by M L Sparrow
“Chlo… I…”
She must be able to see he hadn’t wanted that? Surely she knew he hadn’t kissed Karla back? The bitch had set him up! But then he considered what he’d do if he found her kissing someone else. He’d explode, he couldn’t deny it, and logic wouldn’t stand a chance.
Luckily for him, Chloe wasn’t as hotheaded as he was. Stepping forward in slow, measured steps, the sound of her heels clicking on the floor making him flinch, she stopped in front of Karla. A second later, a sharp, resounding crack echoed around the patio, drawing the eyes of the few people relaxing at the other end.
Cupping her red cheek, shocked that Chloe had actually slapped her, Karla turned to him with big, wounded eyes, “Are you just going to stand there?”
Chloe looked at him expectantly too, one eyebrow raised. Though he was just as surprised as Karla, he couldn’t say he minded. “Don’t look at me, you deserved it.”
Once more tears filled her eyes and her bottom lip quivered, “But I still love you, Parker.”
With a loud, unladylike snort, Chloe shook her head. “Oh, give it up already and quit playing mind games. We all know you were never in love with him, you just don’t like to lose.”
Instantly, her eyes dried and her face twisted in anger, her entire body shaking with rage. “I haven’t lost.”
“Newsflash, love, Parker’s my boyfriend now and we’re very happy together, so bugger off and find some other poor sod to prey on.”
For a moment the two women stood glaring at each other and he thought they’d start trying to scratch each others eyes out, but then Karla tossed her head dismissively and walked off, pushing past Chloe to get to the door, where Parker was amused to see a crowd had gathered. Without a word, they all parted to let Karla though, but there was no hiding the grins on all of their faces at having witnessed the smack-down.
Once everyone had started to disperse, more than one casting Chloe an appreciative glance, he stepped forward and reached out to hug her, realizing how fucking lucky he was to have her, but she ducked away from him, scowling.
“Don’t even think about it.”
For the second time in less than five minutes his heart took a freefall. God, don’t let her leave him!
Swallowing tightly, he said, “Chloe, you know I didn’t want that, she ambushed me.” The words sounded pathetic and childish even to his own ears and he grimaced as they passed his lips.
“I know you wouldn’t kiss her on purpose,” she shrugged, “but I’m still mad at you, what were you doing out here with her anyway?”
“She was crying,” he shrugged, “I was trying to get her to shut up. I hugged her… kinda… but that was all, I swear, then she just… lunged.”
Silently, she stared at him for a moment and then her lips started to twitch. Before he knew what the hell was going on she was laughing, clutching her stomach with the force of it.
“What’s so funny?” he huffed, totally clueless.
“She’s the big bad wolf and you’re the defenseless little lamb,” she managed to say between bouts of giggles, one hand going up to cover her mouth. He tried to remain straight-faced and unamused, but it wasn’t long before he was laughing too, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his body.
Once they’d both sobered, she pushed half-heartedly at his chest until he looked down to see her grinning up at him, “Let’s go rub it in by making out on the dance floor.”
“I’m lovin’ the way your mind works.”
Heading inside, they did just that and Parker once more realized how lucky he was as her body moved against his. Honestly, Chloe didn’t have to do much to get him hard, but dancing with her back to his chest was guaranteed to do it every time and he didn’t really care who knew; all the other guys there with a gorgeous girl were in exactly the same boat.
At one point during the night, he happened to glance around the room and saw Karla strutting over to Dawson. She caught him looking and cast him a tight, mean smile before leaning into whisper something in his friend’s ear. Parker wasn’t worried; Dawson was a big boy, he could look after himself.
Clearly amused by whatever she’d said, Dawson laughed and she scowled. Having surreptitiously moved close enough so that he could hear, he hid his smile in Chloe’s hair when Dawson shook his head and said, “Sorry, babe, changed my mind. You’re just not worth the drama.”
As she flounced away, red cheeked with anger and embarrassment, Parker couldn’t help feeling bad for her. The emotion was fleeting though, when he remembered how she’d tried to hurt Chloe.
