Addicted to Mr. Parks (The Park #2) (15 page)

Hmm. That’s a thought.
“Okay. I suppose I could come for an hour.”

Tabby almost dropped the tray again as she jumped in excitement. “Awesome.”

“Are the rest of the girls going?” I nudged my head towards Mindy and Keira.

“Oh sure.” She smiled, then insisted on taking my number, and we parted ways.

“I’ll see you tonight.” She beamed.

***

I breezed through the lobby at WParks Hotel and headed towards the pool area. That was until I was stopped in my tracks by murderous eyes glaring at me.
Shit.
Putting the hood up on my jumper, I tried to hide my face, put my head down, and picked up my pace. My walk turned into a jog as I headed in the direction of the pool, but I didn’t get very far until Parks pulled me back by my arm.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Going for a swim,” I told him sweetly.

“Don’t fuck with me, Evelyn. I told you to stay home. Besides, there is a pool at my apartment.”

“But I like this pool.” He ignored my sass, took hold of my hand, and marched me towards the lift. “What are you doing?” I hissed.

“Taking you to my hotel suite.”

What!
“Why?”

“Bad behaviour requires discipline, Evelyn. You’d think you would have learned by now.”

Meaning business, I yanked my arm from his grip and clenched my jaw. “I am not a child.”

“No, you’re an errant woman who doesn’t listen to a word I say. Do you not have any concern for your safety?”

I gritted my teeth at the impossible man that seemed to be my solace one minute and a fucking migraine the next. “I’m fine.” Well, at least I was fine until the Incredible Hulk decided I needed a spanking. A spanking was always high on my to-do list but never when I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Oh you will, will you?” I spun around on my trainer and headed back through the lobby.

Parks tried to take hold of my waist discreetly, but I swiped his hand away and pointed in his face. “I
am
going for a swim. And you
are
going to let me, or so help me God, I will scream this whole building down.”

Not giving up, he took hold of my hips and pulled me into him. “And I will spank you right here, right now if you do not obey my wishes.”

My nostrils flared, anger spewing from my expression, but although that should have riled him even more, he relented on a deep sigh. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“But you can’t keep me captive in order to do that.” My own anger had suddenly started to disperse.

“I know.” He pressed a tender kiss to my forehead. “I need all of you, Evelyn. Even if it’s bit by bit. I don’t want to rush what we have, and I don’t want to fuck it up, either.”

I wanted all of him too, and I also didn’t want to fuck up what could be special. “Me neither.”

Something behind me caught his eye. “Princess, wait here. I just have to take care of something.”

I let go of his hand and watched him make his way to reception. Causally turning to look around the lobby, I quickly caught sight of Julian.

“Julian?” He turned his head, noticed it was me, and rudely carried on walking. I jogged up to him and tapped his shoulder to gain his attention. “How’s Steph? Have you seen her?”

His scoff pissed me off, and he snarled over his shoulder. “No, I haven’t.” The odd twitch his eye gave was an indication of a lie, but I didn’t question him. I wanted to know about Steph, and the way not to do it was to piss Julian off.

“If you do, could you tell her—?”

“I’m not telling her fuck all for you,” he spat, then glanced behind me quickly, his face turning pale. “Mr. Parks.” Julian cleared his throat.

“Is there a problem?” Parks went on, slipping his arm around my waist.

Julian glanced to where he had me. “Um, not at all.”

From the moment Julian caught me and Parks in the hotel lobby looking completely suspicious a few weeks back, he knew something was going on between us. But Parks was also CEO of the company he worked for, so Julian wasn’t going to say anything to him.

Parks tightened his grip around my waist. “Then why are you mad at Evelyn, may I ask?”

Julian’s expression dropped. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

I would have loved to tell Parks that he called me an alcoholic slut before, but that was petty. I punched Julian for it, so that was enough revenge. For now.

“Evelyn is with me now. So I suggest you choose your words wisely when talking to her.”

Julian just nodded, not sure of what to say or do, then scuttled away like the creep he was.

“Who’s he?” Parks jerked his head in Julian’s direction and began walking away from the exit with his arm still around my waist.

