“Actually I’m a Marine.”
“Forgive me for that, Marine.”
“It’s okay, beautiful. For you, I’ll make any exception, and I mean any.” He licks his lips, refusing to take his eyes from hers.
“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick,” I groan as I watch him lay it on thicker than a deep-dish pizza.
Adrian whips his head at me with lightning speed and scowls. “I walked in on you kissing my sister while she rode your lap in her robe.”
“Yeah, well, mind your fucking business, okay? This is not payback.”
“There’s no payback here.” He continues to focus on my sister like we’re invisible. “So are you a baker, beautiful?”
“No, I just thought it would be comforting. It’s nice to have someone to bake for.”
“Do you normally have someone to bake for?” he questions, raising his brow.
“Just Parker.”
“These are fantastic. You should bake a lot more,” I say.
“So… as much as I love sweets, I could really use some food.” Caroline sighs. We worked up an appetite last night.
“I could too,” I respond, while the other two ignore us. “Do you want to help me, Caroline, while these two make googly eyes at each other?”
“Sure,” she giggles, taking my hand and shaking her head. “Do we look that goofy?”
“Maybe at first, but no one else saw that.”
“Oh, I did,” my sister adds, turning her head toward us. “You looked like a fool, staring at her house like she was magically going to reappear.”
“Shut up,” I growl.
“Be nice, it’s Christmas,” Caroline says before taking my hand and pulling me in for a hug. We get to cooking while those two seem to have a private conversation. She’s laughing, something I’ve never seen my sister do with another guy. Even if it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s nice to see it happen. It sucks that he’s leaving in a few days. And I can see the sadness in my sister’s eyes because she knows it’s true too.
Our Christmas breakfast goes wonderfully, and we all have a great time. New company makes everything better. I had no idea how much I’d actually like Adrian, but I do. He’s a Bears fan too, which makes him a hell of a lot better to deal with. It’s going to be great when we’re related so we have something to bond over because I’m sure he still wants to beat my ass over seeing his sister in my lap. I’m glad he didn’t see us earlier where she was riding my dick like she was the angel mounted on the tree.
Epilogue
Parker
My life couldn’t get much better. With Caroline, I found the past pains could be dulled. I couldn’t erase the hurt and I could never forgive my father, but I didn’t have to let it rule my happiness.
Over the summer, he came to visit my sister while I was there, and I knew the bastard had did it on purpose. He tried to speak to me, but none of his excuses could ever bring back my mother, so they meant nothing to me.
“You have nothing to say that could make up for the past. Nothing.”
“You think you’re a good man, but one day things will get boring and you’ll have a change of heart.”
“No, I’m not you. I understand the value of honesty, trust, and loyalty. Boring? I’ve worked nonstop for the past twelve years without a girlfriend because you fucked up my outlook on love and happiness, so don’t tell me what boring is. You just don’t have morals. By the way, does she know that you’re banging the new neighbor yet?”
“What? That’s a lie.”
“Then why are you suddenly pale? That color leached out of your face so damn fast. I might have never wanted to see you ever again, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to let you play my sister. I’ve had you under surveillance. You are just a horny, unfaithful prick. I’ll never have anything to do with you. You’ve already wasted too much of my time. See you Chloe, I have to go see my wife.” I walked out that door and never saw my father again.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I believe it’s going to be my sister, annoying me with her pleading to come back and talk, but it’s just Maxim.
“What’s going on?”