Looking down at the girl in his arms, he pressed a kiss into her mane of brown hair, before spinning her around to face him. With his mouth against her ear, he asked over the music, “Did you doubt me, when you saw us together?”
Pulling back so that she could look him square in the eyes, Chloe lifted her hands to frame his face. “Not even for a second.”
Thanksgiving finally rolled around and, because Chloe insisted, he ran out to get his hair cut a couple of hours before they were due to leave, trusting her to pack his bag for him, since he’d also left that until the last minute much to her disapproval.
Borrowing Jet’s car, he drove carefully into town. He’d never admit it to anyone, but the crash had shaken him up. In the grand scheme of things, it hadn’t been that bad; no one had been seriously hurt or killed, except Dawson’s car, yet it had made him more aware of how quickly things could go wrong.
It had only taken a second for that car to hit them from behind, shoving them forward into the path of a car coming from the left. Before he knew it there had been a mass pile up in the middle of the junction, the airbag had slammed him back into his seat and spraying glass from Dawson’s shattered window had cut up his arm.
Approaching the cross-road where the accident had happened, he slowed down as the light turned yellow, checking the car behind him in his rear-view mirror before stopping completely. No wonder Chloe was always so anxious about peoples driving. Still, he supposed it was safer than the motorbike he used back home, but it had been all he could afford at the time and had served him well through High school.
He should probably look into getting a car of his own, he thought as the light turned and he drove on, so that he didn’t have to keep borrowing Jet’s. Then he could take Chloe out whenever he wanted without first having to compare schedules with his roommate.
Parking up in town, he walked to the hairdressers, praying they had a slot free. Stepping into the shop, he winced inwardly at the number of people waiting. Maybe Chloe was right and he needed to get more organized. Up until recently the only thing he’d had to worried about turning up for was football.
“Hi, can I help you?” asked a girl with pink hair and breasts pushed up to her chin, flashing him a sweet smile.
“Yeah,” he pulled his hat off and rubbed at the back of his neck, “I need a haircut, like now.”
“Well,” she shot him a flirtatious smile, watching him from beneath her eyelashes in that way girls had of trying to be cute, “I can fit you in right now… if you take me to dinner tonight.”
“My girlfriend would have something to say about that.”
“Oh… it figures you’ve already got a girl.” Another smile; she wasn’t giving up. “How about a kiss? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind one, teeny, tiny little kiss?”
His eyebrows rose up into this hair. This girl had balls that was for sure. “She’ll definitely mind. I would, too,” he added firmly. After the incident with Karla, he knew he had to make himself brutally clear.
The girl pouted and he resigned himself to going back to campus with his hair uncut and facing Chloe’s wrath, but then she sighed and said, “I suppose I could fit you in anyway. It’s nice to find a guy with some integrity.”
Waving him past the rows of waiting people, who all watched him with a scowl, she sat him in a chair at the end and began chatting away about how she was a huge football fan and had watched him play seve
ral times. Apparently she’d been disappointed not to see him for the last two games, so he assured her that he’d been cleared to play at their next one.
Returning to the car afterwards, he checked the time on his cell and swore. Shit, he was late. They were probably ready to leave by now.
Pulling out into the steady flow of traffic along the high-street, he managed to pick-up the pace once he got out of town and arrived at the campus car park near his dorm to find the other waiting with their bags.
“About time,” Jet yelled, lifting his arms in exasperation as Parker got out, “I was beginning to think you’d abducted my car.”
“Sorry, had to get a haircut.” Running his hand through the shorter strands, he grinned over at Chloe as he spoke.
“You look beautiful,” Jet huffed sarcastically as he slung a bag over each shoulder and toted them to the car, popping open the trunk to stow them inside. They were taking his car, since Terri didn’t have one and Riley’s was a tiny, girly pink convertible… enough said.
“Shotgun,” Terri called, carrying over another bag, “no way am I sitting in the back with Riley.”
