“The best guy on the team.” Parker chuckles.
“Sure.”
“And smells the worst.”
“Yep.”
“You’re really focused.”
“Uh-huh.” The short words leave my lips right as I punch theEnterkey, and I brace for the process to fail again. But it doesn’t.It works.“Done!” I throw a fist to the sky, and Parker lets out a relieved sigh.
“Two weeks of work done in an hour.”
“More like half an hour,” I correct. Then I lean back in the chair and fold my arms across my chest as Parker steps back, mirroring my own stance from a standing position. “What’s up?”
“I was just seeing what you were up to,” he replies, running his fingers through his hair. “You still volunteering at the shelter?”
“Yeah,” I answer him. “Why?”
“I don’t know…” His voice trails off, but there’s something there that I can’t put my finger on.Somethingis different in the way he’s looking at me. Like he’s expecting me to have some sort of specific response.
But I’m just as confused as ever.
“Who do you work with again?” he asks.
“Maria,” I tell him. “She’s become like a surrogate mom. She’s awesome, and her homemade enchiladas are to freakingdiefor.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” Parker’s voice is a little short, and I can tell there’s more he wants to say, he’s just not doing it. Which means it must contain some sort of feelings and emotions. Despite Amy breaking him out of his shell, he can still be a brick wall sometimes.
“Yeah … it is cool.” I decide to take a shot in the dark. “Are you jealous of the time I’m spending with the dogs? Because every time I ask you to hang out, you’re usually busy with Amy.”
“No.” He blows out a sharp breath of air. “I’m just … I’m…”
“You’re…?” I can’t help but grin at the way I have to coax it out of him like he’s a toddler who stole crayons or something. “Come on, Parker. Just say what you need to say. This is a safe place.”
He glares at me. “I was just trying to say that I’m proud of you.”
Okay, that’snotwhat I was expecting.
I shift in my chair. “For fixing Eddy’s mistake?”
“No,” he says plainly. “You fix mistakes here at work all the time. I mean, I’m proud of you for finding something that isn’t speed dating or singles events—something that’s actually yours. You seem more … grounded lately. I think that’s good for you. I know you want to find love, but I think you need to let the right one show up in your life, not be constantly seeking them out.”
“Oh … yeah.”
I’ve been doing really well at avoiding the singles events, but I don’t know if it’s because something in me has actually shifted, or if I’m just putting all of my focus into something new because I don’t know what to do with Brittany yet.
“I just think it’s a good thing. But I will say, Amy appears to have made it her personal mission to match you up with someone. She keeps mentioning she wants to go on a double date.”
Oh no. No, no, no…
“She has a lot of new friends, now that she’s settled in. She’s the biggest extrovert I know; she literally makes friends with anyone and everyone.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about all that … I’m not really in a rush to get back into the dating scene.”
He gives me a look. “Well, just think about it.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll … think about it.” I let out a sigh, then turn back to the computer, saving all the work I’ve done and clicking out of the program. “But I don’t know that I want to open that can of worms.”
