Kickin' It (Red Card) - Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,42

even if she tried.

“Why haven’t you told her?”

“Talking about it makes it real,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. “I just . . . I hate him so much, I hate him.”

“Want me to send a guy after him? I’m sure we could make it look like an accident.” Her lips twitched while she wiped away another tear. “Think about it, we make it look like an accident, superglue his dick to his hand, turn on the puppy channel, and then pump his drink full of Viagra. Nothing worse than when a pug does it for you . . .”

Parker burst out laughing against my chest. “Sounds like a plan, I’ll ride shotgun.”

“Attagirl.” I hugged her tighter. “You aren’t the only victim in this, Parker . . . just think about what that means . . . and know that as your agent I’ll stand behind you no matter what you decide, but as your friend I encourage you to go to the proper authorities, because he’s just going to keep doing it until he gets caught. He’s a narcissist through and through.”

“I still . . .” She pulled away and looked up at me, a mixture of hope and worry in her eyes. “I still let him,” she said, her voice cracking.

“I’m going to ask you something, and no matter what your answer is, know there isn’t any judgment, alright?”

She nodded.

“Would you have let him had he just come on to you and not mentioned your career? Making or breaking you?”

“No.” She said it quickly and then slumped forward, her forehead resting against my chest. “I’m a horrible person.”

“No!” I gripped her by the shoulders. “You’re not a horrible person. You were put in a shitty situation with someone who abused his authority. That’s not on you, that’s on him.”

“I wish I believed that,” she said with a watery smile.

“Give it time.” I wiped the tears from her cheeks with my thumbs. “And until then, we drink.”

“Matt Kingston encouraging alcohol consumption during training?” She laughed through more tears. “What happened to you?”

“Parker Speedman,” I said simply, as if she should know she was the driving force behind a lot of my behavior lately. The sad part was that I knew in that moment, I would never act on any of my feelings, no matter how deep they went. I would die keeping them to myself.

Because the last thing she needed was another man in her life to let her down.

“Deadpool 2 sound good?” I grabbed the remote while she started refilling our drinks.

“That’s it, huh? You’re not pissed? Shocked? Angry?”

“I’m all of those things, but none of them are directed at you.” I stared at the remote for a few brief seconds as I felt her walk toward me. She set the drinks on the table.

Our eyes locked.

I saw disappointment there.

I felt it in my own gaze too. We both knew that the invisible line we’d been dancing around was firmly back in place because right now she needed the professional relationship more than she would ever admit.

And that’s all I could be for her.

I gave her a sad smile and then sat on the cushy leather couch and grabbed one of the blankets provided by the hotel.

She sat down next to me.

We enjoyed our drinks.

We laughed.

And when she began to drift to sleep against my shoulder, I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to stay in control. “Parker . . .”

“Hmm?” Her eyes flickered open. “What time is it?”

“Past midnight,” I murmured with a smile. “We should go to bed.” Separate beds.

“Okay.” She frowned up at me and looked around. “Is mine through some weird hidden door or something?”

“Bedroom.” I pointed to the opposite end of the penthouse. “I’m taking the couch.”

“Wait, why are you on the couch?” Her heavily lidded gaze was slowly killing me inside, right along with her swollen lips and puffy cheeks. She was beautiful, so beautiful . . . My fingers trembled with the need to reach out and cup her face, trace her chin, kiss down her neck.

“Because apparently the hotel was at capacity, so Willow only booked us one room,” I grumbled. “You need a good night’s sleep. Let me take the male species’ punishment tonight and wake up with a pain in my neck.” I flashed a grin. “I don’t mind, go relax. At least we have two bathrooms.”

“God forbid we have to share and you find a hair by your toothbrush again,” she said with a smirk.

“Very funny.”