Fuck, that meant he was in the back with Riley. Chloe was going to have to sit in the middle.
“Who’s taking the suitcase?” he asked, as if he couldn’t guess.
“Riley,” Chloe answered, passing him a beat-up duffle bag, “and this is yours. I couldn’t fit everything into my rucksack, so some of my stuff is in there too.”
“‘Kay,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her and taking her rucksack off her shoulder as he straightened up. “So what do you think?”
“Very handsome,” she grinned, reaching up to ruffle his hair, “like someone straight out of a magazine.”
He smirked, “Does it make you want to jump me?”
Rolling her eyes, she bumped him with her shoulder as she walked past. “Just for that, you can bring the suitcase, too.”
Turning to watch her walk away, he grinned at the sway of her hips and the way she wiggled her ass, purposefully trying to wind him up. And it worked. Now he had to sit in a packed car, with four other people and a hard-on.
Picking it up, he found that Riley’s suitcase weighed a ton. Lugging it over the car, he scowled, “Where the hell is Riley anyway? How long does she think we’re fucking going for?”
“She never could pack light,” Terri commented, helping Jet try to cram everything into the trunk.
At the same time, Chloe answered, “She’s just saying goodbye to Joey.” The distaste in her voice was clear.
“She’d better hurry up,” Terri added, “it’s going to take us the rest of the day and most of the night to get there as it is without traffic.”
The twins’ parents lived in Napa Valley, their model mother having inherited a humongous house and vineyard from her late grandfather – all this had been told to him by Riley a few nights ago, whilst Chloe was in the shower. He had to remember not to get stuck alone with that girl, she could make a saint swear.
After another twenty minutes, Terri was getting pissed, so Chloe rang Riley to find out where she was. Turning back to them after hanging up, she said, “She’s at Joey’s, I told her we’d swing by and pick her up.”
That got a scowl from Terri, but they all got in the car anyway and drove over to the frat house where Joey was living. Whilst they waited outside the building, Jet fiddled with the music, selecting a CD and slotting it in, all the while complaining about the fact that Parker had set his radio to a country station.
“That’s real music,” Parker argued. “God knows what this shit is.”
“Tough luck,” Jet replied smugly, “driver chooses the music. Car Rules.”
“Fine, but when it’s my turn to drive I’m gonna pick something you really hate.”
“I’ll make the most of my time then,” Jet said, turning up the music so that the whiny sounds of a sax blared through the speakers.
Riley came out a few minutes later and slid into the backseat with him and Chloe. Both her hair and clothes were ruffled, so it was no secret what had been taking so long. The stench of weed clung to her and Terri pointedly rolled down her window. For the most part, Terri seemed to be a bit of a bitch, but on this he completely agreed with her. Back home he’d seen how drugs could ruin a persons’ life. One of his own brothers, Tyler, had gone down that route, and he honestly couldn’t see why anyone felt the need to fuck up their lives like that. A momentary high wasn’t worth the rest of your life.
Before she had even closed the door, Riley was jabbering away and he zoned out, watching out of the window as he sat with one arm around Chloe’s shoulders, playing idly with a strand of her hair.
God knew how long they were driving for, but at least there was no major traffic to contend with. Finally, though, they were driving up a long winding drive with vineyards on either side, heading towards a large, villa-style house.
It was gone midday and the car was stifling hot, even with all the windows down, so it was a relief to be able to get out into the fresh air. Groaning, he rolled his head back, trying to get the kinks out of his neck, before stretching his arms up over his head until he heard a satisfying click.
“Oh, that’s better,” Jet said, slamming the car door shut, “someone remind me why we didn’t just take the train?”
“Road trips are fun,” Terri insisted.
Chloe agreed immediately, “Yeah, I’ve never been on a road trip before. England’s not really big enough to go any real distance, unless you go up to Scotland, I suppose, or cross the Chanel.”
“Which parts did you find fun?” Parker scowled, “The heat, cramp in your legs, crappy music…”
“Coffee getting spilt in my car,” Jet carried on, “constant toilet breaks” – a pointed look at the girls – “hours of boredom.”
