20. Nicholas

20

"Nicolas! Over here!"

I turned my head at the sound of my name being called out, quickly finding the source of it. It was Jacob waving me over to a table, a welcoming smile on his face. We'd driven up here together in separate cars, all the guys deciding that a Wild Woods HQ road trip was finally in order. I hadn't seen Jacob since we'd stopped for gas about two hours ago, filling up our respective trucks and then getting back on the road.

"Did you change on the way to the restaurant?" I pointed toward his outfit as I walked up to greet him. "I could've sworn that you were wearing something different when we were at the gas station?—"

"Yeah, that's the price you pay when you're riding in a car with Damon and Sam." He held up a hand, as if in apology. "Sam said something about me not dressing right for the occasion. He said I should be trying to make more of an effort and Damon agreed with him."

"More of an effort? About what?"

"Snagging a man!" Sam's words were singsong as he walked up to our conversation. "Seriously, though. Doesn't he look so much better?"

"I think he looks fine, either way." I offered Jacob a smile. "You shouldn't have to work so hard to snag a man, anyway. If someone likes you, they should like you for who you are, right?"

"Of course." Sam beamed. "But there's nothing wrong with accentuating the good."

"Sam!" Parker called out, joining our conversation. He took a moment to look Jacob up and down. "New outfit?"

"Yeah, okay. At this point, I think it's easier if I just wear a sign," Jacob mumbled before he took a seat at the table.

"Don't let them get to you, Jacob," Damon added as he sidled up to Sam, wrapping an arm around his waist. "I may have been on board with the outfit change but if I overheard Nicholas correctly, it really does come down to people liking you for who you are."

"Was that a preface for another outfit change?" Jacob asked.

"No. Not this time." Damon chuckled as he took his seat next to Jacob, with Sam following suit. The rest of us found our seats then, too, as acoustic music floated over the restaurant's speakers. This place had come highly recommended by Sam, and since he was the hippest member of our little group, we'd just taken his word for it. The décor was a little off the wall, with colorful parrots and peacocks being painted on nearly every corner of the place. There was also the matter of how the employees were dressed, rainbows everywhere for as far as the eye could see, some of them even sporting neon hair.

"What's the food situation here again?" Parker asked, as he casually flipped a menu over in his hands.

"Good. That's the situation," Sam replied, with a laugh. "Trust me. Anything you order off this menu is going to blow your mind."

Half an hour later and our food started to come out of the kitchen.

I couldn't pretend that I wasn't nearly salivating as the waitress set our plates down at our table, a homemade chicken noodle soup chock full of carrots and onions, a layered lasagna that looked like something right out of mom's kitchen, a plate of salad piled high with croutons and tomatoes and a blanket of shredded cheese resting right on top of it.

I knew there was more food on the way, but I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I found myself digging in, sharing in Parker's order of soup, licking my spoon clean by the time I was finished with it.

"Looks like you were right about this place, Sam," Damon said, before taking another bite of his salad. "Everything looks delicious so far."

"I told you so." Sam chuckled. "I've got a real nose for these things. That and I obsessively checked each and every review on Yelp for restaurants on our road trip route as soon as you said you wanted to go on one."

"Ah. There it is. There's that magic." Damon chuckled, too, before he placed a small kiss on Sam's cheek. "That's my Sam."

"So, Nicholas," Jacob started. "How are you liking working at the fire station near the airport?"

"It's pretty much all he talks about, that's how he's liking it," Parker answered on my behalf, already grinning.

"He's not wrong," I admitted. "What can I say? I'm a big fan of the place. It's a good group of guys and the schedule is pretty manageable, too. Plus, the pay is better the closer you are to Roanoke."

"He's just excited about the opportunity to whip some of those guys into shape." Parker laughed. "They're going to be regretting adding him to the team when he starts inviting them out on his infamous death hikes."

"You know, Parker, I've been on one of those infamous death hikes with Nicholas and it really wasn't that bad," Jacob said, with a shrug. "I thought it was pretty enjoyable, actually."

"Uh, I'm with Parker on this one." Sam nodded toward him as he spoke. "Nicholas has no idea what a normal hike is supposed to look like."

"No, I'd say the hike he took us on was pretty tame," Damon joined the conversation. "Nicholas is pretty good about picking out legit trails."

"And so, the war begins," Parker joked, dipping his spoon back into his soup. "A great divide grows between the Virginians and the out-of-towners…"

"I don't think you can count yourself as an out-of-towner, sweetheart." I smirked. "Not when you've been in Virginia for as long as you have."

