Parker tells me how he had a serious girlfriend who ended up cheating on him and dumping him over spring break. The story sounds really similar to Bryce’s and for a second, I think that girls at Bridgeport U must be insane to cheat on awesome guys like Parker and Bryce.
“So you’re on the rebound now?” The question comes out before I can think better of it but thankfully Parker doesn’t seem offended and lets out an amused chuckle. “Nah been there, done that. My ex dumped me during spring break and there wasn’t a better time to rebound than that. Your brothers and Bryce made sure that I partied and got laid more than humanly possible. ‘Fuck that bitch out of your system’ was Chase’s motto and I stuck to it all spring.”
I narrow my eyes at hearing Chase’s motto and wonder if he too is trying to forget something, since every time I see him he’s got at least two different girls on his lap or dangling from his arm.
Parker sees my expression and he must think that I’m judging him or something, because he tries to explain. “Look K, I did what I had to do to numb the pain but I swear that every girl I hooked up with, knew exactly what was on offer. I never promised anything I wasn’t willing to give.”
I nod. “Good. Not that my opinion matters or anything but I think you’re a really nice guy, if you’d willingly broken hearts, that would’ve shown me that I got it wrong ... again.”
“What do you mean? Who did you misjudge?”
My stepbrothers.
Is the first answer that comes to mind but I decide not to go there with Parker and I tilt my head to the side, looking into his eyes and I admit that I think I misjudged Marc.
“I don’t know, I thought that he was so sweet and such a gentleman but since he got here, I keep seeing this pushy, inconsiderate side to him and a barely repressed anger. You know, how he won’t accept that I don’t want to be his girlfriend? At first I was so sad and worried about breaking his heart but then he kept insisting on that beach ...”
Parker’s eyes darken with fury. “Don’t tell me that he tried to force you to do anything because if he did, he’s a dead motherfucker.”
“No, no. He didn’t. He didn’t put a finger on me after that awful kiss but the way he kept begging and pushing for a different outcome ... It made me feel really uncomfortable. There was this anger bubbling under the surface and I got worried that he would snap. Like earlier today when he started arguing with the rifle guy. I’m so glad that you took the rifle off his hands, I seriously thought that he was gonna shoot him in the face.”
Parker laughs but it’s short lived. “Yeah, me too. That’s why I took the rifle off of him. And by the way the guy is a sore loser and completely shit at shooting. The rifle was absolutely fine, in fact I won a cute prize.” He says it with a cryptic smile and I’m one of the nosiest people in the world, ask Nic will tell you.
So I ask him what did he win. “I don’t see any giant teddy bear in tow,” I giggle and his smile widens.
“Why, would you have preferred a teddy bear? I still got something for you but I didn’t want to give it to you in front of Marc. You know, I didn’t want to rub it in.”
His smile tells me that he’s playing, so I insist. “But seriously, I didn’t see you getting anything from the guy.”
Parker puts a hand in his pocket and extracts a white metal chain bracelet with two little charms shaped like dolphins. One is painted with pink enamel and the other one a baby blue. “For you, my lady. It’s nothing expensive but it’ll be a memory of our first day out together.” His eyes are suddenly serious and intense, every trace of laughter is gone.
“Oh my God, it’s really pretty. I love it, thank you!”
He opens the clasps and puts it around my wrist but the chain is way too big and there’s no way to shorten it, so I take it off. “Aww, I think I’ll find a place for it to keep it safe, I don’t want to lose it.”
Parker takes it again from me. “Wait,” He jumps off the wall and with gentle hands, he fastens the chain around my ankle. “There! It’s the perfect size for your ankle.”
“Wow, thank you! I love it even more like this! I’ll wear it all summer.”
Parker’s hands reach my hips and he takes a step forward, standing between my legs as I’m still sitting on the wall, and guiding my knees to rest on his hips. Like this we’re the same height and I can look into his eyes without stretching my neck for the first time.
There’s a brief moment in which our eyes are locked and we don’t say anything but then his lips touch mine. Softly at first, giving me the opportunity to move away but when I don’t go anywhere, Parker delivers a hot, knee weakening kiss.
His lips are confident and gentle at the same time. His kiss is less playful than Bryce’s, there’s less nibbling and teasing but he’s just as skilled as his friend. He demands entrance by teasing my lips with his tongue and when I allow him in, he kisses me softly and passionately, giving me the opportunity to explore him as much as he’s exploring me.
We kiss for a long time, lost in the moment, not realizing that the sun has disappeared from the horizon and the soft pinks and oranges that were painting the sky have now given way to a dark navy blue.
When he breaks the kiss, his hand comes up to cup my jaw and I hold my breath, realizing that his kiss was as good as Bryce’s. Leave it to my dumb luck to kiss about fifteen guys in the three years since my first kiss and not find anyone who made me remotely feel like mystery guy and then kiss both my brothers’ besties in the space of three days and they both make me feel what I thought was totally impossible at this point.
