Unpredictable

by Shantel Tessier

  “One sec,” I yell out as I run back into my closet. Hopping from one foot to another, I manage to get both silver heels on. I blow my hair out of my face and straighten my dress before taking one deep breath and opening the door. I can’t help the huge smile that is on my face as I look at Parker’s dark eyes. This is much better than a night to myself. Why did I want to be alone again?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  PARKER

  “You look amazing,” I say, stepping into her house and pulling her to me. I nuzzle her neck and inhale the scent of something...a baby?

  Her hands come up and wrap around my neck and my cock hardens. She’s pushing me away the next second with a laugh. “Oh, no,” she says looking down at my bulging pants. “You wanted to go out.”

  “I changed my mind,” I say simply. Fuck the guys. I’d rather stay in bed with her.

  I take a step to her and she places her hands on my chest, stopping me. “I shaved half my legs. Put baby powder in my hair and threw this dress in the dryer. I got ready in ten minutes. You’re taking me out.”

  “How do you only shave half your legs?” I ask trying not to laugh at her.

  “I only shaved to my knees,” she says before she blows some hair out of her face.

  I reach out and help her out, as I push some of her hair off her beautiful face. “So I call and tell you that I’m taking you out and you think that means you’re gonna get lucky?” I tease.

  “No,” she says matter-of-factly. “I wanted to wear a dress. So I needed to shave.”

  “And the baby powder?” I ask, running a hand through her soft hair.

  “I didn’t have time to wash it.” I don’t know what that has to do with baby powder, but I love how real she is. She tells you how it is and she’s not ashamed.

  I chuckle. “So you’re ready?”

  She nods. “Just gotta grab my purse.” She looks around her entryway and living room quickly. “One sec,” she says before she takes off out of sight.

  My phone ringing gets my attention and I dig into my pocket to see it’s Slade. “Yes?” I say in greeting.

  “Where you at?” he asks right away.

  “I’m picking Kat up. We will be right there,” I inform them. I’m nervous. I’m nervous because of all the shit I gave them. And how much shit they are going to give me. In front of her.

  “Ready,” she says coming into view with her purse on her shoulder and a smile on her face.

  “On our way,” I say and then hang up.

  I walk over and open the truck door for her and she thanks me. I make my way over to the driver’s side and rub my hands together. Shit, I’m nervous. I get up into the truck and look over at her. “Sure you wanna go out? We can stay…”

  “Of course,” she says while digging into her purse. She pulls out a little white bottle and starts squirting lotion into her hands. “Just gotta put some lotion on and I’m ready.” She applies it to one leg and the truck instantly fills with the wonderful smell of coconut. My dick hardens. I readjust it before I put the truck in reverse and pull out of her driveway.

  I grab a hold of her hand and open the door for her to enter the bar. You can’t miss my friends. They all sit at a round table in the middle of the bar, and they all turn to look at us the moment we walk in. All the wives give me a big smile while all the guys have a cocky-ass smirk on their faces.

  “Hey.” She pulls her hand from mine and leans down to hug Missy. “How was the honeymoon?” She starts to make small talk as I pull out a seat for her to sit down in before I pull my own out.

  I plop down in mine and look around the table. Slade, Micah, Tate, and Josh all stare at me. Their eyes shine and their lips pulled up in the corners. I want to punch them in the faces.

  “What can I get you?” a waitress asks coming up next to me.

  “I will have a Corona.” I look over at Kat who continues to talk to the girls about Missy’s honeymoon. “What would you like, Kat?”

  “Guinness.” She throws over her shoulder, barely acknowledging my question.

  The waitress nods her head and walks off, leaving me once again in this awkward situation. I look away from them when I see the front door open and my face falls the second I see Sandy walk in.

  “Fuck,” I growl.

  “What?” Kat turns to face me. Of course, that got her attention. “What is it?” she asks again.

  “Nothing,” I say, looking over at her and I give her a smile. A smile that I hope to be charming, but her eyes narrow at me. She grabs my shirt and pulls me to her. I hear her take a deep breath as her lips touch my ear. “I can spot a fake smile a mile away. Now,” she hisses, “tell me what the fuck is wrong,” she demands.

  I pull on my shirt to try to loosen my collar before I speak, but another voice beats me to it. A voice that I wanted to try to avoid.

  “Parker.”

  I don’t dare turn around. I don’t dare move. I keep my back to Sandy and Kat still has a hold of my shirt. Her brown eyes look into mine and all of a sudden she lets go of me and leans back in her seat. “Sandy,” she says with a fake smile.

  Shit! It’s even worse, she knows her. Missy’s blue eyes are wide and Tate stares up at Sandy with a look of panic. They know who she is. They’ve seen her at the house before. Slade looks back and forth between the two of them with a confused look on his face.

  “Katherine,” Sandy says in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  “Parker and I decided to get out for the night.” She places her arm over my shoulder, and I lean into her like the faithful lapdog that I have become.

  “You and Parker?” Sandy asks looking down at me.

  I give an amused laugh as everyone stares at me. Thank God, I haven’t fucked her since before I started seeing Katherine. “How long have you guys been together?” She directs the question to Kat.