“You two are such downers,” Chloe grinned, using the car window as a mirror whilst she tied her hair back into a ponytail. He fingers itched to pull it down again.
Before anyone could say anything more, the front door opened and out stepped an older version of the twins. Technically, she was old enough to be his mother, but he could admit she was a damn attractive woman. Then again she was Lorraine Kyle, the woman many teenage boys had once taped to their walls, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise that she still looked photo-shoot ready.
“My babies!” she cried, hurrying down the front steps in a pair of seriously high heels, arms held wide open.
“Hi, Mom,” Terri greeted, stepping into her mother’s arms and hugging her back, “where’s Dad?”
“He’s just coming. He was in the shower when you pulled up, we didn’t expect you so early.”
“We made good time,” Jet put in and Mrs. Murphy turned to him with a bright smile, a carbon copy of Riley’s.
“Jet,” she exclaimed, “it’s good to see you again. How are you, dear? How’s the new book going? I read one of them and it scared the life out of me, I had to sleep with the lights on for a week. I couldn’t believe you’d written it, you’re very talented!”
“Thanks,” Jet grinned, openly pleased, even if he did look a little bashful. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you read the next one; it’s even worse in the blood and gore department.”
“No, no, no,” she slapped lightly at his arm, “I want to read it. I’m hooked now.”
“Well, in that case, I guess I can send you an ARC copy.”
“Brilliant!” She clapped her hands together sharply, beaming smile on her face. “Now, where’s my other baby?”
“She’s asleep,” Terri answered, hiking her thumb at the car.
“Oh, well it must have been a long drive. Riley, why don’t you wake her up and I’ll take your friends inside? Jet can introduce us all and I’ll have Maria make some sandwiches.”
“Hope Riley’s ready for a rude awakening,” he muttered to Chloe as they followed Jet and Mrs. Murphy up the front steps and into the house. If you could even call it a house. Mansion might be more fitting
; you could fit his parents’ caravan into the front hall.
In the sitting room, Parker hesitated to sit down on the cream couch in case he got it dirty, but Mrs. Murphy waved him towards it and then sat in the armchair opposite. Arm around Chloe, he looked around. It was a large, L shaped room, with a gorgeous flat screen TV taking up most of one wall and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the sun soaked vineyard. Sporting trophies filled the shelves on either sides of the TV, alongside family photos of the girls at various ages.
Studying the trophies, signed footballs and team photos, he felt an unexpected rush of nerves. He was about to meet Troy fucking Murphy, the legendary football player. Star-player for the New York Giants, the quarterback all quarterbacks wanted to be.
“So, you must be Chloe?” Mrs. Murphy said, leaning forward in her chair, “Riley’s told me so much about you. I’m really glad she’s found herself such a good friend; she’s never really had a best friend before, she was always too goal orientated.”
“Well, she’s the one who made friends with me,” Chloe explained with a smile. “She’s great. I was really worried about fitting in here, but Riley’s just so easy to get on with.”
“Yes, she’s like me, she’ll talk your ear off if you let her. Terri’s more like her dad.”
Before she could say anything more, the twins came in, Riley rubbing her eyes and smearing mascara across her cheeks. Bouncing to her feet, her mother went to hug her tightly, rocking them both.
He glanced at Chloe and saw her watching the scene with a sad little smile.
Chapter Seventeen
Riley’s parents were nice, Chloe decided; knowing they were both rich and famous in their own respects, she’d been worried that they’d be stuck-up, but they were the exact opposite. Lorraine, which Mrs. Murphy insisted they all call her, was just like Riley, both in looks and attitude. Troy Murphy, on the other hand, was a stern looking man who didn’t say much, but she thought that was nice, it reminded her a little of her own father, who was also a man of few words, and it balanced out his wife’s constant chatter. Seeing the way the family of four interacted made her miss her own parents, especially since she couldn’t afford to go home for Christmas this year.
