JOLIE
“Alright, you stay here and I’m going to go grab the bags and bring them up.”
“Oh my gosh, Parker, I am fine walking up the stairs myself.”
“Yeah, whatever stay here I’ll be right back.”
I can’t help but let out a little laugh at his antics. Parker hasn’t left me alone since he found out I was in the hospital. It is endearing, I’m not sure I’ve ever had anybody care about me so much. He only left to run to his place to pack a bag and stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things.
After dropping my bags off at the apartment, he runs back down the stairs and holds out his arm, “Okay, take my arm and let’s take the stairs one at a time. Just be careful.”
“I’m not going to go any faster than my body allows me, don’t worry.”
“Stop telling me not to worry. I told you that I’m literally going to worry always about you so telling me not to worry is dumb and pointless.”
I loop my arm in his and we take the steps one by one. For the most part, it was fine, but towards the final flight of stairs, I could tell that I was getting a little dizzy. “Hey, you okay?” Parker noticed the slightest change in my demeanor and stopped.
“Just,” I cradled my head in my free arm, “I just need to take a small break.” He put the bags down on the step and then helped me sit down on the stairs. Parker put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Parker.”
“I’m doing what anybody in my position would do.”
“I think you’d be a little surprised.”
“What? You’ve never had a boyfriend that spoiled the shit out of you?”
“I’m not too sure I’ve ever really had a boyfriend, to be honest.”
“I find that kind of hard to believe.”
“I wasn’t really the settle-down gal back in Boulder. The closest thing I had to a relationship was this one guy that was more of a friend with benefits than a boyfriend, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that.”
“You mean you weren’t a virgin when we met?” He gasps. “How dare you not save yourself for me!”
I try not to laugh because my ribs still hurt, but he’s so sweet for trying to cheer me up. “Oh shut up. I’ve had to bear witness to the Parker Fan Club on more than one occasion.”
“The Parker Fan Club? Aren’t you the president of that?”
I laugh a bit louder this time, “Hardly! I’m talking about those crazy blondes that always hang out in the corner of the bar and flirt with you and Cade.”
“Oh, the E girls.”
“The E girls?”
“Brandy, Kaylee, and Chloe…the E girls.”
“You gave them a name?” I exclaim.
“What?” he shrugs, “You did too! Plus, I didn’t name them, Cade did. They’ve been coming in since they all turned 21.”
“Have you slept with any of them?”
“Jesus Christ, Red!” He winces at the question.
“What? I’m not going to judge you. Well unless it was within the last two weeks then fuck them. When I feel better I’m going to beat the shit out of them.”
“Green doesn’t look good on you baby.” He leans over and kisses my cheek. “Okay, I’m lying, green looks fucking great on you, but jealousy, not so much.”
“Just tell me. Come on, I told you about my situation.”
“How about we try to rest of the stairs and then I will tell you about all my sexual escapades.”
“I don’t want to know about them ALL! Would you stop deflecting?”
“I’m not deflecting. And I’m glad you only want to know about those girls because otherwise, we’d be here for weeks.”
I nudge him in the ribs and he doubles over a bit. I didn’t hit him that hard, but he humors me nonetheless. Parker gives me a sly little grin and then puts his hand out for me to take. I cringe when I stand, the pain shooting through my ribs once again, but soon we are back on our adventure to my apartment. We make it the rest of the way up the stairs and into my apartment. I get settled in on the couch and Parker brings over a bottle of water and some Tylenol for me.
“I can’t believe they only gave you Tylenol and Ibuprofen.”
“It’s okay, really. It is all I need.”
“You sure? Because I sprained my ankle once and they sent me home with Oxycodone. Seems like something like bruised ribs and head wounds that they’d give you something stronger.”
“It really is fine, can we just drop it?” I don’t want to piss him off, but I’d like for him to just let me be. I hate that he’s pushing so much.
“Yeah, sorry, didn’t realize it was something that bad. I just want to make sure that you’re not in any pain.”
“I have a pretty high pain threshold. I mean I probably don’t even need this Tylenol, but I’ll take it since you were so nice to bring it over here.”
He smiles at me, but something tells me that he doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t push any further. The truth is that I’m in a shit ton of pain and the stuff they gave me isn’t doing anything, but since oxy was one of the earlier things that ended up getting me addicted to the high, I can’t afford to take anything additive for pain.
“Damon is going to bring something from the bar for dinner. I told him you probably didn’t want a lot of visitors, so he won’t be here for long. Plus he’s covering for me tonight.”
“Fuck, who is taking care of the bar tonight? Toni didn’t go into work, did she?”
“Fletch is on it,” Parker tried to reassure me.
“He wasn’t supposed to be back to work until Monday! Dammit, you guys are always...like…”
“Helping out where we can because you’re practically family and we take care of our family?”
“I’m sorry, Parker,” I sigh. “I’m really bad at this.”
“What? I haven’t noticed!”
“Shut up, I’m serious. I know you’ve noticed. I know I’ve said some things, but I don’t think you really get it. I never had this. And I don’t mean you. I mean your parents, your brothers, Eden, Toni...all of it. I had one person that always had my back, but even that bridge is pretty burned at this moment.”
“Tell me about it,” he insists.
“Tell you about it?”
“I know you’re holding back from me, Red, and I’m not mad, but I want you to trust me and know that you can tell me things. I really like you and I’ve spent the last year trying to dig away at this big ass wall that you have built up around you, but you just keep fixing every crack I seem to be able to make.”
I want to open up and tell him everything, but I can’t, I just need these walls for comfort. When I don’t respond, he keeps going. “I don’t know what kind of asshole people you’ve had in your life that you didn’t think you could be honest with, but I’m not that person. I won’t tell anybody, it’ll just be between us. I just want to know what makes Jolie, Jolie because I really REALLY like you, and I just want to know you.”
“You have to understand that the things I might tell you may be too much for you to handle. I’m afraid of losing you, Parker. I’m afraid of everybody looking at me differently and treating me like glass. I can’t have that.”
“I swear to you that won’t happen. I swear.”
I want to believe him, but it is just a promise I’m not sure he can actually keep.
YOU ARE READING
When the Music Stops (Mason Brothers Book #2)
RomanceJolie Rollins had everything she needed growing up to live a life of privilege and luxury, but instead, her life was nothing but one traumatic event after another. She was given the perfect opportunity to move away from her old life and start a new...
