and he kisses me, in front of anyone and everyone who’s around. My first thought is just that, ‘He’s doing this in front of everyone!’ Red flags shoot sky high but instantly, come down when I know I’m safe in his arms with his friends and mine. His kiss feels so good that there’s no burn from anything but the fire he’s creating inside of me. He breaks away but keeps the distance minimal between our faces. I look from his lips to his eyes.

“Hey, Sunshine,” he smiles, his eyes showing nothing but happiness, no regret.

“Hi.” The word practically squeaks out of me, all the air in my lungs having dissipated.

“Not that serious? Yeah, okay.” Leah breaks me out of my daze and I look over to her, the smile still on my lips.

“Hi, Leah.” Xander pokes his head around Parker and waves, a very soft yet cheesy smile on his lips.

“Oh, dear God, not you,” she grumbles and turns to the bar top.

I watch Parker as he looks at his friend and presses his lips together.

“Good luck, idiot,” he jokes, then turns his face back to me. Xander follows after Leah.

“What took you so long?” I ask, most of the bar turning into background noise now that he’s in front of me, completely fresh and new after the game.

He’s in a crisp white shirt that hugs him perfectly and a casual pair of blue jeans. His hair is as curly as usual, but what’s new about him is the megawatt smile he’s showcasing right now. I’m starting to become more accustomed to seeing it, but I can’t get over the feeling that settles in my stomach when I think about how I’m the one who caused it. I’m never getting over that.

“Coach Corbin needed to talk to me,” he tells me, taking his seat at the bartop, not letting me have a single second before he moves me directly between his legs and closer to him.

“About what?” I ask. He leans over to the bartender, passing his card and then nodding to me.

“Her tab is my tab now and I’ll take a double whiskey, Buffalo Trace,” he tells him, confidence pouring off of him as well as a slight bit of arrogance.

I don’t know why the room feels suffocatingly hot as I see him turn his smirk toward me, but it does.

“What was Coach Corbin talking to you about? How great the game went?” I ask, a smile wide on my lips.

“He knows about us,” he tells me, leaning back over the bar to grab his drink.

My face falls, every ounce of happiness melting into liquid-hot anxiety all throughout my body. Why the fuck isn’t Parker freaking out right now?

“He… He knows? Coach Corbin knows about us and he talked to you about it? And you’re not freaking out or panicking or running around like a chicken with your damn head cut off? What the hell, Parker? You should have called me or told me earlier on so I could crowd control and prepare myself and not have a full-blown—”

A kiss cuts me off. I can feel his teasing smile as he kisses me. Despite the butterflies that erupt around my entire body, I pull back.

“No, not shutting me up with kisses, this is—”

He kisses me again and the sheer force and heat his lips cause almost makes my legs give out under me. I gather myself and pull back.

“Parker! You’re not thinking clearly obviously! You—”

The weight of his third kiss is life-altering. I sigh into his lips, his warmth captivating and sweltering. I stop breathing and thinking. Then, he breaks the kiss for me and my eyes stay closed as I revel in the feeling I just experienced.

“I’m going to keep kissing you until you calm down,” he tells me.

I just mumble, “Mhm.”

He laughs at my response. I sigh as I open my eyes.

“I’m calm. For now,” I tell him.

I still feel anxiety dripping through my chest, but I don’t react to it, waiting for him to talk me through it.

“We’re telling Bellamy sooner rather than later so there’s no issue. Coach wasn’t mad. He was actually happy for me but he said I needed to tell your brother. He also made me promise no matter what happens that I won't let it affect the team. I agreed. All is well in the football world,” he tells me, his demeanor easy and calm.

“I think you’re too calm,” I tell him.

“I just don’t see the point in panicking or freaking out when nothing is going wrong. No need to freak out if the issue hasn’t arisen, right?” he asks me. I nod.

“Sure, whatever you say,” I agree halfheartedly.

“How about you go relieve some of that stress and dance with your best friend?” Parker nods his head behind me and I look over my shoulder seeing Dakota dancing all by himself in the crowd of people.

I look back at Parker and smile.

“Go, I mean it,” he smiles and plants a sweet and quick kiss on my lips. “Go now or I’ll never let you leave.”

His words are softer and my stomach heats at the timbre of his voice. I want him more than I want to breathe at this point. Sure, tequila makes my clothes come off, but honestly, Parker Thompson talking to me the way he does also makes me want to get stark naked in the middle of this damn bar.

There’s something different about him. I’ve noticed a small change here and there in the past few weeks. But tonight, right now… the way he talked to his friend like he’s as close to him as ever, the way he kissed me in front of everyone without hesitation, the way he’s talking to me and his calm exterior, it’s his newfound and insanely sexy confidence. That’s exactly what it is. I won't take credit for it but whatever has caused it, I want to cheer and shout. Parker was a five-star catch before, but now, there’s not a chart for someone like him. Because physically, he’s far more attractive with the sex appeal he exudes now—the confidence and the absolute fearlessness.

An overwhelming sense of happiness overcomes me. I feel… proud of him. I’ve always been someone who thinks of my friends or family as extensions of myself and my body and soul. When they win, it’s a win for me. When they lose, I lose. When they hurt, I hurt. And right now, I feel like I’ve won the damn lottery with the way Parker is feeling. I couldn’t be more proud if I tried.

“You have three more seconds before you’re trapped here,” he tells me, his eyes heated and warm.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” I tilt my chin up to challenge him.

“You and I have a habit of getting caught in bathrooms. Don’t make that the talk of this group by letting it happen tonight. Go, have fun. Dance for me.”

He lets me go, my sides feeling cold without the weight of his large hands. I step backward and then turn around, not looking at him as I charge toward my best friend, practically jumping on him to get his attention.

