22. Parker

CHAPTER 22

Parker

M axwell. Late again.” He looked up at me from his watch as I jogged onto the field, in full practice gear.

Shit. “Sorry, coach. Rehearsals ran long.”

I’d already been benched once—having to sit out the entire last game—and I felt like shit for letting my team down. But I knew coach’s zero-tolerance policy on violence, and yet it was hard to regret it after what he’d done to Audrey.

It was worth missing a game, though, considering he was now facing suspension and had been removed from the musical cast completely. The school had also received information about some of the other girls he’d been harassing, a packet of information that had been slipped anonymously under the door of the disciplinary department’s door.

“If you can’t keep up with the team, Parker, you’ll lose your scholarship. Want you at the top of your game for the away game next week.”

I gritted my teeth, holding back the words I wanted to say. Because it hadn’t been affecting my game. We’d still been winning. “I know, coach. I’ll be better.”

He slapped my shoulder, and I jogged on the field, joining my team for warm-ups before taking my place in mid-field for scrimmages.

Stephens gave me a nod, and I felt myself relax. Maybe it was because I’d been spending more time with the team, but I had grown closer to the guys over the last few months. Now, instead of strangers, they felt like friends.

It was a good feeling.

Now, I just needed to make it through the performance weekend, and then all of this would be over. We had less than a month until then, and that also meant Audrey and I’s fake dating deadline was rapidly approaching.

But I couldn’t lose her. After the other night, I knew our attraction was mutual. The way she’d come apart in my arms, how she’d been comfortable enough with me to let go. How she could be herself with me.

I wanted everything with her. Wanted this to be real. But I couldn’t fuck this up. Not with the musical, and not when I could lose her. I was completely in over my head, and yet not one piece of me regretted this.

God, I was fucking exhausted. We’d played hard and won our game tonight, but it had been a close call there. I wasn’t playing at the top of my game, and I knew it. My mind was a jumble of thoughts. Everything felt so insurmountable. My feelings for Audrey, and whatever was going on between us, were more important to me than lacrosse. Thankfully, my grades weren’t slipping, and I’d stayed on top of my studies.

The real problem was how I was going to juggle games and dress rehearsals as we got closer to the musical. It was getting more demanding, even if I had the entire script memorized practically forwards and backwards.

Sighing, I plopped my earbuds in, putting on the playlist Audrey had made on my phone as the bus drove back to Castleton’s campus.

Back to my girl. I hadn’t told her we weren’t spending the night tonight, because I was hoping to surprise her with dinner.

I’d put a stop to going any further the other night, and I owed her an explanation for that. She deserved to know why . Not that I didn’t want to—I did , more than ever, but I had no experience. Besides kissing, I’d never gone farther than second base. Audrey and I dry humping till we came the other night was the most erotic experience of my life.

And we hadn’t even taken our clothes off.

But I wanted her to know what it meant to me before she did. Because if she gave me that—letting me worship her body—I wanted it to mean something to her. It meant everything to me.

Trying not to think about those perfect tits underneath my jersey, I distracted myself by going through our plays tonight in my mind, thinking about what I could have done better, so I’d be more prepared for the next game. Anything was better than being hard on a bus full of my teammates.

Our bus was just pulling back onto campus when my phone buzzed.

Audrey

Hey, Dream Boy.

Parker

Dream Boy?

Mhmmmm. You have a silly nickname for me, so that’s my silly nickname for you.

Audrey.

Are you drunk?

A liiiiittle bit.

Where are you at?

Whyyyy? Is my fake boyfriend going to come swoop in and save me?

Rosie.

Youdon’thaftacome.

Pl;sea

You’re scaring me, baby. Where are you?

???

Audrey. Answer your damn phone.

Fuck. She wasn’t responding to me. Why hadn’t we shared locations with each other yet? That was something I was fixing as soon as I found her tonight. That way, I’d always be able to find her if she needed me.

Dialing a number I had never needed to use, I let out a sigh of relief when she answered almost immediately. “Hello?”

“Ella?” I asked, my knee bouncing in worry.

“Yes? Sorry, who is this?” I heard girls laughing in the background.

“It’s Parker.”

“Oh! Sorry, Parker. What’s up?”

“Are you with Audrey? She was texting me, but she stopped responding.”

“No…” I could almost hear her frown. “I’m out with Cam. I know some of the girls were talking about going out tonight to the bar, but Ro hadn’t mentioned anything to me. Hold on, lemme check her location.” I could tell she’d pulled the phone away, and then she came back. “Looks like she’s out at the Red Rose bar. Need me to send you the address?”

“Nah.” I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “I know it. Thanks, Ella.”

“Of course, Parker. I’m glad you’re with my sister. You seem to make her really happy.”

I cleared my throat. “Thanks. I’m trying.”

It was all I wanted, and yet I constantly felt like I was fucking it up.

“Listen, I gotta go. We’re pulling back into campus.”

“Bye, Parker. Say hi to Audrey for me.”

Saying goodbye, I shoved my phone into my pocket as we hung up, not even blinking at Ella’s assumption that I was going to go after my girl. Of course I was.

I didn’t like the idea that she was drunk and alone. Not after what had happened with Duke. She needed someone to watch her back as she let loose. That someone was me.

Hurrying off the bus without saying anything to my teammates, I grabbed my duffel as soon as I could, hurrying to head out to my car.

“You heading to see your girl?” Samuel asked, knocking his shoulder into mine.

I dipped my head.

He nodded. “I know Coach has been giving you a hard time, but I gotta say, it’s been good to see you like this.”

“Huh?” I blinked.

