Unpredictable

by Shantel Tessier

  “Katherine?”

  I jump when I see my friend, Ashley, standing in the doorway. “Did you just have sex in here?” she asks wide-eyed.

  “No.” I shake my head quickly.

  Her eyes look me up and down slowly and then she smiles. “Well, you look freshly fucked.” She giggles. “And that guy was hot.” She winks before she spins around and walks off.

  I blow the loose strands that fell out of my ponytail when his hands were in my hair out of my face. Parker O’Hare is starting to get under my skin.

  I walk out of the room after making sure I looked presentable and my phone vibrates in my scrub pocket. I pull it out and sigh when Sexy Motherfucker is on my screen along with his selfie. I actually laugh.

  “Do you have an addictive personality?” I ask as I answer.

  He pauses for a second. “I don’t think so.”

  I laugh. “What do you want?” I question walking down the hallway.

  “Can I take you out tomorrow? Maybe lunch?”

  “I can’t.” For many reasons.

  “I swear I won’t pop a Viagra,” he promises, and I can’t help but laugh at the fact that he did that. What an idiot. “And I’ll leave my pants on.”

  “That’s nice to know, but I still can’t. I have court tomorrow,” And I need to go spend some time with my father.

  “Court?” he asks in surprise. “For what?”

  “I told you. Rollin is suing me. Tomorrow is our court date.” I hate that I have to see that bastard but whatever. I’m not going to not show up and then he be granted whatever he wants.

  He’s silent as if he’s thinking about what I just said. “Okay,” he says simply and I wonder why he agreed so easily. “I’ll go with you.”

  “What?” I ask surprised. “You can’t go with me.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t need you to go with me.” Why would he want to in the first place?

  He sighs. “Why won’t you accept my help?”

  “Why are you offering it?” I snap.

  “Because you have no one.” The words slip out before he has the chance to think about them. And I realize why he has been so nice. Why he showed up at my house last night. Why he called me this morning to take me to get a massage. Why he slept with me. Why he wanted to see me again this evening. It wasn’t because he found me attractive. It wasn’t because he had a moment of weakness like me. It was because of pity. He feels sorry for me. And to me, that’s the lowest.

  “Is this what this day has been about?” I ask.

  “No.”

  “Just taking pity on me?” I demand as I punch the elevator button several times. “I don’t fucking need you to feel sorry for me,” I shout.

  “I just wanted to…”

  “To what?”

  He sighs heavily. “I just wanted you to have a good day. I’m trying…”

  “I don’t need you to try. I just need you to leave me alone, Parker.” With that, the elevator opens and I hang up on him before I step into it. Two woman stand in the corner staring at me. When my eyes narrow at them, they drop down to my phone in my hand. “Fucking bastard,” I mumble to myself, and I hear one of them gasp.

  *****

  Having to go to court can be stressful. I just had a full body massage and sex yesterday, and I feel like I’m wound up tighter than a ball of yarn. It sucks. I’ve tried to keep my cool, smile, and not act like the total psycho bitch that he tries to portray me as, but it’s hard. Since the moment I stepped into the courtroom, Rollin has completely ignored me. He won’t even look my way, and I know he can feel me burning a hole into his head. He sits by himself and continues to look straight ahead. His blond hair has been washed and is in a tight, neat ponytail at the base of his neck. He has on a black button up shirt and a pair of black jeans. He actually looks halfway decent. Almost like the first time I saw him. It’s the same ol’ story. Met in a cloudy bar under the influence of alcohol. I took him home, and he never wanted to leave. The bastard couldn’t keep a job and just wanted me to pay for everything. I finally decided he needed to kick rocks. The end!

  “No. No, sir,” he stumbles speaking to the judge who sits in front of us, and I narrow my eyes on him. “I would like to drop all charges.”

  I turn to face him, and I place my hand on my hip. What is his angle? Why drop it now? I haven’t spoken to him since the night he had me arrested—the second time.

  The judge waves his hand in the air as if to shoo us away. He probably has more important shit to do than have Rollin waste his time with his bullshit. As soon as he calls the next case, I make my way over to Rollin, but he sees me coming and takes off in a mad dash out of the courtroom. I go to turn around when I spot him. The fucker is sitting in the very back with his sunglasses over his eyes. To anyone else, he would look intimidating. The way his chiseled jaw stands out and the way his shades cover his face. You can’t tell where he’s looking, but I can feel him staring at me. And I narrow my eyes on him. I make my way out of the bench and toward him. He stands as I near him.

  “You son of a …” He grabs my upper arm and leans down to whisper in my ear.

  “Shh. You can cuss me outside.”

  “Oh, damn right I’m gonna cuss you out,” I whisper harshly. He just has to keep getting in my way.

  As soon as we exit the courtroom, I turn on him. “How could you?” I yell making all heads turn toward us.

  “Can this please wait until we make it outside?” Parker pleads.

  “No,” I growl. “How dare you. I didn’t need…”

  He places his hand on my shoulder and shoves me to a door. My body pushes it open and I find myself standing in the women’s bathroom with him in front of me. A woman stands at the sink washing her hands and her eyes widen when she sees Parker.