“Steph’s personal trainer. He works at your gym.”

“I could see that,” Parks teased, meaning Julian’s uniform.

“What did you need to take care of?” I glanced up at him as he led me through a corridor of the hotel I’d never seen before.

“Oh, Jenifer—the manager—wanted a quick word.”

“Did she flirt with you?”

He stopped walking and grabbed my elbow. “Is that a serious question?”

I was stunned by it myself. Jealousy was not a trait of mine. Where the hell did that from?

“No. Ignore me.”

He bent down and kissed my temple. “Never worry. You are the woman that has captured my eyes. Come on, I’m taking you for dinner.”

I looked down at my gym clothes, horrified. “Dinner? I’m not dressed for dinner.”

“You look perfect to me.”

“But not for dinner. Wherever you plan on taking me I’m sure will be all glamorous and lobster food, and I’m dressed for the gym.”

“Lobster food?” He laughed, a laugh that was rare, and I treasured it truly.

“Posh food.” I shrugged.

He laughed again. “I’m taking you to Gordon Ramsay’s because you said you wanted to go, correct?”

My mouth fell open. He continuously amazed me with the attention he paid to my words.

“Yeah, but not like this.”

“Like I said, you look perfect.”

Then I noticed he was taking me out of the back way of the hotel, where Cleaver was waiting. “Afternoon, Wade. Evey.”

“Hi.” My smile was short, I didn’t mean to be rude, but Parks’s behaviour was making me paranoid. “How come we’re going out the back way?” I asked when he opened the car door for me and let me slide in first.

Parks slipped in, using all that elegance his body was made of. “Because there are paparazzi waiting to get a shot of us out front.”

My heart stopped, and my paranoia hit a high.
Paparazzi?
“How do they know we’re together?”

“They know everything. Tip-offs, mainly.” He took his smartphone out of his pocket and read a text, his brow furrowing as he replied quickly.

“Don’t you want to be seen with me?”

Cleaver pulled out into traffic, and Parks pulled his gaze from his phone screen and glared over at me. “Evelyn, if it was safe, I would show you off to the damn world. But when you start having your photo taken with me, put in the papers and linked to me, they will dig up whatever they can find on you.”

“So you’re worried about what they’ll think of me?”

He went back to his phone. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”

I pushed his phone down and out of his view. “Am I? You said yourself, you couldn’t be associated with someone like me. And—”

“Stop,” he demanded with a smack of his hand on the leather seats. I shut my mouth and stared out the window.

Of course he didn’t want the world to know he was dating someone like me. It would ruin his clean name. Although I would never want to shame him, it still hurt to think he was ashamed of me.

“Snap out of it,” Parks ordered me after around ten minutes of silence.

“Out of what?” I barked.

“Your mood.”

I shifted to move away from him. “I was just stating the obvious. Sooner or later, the papers are going to see me and know who I am. They you’ll be branded an idiot for having someone like me as your…” I waved my hands around. “Whatever I am.”

Parks’s jaw was tight and pupils wide with rage. “Evelyn, enough.”

His stern warning didn’t make me falter or stop me talking. “And I don’t think I like the thought of being in the papers, my life splashed about for everyone to read. I didn’t even realise you were some sort of celebrity.”

“Fuck.” He smacked his head into the back of the seat. My rabbiting and worrying was agitating him. But when I was worried, I talked until my face went blue.

Pointing with my finger, I marked off the obvious downfalls. “
And
if they want a picture of me, then I can’t go around looking like this.” I glanced over my gym clothes. “I look a mess, my hair is a mess, and—”

“Evelyn!” He unclasped his seat belt, then launched himself onto me. My mouth was covered by his in an instant, my tongue fighting against his fiercely. He kissed me long, hard, and until I was out of breath and speechless. Then he let me go and flopped back down into his side of the car to put his seat belt back on. I sat stunned, breathless, and horny for a moment, then I opened my mouth to talk again.

“Don’t,” he warned with a hand held high.

