Everything Changes (14 page)

I liked that Parker wasn’t drinking. It made me
feel more comfortable.

What didn’t make me comfortable were all the
girls. I was constantly comparing myself to them. Silly, but I did.

I didn’t know anyone aside from Parker,
Addy
, and Justin. Of course that left me by myself as
Parker mingled with friends he hadn’t seen all year. He did look my direction
more often than not and touched me in some way every time he passed.

I liked that. I liked that a lot.

Addy
kept
busy cleaning up after everyone. One empty beer can left on a table and she
nearly had a shit fit. I found entertainment just watching her tiny little ass
run around that much.

Around six everyone started eating, aside from
the Anaheim stick girls as I liked to call them. I had a feeling they never
ate. I also had this strange feeling that if I peeked at the tags of their two
hundred dollar jeans, they probably wouldn’t even have sizes. I once got a pair
of hand-me-down jeans from a girl in school that frequently shopped in Seattle.
They didn’t fit because they were a zero. To me, that wasn’t even a size, and I
had an assumption these girls wore zero. I could out eat most men in the shop
and enjoyed my size four jeans. That was small too, but given my short size, it
was irrelevant. These girls were almost as tall as Parker. When they turned
sideways, you couldn’t see them.

Despite my usually hefty appetite, my hunger
escaped me, along with any comforting thoughts I had of Parker only having eyes
for me. I couldn’t compare to these girls, no way. I also had no reason to
think I
needed
to compete with them, but that didn’t stop me.

Just about the time Ice Cube came over the
stereo, I stared at the hamburger in front of me, unable to eat. I couldn’t
understand why either. It was either because I was so worked up over these
girls surrounding him or my own internal lunacy. Whatever it was, it felt like
butterflies were attacking every organ I had.

“You okay?” Justin asked, seeming to notice my
lack of appetite or maybe he noticed the way I stared endlessly at Parker as he
spoke to Lucy Johnson. I didn’t know her and the only reason I knew her name
was from everyone else asking her questions. She was more muscular than the
rest of the sticks, but still skinny. Turns out, she was an AMA Pro WMX rider.

I shrugged, picking at the sesame seeds on the
bun, trying not to make eye contact with Justin since I was close to tears.

“Yeah.” I sighed. “Just tired,” I lied, thinking
sleepiness was always a good excuse for anything out of the normal.

“She’s nothing to him,” Justin said, leaning into
my shoulder. “Actually, he’s hated her since he first met her.”

I groaned, feeling a pain in my chest when she
reached out and ran her hand down his back. Parker’s body tensed. The muscles
in his arms flexed, but the smile on his face remained.

“Yeah, appears that way.” I pushed my hair out of
my face and stood from the chair.

“He feels a lot for you,” Justin said, still
sitting beside me. “You know that, right?”

I lowered my eyes nervously again. “I do too.”

“You know that he couldn’t sleep the night before
we left because he knew you were coming?”

My smile took over. “Yeah?”

Justin nodded, giving me a familiar wink. “If I
had to guess, I’d say he’s in love with, and for Parker that’s rare.”

Addy
found
us after that, so I didn’t get a chance to reply.

Wrapping her arms around Justin’s neck, she
smiled into his skin. “Come on, babe, I love this song,” she told him, dragging
him towards the makeshift dance floor they had set up by the pool. I silently
hoped the sticks fell in and ruined their fake blonde hair. Then I wondered if
their tans would wash off. That would improve my mood.

I was just about to go back inside when I felt
two familiar arms wrap around me. I nearly dropped the paper plate in my hand
when his warm lips kissed along my neck. “Will you dance with me?” Parker
asked, his voice soft.

I tossed the plate in the garbage can beside us
then turned in his arms. His hands dropped to just above my hips, hanging
loosely around me.

I could practically taste him with how close he
was, but his lips just hovered above mine, waiting.

Giving in, I pressed my lips to his, carefully
leaning into his embrace.

Parker’s arms tightened around me before he
swayed to the beat of the bass thumping loudly in our ears. The song didn’t
last long before it changed, and Parker was once again pulled away by his
friends. This time I took comfort in knowing it was another guy, Russ Reynolds.
Apparently, Russ was another pro rider. I recognized him as an AMA Supercross
rider for Suzuki.

Parker seemed eager to talk to him but stayed
right beside me and even introduced me as his girlfriend. I wasn’t sure how to
respond, so I just simply smiled. Girlfriend sounded good to me.

The worst part was when Russ asked
me
some
questions. Questions I wasn’t prepared for.

“So, Rowan, keep an eye on him.” Russ smiled. “He
needs to be in one piece come November.”

“Oh, I’m sure I can do that,” I said, thinking I
was intelligent or something.

Parker’s chest shook with laughter beside me.
“She does just fine.”

I wasn’t looking at any one, but the silence was
pretty telling.
 
Instead of stopping
there, I continued to further embarrass myself. I wished like hell I could have
gotten a handle on myself at some point that night, but it never came. I felt
like a complete idiot, emotionally and then verbally when I said, “I’ve got
many talents.”

My face must have been bright red, and I was sure
the glowing in Parker’s eyes was just a reflection of my cheeks.

Thankfully, Parker laughed but it was nervous.
“That she does.” He winked at me as his arm tightened around my side. I was
waiting for Parker to whisper something in my ear like, “Hey, why don’t you go
inside and I’ll meet you in there.”

But he didn’t.

Russ laughed and looked at Parker again. “You two
have a good night.” He shook Parker’s hand. “Lonnie’s been asking about you, so
don’t be surprised if he calls.”

Parker only nodded, his eyes focused in the
distance towards the canyon which was lit up by the setting sun. I wanted to
ask who Lonnie was and why he’d been asking about Parker, but I didn’t.
Instead, a tall, gorgeous blonde caught my attention. And she had Parker’s
attention as well.