  He rips the sunglasses from his face and looks down at me with narrowed eyes.

  “Oh, no,” I say shaking a finger in his face. “You are not gonna be mad at me. You were the one who stuck your nose where it didn’t belong,” I yell.

  “Why won’t you allow me to help you?”

  “Because I don’t need you. I would have been just fine,” I argue.

  He straightens his back and crosses his arms over his chest. I remember the way that chest felt underneath my hands yesterday and I place my hands behind my back to keep from touching him.

  “Are you done?” I snap, looking over at the woman who continues to just stare at him.

  She huffs her chest and grabs her purse off the counter. “How rude,” she throws over her shoulder as she yanks the door open.

  He brings my attention back to him. “You think two arrests in a matter of two weeks look good for you? You think him saying that you took a baseball bat to your own truck will make you look sane?” He laughs. “Let alone a knife to your own tire? You think you could have won?”

  “You think I give a shit if he gets that stupid truck?”

  “Then why didn’t you just give it to him?” He throws his hands out to his side as if he’s at a loss.

  “Because he didn’t deserve it.” I fist my hands down by my side. “I don’t expect you to understand,” I say and his jaw twitches. “But what I have is because I worked for it. Why should I just give him something that he doesn’t deserve?”

  “Look.” He takes a calming breath and places his hands on my shoulders “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help you out.”

  “I don’t need you to get me off,” I say, and he smiles. It takes me a few seconds to comprehend what I just said.

  “I think you made that very clear yesterday,” he says with a chuckle.

  “What did you say to him to make him change his mind?” I demand.

  “I threatened to kill him,” he says simply.

  “And he bought that?” I ask not believing he said that to him. He’s a cop. How would that make him look?

  “Of course. Once I told him that I would cut him up and feed him to stray dogs, he quit arguing.”
I hang my head and place it in my hands. “Hey. It’s okay,” he says wrapping his arms around me.

  “I don’t understand why you’re trying to help me out in the first place.”

  He places his hand under my chin and lifts my head. “I’m not as big of a douche as everyone thinks I am.”

  “Prove it.”

  He looks at me with those deep brown eyes. The ones that I feel I could get lost in. “You expect me to fail.” It wasn’t a question, but I answer anyway.

  “Yes. Everyone fails,” I say truthfully.

  “You mean everyone fails you.”

  His words hurt. It stings to be alone, but I prefer it that way. I like the pain that comes along with being alone. I learned at an early age that you could only rely on yourself.

  “Is there a difference?” I ask with a sigh. I give up. He’s not gonna go anywhere. Especially since I just told him to prove it. I challenged him. And Parker doesn’t seem like the type to back down from a challenge.

  “Absolutely. Let me show you?”

  He lowers his lips to mine, pausing only inches away. I don’t know what it is he wants to show me, but I’m gonna give it a try. What do I have to lose? Myself? I’ve lost myself before and somehow I found my way back. This time I’ll know where to look.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  PARKER

  Do you even know what you’re asking of her? Of yourself? Not really. But it just feels right. She feels right. “Let’s get out of the women’s bathroom,” I say pulling on her arm. We exit and I look around. Of course, everyone is watching us. They watched me shove her into the restroom; they were probably timing us to see just how much we could accomplished.

  “Son?” I come to a stop at the sound of his voice. The voice that I have come to hate so much. The voice that makes my skin want to crawl. My father.

  I spin around and see him standing there staring at Katherine. Like a fucking sick old man watching his next victim. It sickens and angers me.

  “What do you want, Dick?”

  Katherine’s eyes widen, but she makes no remark on my choice of words.

  My father laughs it off, but I know how he feels about my choice of name for him. He hates it. Almost as much as I hate him.

  “Who’s your friend, son?” He looks down at her.

  “Mr. Mayor.” She smiles politely. “Katherine,” she says reaching out her hand to him. I reach out and grab it before he can shake it.

  He drops his as well, placing them in the pockets of his dress pants. “You’re mother has been calling you.” He looks at me. “Been trying for weeks.”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “I can see that.” He looks back at Katherine and I feel her body stiffen. Even she can sense the way he’s looking at her. As if she’s prey. “Well, I will let her know that you’ll be attending my party for my re-election soon.”

  “I can’t…”

  “Katherine. I’m sure my wife would love to meet you as well.”

  She goes to respond, but I tighten my hand around hers and she closes her mouth.

  “Don’t be late. Seven o’clock on Saturday. I’ll send a car.” And with that, he turns around and walks away. I yank on her hand and pull her out the front door.

  “Are you going to explain that to me?” she asks. “Your father is the mayor,” she says surprised as if she just realized that I was his son. It makes sense; everyone knows who my dad is, and not everyone knows the cop son.

  “I hate my dad. What’s there to explain?”

  “And your mother?”

  “My mother is a different story.” I love her, but I don’t understand what she sees in that horrible man. I don’t see how she can love someone so much who loves her so little.

  “What is that story?” she asks pulling me to a stop.

  “What can I say about her? She fell for a bastard, and she chooses to stay with him. If she wants to make stupid life decisions, then that’s none of my business.”

