footsteps clear the stairs, then I wave him out.
“That was close,” he laughs, giving me another peck on the lips. I can tell he wants to pick up where we left off when he begins kissing my neck again, but I stop him and pull his face in front of mine.
“Hey, I have a weird request,” I say, looking him in the eyes.
“What’s up?” he asks, a thoughtful expression now on his face.
“Can you stay here until I fall asleep? I’d feel a lot safer with you in the room.”
“Sure,” he replies and goes in for another kiss.
I let him, but pull back right after. “Not like that, though. Believe me, there’s nothing more I’d rather do than kiss you right now, but I feel weird with my dad just downstairs.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’d love to be next to you while you sleep,” he says, taking my hand and leading me to the bed.
At this point, I don’t even care that I have homework to do. My focus is on Parker’s strong arms encompassing me. I’ve always loved lying beside him. It’s like our bodies were meant to rest right next to each other.
My happiness begins to chip away when I remember someone has me in their sights. Will Parker be safe around me? Am I putting him in danger?
Questions fill my mind, and I grip tighter onto Parker’s arms, trying to ease my worry and feel more secure. I only hope this isn’t a false sense of security.
Chapter Fifteen
I gasp, pulling in a heavy breath as I shoot up in bed. The nightmare I was just having replays in my head on fast forward. Flashes of images fill my mind, and my temples begin to ache while trying to make sense of the visual fragments.
Wiping away the beads of sweat running down my forehead, I attempt to focus on my surroundings. The room is dark and I can’t even see two feet in front of my face. When my eyes finally adjust, I start to see the faint outlines of the furniture around my room. A hand rests on my hip and I realize that Parker’s still lying there. When the sound of his light snoring flows through my ears, I smile while looking down at his face. It’s framed by the dim light from the lamppost outside shining through the open sliver in the curtains.
He shifts, but doesn’t wake up. It occurs to me that I’ve never seen him asleep before. We’ve never really gotten to this point, and the last time I woke up, thinking he’d still be there, he wasn’t. Maybe he’s changed. I know I have.
I think back to the night we first made love, reliving every emotion and feeling. There are no words for how Parker made me feel. He treated me like a princess. I was his sole focus the whole time, even though it was his graduation we were celebrating. I remember being in mid-conversation with one of my friends when he grabbed my hand and snuck me away from the party to the forest behind his house. He led me to this small clearing with a tent set up in the center of it. A bottle of his parent’s finest champagne was nestled in a bucket of ice next to a roaring fire. It was uber romantic, like our own little private getaway. That’s why I was more than eager to renounce my virginity crown. It felt like the perfect time. I thought he had gone to such lengths to show me that what we had was the real thing. Maybe he just did it because he knew he was leaving soon, and wanted to make a lasting impression. Instead, it made waking up alone the next morning that much more harsh.
But right now as I lay next to him, it reminds me of how Parker can make me feel. I must mean something to him if he came back to me after almost three years...right?
I study his facial features as I run my hand across them. He looks so peaceful, not to mention gorgeous. That’s real talent there, retaining your gorgeousness even while you sleep. He really is the total package for me. Except for the annoying habit he has of acting like a stereotypical jerk sometimes, but I’m starting to believe that might actually be a reason I’m so drawn to him.
Resting my cheek on his chest, I cuddle up close to him and wrap my