I leaned closer to Parker, whispering something I only wanted him to hear. "And we talked about you doing that. Counting yourself out when you know you belong. Don't pretend like you don't have just as much right to claim Virginia as Damon and Jacob do."

"I know, I know…" Parker let out a small sigh. "I'm still working on it. Sorry, babe."

"It's okay," I whispered again, kissing him on the side of his head. "We've all got things we're working on."

"Okay, I don't know what that was about, but it was very, very cute." Sam's face lit up as he looked over at us. "You two are so fucking adorable."

"Are we still going snowmobiling in the morning?" Jacob asked, clearly trying to change the subject. I felt a little bad for him in the moment, the fact that he was single, making him stick out like a sore thumb with our current crowd.

"Yep. That's still the plan," Damon answered for the rest of us. "Although, we'll probably all be following Nicholas' lead on that one. Parker said you're pretty much an expert?"

"I wouldn't say I'm an expert." I shook my head at the compliment. "But I'm pretty good, sure."

"Speaking of having things to work on…" Parker murmured with a knowing smirk, just as the rest of our food arrived at our table, the conversation dying down as everyone reached for knives and forks, making quick work of the rest of the delicious meal.

"Is there such a thing as it being literally too early to be awake?"

Parker groaned, and I handed him my coffee thermos, still filled to the brim. He gratefully took a sip of it before he held it close to his chest. I was keeping an eye out for the rest of the guys to join us, our snowmobile already rented and ready beside us. I'd asked Parker if he wanted his own to ride but he'd declined, stating that he was a lot happier on the back of mine.

Which, of course, just meant that he got a kick out of holding onto me.

Moments later and I saw a set of snowmobiles coming around the banks, not stopping until they were only a few feet away from us. Once they removed their helmets it was obvious it was our usual group, Jacob leading the pack.

"You ready to get out on the trails?" he asked, as he held his helmet at his side. "We were just getting a feel for ours on the introductory course."

"The rest of us were getting a feel for it," Sam chimed in. "Jacob was mastering it without barely trying."

"Nature man strikes again," Parker joked. "Anything involving the outdoors and Jacob masters it within sixty seconds."

"That's not true," Jacob replied, his tone lined with amusement. "Sometimes, it takes me a full two minutes."

"I hate you!" Parker chuckled as he said it, the words having no sting behind them. "If you're ever wondering why I hate you this is why!"

Parker then brought his hand toward the ground, hastily forming a snowball in his grip. He threw it right at Jacob once he was finished, just as Jacob held up a hand, the snowball falling to pieces against his dark glove.

"Oh, my God. He's like the Terminator," Sam said, seemingly in awe.

"He really, really is." Parker shook his head, appearing to give up on the whole snowball fight endeavor?—

Just as a snowball hit him against the side of his unsuspecting face.

Jacob's lips were curved into a bright smile, his arm still stretched out from throwing the snowball. Parker gasped in mock offense before he shifted back toward the ground, forming yet another snowball, but Jacob was already gone, rushing away down another side of the bank on foot.

"You! Get back here!" Parker chased after him, holding his snowball tight.

"You guys! Come on! We're supposed to be snowmobiling today!" Damon chased after both of them, even though he'd stopped to secretly form a snowball for himself along the way, now holding it behind his back as he ran.

I looked back over at Sam, who seemed completely unbothered by this development. He was scrolling through his phone, muttering to himself about celebrities being some of the most impatient people on the planet, followed by something I couldn't quite follow about page views and direct link shares to various articles.

"Is this kind of thing normal for them?" I asked, after I watched the other guys disappear out of my view.

"Yep." Sam looked up from his phone as he replied, his tone cheery. "I think it's kind of sweet, though. I know they're not actually brothers but, you know, they might as well be. Moments like this are just a reminder of how close they are. Their chosen family and all."

I smiled to myself, thinking about Sam's response. "True. Do you think we'll actually get to go snowmobiling, though?"

"Eventually. Jacob tends to win this sort of thing. Although, if Parker wins, the other two will probably demand a rematch?—"

Sam paused for a moment before he got back on his snowmobile. "Actually, you want to go find a place for hot chocolate? Maybe spiked hot chocolate, if we're super lucky?"

"Yes, please." I chuckled, settling in on my snowmobile, too.

"Cool. We'll just let them know we'll be back on the slopes whenever they're ready."

I'd had a fun morning with Sam at a local coffee shop, gossiping about celebrities I didn't know much about, getting a chance to explain what I did in detail for work. It was a great feeling, connecting with another member of the Wild Woods clan, the bonding moment making me feel like I was fitting right in with Parker's people. Sam had been right about the snowball fight, too, with Jacob eventually being declared the winner and the guys letting us know they were ready to actually go snowmobiling around an hour later.

