36. Leather Pants1, Parker 0

THIRTY-SIX

Iwoke up to the muffled sounds of pots and pans clashing in the kitchen. I stretched and noticed how my whole body was relaxed. Sunlight poured through the large bedroom window, and instead of cringing at it and covering my eyes, I flipped the covers off and hopped out of bed.

I opened the door, and planned on walking out in just Parker's t-shirt, but stopped when I heard two other male voices conversing quietly with him. We hadn't unpacked last night or even brought our suitcases farther than the entryway.

Raiding Parker's closet it was.

I made my way into the kitchen in one of Parker's sweatsuits and placed a hand on my hip when I saw Lily sitting in a high chair and the boys crowded around her.

"Whatcha guys doing?"

They all turned to look at me and Peter's eyes bugged out of his head.

"I knew you were fucking!" he whisper-yelled in Parker's direction. My man was cooking bacon, shirtless. It was totally impractical, yet seriously attractive.

Brett stood and stretched his arms out for a hug. I went willingly into his arms.

"What he meant to say was, ‘Good morning, Delilah. It's nice to see you after so long. You look beautiful, even in Parker's clothes that are way too big for you.' But he's terrible with women so that's what you got instead."

I smiled, genuinely entertained by the interaction and full of relief that I wasn't met with hostile glares. I spent half the flight worrying that I wouldn't be well received. We went straight back into our routine of making fun of each other like we had in Buffalo.

"Good morning, boys." I cuddled Lily close and sat down at the large breakfast bar between Brett and Peter, but my eyes were fixed on the delicious hunk manning the stove. He looked like he had the best sleep of his life. His gloriously naked upper body was golden, and the small patch of hair in the center of his chest made me want to drag him right back to bed.

Our eye fucking was cut short by Lily kicking her legs and starting to whine. I was about to say she was hungry when I turned around to see she was trying to get out of my arms and reach Brett.

"Oh, uh here you go." I let him take her and she went eagerly. "Guess I"m chopped liver."

We all watched her stare up at him with big hazel eyes, a complete reflection of her daddy's. She toyed with his gold chain and took his earlobe in her grip. She had a thing for ears. I gently moved her hand away and she shot me a glare that caused everyone to break out in laughter.

"Come here gorgeous," Parker summoned me to him since my hands were no longer occupied. I went and he pulled me in for a hard kiss that had my toes curling on the heated floor.

Peter whistled and we broke apart, both smiling from ear to ear. I leaned my elbows on the countertop and Parker returned to cooking.

"So, why are you hooligans here anyway?"

"Tradition," Peter said, munching on a piece of bacon Parker had just pulled out of the pan to cool on a plate with paper towels. He barely missed a swat with a greasy pair of tongs from the chef.

"We usually eat breakfast together. Then they mooch off me and use my home gym."

"I bought half the equipment in that gym," Brett rebutted with his attention on our conversation for a moment before reverting it back to playing with Lily. I was impressed she'd gone to him in the first place. The only men she was around very often were Parker, Thomas, and my stepdad. Evan every so often. She'd taken to this gentle giant quicker than I'd ever seen.

"Not to be a Karen, but I was hoping she'd pick me." Peter watched them with a hint of jealousy. "Stass loves Parker, Ana's obsessed with her dad, and now Lily likes Brett the most. Nobody wants Uncle Peter." His pout was cute, so I walked over and hugged him from behind.

"Oh Peter, you poor thing. We love you. Plus Lily just woke up, she'll want to play with you later when she"s less sleepy. She ditches me for Parker when she"s tired too. Something about big dark haired men makes her feel safe. I have no idea where she got that," I shrugged, winking in Parker"s direction.

Peter puffed his chest out. "Hey, I"m big too."

I ruffled his hair. "Of course, sweet boy. But where they look like they could choke someone out with their pinkies, you're more of a… happy corgi."

"Corgis do have great butts," he said, turning around and smacking his.

Parker cleared his throat. "Or I could just knock Del up again and see if that one likes you." He chewed his bottom lip and sent me a hot look.

Peter tilted his head, considering it. "Nine months does give me time to come up with a strategy."

"If you need a strategy, you"re doomed. You have to let the pretty girls come to you," Brett teased while playing with the tight curls at the nape of Lily's neck.

"What do you even know about women? You haven"t had an actual girlfriend in years."

"I have three sisters, ass wipe. I was ten when the first one was born, so I've been hanging out with little girls my whole life.

"Alright kids, let"s get this food eaten so we can work out and I can take the girls out on the town."

Lily hung out with the boys while I showered. It was magical. Parker"s shower was the thing dreams were made of. Water rained down from the ceiling and two shower heads were placed on each side. There was plenty of space for activities, and I refused to let myself imagine Parker using it with anyone else but me. I know what he said, but he was a 27-year-old professional athlete living in Seattle by himself. And he was hot as hell. There was no way he"d been completely celibate during his time here.

I walked into the home gym, freshly showered and feeling confident in my black leather pants and tan sweater. I didn"t know what Parker had planned, but Seattle was definitely colder than Iowa was when we left home.

I reached down to grab Lily out of her play chair and heard a set of weights drop. The heavy clang scared her and she started to wail. I turned to find Parker with his jaw slack.

"Shit, sorry. Is she okay?" He launched himself toward us to comfort her.

His chest was heaving and he was covered in sweat. The veins running down his arms were pronounced as he rubbed Lily's back in soothing strokes and wiped the tears running down her cheeks until they stopped altogether. She burrowed her head into my chest.

"Why'd you do that?" My tone was soothing but my glare was hard. Surely they were toning it down because Lily was in here with them, if she'd lasted that long.

"I… Sorry it was an accident."

"He was looking at your ass," Peter mumbled when he walked by to rack his weights.

I turned to Parker with my eyebrows raised. "Really?"

He shrugged, smacked my ass and returned to his station. "Nice pants," he called over his shoulder.

The simple reminder that he was attracted to me shouldn't have affected me as much as it did, but I'd spent years thinking it would always be one-sided. I liked knowing he wanted me.

I shot him a saucy look. "Thanks big guy."

"We're almost done and then I'll shower before we head out for the day."

"Since you won't tell me what we're doing, is my outfit okay? How warm do I need to dress Lily?"

Brett nudged Peter in the ribs with his elbow. "I thought we already covered the fact that he likes your outfit."

"I thought you were supposed to be the mature one!"

He winked. "Don't believe everything you read in the magazines, babe."

"Back at you, seriously please don't. Well, at least I can relate to you losers now." I wiped the pretend sweat from my brow. "Being a celebrity is hard."

"Pshh, we're athletes," Peter corrected.

"Athletes who make out with famous women twice their age?" I mocked him, and the other boys tried and failed to hold in their laughter.

"God damn it, you kiss one Real Housewife and that's all anyone wants to talk about." He threw down his water bottle, then stomped off to get a towel and clean up the mess when Parker glared at him.

Brett looked at Parker. "Do you think it's the mommy issues that makes him like older women?"

"Can't speak on that, but I can on daddy issues contributing to my older man habits. I mean why else would I date Dean?"

"Don't say his name in my house."

"Oh yeah? Whatcha going to do about it?" I loved pushing his buttons. I was just waiting for him to snap one day and take me like a caveman. I would be all for that. But I was holding Lily and we had an audience. I wasn't sure we were there yet. Or maybe it was that he wasn't there yet. I was. I was very, very much there.

Parker must've also recognized the circumstances, because instead of sparring with me, he conceded after shooting me a look that promised naughty things. "Be ready to leave in 20 minutes. I have Lily's outfit covered if you can do her hair."