Page 16 of Parker

“No.”

“Did you date her best friend? Or her sister?”

“No and no.”

“Did her brother forbid you from going near her?”

“Yes, but that wouldn’t stop me.”

“That’s hot,” she says, running her index finger down my arm. “I like a man who goes after what he wants, regardless of the consequences.”

Our food arrives, and since we only have ten more minutes to eat and get back to the ballroom, we tuck into it.

“I’m…stumped,” says Skylar, holding up her chopsticks between bites of raw tuna. “What’s the complication between you two?”

I scarf down the spicy shrimp, thinking that the seafood in Alaska is about a thousand times fresher and more delicious. The sushi I had in Juneau when I was crabbing beats this Vegas crap any day.

“She hates my guts.”

When I look up, Skylar’s staring at me with wide eyes. “Why?”

“She has her reasons.”

“Are they valid?”

I think about this for a second, about the person I’ve been to Parker Stewart for most of our lives. An annoying, pranking, teasing, omnipresent pest.

“I guess,” I mutter, swallowing a big bite of tasteless tuna roll.

“Fascinating,” says Skylar, leaning her elbow on the bar and cupping her cheek with her palm. “Well,Ilike you more and more, Quinn Morgan.”

I look over my shoulder to discover that Parker’s gone. She ate, paid and left, all without saying a word to me. Wow. I know we’re supposed to be strangers, but damn, that stings.

“At least someone does.” I say to Skylar, picking up the tab for lunch.

Chapter 3

Parker

I don’t care that Quinn had lunch with Skylar Jones.

I don’t care. I don’t care. Ireallydon’t care.

Staring at my face in the mirror and grateful for fancy hotel bathroom amenities like every stall having its own sink and mirror, I whisper the words aloud.

“I don’t care.”

Except I do.

And I can’t figure out why.

I don’t like Quinn, and he doesn’t like me, but the Joneses are not very nice people. When the ref’s back was turned, Skylar used to trip the girls on opposing soccer teams, and Hunter said that Rick Jones was an asshole of the highest order when they worked on that reality show last summer.

Leave it to Quinn to find a Jones and get cozy with her on his first day in Vegas. Part of me wants to tell him to steer clear of her, and the other part hopes he gets burned good.

I look into my own eyes and ask myself,Why do you care, Parker? Why?

Turning around, I cross my arms over my chest and lean my butt against the sink.

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