Currently, I was sitting in front of the fireplace at our rented cabin, enjoying the view of the flames. Parker was right beside me, his feet crossed in front of him as he stared down at a book.

"Good book?" I lightly pressed, as I peeked over at its pages.

"So far? Just an okay book," he answered, with a shake of his head. "Damon saw it at a gas station on the way here and picked it up for me. He thought I might like it."

Parker closed the book and looked over at me. "Did you have a good time today? Snowmobiling?"

"I did." I smiled. "It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone."

"Phew." Parker let out a relieved sigh. "I was worried about the whole snowball fight thing. I know we can get a little intense when we're all in one place?—"

"Don't worry about it. Sam kept me company while everyone was running around."

"I always liked Sam." Parker smiled back at me. "He and Damon are pretty much perfect together."

"I'd say we're a good contender for being perfect together, too."

"I didn't say we weren't." Parker chuckled.

"Still. I wanted to make sure that we were at least on the ballot."

Parker playfully rolled his eyes as he moved away from the fireplace. "Come here. I want to show you something."

He held out his hand for me to take, and I obliged, following behind him as we headed down the hallway. A few seconds later and we were standing in the bedroom, right at the end of the bed.

"You said you wanted to show me something?" I pressed.

Parker shot me a suggestive look, something heated behind the expression. "Yes, and I'm showing it to you right now."

"You wanted to show me the bed?" I quirked an eyebrow. "If you wanted me, Parker, all you needed to do was ask. You never need to be shy about it?—"

"It's not being shy. It's being subtle," he interrupted, just as he pressed me down toward the bed, not stopping until my back was resting against it.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking control and hoping you don't really notice?"

"Not today, sweetheart." I pulled Parker down on top of me, his body splayed out over my own. I then shifted until I was on top of him, my hands wrapped around either one of his wrists, pressing the back of his hands against the bed.

"Sorry, sir," he apologized, as he looked up at me. "I should've known better."

"Yes. You should have," I murmured. "Which makes me think you probably wanted me to punish you."

Parker's eyes widened with pure desire, quickly giving him away. "No, sir. A punishment was the last thing on my mind."

"Parker?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I can see right through you." I smirked before I kissed him, keeping it light and sweet, knowing it was the exact opposite of what Parker was so obviously in the mood for.

"Sir…" He whimpered against the kiss. "Kiss me…"

"I am kissing you, Parker."

"You know what I mean."

"Actually, I don't. I think I'm kissing you the exact way you're supposed to be kissed by your respectable boyfriend?—"

"I don't want my respectable boyfriend. I want you, sir."

"Hmm. You make it sound like we're two different people." I chuckled as I brought my mouth back down toward his, forcing my tongue between his lips, barely giving him enough room left to breathe. Parker didn't seem to mind, though, his legs wrapping around my torso as we kissed, his moans perfectly landing on my tongue.

I started to move against him, purposely thrusting my hips into his, wanting to feel if he was already hard for me. As expected, his cock brushed against my shaft, hard and wanting. I reached a hand down between us, stroking Parker through his jeans, playing with him as I kept the kiss deep and unrelenting. Parker's moans only grew louder, his body beginning to writhe underneath me.

When it felt like he was on the brink of coming for me, his breathing shallow, his shaft exactly as aching and ready to burst as I wanted it to be, I shifted away from him. I hastily slid down my own pants and boxers, letting them slip down to my ankles without bothering to fully remove them. Parker was close behind, his mouth flying down to my now exposed cock, his head bobbing up and down my shaft without me needing to give him a single command.

Fuck.

There was something so hot about Parker being trained like that, so accustomed to serving me, to giving me what I wanted that he didn't need any hints or clues. That was how well we were learning each other, how easily we'd understood each other, how simple it was to get in each other's heads?—

"Fuck, Parker…" I groaned as he sucked me off, his lips sliding up and down the length of me. There was no hesitation on Parker's part to take every inch of me inside his mouth, the tip of my cock hitting the back of his throat each time he bobbed back down. I reached for the back of his head, my fingers twisting in his hair as he kept his focus on my shaft, picking up his pace with a steady rhythm.

When I was close to coming, I pulled his head away from my cock.

"What are you—" Parker was thrown by the move. "Sir, you don't want me to?—"

"Open your mouth," I instructed, wrapping a hand around my shaft, stroking myself with every intention to come tonight.

