He slid out of the booth and I had to grab onto him before he hit the floor. I should have asked Tony for help, even if he did have his hands full.
“Parker, help me out here,” I said, gently tapping his cheeks. “Wake up.”
His eyes sprung open. “Where’re we going?”
“I’m taking you home.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” Parker slurred.
“I didn’t drink anything.”
“Really? I thought you did….” he trailed off.
The weight of him against me was almost too much. Why the hell did I wear a dress and heels to this thing?
We moved slow as hell across the diner; he was shuffling as if he were a drunk zombie, his back leg dragging behind him. I propped him against the wall and opened the front door, grabbing onto him again. He had the sense to grab onto the railing which helped us get down the front steps.
His feet kicked divots into the gravel parking lot.
By some miracle, I got Parker into the passenger seat of my car without injuring either of us.
He flopped over and I had to reach around him to connect his seatbelt.
“I’m going to be right back,” I said to Parker, handing him a water bottle. “Drink this.”
He held the bottle in his hands and didn’t bother to take a sip. I’d have to work on that once we got to his house, or he was going to have a massive hangover.
I tossed my heels into the back seat and jogged over to the building, the gravel digging into my feet. It was better than breaking my ankle. I locked the front door. I’d already secured the back door earlier, so everything was buttoned up for the night.
I turned around and took a breath. Okay, now I needed to button up Parker after getting him safely home.
While driving, Parker didn’t have any of his usual complaints about the way I drove. It was actually nice to have silence from him. Halfway home, his head dropped and leaned on my arm. I’d let him rest the remainder of the way. Maybe when we got to his house, he’d have a burst of strength so I wouldn’t have to drag his ass inside.
Parker had enough strength to get in the front door, but he started to lean heavily on me again as we crossed the foyer.
“This wedding is going to be great,” he muttered. “If it's anything like that party, whoop, it’s going to be a doozy.”
“I’m sure it will be fun,” I said, trying to be encouraging. I didn’t want to risk saying anything about his bride-to-be. Parker could be two types of drunk: really happy or really depressed. I feared if I said something about Rachel that rubbed him the wrong way, then I would lose this happy drunk.
“I’m most excited for the wedding night,” he tried to waggle his eyebrows but he ended up holding them both up as he stared at me with wide eyes.
I let out a laugh and quickly recovered. “I’m sure you are.”
“Yep. Me and Rachel are going to do it for the first time.”
I helped him sit down on his bed and took a step back. “Wait, for the first time? Haven't you had sex yet? I thought that’s what the whole ‘put a ring on it’ proposal was for?” How could he marry someone he never had sex with? What if they weren’t compatible in that way? Then they would be stuck in a sexless marriage.
He kicked off his shoes and tried to get his shirt off, but his fingers fumbled over the buttons. “She said she wanted to wait after I proposed.”
“Let me help you,” I said, not wanting to ruin his shirt.
He dropped his hands to the side. “She’s so classy. Not like other girls.”
I held my tongue. Nothing good was going to come out of my mouth. This nearly confirmed her gold-digger status. How could Parker be that blind? She was clearly using him. I had to admit that it felt good to know that they hadn’t been intimate yet. But it would come soon enough. I wondered how long she could hold him off after they were married.
And I hoped to god that he signed a prenup! I made a mental note to slide that into the conversation before their marriage. It was the only way to protect what he worked so hard to build.
I helped him with his shirt. After opening the buttons, I slid the shirt back and he pulled his arms through the sleeves. I gently folded it and placed it on one of the chairs next to the bed. I tried to focus on anything but his amazingly sculpted chest.