Page 149 of Twisted Needs

Parker goes still beside me. “What’s it about?” he asks carefully.

The way he’s being so cautious makes my stomach twist into knots. The least I can do is offer him the honest, genuine truth. “About you,” I admit quietly.

Parker blinks at me once. “Me?”

“Not literally you,” I add quickly. “It’s fictionalized, obviously. But…the feelings weren’t…I guess.”

It takes more effort than it should to block out the memories of what things were like with him in the beginning, because that man isn’t my Parker. It’s not fair to keep hashing out the past if he’s made up for it in more ways than one.

“Can I read it?” He asks softly with an unreadable expression in his eyes..

“I don’t know if you’ll actually want to after⁠—”

“Can I read it?” His voice sounds less steady this time, and it fucking crushes me. I would give just about anything to know what the hell is running through his brain right now.

“Yeah,” I say immediately. “Of course you can.”

Parker just looks at me for a long moment after that. Then he reaches across the table and takes my hand. “I love you,” he says. “So much.” He says those three words with the same kind of certainty he did the first time he said them, and then it all clicks into place. Parker loves me with the same incomprehensible level of intensity that I love him.

“I love you too,” I say quietly, the words finally coming out like it’s the easiest thing ever. “I love you, Pet’ka.”

The immediate rush of relief surges through me now that I’ve finally gotten those three massive words off my chest.

Parker’s jaw tightens almost immediately afterward as he reaches for the sunglasses hooked into the collar of his shirt, sliding them onto his face to hide his very obvious emotional state of disarray.

I stare at him. “Pet’ka.”

He shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

“Why are you wearing your sunnies?.”

Parker huffs, restrained. “The sun exists, Anders. And it’s…really bright outside. You know blue eyes are sensitive to the sun.”

My mouth pulls into a smirk, but it quickly fades when Parker squeezes my hand a little too hard for it to be casual. He’s trying not to cry in the middle of a crowded restaurant patio.

Parker lowers his head slightly and brings my hand toward his mouth, pressing a lingering kiss against my knuckles before exhaling softly through his nose.

I’ve always said that Parker silences the racing thoughts in my head, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Right now, all I feel is peace.

“Now what?” I blurt before I can stop myself.

He just shrugs, letting my hand drop as he pulls my chair even closer to him. His mouth hovers right beside my ear. “Nothing,” he whispers. “This is it. We love each other. Nothing else matters.” And then he kisses my temple as we hide in plain sight.

CHAPTER 42

IT’S A GOOD THING

ANDERS

“I can’t believe you’re graduating in a few days,” Helen says, sounding almost offended by it. “We’ve been together almost seven years. Now you’re doing things.”

“I’ve been doing things,” I scoff, shifting further down against the pillows piled behind my back. “You of all people should know that.”

Helen grins from the screen of my laptop, shaking her head slowly. “I am so extremely proud of you. Really. Graduating from Georgetown a whole year early. Full ride and GTA position.” She gestures dramatically with one hand. “You can write your boring papers on politics forever now. You’re earning all seventy of those dollars.”

I snort quietly.

Helen presses a hand to her chest with a dramatic pout. “So proud, Anderson. You are my success story.”