Parker did as he was told, and I continued to stroke myself until come sprayed out from my shaft, decorating his face with trails of white. Some of those trails landed against Parker's tongue but most of them didn't, ending up by his ear, by his jaw, in his hair.

Parker tried and failed to hide the look of disappointment that crossed his features, even though he didn't dare make a move, either way.

"There. How was that for a punishment?" I flashed him a wide smile.

"That was a pretty good punishment, actually," he admitted, before he shifted away from the bedsheets. "But I think I've got a better one."

"A better one?"

Parker didn't say another word as he ran toward the bathroom, nearly slamming the door behind him, a lock soon clicking into place. I listened as Parker started to groan and whimper, clearly pleasuring himself behind the closed door, his noises so loud the next cabin over was probably hearing them, too.

"Parker," I said his name like a warning. "If you're touching yourself without my permission, there's going to be hell to pay."

"I can't… I can't stop…" Parker groaned through the door. "Nicholas… it just feels too good…"

"Okay, if you wanted a punishment, this is a great way to get a real one."

"We'll see about that…" Parker wistfully sighed before he went back to moaning against the door.

And I smirked to myself, slightly annoyed but secretly satisfied with the disobedience since it meant that Parker was my Parker.

Since it meant that he was still the man I'd so easily fallen in love with all those months ago.

"Sir… Sir…"

We were back at our apartment and Parker was bent over the kitchen sink, his ass covered in red marks from my hand, a punishment via spanking having just come to an end. I was teasing his hole with my tongue, running it all along his sensitive rim, one of my palms pumping his aching cock at the same time.

Suddenly, our doorbell rang out throughout the apartment.

Parker went to answer it, his body shifting away from the sink…

But I pressed him back into place, my mouth still on his hole, my hand still stroking the length of him. The doorbell rang again and Parker whined, his body shivering before a moan escaped his throat.

"Nicholas… someone might actually hear us…" Parker whimpered.

"Fine by me," I replied. "All I care about is you coming for me, sweetheart."

Before he could say anything in response, I started pumping him even faster than before, my tongue moving at double time now. Parker let out another whimper before he shamelessly moaned, nice and loud, his hips suddenly bucking against my hand, his come landing between my fingertips. As he collapsed against the sink, his breaths coming ragged, I casually moved toward the front door.

"Yes?" I opened it with a smile, as I leaned against the doorway.

"Oh good. We were starting to think you weren't home." The deliveryman let out a nervous chuckle before he held up a clipboard. "We just needed you to sign for this and we'll be good to go."

I took the clipboard from him, swiftly signing off on the document in front of me. "What's this one for again?"

"It's for the couch!" Parker answered from somewhere else in the apartment. "I went down to the warehouse and picked it out myself. You're going to love it!"

I handed the clipboard back to the deliveryman, who gave me a small nod before he disappeared back down the hallway. A few moments later, he returned with two other team members, each of them gripping onto the midsection of a dark blue couch. I moved out of the doorway, giving them enough room to place the couch in the center of our living room. After a few more trips in and out of the apartment, they completed the couch set, sectional pieces all tucked into place against it.

And then, they were on their way.

"That was pretty painless, wasn't it?" Parker asked as he stepped into the living room now, too, having put on a t-shirt and jeans. "Do you like it, though? I was worried you wouldn't because it doesn't exactly match the rug, but I was thinking?—"

"Parker, I don't care if things match or not." I wrapped an arm around his waist as I spoke. "As long as you're happy. That's why I gave you carte blanche when it comes to decorating everything. I just want you to feel welcome here. Always."

"I know." Parker smiled up at me. "And I know I'm being a little crazy about getting new furniture and everything, too. I just… I want it to feel like it's our space. Like it's something that represents both of us."

"If that's the case, I think we're well on our way."

"I think so, too." Parker smiled again before he quietly rested his head against my shoulder.

"Now, this is more my speed."

Parker playfully snapped the band of his swim trunks before he nodded down toward the pool. He slipped beneath the water, disappearing for some time before resurfacing, taking calm and steady breaths once he did. I was sitting on the edge of the pool, lazily kicking my feet as I watched him swim laps back and forth.

We'd officially been settled into our new apartment for about a month now, Parker putting the finishing touches on the place this morning in the form of cutesy, matching coffee mugs. He finally seemed satisfied with each nook and cranny of the apartment, and I was satisfied as long as he was satisfied.

Even so, I still couldn't shake how effortless everything seemed after so much fear and trepidation about whether or not we'd actually be able to make something work between us. At this point, all of it seemed so silly in the rearview mirror, like we'd been wasting time trying to figure out the answer to a question with such a simple solution.

