Each boy takes turns fondling my breasts and stroking my pussy. Just as Parker lifts me to set me on the table with the cards, a floorboard creaks loudly beneath the top loft. Everyone freezes, listening intently to see if the noise repeats itself.
And it does.
My pants clutch my knees and I’m shaking in Parker’s arms, his hand massaging the center of my upper back in rhythmic strokes, the sensation causing me to stay calm despite my alarm. I see how Parker is eyeing the door, the muscle in his jaw twitching as his alert stance tells me he wants to confront the unseen intruder.
He quietly sets me on the table and then shuffles past Soren. Lev grabs his shoulder, preventing him from making it to the door. And he relents to his friend’s silent touch. All of us stare at the closed loft door, listening to the growing sound of footsteps. The hair on the back of my neck stands as I realize the danger we’re in.
What if that’s the person who sent the cards?
The footfalls drift past the closed door. When they recede, I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I slide from the table, pull up my pants, and shakily grip the loops of my jeans.
Parker joins my side. “I’ll drive Alex home,” he whispers. He looks at Lev and nods to the railing. “We should walk out together.”
Alarm races through my veins as Parker wraps his arm around my waist. It’s weird how quickly everything devolved into a free-for-all. And then, the adrenaline of getting caught with my pants down—literally—by the person who potentially sent the cards heightened everything. As my heart calms down, I allow Parker to guide me down the stairs and into the docking area.
No footprints. No real sign of anyone being here. The coast is clear, yet I can’t help how much I feel like we’re being watched. Is that security? Or is someone else lurking in the bushes outside, just waiting for us to walk to our cars?
The beep of the Mercedes breaks me from my thoughts. When I slide into the passenger seat, I notice a few granola bars sitting in the center console along with an iced tea. Parker shuts the passenger door, cutting off the conversation that Tomas, Lev, and Soren are having near Tomas’s truck. Silence invades the cab, causing me to tangle my fingers together.
“Are you hungry?” Parker asks without looking at me. “I didn’t see you eat at lunch, so…”
I try to contain my smile. “Are you being nice to me?”
“It’s just something I had in the car. No big deal.”
“Sure. Whatever you say, Parker.”
The tension fades when he looks at me. It’s as powerful now as it was upstairs, those pupils slicing right into my soul and digging through all the messy, vulnerable layers. He’s trying to claim me by way of marriage, and he’s also trying to shove the other boys away from me, but he’s also showing me a side of him that I didn’t know existed.
That I didn’t know could exist.
“So?” he says. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I’m hungry.”
He nods. “It’s not the fancy shit Soren might feed you, but…”
“But it’s sufficient.” I grab the blueberry granola bar and dig in, my stomach growling viciously at the prospect of food. I didn’t realize how much of an appetite I had worked up just by being in danger. “Thanks, Parker.”
He turns on the car and then reaches for the glove box. I move my knees to give him room but freeze when his hand falls on my left thigh and then squeezes the flesh.
And he doesn’t remove his hand the whole way to my house.