"I should be asking you that," he says, pulling me into a tight hug. I awkwardly hug him back because keeping my hands by my side would be even more awkward. Over his shoulder the blonde with the flawless, porcelain skin, crystal blue eyes and raspberry stained, pouty lips smiles brightly at me ... like she's happy to see me too. I'm confused by her reaction, because he's not hugging me in a I'm-happy-to-see-you kind of way. There's a possessiveness in the way his arms wrap around my body, holding me against him as he brushes his lips across my neck. "I've been worried about you."
Parker is reluctant to let me go and I have to squeeze my arms between us to casually break free.
"Good to see you too. I thought your dad would have told you what happened."
"No. Not much. I knew you were attending Blackwood, but not when, or that you'd be working here."
"Well ... here I am," I declare, stretching my arms wide; painfully aware that the two girls are watching all of this.
Parker notices when I glance behind him again and takes my hand before turning to face her. "Lily, this is Lana. Lana, this is my cousin, Lily."
Cousin? I guess maybe I can see it ... in the eyes ... a little. But I honestly would never have guessed they were related.
"Hi," I reply with a slight nod. "Umm ... it was good to see you," I casually try to slide my hand out of his grasp, "but I need to get back to work." I know the polite thing to do would be to introduce Ashton. But I don't want to be polite. Because I don't want to be standing here.
"Hi Ashton," Lily says. "Do you know Parker?" Lily's thoughtfulness makes me feel like an ass.
Ashton smiles at him in the way most girls do. It's like they can't help it. I've seen it so many times before that I want to roll my eyes at the starry-eyed gaze that possesses Ashton. I had higher expectations of her. But then again, I am one of his victims. "No. We've never met, but I've heard of you."
To my surprise, Parker threads his fingers through mine and offers a polite nod, sheathing the panty-dropping smile that gets him just about everything he wants. "Nice to meet you. Would you mind if I spoke with Lana for a second?"
Ashton glances at her watch. "I guess we don't have to finish the tour right now, but we have to be at the cart station in ten minutes."
"I just need five," Parker says, flashing a hint of his charm at her. She smiles back automatically, bewitched.
"Sure."
Parker wraps his arm around my waist and forcefully leads me away from the girls, combatting my resisting feet.
"What?!" I snap, spinning out of his hold once we're far enough away.
"What do you mean, 'what'?" he asks, confused. "I haven't seen you in almost a month. And the last time I did, was the night--"
"I know what night it was," I interrupt, looking around--afraid of being overheard.
"Lana, I feel responsible in some way."
"Why? You didn't do anything wrong." Then after a second, I add, "Right?" Because I still don't know what happened to Allie after I left her in the stairwell ... in the care of Parker and his team.
"No," he assures me. "But I can't help but feel like I should've done something more. To keep you from being," he lowers his voice and whispers, "arrested."
"Well, you convinced your dad to represent me, so there's that. Although, right now I'm not sure if I'm really happy with that decision either."
"Why? What happened?"
"I'm here. In the middle of fricken nowhere."
"It's better to be here, trust me."
"I don't belong at that school. This isn't my life, Parker."
"It could be," he says like the possibility appeals to him.
"What?" I stare at him like he's insane.
"I'm just saying, you've been gifted an amazing opportunity. Give it a try. You might find that you belong here more than you realize."
"Why? Are you ashamed of who I am?"