Page 45 of Matched By My Rival
Where are you? You know what, never mind. Just get your ass over here and start painting.
I got a response almost immediately. Had Parker been waiting for my message? My heart flipped, and I pushed down hard on the pleasure that tried to flood through me. I didnotcare if Parker wanted to talk to me.
Aw, miss me? Sorry, I had another engagement.
Wow, and to think I felt special.
My heart pounded while I waited for his response, my pulse echoing in my ears as I stood frozen on the platform, eyes fixed on my phone screen.
I hated that Parker held me captive like this, but I hated the idea of him hooking up with someone else even more. What the fuck? Our hookup wasn’t even cold. Then again, it’d been a week. Maybe that was old news for a guy like Parker. He obviously got around, and why wouldn’t he? He was sexy, and…shit. When had I started thinking of him in terms of his sex appeal?
Probably about the time he sucked your dick.
Before I could beat myself up any further for my obsession with a guy I didn’t even like, he answered.
It’s a family thing. You’re the only guy on my radar right now.
He added:But I kind of thought you didn’t want to be on my radar anymore?
I don’t,I answered quickly.Just need a hand at the work site.
I just bet you do,he typed, following it up with a winky emoticon,then an emoji of a hand and one of an eggplant.
It wasn’t until later that I realized what he was saying. And when I did, my cock got hard, just like he knew it would.
Fucking hell, Parker Reed must have broken me. Because I couldn’t muster up even one angry thought that night as I reached into my pants and stroked my cock while replaying our frantic hookup in the back room of Tracks.
14
PARKER
Istood outside Tracks once more, pulse quickening.
This wasn’t the plan. Once Simon messaged me back on the app, I’d tried to play it cool. For the past six days, we’d been regaining our footing, with jokes and memes and shooting the shit about our day.
Neither of us brought up our hookup. Or any plans to hook up again. We’d avoided sexting. Hell, we’d avoidedflirtybanter.
It was like starting over, which wasn’t a bad thing necessarily. A clean slate and all that.
But tonight I’d gone out with a few of the guys on the team. I’d hit a few parties, drank a few beers. Gotten hit on by two girls, one guy, and a gorgeous person who might have been nonbinary—and felt zero flickers of interest for any of them.
Because Simon Prentiss wouldn’t leave my mind.
The strength of him, when he shoved me into those boxes and kissed me the first time. The taste of him as he pushed into my mouth. But most of all, the look in his eyes. The death glare turning to intense focus, dark eyes made darker by desire. The twist of pleasure as he bared his teeth and came.
I couldn’t forget. Couldn’t give up.
With a few beers in me, I had just enough courage to tempt fate by showing up at the scene of the crime.
I pushed inside, pausing to let my eyes adjust to the gloom. It was early enough tonight that the liquor was still flowing. I flashed my ID to a bouncer and continued to the bar, ears already ringing from the high-volume band onstage. They were playing something upbeat with a bass that vibrated through the floor, into my feet, and up my body.
The crowd was a lively one, dancing to the music, but I only had eyes for the bartender.
Simon moved quickly, snagging liquor bottles and mixers, upending them over shot glasses, and sliding drinks across the bar to the thirsty crowd. He looked like a pro, barely pausing to think as he moved from one drink, to the next, to the next.
Until it was my turn.
Then he froze. “What are you doing here? I’m working.”
