Parker (Face-Off 1)

She feels amazing, her nipple very responsive to my touch.

“Alex!” she yells this time. Then, she jolts up, as if the house were on fire, and elbows me hard in the nose, causing me to lose my grip on her, the pain making me dizzy.

Charlotte rolls onto her back and pushes herself up against the headboard, her face searching mine. I’m not sure if she’s going to punch me or kiss me. As if reading my mind, she places her hand on my forehead before moving it to my cheek and down my body.

“Oh, thank God.” She lightly smacks me on the shoulder. “If you ever do that to me again, I am going to kill you. Do you understand me?”

I smirk. “Do what? Rock your world?”

She gets in my face, our mouths several inches apart, and she sighs. “What are you talking about? You didn’t rock anything. You were too busy sleeping to even notice me.”

My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “Oh.”

Charlotte glances down at her nipples that are poking through her shirt and then looks up at me, confused. “Were you just feeling me up? What is wrong with you? I spent most of the morning taking care of you, and you were trying to cop a feel while I was sleeping? That has got to be a new low, even for you, Alex.”

“No, it wasn’t like that.” I have to defend myself. “I thought we hooked up, and that was the reason you were in bed with me. Complete misunderstanding.”

“Whatever,” she says, dismissing me with a wave of her hand. “Don’t let it happen again.”

“If that’s what you want.”

She nods in acknowledgment. “Look, we need to talk, and I need you to listen to me.”

I swallow, my throating closing up at her words. “Just what every guy wants to hear in the morning.”

Nudging me with her elbow, she laughs and then regains her focus, her tone growing serious. “You scared the shit out of me. I came to your apartment to break up your wild party, and by the time I got you over here, you were burning up. At first, I thought you had alcohol poisoning, but you would’ve had heat loss instead of breaking out in a sweat if that were the case, so I thought it would be best to get you to cool down and sleep it off. I think you’re intolerant to the alcohol you’re consuming, Alex. That means your body can’t handle it. You need to stop. I was two seconds away from calling Mickey’s concierge doctor until the ice packs started to do their job.”

She lowers her head. “Just look at my sheets. They’re drenched in sweat and water. I had to sleep next to you to monitor your breathing. I can’t do this. I’ve been down this road before, and I’m not about to take another trip down memory lane for you. You need professional help. Do we need to check you into rehab?”

I sit up and slip off the bed, angry and irritable. I stare down at her. “I don’t need rehab, and I don’t have a problem. Please don’t act like you know me or want to understand anything about me.”

Scooting her butt along the sheets, she moves in front of me, her eyes watery and her expression serious. “Please, Alex.” She takes my hand between her palms, and I don’t resist. “Let me help you. Whatever you’re going through, I want to be there, be whatever you need to get through this.”

My lips curl up into a devious grin. “Anything I need?”

She frowns. “Well, no, not anything you need, but you know what I mean. I want to be here for you. Just give me one week.” She holds up her index finger. “One week is all I want from you.”

“And what would that entail? Are you going to follow me around everywhere I go?”

“No, smart-ass. You will stay with me and live in this bedroom, and I’ll help you get sober. I’ll make sure you don’t drink and that you make it on time to practices and games. You’re a good player, and you were on the right track before…” Her voice trails off, and our eyes meet.

She knows why I started drinking and why my life went downhill six months ago. I wasn’t always like this.

“Let’s just say that I know what you’re going through from my own experiences.”

I move my hands to my hips, and Charlotte’s focus shifts to the hem of my black boxer briefs.

“You do realize, I only live next door, right? I don’t see the point of staying here.”

She smiles, her eyes wide. “As your landlord, I will have to evict you temporarily for…” Biting down on her lip, she thinks over her response and says, “Termites. You have termite infestation, and I need to have the apartment sprayed. So, there you have it. You will have to live here for the next week.”

“I could just check into a hotel,” I counter. “There are plenty of them down the street.”

Charlotte slides off the bed, and with her height, our foreheads are practically touching. She sucks in a deep breath and lets it out, the silence between us maddening.

I don’t want to stop drinking. The thought of staying with Charlotte though…now, that might make sobriety worth it. But the likelihood of me caving to my true desire, the need for my next drink, might very well cause complications between us. Charlotte will hate me. Mickey will want to kill me.

“Fine,” I agree, knowing I will disappoint her but committing because I want to spend more time with her. “When do we start?”