“Parker?” she called out in a voice I was sure
could have been used for a nine hundred number.

Parker sort of bowed his head with a smile before
looking up at her. “Kayla, wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Oh, it hasn’t been that long.” Kayla giggled,
stepping closer.

Awesome. Fucking awesome.

To my surprise, Parker’s arm stayed around me for
a moment until she leaned in to hug him. His arm dropped from my waist to
return the hug with both arms. I had to suppress the twinges of jealously from
overtaking me.

The more they talked about old times, the more I
hated her and the more I felt physically sick. Kayla knew him in ways I didn’t.
Turns out they had known each other since they were five and spent nearly every
day together growing up.

I ended up excusing myself within minutes of her
arrival. He never did introduce me, and that bothered me more than her sultry
porn voice and stick figure.

Even though she knew him, there was a side she
didn’t know. At least I hoped she didn’t know it. It was the gentle sweet side
I grew to know in Moab. The side I was sure he only let me see.

Around ten I rested next to
Addy
as we made fun of the other girls, which was always entertaining for us. She
felt the same way towards these girls but more towards Lucy since she was
Justin’s ex-girlfriend.

“Jesus...”
Addy
gestured towards Kayla with a nod of her head “...if her jeans were any
tighter, you could read her lips,”
Addy
said,
slurping her beer.

I giggled. She always had a way of making me
laugh when I didn’t want to.

Parker found me again after that, but I noticed
his slumped posture in my periphery. “You okay?” he asked.

I could sense his concern and smiled. “Yeah.”

Returning the smile, he was about to say
something when Dusty showed up. I still hadn’t figured out why he hated him so
much, just that he did.

I could see the twitch of Parker’s eye and the
tightening of his jaw when Dusty appeared next to us and smiled at me. “Hey,
Rowan...” his eyes raked down my body “…you look great.”

Parker stepped forward. “What are you doing
here?”

“I’ve always had a standing invitation at this
party.” Dusty appeared relaxed, staring intently back at Parker who wrapped his
arm around my shoulder. “I didn’t know things had changed.”

“I think you know
when
they changed,”
Parker challenged, his grip tightening around me.

“When was that? When you decided you were too
good for your friends down south?”

Justin got between the three of us along with
another guy, Colton Neely, who I had never met before but knew him as a GNCC
rider. “All right you two…simmer down.” Justin pushed against Parker’s chest as
Colton stood in front of Dusty. “Go take a walk or something.”

Parker looked right past Justin, his eyes
narrowing on Dusty. “You’re the reason I have nothing left down south.”

“Oh spare me your self-pity bullshit, Parker. You
just couldn’t cut it any longer.” He laughed. “Unless you want to prove it
now,” he hedged, gesturing to the track.

Oh great.

I peeked up at Parker, his expression dark and
intense. “Fine, let’s see what you’ve got,” he challenged, arching his eyebrow
at him.

Damn, he did have a mean streak.

“Oh please.” Dusty chuckled, throwing his head
back. “I’m not going to embarrass you in front of your girl.”

Parker’s face looked pissed. “Fuck you, Dusty.”

Justin pushed against him once more. “Stop it.”
He turned towards Dusty. “Leave or I’ll make you leave.”

Dusty wasn’t afraid of Parker, nor did I think he
was afraid of Justin, but he took his advice anyhow and left.

Standing near the fence with Justin, Parker
looked over at me as I kept a distance from their argument. His eyes were sharp
and intense before he averted his gaze to the ground. He seemed upset and maybe
even a little hurt that every time he tried to have a good time he was
interrupted.

I wasn’t sure if Parker wanted to prove something
to himself or whoever, but he and Justin got out their bikes along with Colton
and a couple other guys that showed up. They must have played around out there
for hours, jumping off rocks and flying through the air some thirty feet up,
just having a good time. That was when I realize it had nothing to do with
proving himself. That was just what relaxed Parker. He rode. The screaming and
rumbling of the bike filled the air along with the faint distinct aroma of the
racing gas they used. I too found the sight and sound relaxing.

Thinking of Parker
riding
was doing things
to my
pervy
side, especially the way he threw the
bike around and controlled its every movement. Nope, I was thinking of all the
riding I wanted to do later. Parker was serious when he said we should take it
slow, and we had other than that first night together. Since then, we hadn’t
done much but make out. Whenever things progressed, he pulled away.

When Parker was done on the bike, he rode over to
the rock on the other side of the condo where I was leaning, watching him.

His bike revved a few times before he shut it off
and pulled his helmet off, running his left hand through his hair once which
made it stand on end.

“Did you watch?” His eyes twinkled with
excitement.

“Of course I did.”

He leaned forward capturing my lips. I eagerly
sought out his, kissing along the salty curve of his lower lip. I was bold and
sucked on it softly before running my tongue across it. He deepened the kiss,
and I had no complaints.

Parker shifted his position forward on the bike
and let out a tiny moan into my mouth. That drove me forward. Literally
forward, and before I knew it, Parker picked me up and placed me on his bike
between him and the handle bars, my ass resting on his gas tank. I straddled
the gas tank. My legs found the foot pegs while his remained planted on the
ground to keep the bike from falling over.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck,
leaning as far forward as I could. Our kisses heated rapidly as they always
did. The heat from the day may have been fading, but the heat between us
wasn’t.

“I want you,” he whispered against my lips. His
hips pushed forward again. This time my legs slid over his hips, allowing him
to slip underneath me. In turn, I was now straddling him. My hands found the
back of his neck, slick with sweat. Warmth spread throughout me, sending a
tingling sensing of anticipation throughout my body. “Every time I got close to
you tonight, I thought about this…and you…and us.”