Thick as Thieves (Aster Valley 4)

With Parker here in Vail and Erin based out of Denver, I wasn’t sure if they’d quite worked out what their “married with kids” life was going to look like, and I’d sure as hell never asked for details on how they planned to play house, but I hated thinking about him giving up the career he loved.

When we got to the elevator bank in the hotel, he turned to me. “You’re staying with me, right?”

“Uh, no. Even if Nolan’s there, the room has two beds.” And I really needed some distance, because my ugly cry was looming closer and closer with every minute I spent thinking about Parker.

Parker clasped the back of my neck and forced me to meet his eyes. Every nerve in my body swarmed to take a hit off the feeling of that large warm hand. “I wouldn’t put it past that asshat to bring his hookups back to your place. No, you’d better come sleep with me.”

The man had no idea how his words affected me. “No, thanks. That asshat sucks dick like a pro. Wouldn’t be my first foursome.”

Parker’s hand involuntarily squeezed my neck harder, not enough to be painful but enough to know he didn’t like what I’d said. I didn’t understand why it bugged him so much when I talked about these things, but I usually didn’t push the issue, since I sure as heck didn’t want to hear about his exploits with Erin. I couldn’t say why I felt the need to push it tonight.

The elevator doors opened, and he guided me in before pushing the button for his floor. “Not negotiating this with you,” he grumbled. “You’re the best man. Consider this part of your duties. You know I can’t sleep alone when I’m anxious or upset. You’re lucky I’m not making you share the bed this time, since these beds are tiny. You can sleep in the second bed.”

I wanted to lean into his big body and take comfort in him, but that wasn’t my place. “Fine. But let me go to my room first and get my stuff so I don’t have to get it in the morning.”

“Fine.” He reached out and pressed the button for my floor before I thought to do the same. I was impressed that he remembered it.

He reminded me of his hotel room number when I got off at my floor and told me he’d leave the door propped open in case he was in the shower. That was enough to convince me to give him plenty of time to get showered and covered up before I entered the room and sprung Parker wood.

As I rounded the corner toward my hotel room, I saw my sister coming away from Erin’s room.

“Hey,” I said in surprise. “You’re up late. Everything okay?”

Hazel nodded. “Erin got kind of emotional while we were having our nightcap down in the bar earlier, and I wanted to check on her, but there’s no answer. I’m guessing she’s asleep. She’s been exhausted for weeks from the wedding planning, and I don’t think she’s been sleeping very well the last few days.”

“Is she sick?” I asked with concern. Erin’s wedding plans meant everything to her. Her dream had always been to have a big fantasy wedding on Valentine’s Day, and she and her mom had spent long hours putting it together on such short notice.

“No, I think it’s just wedding jitters.”

I smiled and told her Parker was having similar nerves. “I think if we’d stayed at the bar much longer, he would have tried to drink them away. I get it, though. I can’t imagine making a lifelong commitment like that. It makes sense they’re nervous.”

Hazel squeezed my upper arm. “You’ll find someone one day, and then it’ll be you pacing the hotel room with cold feet.”

Parker’s smiling face popped into my head. “If you say so,” I said. “I’m just glad it’s not me this weekend, how about that?”

Instead of chuckling, she frowned. “You holding up okay?”

Hazel and I were close, not just because we were siblings but because we were friends. The six of us—Erin, Hazel, Tiller, Sam, Parker, and me—had been close for years, so it wasn’t easy to hide my feelings from any of them. But, despite being Erin’s best friend, Hazel also knew the truth about my feelings for Parker. She’d seen my face when I’d learned Erin had asked Parker to homecoming just hours before I’d planned to ask Parker to be my date instead. She’d also been with me two years later at a party when we’d accidentally spotted Erin and Parker half-naked and engaged in sexual shit I really wanted to scrub from my brain. I’d been tipsy enough to burst into tears and admit everything to her. The next day, I’d tried to walk it back by blaming it on the alcohol, but she knew me too well to believe it.