"Are you going to get in the water or what?" Parker teased. "You owe me a good lap or two."

"What do I owe you a lap or two for?"

"For every time you took me on a death hike," he started. "And the billions of more times you're probably planning on taking me on death hikes in the future."

"Fine," I relented, with a smile, as I slipped into the pool. The water was the perfect temperature, warm against my skin as it surrounded me on each side. I dipped my head underneath the artificial waves, holding my breath as I lingered below the water. Parker apparently did the same, my gaze meeting his as we sank down to the bottom of the pool.

A few laps later and we were back in our apartment, drying off after a quick, shared shower to rinse off the chlorine. I was now standing in the kitchen, looking over a cookbook that Parker had gotten for us, its pages glossy and its ingredient lists pretty damn extensive. Thankfully, I'd landed on a more reasonable recipe on the very next page, something I would've been able to put together with things we actually had in our fridge.

"What's for dinner?" Parker asked as he stepped into the kitchen. "Oh, you're making something out of that?"

"You don't want me to?"

"I never expected you to." He chuckled. "It was more for show than anything else. I really like the author's show on the Food Network but everything seemed a little too complicated once I flipped through the book."

"Eh. I was able to find something doable, I think." I pointed toward the recipe I'd been looking at, one for teriyaki chicken at home. "Does that look good to you?"

"That looks perfect." Parker beamed. "Need any help with it?"

We ate on the couch, cuddled up as we took bites of warm, teriyaki chicken and perfectly cooked white rice, a side of chopped veggies resting alongside it. We were watching one of Parker's favorite reality TV shows, ironically one about a rugged outdoorsman who often tried new survival techniques on camera. At several points, I wanted to mention to Parker that if he wanted to try any of this himself, I was more than happy to teach him…

But I knew better than to ruin the fantasy of it all by mentioning reality.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure he's wrong about that one," Parker murmured. "He's not usually wrong but whoever's doing his production notes… they might want to check their fact sheet again."

"Production notes?"

"Oh, none of this is real." Parker shook his head. "I'm not even sure this guy's actually a survivor-ish type. I think they just picked him because he looks the part. Still, if they're going to be spreading facts around about how to survive a snakebite, they should make sure they're not setting people up for failure."

"But if it's fake, why do you watch it?"

"Babe." Parker smirked in my direction. "All reality TV is fake. Why does anyone watch any of it?"

"Because there's nothing better on TV?"

"Because it's like comfort food," he corrected. "Because it's nice to sit in our super comfy apartment and watch a man with no business handling snakes try his best to handle snakes. Because it gets us talking to each other, and the next thing you know, we're having a whole snake-based conversation."

Parker lightly chuckled before his expression suddenly turned serious.

"What is it? Feeling bad for the man being paid millions of dollars to handle snakes on TV?" I joked, attempting to lighten whatever mood had just come over him.

"Nothing. It's just…" His words trailed off as he looked back over at me. "Domestic bliss."

"What about it?"

"This is it. We're living it." It seemed like the realization was happening for him all at once. "I just… this is something I used to dream about with you, Nicholas."

"Really?"

"Really." He chuckled again, the sound of it lined with amazement. "God. I used to write in my journal about this."

"Anything you care to share with the class?"

"Are you asking me if you can read my journal?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Are you seriously asking me if you can read the most sacred of sacred objects?"

"No, I wasn't—" I shook my head at the accusation. "I mean, I was, but I didn't mean it seriously. I know how private that is?—"

Before I had a chance to finish my sentence, Parker was already headed to our bedroom. A few moments later and he'd returned, journal in hand. He slipped it into my palm before he sat back down beside me on the couch, his attention going back to the TV show playing in the background.

"You'd actually let me read your journal?" I was in awe, feeling like Parker had just handed me the keys to the most secret parts of him.

"There's nothing in there I haven't told you about already." Parker shrugged, with a smile. "That's how well you know me. My journal won't be the least bit interesting to you, at all."

"Spoiler alert," I joked again, as I set Parker's journal down on the table beside the couch, instead opting to continue watching TV with him and finish with our dinner.

Parker had been right about his journal not being interesting to me, although it wasn't because we were so close that there wasn't anything new to figure out.

It was because if there was anything more to discover when it came to Parker Evans, I wanted to do it hands-on, learning about him day after day, each tomorrow spent together bringing about precious new memories.

Each minute with him another chance I'd gratefully take to explore his heart, inside and out.

**

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