This should make me happy but really, my heart is beating so fast that I think it’s going to burst out of my chest. And it’s not only because of Parker’s kiss, it’s also because I have to tell them, right?
That I kissed them both? And that I liked it? With both of them?
I have to say something after they’ve both been cheated on. I’m about to open my mouth and fess up, when something makes me hesitate. Bryce and I have a deal, we aren’t dating as such. He said that he wasn’t going to chase girls while he was with me but we didn’t talk about being exclusive or faithful. I recall his words the other night:
‘I only ask you for one favor: if at any point you feel like you don’t want to do it anymore or you like someone else, please be honest. Because I’m not going to chase after other girls while I’m hanging out with you.’
So, I still want to keep our deal going and I do like Parker but that doesn’t make me like Bryce any less.
Maybe I should talk to Bryce first or at least wait to see what Parker wants with me. Because he isn’t saying anything at all.
But I really don’t want them to feel betrayed by me and end up losing them both and losing not only their kisses but also their friendship. So I decide to tell him about my deal with Bryce and see what he wants, or if this kiss was just a spur of the moment thing and he doesn’t want to do it again.
I climb off the wall, with Parker’s hands still on my hips. I’m a real coward, I think it’ll be easier to confess about me and Bryce if I don’t look Parker in the eyes. I’m about to say something, when the summer breeze carries three familiar voices that are coming closer and closer.
Marc: where the hell is she? It’s so fucking rude to disappear like that when she’s on a date with me!
Nic: calm down, dude! It was crowded, she must have lost sight of us. What I don’t understand is why once the concert was over, she didn’t text back. I’m worried now. I hope she’s with Parker.
Nate: I bet she is, don’t worry babe. Maybe their phones were on silent or dead, it happens to me all the fucking time. I say let’s just check if they went home. I don’t see any point of looking for them everywhere. Plus, what would your girlfriend do here? This is a notorious make out spot.
They’re about to walk in front of us and I look at Parker: “I really don’t want to deal with him right now,” he flattens me against the wall and lowers his head, seizing my lips in a breathtaking
kiss and effectively covering me with his large frame.
I hear Marc’s voice again and see the flashlight of his phone, searching the beach.
“Come on dude, there’s people making out, let’s just go. It’s obvious that they aren’t here. Don’t be a creep and turn that fucking flashlight off.”
Thankfully their voices move away but after a few seconds, I forget about them, only aware of the feeling of Parker’s mouth on mine.
Kaya
I HAVEN’T SEEN THE boys for almost three days and while this has been a relief when it comes to Marc, I’ve missed Parker and Bryce during my trip to LA with Mom.
Basically the few days leading to the Fourth of July are a strange whirlwind of activity and the whole house is in turmoil for the launch of Dustin’s new super yacht and the huge party that he’s throwing.
The town always offers a big fireworks show on the fourth and Mom is on the organizing committee but this year the launch of the yacht has changed things.
Basically the normal show will go on and the special attractions at the State fair will still be running but everyone who’s anyone in Star Cove has been invited to the yacht’s launch party.
I’ve been kept busy by my mom in the frivolous aspect of planning everyone’s outfits and I spent two nights away with her in LA meeting with her personal shopper to get outfits for everyone in the house. Things have been uncharacteristically tense between Mom and I, because of the whole ‘Marc situation’.
While she didn’t expect me to date someone I don’t want to just because the families are friends, she’s convinced that I led him on and that I’ve been fickle and careless with his feelings.
I’ve tried to explain that I was interested in getting to know him better during the winter and I was never sure about how Marc felt about me until we both returned here for the summer.
He never tried to get closer than a friendship until that first date almost two weeks ago and as soon as I knew that I didn’t feel the same way about him, I told him. I was nice but I was clear.
She didn’t see the situation eye to eye with me. She said that if anything, I’m guilty of being naive. She claimed that I should’ve known that he wanted more than a friendship.
“No guy writes you letters and calls you for nine months unless he’s romantically interested in you, Kaya. You’re not fifteen anymore and I shouldn’t have to tell you this. You knew that your father and I are really good friends with Marc’s parents and that Marc’s father’s influence has been crucial to get all the permits and business deals necessary to expand Hudson Marina. I didn’t expect you to date Marc just to secure a business alliance but at least, I expected you to be careful not to ruin things by getting involved with Marc and then breaking things off for no reason.”
There’s been no amount of reasoning with her that the words ‘relationship’ and ‘dating’ were never spoken until I saw Marc back here two weeks ago and that for all I knew, he could’ve had a girlfriend or even more than one back in South Carolina.
She insisted that it didn’t matter and that Marc was obviously courting me by writing and calling and is convinced that I changed my mind on a whim and broke his heart.
One of the main objects of contention has been the fucking necklace that I didn’t want to accept but Marc guilted me into taking under the guise that it could be just a friendship token.
