legs around one of his. His fingers begin to trace circles on my back before finding a place to rest on my shoulder.
“Good morning,” he says quietly after kissing the top of my head.
“Technically, it’s still evening. Oh crap, you better get going,” I respond, realizing that it probably wasn’t such a great thing that he fell asleep. My father could’ve come in at any moment, gun in hand.
He answers me with a kiss. “I’ll leave soon, promise. But first,” he begins and plants his lips on mine again, kissing me senseless. I become lightheaded, giving in to what we both really want.
He pulls back, me still reeling from the effects of his lips, and grins. “Now, I can go.”
“You’re such a tease. You know that, right?”
“Takes one to know one,” he replies. “I really better get going.”
“Yeah, probably for the best. Since your odds of having a run-in with a certain revolver is ever increasing the longer you’re here.”
He laughs. “Well, there’s always that.”
Rolling off the bed, he strolls over to the window. He has this way of doing things that infatuates me. Phoebe and I used to call it his “Parker swagger.” I used to think everything he did was sexy—and I guess I still do.
He slides the window open and looks over at me with a smirk on his face. He steps through, but then stops once he’s outside and perched on the lattice fence. “Come here,” he says, poking his head back through the window to look at me.
“What?” I whisper into the quiet room, but instead of a direct answer, he just motions to me, waving me over with a nod of his head.
Standing in front of him, I lean down to be on his level. He steals a kiss without saying another word before heading downward. “One for the road,” he calls up to me while he continues to descend.
“That was a cheap shot, Mr. Reed,” I whisper down to him. He smirks again.
The light from Janice’s room catches my eye. When I look over, I see Hattie peering through the curtains at me. Did she see my kiss with Parker? The heavily judgmental look on her face makes me think she did. I wave, letting her know that I see her, but she doesn’t return it. She proceeds to close the curtain, and then turns off the light a few moments later.
I shut and lock the window before rushing back to my bed to lie down on the spot where Parker was. It feels so warm, and his cologne clings to the sheets and pillow. I breathe in, feeling like he’s still there with me. His scent brings me a sense of comfort and security that I was starting to lose the moment he left.
Hearing the message notification chime from my phone echo throughout the room, I lift my head to look over at it on the desk. The little blue LED light is flashing rapidly. Dread sets in as I alight from the bed to check the message. My first instinct is to just ignore it and it will go away, but who am I kidding? This unknown person has snuck into my room while I’m sleeping. I don’t think he or she is going away anytime soon.
Picking up the phone, I unlock the screen and click on my messages icon. I smile when it’s a text from Parker:
Wish I could’ve stayed the night.
I hold the phone close to my heart, reliving the momentous kissing that happened between us a few hours ago. I become a little hot and bothered when I take the make-out session a little further in my head than it actually went.
My focus is drawn back to the phone when another message comes through. Thinking it’s a continuation from Parker’s text, I eagerly press on the messages icon again. This one’s not from Parker, though:
What would your father think?
At first, I’m confused by the message—that is, until the picture comes through. It’s one of Parker kissing me through the window.
I run over to the window and scan the yard below for any sign of someone, but there’s no one there. The picture looks like it was taken from the right side of the yard, looking up at my room. It’s blurry and not completely in focus, but there’s no mistaking who’s in the picture. I stare back down at the phone, fear setting in and the feeling of being secure completely swept out from under me. I worry