  Kat looks at me and then looks up at her. Her eyes narrow as if she is just starting to put two and two together. “Long enough.”

  “I see,” Sandy says with a nod.

  She stands there awkwardly for a few seconds before she speaks. “Well, it was good to see you again, Parker,” Sandy says with a wink, and I feel Kat’s body stiffen beside me. “Call me.”

  I don’t say anything back as she walks away from the table. “Who was that?” Courtney asks being nosy.

  “Some chick that Parker fucked I’m sure,” Kat responds.

  She gasps. “What?”

  “I can explain,” I say not really having a fucking clue how to explain that.

  “So you’ve said,” Kat says giving me a side glare. I go to open my mouth, but she places up her hand. “I don’t care to hear it,” she says and then looks over at Missy. She picks up right where the conversation stopped and the guys look at me wide-eyed as if I just dodged a bullet. I have a feeling I’ll pay for it later.

  *****

  We walk into her house and go straight to her bedroom. It’s crazy how comfortable we have become with one another. I’ve never been a shy guy when it comes to undressing or sex with a woman, but it’s just like a routine with her.

  “Do you really believe that?” she asks as she reaches down and pulls her dress up over her head.

  “What?” I ask, removing my shirt.

  “That after all this time and after the kids that your friends are still happy? That in love?”

  “Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Micah and Holly were the first to fall in love, but Micah never was like us. He never wanted to fu…date around.”

  “Fuck around,” she corrects me. I nod. “So you’re saying he settled with Holly?”

  “No. I’m saying he knew what he wanted, and he found it in Holly.”

  “Slade and Samantha?”

  “They had a hard road to get to where they are today,” I say truthfully “Courtney and Josh, it was love at first sight for them. So I hear.”

  “You believe in love at first sight?” she asks with a laugh.

  I pause and stare at he
r. “I believe for some, it happens that way.”

  “Have you ever been in love?”

  As I stand in front of her half-undressed, I look her over. She stands there in front of me half-dressed as well. Her dress lies in a pile at her feet. All that remains are her silver heels and her underwear. She’s beautiful. No, she’s gorgeous. And I realize I couldn’t imagine a day when I couldn’t hear her voice over the phone. A day when I couldn’t see her in person. Run my hand through her soft hair. Or watch her lick her lips when she gets turned on. Is this what Missy meant when she said someone has the power to heal you? Because I never thought I was broken, until I realize how much she has fixed me. “I haven’t. Until now…”

  She stares at me, body unmoving as she lets the words sink in. Then a huge smile spreads across her face and she throws her head back laughing. Anger washes over me.

  “That was funny.” She continues to laugh as she unclasps her bra and it falls to the floor, exposing her fake tits that I also love. “But we are not that type of people.”

  “What type?” I ask, straightening my back. This should be good.

  “Come on, Parker. You’re not the type to get on your knees and offer a girl the world. And I’m not the type of girl to accept it,” she informs me as if I should already know this. But if I know anything, it’s that love changes people. I’ve watched it happen in all of my friends. I’ve seen them go from grown men getting sloppy drunk and into fistfights in a bar to hugging and kissing their wives and lying down on the floor to play with their children. I’ve seen the change in their face. I’ve heard it in the way they speak. My friends saw it in me, but now that I look at her, really look at her, I see it—she hasn’t changed in any way.

  “Why not?”

  “Huh?” She bends down to take off her heels.

  “Why are you not the type to accept a man’s world?” I wanna know. I have to know.

  She sighs heavily and stands up. “Because I don’t need someone else’s world. I have my own.”

  I know her more than she thinks I do. She looks well put together. But I know that she’s a wreck inside. She’s the most beautiful wreck I’ve ever seen. And yet she just ripped my heart out in the worse way.

  I hang my head and run my hand over the back of my neck as I take a deep breath. When I look back up at her, she looks prepared. Prepared to fight me. Prepared to tell me to get the fuck out. Because she knows what’s coming. I can’t stop it, even if I wanted to.

  “So, let me get this straight. I just told you that I loved you and all you can do is tell me that we are not the type of people who love?”

  “Parker,” she says softly. “I’m not trying to hurt you.” I give a hard laugh. “Even the longest days come to an end. You can’t make something happen where it was never meant to be.”

  The thing about me. The only thing I hate about myself is that when I’m backed into a corner, I will chew my way out. I will do whatever is necessary to cut you to pieces.

  “You’re right, it’s not meant to be.” I watch her body relax as if she just avoided a crisis. Not quite. “Because you’re still that heartless bitch that I arrested.” As I say each word, I watch brick by brick get put back in place. That wall that I had knocked down, she just put back up—to lock me out.

  I bend down and grab my shirt up off the floor. And I avoid her eyes as I place it back on and walk out of her bedroom continuing out her front door. And I head anywhere but home. Somewhere that we haven’t been because I need to get her out of my mind. This is exactly why you don’t fall in love. Because when you fall, you hit rock bottom.