I pushed my luck. “But—”

“Don’t speak, Evelyn. Because I will fuck your mouth until your throat hurts, stopping you from saying such shit.”

I gaped at him, my eyes wide, and my words finally coming to an end. I wasn’t sure whether to be turned on or insulted. “All I wanted to say was I love it when you get all Hulk on my arse.”

He opened his eyes and allowed a smirk to tug at his lips. “You are the most difficult person I know, and you’re so damn fucking sexy. Cleaver,” he called.

“Yes, sir?”

“Drive around the block, park the car, and make yourself scarce for thirty minutes.”

“Of course.”

I glanced up at him, biting my lip as I watched his hunger for me ripping into him. And when he began to unzip his trousers, my heart leaped, skipped, and jumped.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard,” he growled.

“What about my mouth?” I grinned.

“That’s what I meant.”

Chapter Fifteen

“How’s your jaw?” Parks grinned as he placed his napkin next to his empty plate.

“Aching.” I scowled playfully. “Not much shuts me up, but that did.” I swallowed down my water and took my phone out of my bag as it bleeped.

Tabby: Hey Evey. Shall I meet you at say, ten o’clock? The club doesn’t get lively until then.

“Shit,” I cursed, checking the time on my smartphone. It was five o’clock already, and I’d completely forgot about meaning to celebrate with Tabby.

“What’s wrong?” Parks asked, settling the bill.

“Um, I said I would meet this girl, but I honestly forgot about it.”

His frown was unsettling. “What girl?”

My eyes focused on the text. “It’s just one of the girls I talk to in Starbucks.” I glanced up. “Don’t look like that. I don’t have to tell you everything.” I snatched my water from the table and drank the rest in a gulp.

“Where did you plan on meeting her?”

I knew I was about to lie, and I hated lying, but I really didn’t want an argument. “Over her house; a movie night.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re lying.”

Oh God, he was off, the master of body language. “Why would I lie?”

“I don’t know, but you are. You can’t look me in the eyes when you’re lying, and you scratch your hand when you’re nervous.”

I looked down at my hand, catching myself scratching. Something I never knew I did. I scoffed. “Okay, Inspector Morse.”

“Evelyn, why are you lying to me? Where did you plan on going?”

“I told you.” I looked away from him again as he pushed off his chair, rounded the table, and pulled out my seat for me to stand. When I got up, he remained behind me, pulled my ponytail back, and breathed down my neck. “If I find out you’re lying to me—”

“You’ll what?” I snapped.

“Wait and see.” His tone was dark, but it intrigued me, beguiled me, and I almost wanted to tell him I was lying just to see what he would do.

Yes. I know. I was a glutton for punishment.

We walked out onto a crowd of drunk football lads that had emerged from one of the pubs nearby. I glanced over my shoulder towards them as Parks pulled on my hand, taking us to the Jaguar. It was then I spotted Mathew amongst them. He was well over six foot, had his football shirt on, and was slumped down on an empty table outside a bar, alone. He was drunk, and his head was rolling all over the place. I couldn’t leave him.

“Wait.” I let go of Parks’s hand and made my way towards him.

“Evelyn?” Parks barked as he followed me, and when I bent down to wave a hand in Mathew’s face, he pulled my arm back.

“What are you doing?”

“I know him, chill out.” He let me go and clenched his jaw. “Mathew?” I called, tipping his chin up to face me. He squinted, then smiled clumsily when he saw it was me. “Evey? Hey.”

“Are you okay?” I could see he wasn’t. Mathew was a happy drunk, such good fun, and knew when to stop so he wouldn’t get bladdered. He was blotto, though, and extremely upset.

“She’s left me, Evey. Steph’s left me.” He threw his head in his hands and started to break down.

Oh God. I was not expecting that. I glanced over to Parks, but he was just as clueless as I was. Awkwardly, I tapped Mathew’s back, only able to show rigid affection. “It’ll be okay.”

“No, it won’t. She doesn’t love me no more, Evey.”

Poor bloke. I intended on kicking Steph up her skinny little arse. “What shall we do?” I whispered to Parks.