She said that by accepting that present, I really gave him the impression that I wanted to be his girlfriend. “No one gives a gold and diamond necklace to a ‘friend’, Kaya! And you’d been hanging out with Marc all summer last year, so don’t tell me that you didn’t know him well enough. The guy has been smitten about you for over a year! What else did he have to do to show you his feelings?”
It was like launching myself against a wall made of rubber: no matter how hard I tried to explain that things were vague between us, she twisted things to mean what she thought they did.
“Mom, this is not the nineteenth century, for fu— Ehm, goodness sake! Last summer we just talked and talked and talked. In the winter it was the same. Lots of talking to each other. He never said anything romantic, we just talked about our days. And last summer he never tried to do anything that could’ve made me think that he liked me.”
She shook her head, like she always did when she was done arguing and uttered a conclusive statement: “So what you’re holding against him is the fact that he was a gentleman and he tried to get to know you before he tried to get in your pants?”
That was the final straw and we haven’t really talked to each other since we came back to Star Cove last night.
“Ok, so Reid have you and Jasmine got the gift bags to give to every guest under control?” Dustin asks at breakfast the morning before the big day. I try not to flinch at the mention of Jasmine and remind myself that aside from the fact that Reid can date whoever he wants, my situation with his two best friends is complicated enough at the moment without adding my stepbrothers to the mix. I don’t even hear Reid’s answer, pinned in place by Chase’s dark blue gaze.
I don’t know what’s wrong with him today, he keeps looking at me and it’s hard not to squirm.
Could Parker and Bryce have told him anything? I’m convinced that this is the case, because I definitely see judgement in his eyes and of course that does nothing to help me relax.
First of all because Chase seems to be going through girls quicker than Star Cove’s notorious tides, so if he disapproves of my involvement with two guys at once, that’s definitely the pot calling the kettle black.
Secondly because that reminds me again that I really need to tell both guys that I kissed them both and I like them both. I don’t know what will happen but I don’t want them to think that I’m two timing them.
Neither of them talked about being exclusive but I know they’re both rebounding and I think it’s better to be upfront about the fact that I really like them both.
I don’t know how I would choose to hang out just with one of them and not the other and in all honesty I really don’t want to choose, but the first step is to fess up to what’s going on. If that means that there’ll be no more hot kisses or nights spent in Bryce’s arms, it will be sad but at least I want to salvage a friendship, because aside from the attraction I feel for both guys, I also really like their personalities.
And talking about that night in Bryce’s arms, we’ve been trying to find a way to have some more alone time, but things have been crazy and the house has been the epicenter of activity before the big party. Dustin and the twins have been awake till the wee hours of the morning each night to work on the completion of the yacht and on the party details, so the risk of getting caught has been too high in the nights I’ve been home.
The reason why they’re working so hard on this is that this yacht will be the first of a special line of luxury boats that Hudson Marina will build and by making this a relatively small but very advertised event, Dustin hopes to get a lot of interest from potential buyers.
His company has mostly been building catamarans and sport sailing boats so far but they want to branch out to luxury yachts and this launch is key to the new business venture.
Reid has been working on the press and publicity aspect of the launch, while Chase is following in Dustin’s footsteps as a nautical engineer and he has been involved in all the technical aspects of the build since the project started last year.
Dustin leaves with the twins shortly after breakfast to work on the last details before tomorrow.
Mom announces that she’ll be in and out of meetings all day to fine tune all the last details for every show at the marina and the music for the yacht party.
“Kaya, I’ll see you tomorrow at noon here: there’s a team of hairdressers and makeup artists coming to the house. You can invite Nic to get ready with us if she wants.”
I explain that my bestie has to work until it’s time for the launch ceremony and she was only able to get the rest of the evening off to board the yac
ht by promising to work every single weekend until Labor Day.
So just like that, I’m left in the house with Parker and Bryce three days after kissing Parker under the pier and four nights after that exciting night I spent in Bryce’s arms.
14.
Games we play
Kaya
I KNOW IT’S TIME TO start talking to them about the fact that I like them both but there’s a big part of me that’s worried about ruining everything and I literally look for every possible excuse to get stuck into any activity that would make talking impossible.
I know I’m a coward, so sue me. I just don’t see any scenario in which this could possibly go well, so deflecting would be my first choice.
Of course I’ve no such luck and that’s something I definitely learned in my eighteen, almost nineteen years in this world: never count on luck, because I’m definitely not a lucky person. Actually, I think that Murphy’s law was written with me in mind.
And in fact, as a I’m about to propose that we go to the beach, huge, ominous, dark clouds begin amassing on the horizon, making this early July morning look as dark as night.
I would’ve even taken a surf lesson to avoid addressing the elephant in the room. Because obviously I don’t think Bryce and Parker talked about me, or I doubt they’d be so relaxed and amiable with each other.
Forbidden (Perfect for them Book 1) Page 13