Page 67 of Someday You Learn

“Have you taken your shirt off yet?” Hazel asks.

My cheeks heat. “No…”

“There’s a reason why sex sells, Cashlynn. I’m telling you…show him some freaking skin.”

“You are strangely invested in Parker’s love life,” Astrid says, reappearing with a plate of raspberry scones.

“It’s not just that, okay? Tormenting my brothers is entertaining as fuck, for one,” Hazel says, holding up a finger. The rest of us laugh. “But two,” she continues, sadness filling her eyes now. “I want my brother back.”

Astrid nods in agreement. “I get it. He just hasn’t been the same since Sasha.”

“Has he opened up to you about that yet?” Willow asks me.

“No, and I haven’t pushed him.”

Hazel shakes her head. “And now’s not the time for that. First, get him to admit that he wants you. Then maybe you can get him to talk to you about his feelings.”

“There’s definitely something between us. The things he says, the way he touches me in front of other people—like he can’t help himself.”

Hazel leans forward and places her hand on top of mine. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I can tell that you care about him.”

My heart is hammering so hard that I can hear it in my ears. “I do. More than I probably should.”

“All I’ve ever wanted for my brother is to find someone who understands how incredible he is. Parker is one of a kind, genuine and smart. He treated his first girlfriend in high school like a fucking prize, and I knew I could only hope to find a man that treated me like that one day. But Sasha…” Her jaw tightens. “She didn’t appreciate him. He was still the same man, though, bending over backwards to make her life incredible. She burned him—scarred him so deep that it’s almost as if a part of his heart died along with the loss of her.”

My heart aches at the weight of her words. “I wish he would tell me everything.”

“He will, once you get that pent up frustration out.” Hazel winks and Willow nods in agreement. “But since you’ve been here, I’ve seen glimpses of the old him, so as disturbing as it is to say… You need to fuck my brother, and fuck him good.”

I choke on my coffee, coughing as Willow cackles. “Yeah. Thatwasdisturbing coming from you.”

Willow shakes her head, still laughing. “Okay, now that we’ve established Cashlynn’s mission to fuck Parker’s brains out, can we get to our business meeting?”

Hazel stands from her chair. “Yup. I’ll leave you to it. I have a long day of editing to get through, and I need a raspberry cheesecake cupcake to reward myself with.” She waves her fingers at us as she walks away. “Have fun you two. And don’t forget, Cashlynn—strategic nudity.”

Once she’s out of earshot, I lean in toward Willow. “That was a little weird, right?”

She shrugs. “Yes, but she’s not wrong. It sounds to me like the only thing standing between you and Parker’s feelings might just be your clothes.”

Chapter twelve

Parker

“Fuck.” I push the barbell back up far enough to rack it, blowing out a breath. Challenging myself with heavier weight today was my game plan going in, but everything feels really fucking heavy this morning.

The elephant sitting on my chest isn’t helping either.

It’s been an entire month now that Cashlynn has been living with me, and with time, I was hoping it would get easier to be around her. But it’s only gotten harder to ignore how she makes me feel.

When I get home from work, I genuinely look forward to our conversations about our days. She fills me in on her progress with the gallery, and I tell her about my patients—and the daily battle not to level Seth out in front of everyone at the practice.

“How early do you get up to work out every day?”

I twist my head to the doorway and stop cold. Cashlynn’s standing there, her hair thrown into a messy bun and her body poured into black spandex—the smallest fucking pieces of spandex that must exist in the world.

Holy shit. She might as well be wearing a bikini.

I gulp down the knot in my throat. “Five.”

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