He took my hand and went to walk off. “He’ll be fine. He’s a man.”

I yanked my hand back. “Wade, he’s heartbroken. We can’t leave him.” I was about to help Mathew stand, but one of his mates came by and did it for me, throwing Mathew’s arm over his shoulder.

“I’ll get him home,” he slurred.

I stared after him, feeling accountable for his misery. “I need to get to Steph.”

Parks frowned at my suggestion. “Why?”

“Because I know she loves him. She’s in a bad place because of me, and she shouldn’t take that out on Mathew.”

Steph didn’t know how to snap out of feeling any strong emotions, and my actions were probably what caused their breakup. With this new knowledge, I was even more determined to get my best friend back.

A few minutes later, Cleaver pulled up outside Steph’s flat. I pulled the spare key out of my bag, quickly jumped out of the car, and almost ran up the path to let myself in. Closing the door quietly behind me, I heard wailing, moaning, and slamming. Without hesitation, I rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a sight that was not on my bucket list to see. Julian and Steph were fucking in the kitchen. Doggy-style.

“Steph?” I screamed at her. Screamed because she was a fucking idiot. Both naked bodies stopped immediately, stunned like a pair of rabbits in headlights.

“Evey?” They both scrambled to their feet, stumbling and losing balance. Julian tripped over his boxer shorts as they were wrapped around his ankles, and Steph tried to cover up her boobs and lady organ with a small cushion.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Steph yelled.

My eyes were begging for cover, but I couldn’t stop staring at the scene in front of me. “Never mind that. What the fuck are you playing at?”

She yelled at me as Julian got dressed quickly. “This has nothing to do with you, Evey. Get out.”

“Mathew is heartbroken because of you. Is this why you dumped him?” I looked Julian up and down, my gaze dragging over his form in repugnance. “Because of that jumped-up prick.”

“How the hell do you know that?” Steph was panicking.

“I found him outside a bar, Steph. He was legless. How could you?” I then snapped my head Julian’s way and jerked my thumb. “You. Fuck off.”

“You can’t tell me to leave. You don’t live here anymore.” He was such a bitch. I couldn’t stand the way he thought he had every right to be in Steph’s life more than I did.

“Julian, just get out.” Steph rubbed at her forehead, surprisingly backing me up.

Julian positioned his shirt back into place and ripped his gym bag from the floor. He stalked past me, barging my shoulder intentionally. Not being able to help myself, I called to him as he left. “Oh and by the way, I always knew you had a small willy.” Yes, it was highly unnecessary to point out, but so what?

“Fuck you,” he spat, slamming the door on his way out.

I closed my eyes before turning back to my errant best friend. “Steph, get some clothes on. I can’t talk to you when your nipple is pointing at me.”

She was standing with the small pillow covering her vagina, but her tits were out.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Evey. Leave,” she warned, backing away from me, because if she turned around, it would have exposed her arse. If I wasn’t so mad at her, I would have started laughing because the scene was comical. Unbelievable. But comical.

Steph backed up into her bedroom and slammed the door. Half expecting her to get changed and come back out, I slumped down onto the mismatched sofa and waited. And waited.

After ten minutes, I pushed off my feet on a sigh and knocked on her door, pressing my forehead against the wood. “Steph, please talk to me.”

“Go away.” She was crying, so I sagged and let myself in.

Her jumble-sale room gave me a headache. Her bedding and pillows were green and red, her wardrobe old and rustic, but she loved it even though she found it in a skip, and her floral curtains were homemade.

She was wrapped modestly in her pink robe and clutching at a pillow when I entered, so I flopped down onto the bed with her. “What’s going on inside your head?”

She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Too much.”

“Me?” I suspected. She worried too much. I loved her for it, I really did, but I wish she’d stop. I didn’t need anyone to worry about me.

She looked up from her knees. “I’m always fucking worrying about you.”

“I’m not that bad, am I?” I did a light chuckle at the end of my sentence, but it only made Steph worse. She pushed to her feet and threw a pointed finger in my face.

