AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I remind myself of how lost he just looked, how rejected. Worth it to invite him. Even if he doesn’t stay.
When his heavy footsteps start up the stairs right behind me, I find myself biting back a grin.
CHAPTER5
Logan
“Almost done,”Parker says, wiping her face with her forearm and grinning over at me. “Are you sure you want to eat something I cooked?”
“I trust you, Pete.”
Her grin turns mischievous. “You trust me not to burn it or not to poison it?”
“I didn’t think about poisoning. Is that a thing I should be worried about?”
“We’ll see,” she says, dropping something in a pot on the stove.
Hopefully, not hemlock or arsenic.
I'm trying to relax, still telling myself that this is okay. Parker invited me in. This is fine. But it’s the first time I remember being in someone’s personal space in longer than I care to remember.
Curiosity made me decide to stay—wanting to spend more time around Parker, to see who she is now. That and the sense of ease I have just being around her.
Since my knee injury, surgery, and months of recovery, I’ve spent a lot of time alone. My physical therapist and Jeremy are the only people I’ve talked to at length. And by at length, I mean short and sporadic conversations.
Now, I’m filling my conversation quota. And then some. For the last twenty minutes, Parker has happily chatted away while she cooks and I sit at her small table and observe. She used to be talkative. But this is a lot even compared to pint-sized Parker. Is she nervous? Excited? On a caffeine high? I’m not sure. But I don’t mind the chatter. I find myself smiling while I listen.
Watching Parker is better than Netflix. She moves like a cheerful gale-force wind through the tiny kitchen, banging pots and thwacking her knife into the cutting board, all while telling me every conceivable fact about the Appies.
I can't help but notice she says very little about herself. And doesn’t mention Brandon at all.
While listening and watching, I make my own observations. She still loves pink, which is the one color I see throughout her apartment. I guess she likes to cook, which is new. She wasn’t kidding about burning cookies when she was little, and I wonder how and when this changed.
I hate that there’s a whole lot of blank space in my knowledge of what Parker has been doing for the last ten years. If she kept competing in figure skating. Where she went to college. Who she’s dating.
Not that her relationship status is any of my business. It’s definitely my fault I don’t know any of these things.
A low growling sound has me whipping my head toward the couch. I don’t see anything, but then I hear it again. It sounds like it belongs in some kind of horror movie.
“Do you have a dog?” I ask, still eyeing the sofa.
Parker rolls her eyes. “That’s just Mr. Eds. He’s a cat.”
“You like cats now? And what kind of name is Mr. Eds? Plural?”
“It’s short for Evil Demon Spawn,” she says, like this is a totally normal name for a cat. Or anything else. “And no, I don’t like cats. But I used to volunteer at the shelter, and no one would adopt him. He was set to be euthanized, so I took him in, thinking I could win him over or that maybe he’d be nice out of gratitude. Turns out, I’m not so charming. And he’s not grateful. But don’t worry. He’s an equal opportunity human hater, so he won’t come out while you’re here.”
I sure hope not. Mr. Eds definitely sounds like he lives up to his name. Parker grabs a bag of cat treats from a cabinet, shakes it, then lobs one toward the couch. It lands right by the trunk Parker uses as a coffee table. There’s a hiss and then a small black paw darts out and drags the treat under the couch.
“You’re welcome, bad kitty,” Parker calls in a sweeter voice than the creature deserves.
Mr. Eds hisses in response. Though I continue watching Parker, I keep some of my focus on the couch. Just in case.
“How was your first day?” Parker asks. “Were the guys nice?”
They were, but it doesn’t really matter. I’m used to showing up, giving it all on the ice, and going home. Not bonding or making friendship bracelets. But I can tell from Parker’s eager face that she’s hoping for more.
“It was good. They were fine.”
