Basketball is Not Life

Chapter Five

The following day Parker was up by six and outside again. A scratching was at my door; I opened it to find my new buddy Spartan. He was by far my favorite perk of living in the house. He walks into my room, sniffs some of my items, and then jumps up onto my bed. For having short little legs, I am surprised he can make the jump. He looks at me with eyes saying, come pet me. I climb back into bed and fall asleep next to him.

There is a knock on my door, and I am brought too. I yell out, "Come in."

Parker is standing in my doorway, shirtless as usual. "Have you seen..." Spartan's head pops up from the other side of me. He is looking at his master, his tongue hanging down. "I was going to ask if you had seen my traitor of a dog, but apparently, I have found him."

I sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "I am sorry, he came in, and I fell back to sleep." Parker is staring at me; I pat my hair down, wondering how bad my bed hair is.

"You don't need to be sorry. You can keep him for a bit." He closes my door, making me feel like a bum for still being in bed.

"You are a traitor of a dog," I said to Spartan, petting his head.

I was in the kitchen preparing lunch when Parker walked in from the garage. I didn't hear him leave this morning, but evidently, he really did attend church on Sunday. Parker had on khaki pants and a blue button-up shirt; he unbuttoned the second top button when he walked into the kitchen. If it was possible, he looked better in church clothes than shirtless.

I was on the phone with my mom, reassuring her I was fine that she couldn't come as soon as she had hoped. "Mom, I get it." I was rolling my eyes at her. "It is hectic for me too. With school and everything else. You can just come when everything calms down."

She went into one of her tangents, and for some reason, Parker felt that he should stop and listen to my conversation. Standing between the stairs and the kitchen.

"Yes, Mom," I sigh, "I will let my roommate know when I am out for a run. She is really nice. The best." I stick my tongue out at Parker, who is smirking at me with his arms crossed, keys dangling out of his right hand. "Ok, Mom. Yup. That is the timer. I have to go now. Love you too. Yup. I'll call you after classes."

"What is your plan when they come to visit, and it is me? Your male roommate?" Parker was very coy.

"Oh, I'll just be halfway to Canada by that point." He laughed at my response. But I had already planned on asking his sister to come for the weekend and to see if Parker could not be around at all.

"And I really doubt they will visit." I wish I hadn't added this part.

"Why?"

"They are both really busy. I get it. And...." I trail off.

"And..." He prompts me to finish my thought.

"It's nothing. Do you want some of this?" I asked, changing the topic; I had made chicken tacos with fresh salsa and had made way too much. And part of me was still trying to make up for how big of a brat I was to him the day before. But wanting to keep the boundaries we had made. He makes two tacos and takes a heaping helping of Spanish rice. I had gone to the store while he was at church.

"Shouldn't I have been the one to make lunch? Remember the whole bet thing."

I take a bite of my taco, sitting on the countertop crossed legged, eating it. It was harder for Spartan to scratch my legs if I was up here. "True. But I was hungry and made too much food." was the best reply I had.

"What do I get if I win this bet?" He asked seriously.

"Nothing..." I hesitate. "I mean, you get the right to know you are like any other college student out there."

"But I don't want to be any other college student. I want to be Parker Baer."

My eyebrows raise. "Typical response."

"Are you saying you would rather be someone other than Renee Renner?" He kind of had a point; my life wasn't terrible.

"Taylor Swift?"

"Typical girl," he rolled his eyes at me. "If I win... You have to go to all of my games."

"Easy," I said. There was no way I would have to even go to his home games, let alone all of them.

"And if you lose, you cannot go on a date all of the basketball season." It was the first thing that had popped into my head.

"Easy" His eyes had a wicked look in them; I looked down at the remainder of my chicken taco, no longer wanting to make eye contact; my cheeks felt the heat rising in them. "How did you learn how to cook like this?" He asked as he shoveled another piece into his mouth.

"It is just chicken tacos" I shrug my shoulders at him like it is no big deal.

"It seems pretty fancy for someone just out of high school." I roll my eyes and try to not shudder when I think about what meals he will be making himself for a month.

"So, you know I am a freshman?" I asked him, wondering how much Melissa had told him about me.

"I know a few things" How he said it has my heart beating quicker.

"Like what?" I asked, my cheeks now flushed.

"Renee Renner," Clearing his throat after taking a bite. "Freshman, undecided for her major, typical of a freshman." He paused, trying to think of more than the same wicked grin coming across his face. "And she loves athletes."

I laughed, sliding my rice around on my plate.

"See, this is not so bad." Parker's eyes are on mine.

"What isn't?"

"Being my friend." He had already finished his food, watching as I finished mine, making me feel self-conscious.

"We" I pointed my fork with a piece of rice stuck in it at him. "Are not friends."

He stands washing his plate and fork in the sink and then places them into the dishwasher. He turns to walk out of the kitchen and looks back at me. "I'll win you over; I always win." He winks at me before he leaves the kitchen heading upstairs to his room.

His cockiness is what drove me crazy about players like him and Ryan. They were all the same.