“My parents and I have been looking after you since you were sixteen, Evey. We took you into our home only for you to fuck us over again and again, so don’t you dare make this a joke.” My mouth was parted, waiting to explain, but Steph wouldn’t let me talk. “I saw you constantly drunk or on drugs, watched you waste every last part of your inheritance. You have been floating through life, drinking, back and forth between my parents’ and your aunts’ for years.”

“I know, but—”

“You’re twenty-five years old, Evey, and you still don’t have your shit together. I took you in and tried to get you better, and you still shit on me. How the fuck am I meant to feel?” She turned her back to me as she wrapped her small body in her arms.

“Steph.” I sighed, looking into my lap. “I can’t express how grateful I am for what you and your family have done for me. And I can’t express my apology enough, but I’m trying now, I really am.”

She turned to me. “I’ve heard it all before. Why is this time different?” I couldn’t give her a definitive answer, so she groaned with her head tilted back and narrowed her eyes at me. “Where the hell have you been staying?”

I picked at her homemade bedspread. “My parents…at first.” I quickly put my hand up to stop her yelling. “I know, I’m crazy.”

“And now?”

I took a deep breath, not sure whether I was more frightened of telling her I’d stayed at my parents’ flat for a while or telling her I was staying with Parks. “I’m living with Parks. Wade,” I corrected myself.

She stared at me. Wide-eyed. Open-mouthed. “No. Way.”

“Yes. Way,” I humoured her, but she didn’t find it funny.

“How? When? Why?” Her words fell out in bewilderment as she blinked in disbelief.

God, I knew it was going to be tough trying to explain to Steph how Parks and I fitted so good together that it was a crime to deny it. Telling her that he was my mantra and trying to explain how he kept my mind sane and entranced was never going to go down well, because if
I
couldn’t understand it, how was anyone else meant to?

“I know how crazy it sounds, but we’re working on things. He’s helping me a lot.”

“You’re accepting help from him? But you shove mine in my face?” She was hurt and felt pushed out, I knew that, but that wasn’t the case. I never did shove her help back in her face, I just lost control again, and the same person that made me lose it was the same person who was getting me back on track.

“It’s not like that. It’s just when I’m around him, I feel like I don’t want to drink because he calms me. You know all the crazy habits I get myself into? Puzzles. Board games. Building things out of fucking lollipop sticks. Swimming. I just need to be around Parks and he soothes me.”

“How is that even possible? You don’t even know him.” The way she was looking at me made me feel even crazier than I already did.

“I don’t know. But it is. And I need that. He’s my sanity. Even though he drives me fucking insane.”

She shook her head in utter bafflement, so I reached over and took her hand. “But I also need you. There can’t be an Evey without a Steph.”

“Looks like there can. Because now it’s Wade and Evey.”

I slapped her knee playfully. “Are you jealous, Stephanie?”

She shot me down with a hurtful remark. “There also can’t be an Evey without drink.”

I bowed my head, exasperated. “Listen, I’m a work in progress. And Parks is getting me through it.”

“But he’s no doctor, Evey. You need real help for the long-term. Wade is just something else that occupies your mind, and when you get bored and start feeling empty again, you will suppress the ache with drink. I know you too well.”

“No. It’s not like that with Wade. I’ve told him more than I’ve ever told anyone. I’ve even…”

“You’ve what?” She frowned.

“I’ve shown him my scars.”

Steph’s face relaxed, but she was dubious. “You have? Wow. That’s…so brave of you. I know how self-conscious you are of them. He must really have made an impact.”

“He has,” I agreed.

“Then why the sigh?”

“Because whenever something is going good in my life, I always fuck it up. So I’m just waiting to see what I can do to fuck up this happiness.”

Finally, Steph softened and accepted my invitation for her to sit next to me. “Don’t think like that. Stay positive.”

“But I’m still unbalanced, Steph. I need you in my life. I really do. Please let me show you I can do this.”

While Steph thought for a second, I had a text on my phone. It was Tabby.

Tabby: Are you still coming?

Oh Tabby. I felt really bad, but there was no way I could go out and lie to Parks about it. So I declined.