Page 64 of The Proximity Factor

Would things work out for Lanie and me?

I STARED OUT PETE AND Anna’s window into their backyard Saturday afternoon. The Ultimate Frisbee league had ended its season today, and to celebrate, we had a barbecue. After we’d eaten and cleaned up, the guys took the kiddos out to play. Smiling, I watched Parker toss a Frisbee to Rhett while holding Jessalyn, who had been obsessed with him today. I got the appeal—a smiling and happy Parker was devastating. I was still waiting for the owning-the-universes smile, but there was hope it would come.

Javon and Pete chased after the rest of the kids while Ethan drank a beer on the deck.

Anna and Brynn sidled up to me, all smiles.

Brynn’s belly was burgeoning now. I rubbed my own, wishing I knew how that felt.

“All I have to say is, we knew you and Parker would end up together,” Anna sang.

“You’re good for him,” Brynn added.

“I hope so.”

“We know so,” Anna confirmed.

“We’ve known Parker for a long time, and he’s never been this happy. You can take our word for it,” Brynn assured me.

I wrapped my arms around them both. Their words meant the world to me. “I’m so glad I butted myself right into his life so I could meet you two.”

They laughed and squeezed me back before letting me go.

“We’re still on for Labor Day weekend, right?” All the couples, including Val and Daniel, were planning a trip to tour the waterfalls in my neck of the woods, followed by a wine tasting—for those of us not pregnant—and dinner at La Vina, where Val would impress us all with her skills. It was so wonderful and weird how we’d all become friends.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Anna commented.

Brynn looked down at her belly. “As long as this little one sticks to his due date, we’re in.”

“Great.”

Parker walked in, hot and sweaty, in athletic shorts and a snug tee that contoured him perfectly. This urge to rip it off him came over me. Whoa there, Nelly, I had to tell myself. He carried sleepy Jessalyn, who was rubbing her eyes. Seriously, he was so sexy with a toddler in his arms. It only made the urge stronger.

“I think this one wants a nap.” Parker handed Jessalyn off to Anna. “And we should probably get going,” he said to me.

We had that long questionnaire to do. Or at least I did. We couldn’t talk about it, but I assumed Parker did too, just by the way he acted. I was still nervous about said questionnaire, but I wasn’t really sure why. Maybe because it was the last one, another reminder that this thing was coming to an end.

“It’s probably a good idea,” I responded.

So we said our goodbyes and walked hand in hand out the door into the gray, overcast day that offered a bit of relief from the overwhelming late-summer sun. Parker’s spicy scent, mixed with perspiration, wasn’t bad at all. If anything, it was more of a turn-on. The pheromones were strong with that one.

“You’re going to join the league next year, right?” I asked as we descended the porch steps.

He held up my hand and kissed it. “We’ll see.”

“You need to promise me, right here and right now, that you will. You said yourself you would love to join again if you were in a position to. Now you are.”

He stopped and pressed his lips together, giving me that look I’d come to know as his how-can-someone-be-so-charming-and-annoying-at-the-same-time look. “Okay,” he conceded. “But you have to promise to make me posters.”

I grabbed his sweat-dampened tee and pulled him right to my lips, so freaking giddy he thought we would be together next year. “Deal.” My lips smacked into his.

He barely had to press against mine before he owned all my senses, and even some I didn’t know I had. How did he do that?

Not wanting to give Anna and Pete’s neighbors a show, we kept the kiss short and sweet, but it still packed a punch. I felt a little woozy walking to the car.

Parker saw me to the passenger-side door of his Porsche and opened it for me. Every time I looked at the car, I saw so much more than metal on wheels. I thought about how I’d once held the key and title to it. They represented hopes and dreams that together we’d made come true. I would never forget that, nor how relieved Parker was to pay off my credit card. The way he held me when I handed back the title and key—it expressed everything he wanted to say but couldn’t.

Now it was time for new hopes and dreams. Long-lasting ones.

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