Page 29 of Taming Waves

He reaches over and covers the hand that has been tapping incessantly against my leg, stilling it. Then, he wraps his fingers around mine and brings my hand to his mouth.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

I gasp as he gently turns my hand over so his lips feather over the pulse point on my wrist.

“Relax,” he murmurs against my skin.

It’s something he used to do whenever I was anxious or scared.

I tug my hand loose from his grip.

“Stop it,” I say as I scoot as close to the door as possible.

“You used to like that. It would calm you.”

“I don’t like it anymore, and I don’t like you,” I bite out.

“That’s a shame because I never stopped—”

My head snaps to him. “Don’t. Don’t you dare say you never stopped loving me.”

“Okay, I won’t say it.”

“Fuck you, Parker. You left. You left, and you never looked back,” I hiss, anger overriding my nerves.

“I never looked forward,” he states.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

His eyes slide to me, and I notice the sadness behind them.

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“Well, I did. I had no choice but to move forward, and I have no desire to backtrack or reminisce.”

“Fine,” he says.

“Fine?”

“Yep. Fine. I’ll be out of your hair in December.”

“But …” I know there is one. I feel it in my gut.

“But, until then, we call a truce. You’re right; I don’t know you anymore, but I want to.”

“We can’t be friends, Parker.”

“We can for the next three months.”

“What would that look like, huh? Are we going to sit around and braid each other’s hair while we talk about boys?” I question.

He shrugs. “What do you do with your other friends?”

“I do nothing but work and sleep. Occasionally, I manage to go for a run and grab coffee with Heather, and on rare occasions, I have a night of turtle nest watching.”

“How about we start with coffee? I haven’t run in a long time, and I can think of much more pleasurable ways to get cardio in.”

“See, there you go. Friends don’t talk to each other like that,” I snap.

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