“Oh, you’ve got him wrapped around your itty bitty finger,” Dakota tells me and I roll my eyes.

“Is he staring?” I ask.

“Hasn’t stopped since you left his side and probably won't stop until you go back to him. He’s obsessive without being possessive. It’s intense, the way you can see how much he cares about you just by the way he’s looking at you,” Dakota jokes, and warmth invades every inch of me at the thought. I shake my head.

“You’re being dramatic.” I twirl, my hair spinning around me.

“You’ll see it one day. Get over here.” He takes my hand and spins me toward him and I laugh straight from my chest.

* * *

I search around the bar for Parker, still coherent, only feeling the slightest buzz from the alcohol I’ve consumed. Dakota disappeared which I know means he found someone he’s interested in on at least a physical level. I noticed Leah at a table with Xander, her eyes on him like she would have rather died than looked anywhere else but knowing her, that means nothing. The second she leaves these four walls, that look won't matter.

I spot Parker laughing with Andrew at the bar. There’s a pretty girl standing with Andrew. Drop dead gorgeous level pretty. I’m so mesmerized by the gorgeous blonde of her hair that I almost forget who I was looking for. I see Andrew nod his head and then I see Parker look over his shoulder toward me. He stands up, immediately leaving the conversation. He’s got his whiskey glass in his hand as he approaches.

“You didn’t want to come over?” he asks and I shake my head.

“I was going to but that girl is so pretty. Who is that?”

“Andrew’s almost girlfriend that won't commit to his dumbass. Her name is Diana,” he smirks.

“Hey, I almost didn’t commit to your dumbass,” I tell him with raised eyebrows.

I slowly back up as his chest presses to mine. He doesn’t hesitate to follow until I’m wedged between him and the wall, no space for me to move, not that I want to. He leans forward into my space and I tilt my head up to him, not even hesitating to do so.

“You did though and now I have you right where I want you,” he tells me.

“Where is that?” I ask.

“Pressed against me in the middle of a crowded bar,” he tells me and I roll my eyes.

His lips brush my cheek and he leans down, his lips now brushing my ear.

“Do you like being here, Brianne?” he asks.

Though I want to tell him I’d rather be in private so I could do what I want to him, I don’t. I just nod. I smell the strong whiskey on his breath. I like the smell of it and mixed with the warm smell of his cologne, it’s intoxicating. I suck in a sharp breath the second his hand touches my skin under my shirt.

“What are you thinking right now?” he asks and my brain is fried, frazzled, and going in every direction. I shake my thoughts away.

“You smell like whiskey, I’ve never had whiskey before,” I tell him, changing the subject.

“Do you want to try, Bri?” he asks me, backing up.

I nod my head and he tips my chin back with his finger, bringing his glass toward my lips. He tilts his glass and it goes in my mouth, warm and smooth, some of it dripping down the side of my cheek and down my neck.

“Don’t swallow it, taste it,” he tells me.

I close my lips, feeling the warm liquid drip down my neck, fighting the urge to combust with the proximity of him, the feeling of his damn hand, and the weight of his stare. He brings his head down to the opposite side of my face, his breath hot against my neck. I slowly swallow the burning liquid and breathe my words out.

“What are you doing?” I ask softly,

“Having a taste,” he mumbles, then he kisses my neck, stopping the trail of whiskey.

My lips part with an involuntary gasp as his tongue travels up my neck against the trail of alcohol until he reaches my jaw. When his mouth leaves mine, I’m practically panting, but that stops when his whiskey-coated lips crash into mine. Warmth and absolute lust burst from every part of my body. I moan into his mouth as he kisses me. I pull him forward, my fingers now holding him by the waist of his jeans. I keep my fingers tucked into his waistband. He hums his approval and I can’t handle this anymore.

“I can’t do this tonight, Parker,” I break off.

“I can stop. Just say the word,” he tells me and I shake my head.

“I don’t want to stop. We always stop, we never go further, I can’t play this game tonight if it’s going to end in us stopping before we…” I hesitate.

“Tell me what you want, explicitly, Brianne,” he tells me.

“I want you. I’m ready. I want you, I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to be slow. I want fast. I want hard. I want you, Parker. Tonight, please,” I tell him, my words shaking.

“I was planning on waiting… just a little bit longer,” he informs me and my chest deflates at the thought.

I’ve never needed to be physical with someone. I’ve never needed anything along the lines of sex but I’ve also never wanted someone this bad.

“Then we need to stop whatever is happening now, before we go too far,” I tell him, still trying to catch my breath.

I start to remove my hands but he catches my arm by the elbow, not letting me let go.

“I…” He seems to be fighting his restraint.

I look up at him finally, the devastatingly pretty color of his eyes almost brings me to my fucking knees. I clench my jaw as I stare at him, fighting every urge I have to take it further.

“It’s fine,” I admit, not wanting to push him.

He shakes his head and sets his almost empty glass down on the table directly next to us.

“Fuck it,” he mumbles, taking my face between both of his hands and crushing his lips against mine. “We’re going home. Now, before either of us has a chance to drink too much. We’re both remembering this. Nothing like last time,” he tells me,

“Yes, sir,” I mumble against his lips.

“Go tell your friends bye.” He breaks apart from me and taps my ass as he turns me toward the crowd of people.

“I’ll wait outside,” he tells me and then he leaves me there, still trying to catch my breath. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how someone can affect me the way he does. Maybe I… Maybe I like him more than I thought I did… Maybe I like him more than I wanted to allow myself… I can’t think about that right now or I’ll be running away instead of going home with him. And all I want to do is stay in Parker’s bed again tonight, especially if it’s half as good as the first time.