Page 78 of Someday You Learn

Hazel nods her head slowly. “Nice.”

I throw my free hand up in the air. “Nice? This is not nice! He came home from work, all pissed off about something, saying he needed to talk to me. I was busy and asked him to wait, but he wouldn’t. So we argued, and then the next thing I knew, he was fucking me on his workout bench.”

Hazel holds a hand up. “I know this may sound shocking given how invested I’ve been with this plan since the beginning, but I donotneed to know detailsaboutthe sex. Just knowing that it happened is enough information for me, all right?”

“What do I do, Hazel?”

She takes another sip of her coffee while she mulls it over. “What did he do afterward?”

I think back to how he acted, and I think that’s what has me so confused. One minute, he was whispering dirty things in my ear and contorting me into a human pretzel, and the next, he acted like nothing had happened. Shocker.

“He went right into the conversation he wanted to have before the sex.”

“And what was that about?”

“Seth is convinced that Parker and I aren’t a real couple, and he’s threatening to expose us.”

Hazel purses her lips. “Expose what?”

“That’s kind of how I feel, like what could he possibly find to prove that our story isn’t real, but still…Parker was freaked out about it.”

“And then after that? After you talked about Seth?”

“He walked inside, took a shower, and went to bed.”

Hazel face-palms herself. “God, my brother is an idiot.”

I wrap my arms around my body. “I don’t know what to do, Hazel. What if this was all a mistake? You said he would open up once we had sex, and—”

“I didn’t say that, the other girls did,” she corrects me. “But knowing Parker, he was just as up in his head as you are right now.”

“I feel like I’m trying to crack a freaking walnut with my bare hands,” I say, exasperated.

Hazel laughs. “Yeah, sounds about right. And as for Seth? That guy is a maggot that needs to be torched.”

I cringe. “Wow. That was a vivid image.”

“I’ve never liked him and, given how he’s reacting to your dad retiring, my gut was right on the money.”

“Parker said he’s never had a good feeling about him either. I wonder if my dad sees it.”

“You should definitely ask him the next time you see him.”

“We’re supposed to have lunch this week.”

Hazel nods. “Then do your due diligence and hold up your end of this bargain. Make sure that Seth has no chance of your father choosing him.”

“I will. Now, what do I do about Parker?”

She gestures for us to sit on the couch and as we do, I notice a sliver of ink on her forearm that wasn’t there before. “Wait. Did you get a tattoo?”

She looks down at her arm, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a hummingbird. “Not exactly.” Her cheeks turn pink, which makes me press further.

“Why are you blushing?”

She sighs dreamily. “Let’s fix your problem and then I’ll tell you about mine.”

“Okay…” I flick my eyes back and forth between her face and arm, but then Hazel pulls me back to the topic at hand.

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