  *****

  KATHERINE

  It’s been a week since Parker walked out of my house. I didn’t stop him nor have I contacted him since then. It needed to be done. When he told me that he loved me, I thought he was joking. I’ve ignored my feelings for him, how has he not done the same? Guys like Parker don’t love. They get the feeling of control and confuse it with love. He thought he had control of the situation. And he did. When he called, I came running. I’m not that girl. I never have been before anyway.

  I miss him. I’ve kept myself busy. I’ve spent every free moment I have with my dad. Just like before, I pretend to be my mother. I read him the bible and play card games with him. It’s so hard. Every time I see him, it takes another piece of me. And every day it’s as if he’s worse. He always remembers new memories of her, and I can’t keep up with them. I wish I had been around for the good times they enjoyed, but I was just too young. I think at one point and time, my mother was a great woman, until one day she woke up and decided to say goodbye. I guess she went back to France where all of her family lived. I never tried to look her up because truthfully, I don’t want to. I don’t want to hear any lame ass excuse she could possibly have. She chose her path and we made the best of it.

  “Jules?”

  I look up from the couch that sits in his room to see my father now sitting up in his bed.

  “Morning,” I say as I stand from the couch. “Would you like some breakfast?” I ask with a smile.

  His hazel eyes look glossed over as he looks around the room as if he’s lost. They linger on the flowers that Sam had sent him for a few seconds and then he looks back up at me. “Where’s Katherine?”

  I swallow. “She’s…”

  He reaches up, throws his hand over his heart, and lets out a cry of pain. “Dad?” I scream as he hunches over in pain. “HELP!” I yell, placing my hand on his back.

  “Dad?” I cry out. “What is it?”

  He opens up his mouth to breathe, but nothing comes out. “Dad?” I say as I panic. Nurses rush in at that moment and push me out of the way.

  I stand with my back crushed against the wall with one hand over my mouth and the other over my racing heart as I watch them work on him. He grabs for their scrubs as his mouth opens and nothing comes out. His eyes roll to the back of his head as he falls down onto his bed.

  “Dad?” I cry out and my body shakes.

  My legs give out the moment that they start CPR and I fall down to the floor. I sit there in a stage of hell as I watch them work on him with no results. After several minutes, they stop working on him. And I realize they weren’t able to save him. I close my eyes.

  “Good morning, Kat.”

  I hear my father’s voice as I keep my eyes shut. I let out a little laugh when he shakes me. “I knew you weren’t asleep,” he says with laughter of his own. “You’re a good faker.”

  I open my eyes and see him sitting on my bed next to me. “Momma used to say I was good at hiding seek.”

  His smile drops off his face, and I know it’s ‘cause I mention Momma. I forget that he doesn’t want me to mention her. “Sorry,” I say softly.

  That warm smile is back on his face. “Don’t be.” He pats my head. “Get up. Your breakfast is ready for you. You don’t wanna be late for your first day of fourth grade, do you?” he asks and I shake my head. “Good.” He leans down and kisses my forehead. “I love you.”

  I stand in the middle of a cemetery as my friends surround me. Missy had called to check on me regarding Parker, and I told her that I hadn’t spoken to him. That I’d been too busy spending time with my father and that I was glad I was able to spend that time with him because he had passed. She started crying and asked when the funeral was. I almost didn’t tell her, but I did. For my dad. He deserves someone to grieve for him. He deserves for people to know how important he was to this world. How much of a devoted father and loving husband he would have been had my mother stayed with us.

  I haven’t cried—he was ready. He had been ready to go for a while. He deserves to not feel heartbreak every single second of every single day. So instead of my world coming to a stop, I planned a funeral.

  I look over at Missy as she has her head down and cries her eyes out. She’s taking it pretty hard. I know that Tate and she have lost a baby in the past and Tate almost died when he got shot. Being at a funeral can bring up those old
feelings.

  “If there’s anything you need, you can call me,” Sam says trying to give me a warm smile but even I can see the tears that stream from behind her sunglasses.

  “Thank you,” I say leaning in and giving her a soft hug.

  “We’re always here for you,” Slade says with a head nod and I return it.

  I stand there as everyone goes to leave. They get in their cars and I watch my father’s casket as they pull out of the cemetery.

  I swallow the knot that forms in my throat. It would be selfish for me to ask God to give him back to me. It would selfish because I was the one who put him in a home. I was the one who gave up on him. And in return, he gave up on himself.

  I reach over and run my fingers down his dark cherry wood casket. “I love you, Daddy,” I whisper, before lifting my hand to kiss it and then place it back on the casket. “Je te aime,” I say it in French, how he preferred to hear it.

  I then turn around to walk back to my car but stop when I see Parker standing only feet from me. His hands are in his front pockets of his black slacks. He has a black button-down shirt on with the sleeves rolled up and he has those damn sunglasses over his eyes.

  He’s never looked so good. But that’s just my mind playing tricks on me. I stand there not moving, not speaking, wondering why he is here. Why he hasn’t already left? The man told me he loves me and I just laughed. Why would he come back? Even if I do love him, it will never work.

  “I’m sorry.” He finally speaks and his deep voice makes me shiver. I’ve missed it so much and it’s only been a week

  “Me too,” I say softly.

  “I…” He pauses as he takes a timid step toward me. “Why didn’t you call me?”