Sam followed me out to the parking lot. “Last semester, you were quiet. But after Halloween, after you found your girl, you’ve been different. I know you’re juggling a lot, but you’ve been playing good, Maxwell. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks. I—” I ran a hand through my hair. “It was hard for me after last year. Things with my last team didn’t end great. I guess I just forgot what it was like to rely on other people.”

He nodded. “We’re here for you, man. And if you want to talk about it…” He patted me on the back. “I’m here.”

“Thanks, Sam. You’re a good guy.”

My teammate tilted the brim of his baseball cap. “See you at home.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. Because it really felt like home. “See you later.”

It was time to go find my girl.

Stepping into the bar, my eyes immediately narrowed onto my blond-haired beauty giggling around a table, surrounded by a few other girls I recognized from her sorority. They had a round of shot glasses in front of them, all blushed cheeks and shouted whispers.

I headed over to her, her eyes lighting up as she caught sight of me.

“Hey!” she shouted. “It’s my boyfriend. Look, everyone! My boyfriend is here.”

God, she was beautiful. She’d pinned back some of the front pieces of her hair, and she was wearing a tight fitting pink tank dress and a pair of heels that made her legs look a million miles long. There weren’t enough words to describe how gorgeous she was—tonight and every night. Even in leggings and no makeup, I thought she was the most stunning woman in any room.

“Hi, baby.” I leaned in, kissing her cheek.

“Why are you here?” Audrey tilted her head. “I thought you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow?”

“Change of plans. The bus came back tonight. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Oh.”

“And then my girlfriend was drunk texting me, so…”

“Oops?” She gave me a guilty smile. “Sooorryy.”

I bent down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

She hummed. “Mmm. Hi.”

Laughing, I brushed her hair back behind her ear. “You said that already.”

“Oh.” She giggled again. “Maybe I had a little too much to drink.”

“Come on, Rosie Girl. Let’s go home.”

She leaned against my shoulder, her eyes drooping sleepily. “Home?”

I kissed her forehead. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” She turned to her friends. “Parker’s taking me home. Night.”

“Night, Audrey.” Suzie waved at us, Peggy leaning against her side. I didn’t know the other two girls, but I tipped my head at all of them before wrapping an arm around Audrey’s waist, heading outside of the bar.

She yawned as she got into my car, letting me buckle her seatbelt. I rounded to the other side, the two of us driving in a comfortable silence towards the lacrosse house.

By the time I had pulled in and put the car in park, Audrey had fallen asleep. A smile curled over my face as I took in her sleeping form, curled up in my car. I closed my door quietly, rounding the car to open hers. Unbuckling her, I picked her up in my arms, closing the door behind me and locking my car before heading into the house.

Some guys were still downstairs, but I didn’t pay them any mind. No, my only thoughts were on the sleeping beauty curled up against me, her face nuzzled against my chest. God, she was beautiful. So perfect and right and mine.

She stirred as I opened the door to my room, closing it behind us. Her violet eyes blinked open, staring up at me. Audrey’s hand reached up, brushing against my jaw.

“Look at you. My knight in shining armor coming to save the day,” she mumbled.

“I’ll always save you, sunshine.”

Setting her on the edge of my bed, I bent down to take her shoes off, letting them fall to the floor.

She smiled. “If I’m dreaming, I don’t want to wake up.”

I chuckled. “Not a dream, baby.” Her eyelashes fluttered as I pulled her into my arms. “Come on, we gotta get this dress off of you so we can go to bed.”

There was no way I was leaving her alone tonight. Especially not when she was all alone in the sorority house.

“Arms up,” I said, not wanting to yank the dress off and hurt her.

Audrey lifted her arms, and I tugged the tight dress off her body, doing my best not to look at her bare skin, knowing the only thing she had on was her bra and underwear.

“Turn around, sunshine,” I murmured against her ear. She complied, and I toyed with the strap of her bra. “On or off?”

“Off,” she murmured, covering her breasts as I flicked open the clasps, letting the straps fall down her arms.

I grabbed my red hoodie, pulling it over her arms and loving the way it fell down to mid-thigh, practically dwarfing her frame.

Audrey turned around and stepped closer to me, her fingers fumbling over the button on my jeans.

“Rosie.” I put my hand over hers, stilling the motion. “We’re not going to do anything tonight.”

She pouted. “Why not? Do you not want me?”

Dammit. “You’re drunk.” And there was no way I would take advantage of a drunk girl. And I respected her too much to let her do something she’d regret later.

Her teeth came out, digging into her lower lip. “The other night…” Her voice was all breath. “Did you not… like it?”

Fuck . Fuck that she even thought that. “It’s not that.”

Audrey frowned. “Then what is it?”

I sighed, bopping her on the nose. “Tonight, we’re going to sleep. Tomorrow, when you’re feeling better, we’ll talk, okay?”

She nodded, yawning again as I pulled the comforter back on my bed, extra thankful in this moment that I didn’t have a twin sized bed. “Parker?” Audrey whispered as she climbed into my bed, her hair spread out across my pillows.

“Yeah, sunshine?”

“You’ll be here when I wake up, right?”

“Of course I will.” I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her eyes shut as she snuggled into the pillow. “In my dreams, you’re always gone when I wake up.”

I ran my hand over her hair. “Good night, sleeping beauty.” I pressed my lips to her forehead, unable to stop touching her. “I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Okay,” she murmured, curling up and quickly falling asleep.

I watched her for a few moments, satisfaction flowing through me at the sight of her in my bed. There wasn’t a single other person I could imagine here. It was like she was meant to be here.

Like all along, without knowing it, I’d been waiting for her.