  “Yet, you took it upon yourself to make my life your business?”

  “Well, yeah. Your stupid life decisions bother me,” I say through gritted teeth. After I had left the hospital last night, I went to the police station and pulled up Rollin’s information. I called up an old buddy and gave him Rollin’s address. I paid him off. I had the guy give Rollin some money. I don’t know what pissed me off more, the fact that I had to pay the guy off to get him off her back or the fact that it only took five thousand dollars to leave her alone. Is that all she’s worth to him? Five thousand dollars? I’ve only known her a few weeks and I wouldn’t walk away from her if someone offered me ten thousand. She’s the type who keeps things interesting. Keeps you on your toes. I like that.

  “Why?”

  “Because I can.” I give her the simple answer.

  “So, you’re going to his party?” she asks, as she tries to keep up with me as I storm down the courthouse steps.

  “We are.” I fucking don’t want to, but if I have to go, she’s going with me.

  “Parker…”

  “You’re going with me.” I stop walking and place my hands in her hair and lift her face to mine. “Please. I’m begging you to go with me. You don’t have to be nice. I just need you to be there with me.” I realize how desperate I sound, but that’s where I’m at this time of my life. I need her; I need her ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude at this point in my life. Which is crazy. Why do I want this woman there with me? I’m not sure. “Tell me you’ll go with me,” I demand.

  She softly nods her head. “I’ll go with you.”

  I lean down and press my lips to hers. She softly kisses me back as I stroke her tongue with mine. God, I’m so fucking horny right now. I need her again.

  I pull away and look up. There, standing on the top step of the courthouse, my father is watching us. I reach up, pull my sunglasses over my eyes, and throw my arm over her shoulders. “Let’s go.”

  I walk her over to her car. “I’m going to follow you to your house,” I say before I reach down and open her door for her. I expect her to argue but thankfully, she doesn’t. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  I walk over to my truck and see my dad’s black limo still sitting in front of the courthouse. I jump in my truck and take off to follow behind Katherine.

  *****

  I pull in behind her and she stays quiet as we enter her house. She goes to the kitchen and lets her dog outside to potty. Then she comes back into the living room. “Should I be informed about something?”

  “What do you mean?” I try to act dumb.

  She doesn’t buy it. “Why are you so afraid of your father?”

  I place my hand on her shoulders. “I’m not afraid of him,” I say defensively. "But he is a very dirty man.”

  “He’s the mayor,” she says as if that means something. It should, but it doesn’t to him.

  “And how do you think he got there?” By being dirty.

  The damn dog barks wanting in so she leaves me to go open up the back sliding glass door. The big ass dog makes his way into the living room and plops down on the couch as if he owns the place. Not gonna lie, he terrifies me. “That’s the biggest pit bull I’ve ever seen,” I say as it stares at me like it wants to gnaw on my arm like a chew toy. He’s all black except for a white patch on his muscly chest. He tilts his head to the side as if he understood what I said. I take a step back.

  “He’s an American Staffordshire,” she corrects me.

  “What’s the difference?” I don’t know shit when it comes to dogs. I’m a pussy kind of guy.

  “Purebred.”

  I take a few steps back and sit down on her loveseat. I roll my shoulders trying not to think about my father or the dog that is eyeing me.

  “Why are you so tense?”

  Can she tell how tense I am? Do I let my dad get me that riled up? Why was he watching us? Was he watching her? If so, why? “I just have a lot on my mind,” I say.

  She places her hand in front of me and smil
es. “Care to let me help you out with that?”

  I laugh. “That’s not why I came over.” Was it? I sure could use a sexual release at the moment.

  “Then why did you?” she asks.

  I sit there and stare at her as she stands in front of me. She looks all business in her black pencil skirt that comes down to her knees and white button up blouse. She has her hair pulled up into a loose bun and a few hairs have fallen out. They frame her beautiful face. Her make-up is done light, so it still shows her true beauty. And beautiful she is.

  She takes my silence to mean confusion. She takes a few steps toward me in her high heels. They’re not as tall as the ones she wore when I first arrested her, but they still give her some height, which she doesn’t need. She’s already tall and I like that. I’m tired of seeing girls who only come to my shoulder even when they have sky-high heels on.

  “It’s just sex, Parker. You of all people should know what that means.”

  I push myself up off the couch and close the space between us. “What does that mean to you?” I ask, reaching up and pulling on her bun. It releases the hold on it and her dark brown hair falls over her shoulders.

  She places her hands on my chest and runs them up and over my shoulders as she leans her face toward mine. “Sexe.” Fuck, I love when she speaks in French. “It means sex. That’s all.”

  “Why do you speak French?” I ask, and her face falls. She had told me her mother was French, but she doesn’t speak it that often. It makes me wonder if her father is French. Maybe that’s all he speaks.

  “There are things we don’t need to share, Parker,” she says softly. And I understand how she felt when she asked me about my father and I refused to talk about him. I want to know things about her. I want to know her story and how she became the person that she is. At first, I thought it was an ex who fucked her over, but now I’m beginning to think there’s more to it than that.