I flush but hold his gaze, giving him a nod that makes him look somehow evenmoreecstatic, despite our current circumstances. Parker lets out a sigh and steps forward to tug me into his arms. I go because he’s not left the house, because he’s showered, because he’s germ-free for the moment and so very,verymine. My brain is quiet and happy in his arms, my body leaning against the strength of his with an ease I never once imagined in my life.
“We’ll figure out Jacob,” I murmur into the softness of his shirt.
Parker squeezes his arms tighter around me. “I know, but we’ve also got to figure out Hayden.”
“He’s… weird?”
Parker snorts. “Good word to settle on, but yeah, he’s weird. Jacob seems to keep the weirdest parts of him in check.”
“Is he mentally all right?”
Parker shrugs. “I’ve never asked him, which probablymakes me a piece-of-shit friend, but I try to make this all as easy on him as I can. He’s the boss. We all know that.”
“When you say he’s the boss… Like, he doesn’t call the shots, does he?”
Parker pulls away to rub his hands up and down my cold arms. He smiles happily when my skin warms up and pebbles under his touch.
“He’s not Robin. Of that, I’m sure. Hayden is just very analytical, plus he’s very black or white. To him there’s no grays. Which is why he and Jacob go at each other like cats and dogs, because Jacob and I… We live somewhere in the middle. Nothing is as straightforward as Hayden would like to believe.” Parker sighs in anguish, then leans his cheek against my cheek as if it’s his favorite place to be. “Hayden is going to want to go to war to get Jacob out.”
“Don’t you?”
Parker shakes his head, mussing my hair up with the movement, which makes me snort with laughter. I can feel Parker’s smile in the air, the way everything lightens just enough to make me feel okay.
“I do. I’ll get him home, but I’m not going to risk blowing the world up to do it. Whereas Hayden will want to go nuclear.”
“I asked him if they’re in a relationship.”
Parker pulls away with wide eyes. “You what?”
Lifting my hand, I caress Parker’s unshaven jaw, enjoying the feel of the stubble against my palm. He’s wearing his glasses, which always makes him look so soft. “He called him Jake last night, and Jake again when we just spoke. Does that mean anything to you?”
Parker frowns, then looks behind us, gaze locked on something down the stairs. When he turns back to me, hiseyes are watery. I feel like I’ve misstepped somehow, made a grievous mistake just by mentioning the nickname, but then Parker dips down to kiss my brain into silence. He backs me up against the wall, cupping my jaw in the palm of his hand, tipping my head back to kiss me exactly how he wants. I gasp into his mouth, then shiver with my entire body when he presses his thigh against my groin.
“Parker?” I mumble against his mouth.
“I love you,” Parker says, voice thready, lips still delightfully moving against mine. “I’m fucking in love with you, and I don’t want to wait one more second not saying it because if something happened to either of us without me ever saying those words, I think that’d be the biggest travesty of all time.”
I stare at him in shock, which is the worst move of all time because Parker looks a little terrified of all the words he said, and even more terrified when I stay silent. Words escape me though, so I’ll have to show him another way. I grab his face and pull him to me, kissing him with all the emotion I’ve built up over the past few weeks. He tastes like Parker; not toothpaste, not mouthwash—he just tastes like him and also a hell of a lot likemine.
“Do you… Do you?” Parker asks against my mouth.
“I love you too. I think you’re my puzzle piece.”
Parker snorts and kisses me harder, his laughter pouring into my mouth like its own type of medicine. My nose clanks against his glasses, so he pulls away to tug them off, but I stay him with a hand on his neck. A curious smirk tilts up the side of his mouth, but he just pushes his glasses up higher and continues to kiss the air from my lungs.
We kiss for so long that my lips feel numb when he finally pulls away. I reach up to fix his hair, tugging the tie out and twisting his hair back up into a little bun with a few strandshanging loose. His eyes are tender and raw as he watches me take care of him.
“I want to?—”
The doorbell rings before Parker can finish his sentence. Why are we always being interrupted? Parker kisses me once more on the mouth, then grabs my hand and drags me down the stairs. Dante and Reid are sitting at the kitchen table, eyes turned toward the front entrance. Hayden stands in the backyard, casted arm slung over his head as he stares out at the yard like it contains all the answers to the universe.
“I’ll get the door, you can sit with Dante and Reid,” Parker says, gently shoving me toward the kitchen.
I stand firm and narrow my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my house. You can open the door if you want though.”
“Mason, really, just let me be?—”
“No.”
