Page 106 of Mother Parker
“I’m starting to regret these lessons,” I told her when I got back to my feet.
“Why? Because you’re getting your ass kicked by a girl?” she asked, dusting her hands, laughing.
“No. Because you’re using them as an excuse to take out your frustrations on me,” I told her.
She wagged her brows but didn’t confirm nor deny. Which was just as good as a yes in my book.
“Break?” she asked.
I nodded, walked over to Ash’s kitchen, and took out two bottles of water, passing one to Autumn.
I took a moment to look around as I drank. Ash hadn’t gotten very far with the bay window. I knew I said I’d help him, but I couldn’t leave Hwan alone, not after the last few days. I just hoped we found those assholes soon so we could go back to normal.
Or whatever normal was around this island. It seemed all I’d gotten so far was crime and a sexual awakening. I was looking forward to what “normal” could look like with Hwan in my life.
“How’s Hwan?” she asked.
“Pissed,” I said.
“Can’t say I blame him. He’s wanted that shop for so long. I can’t even imagine what I’d do if someone sabotaged my dream like that. I still can’t believe that jerk came back and threatened him.”
“Well, at least we got his face on the CCTV,” I said.
“Yup. I’m going to go out first thing tomorrow morning and see if I can find out who he is,” she said.
I narrowed my eyes but didn’t say anything.
Another downside to teaching self-defense was how much cockier she was getting. I’d been trying to protect her from harm, and she was even more willing to throw herself into danger.
But like Ash had said, she wasn’t alone.Weweren’t alone. We all had each other. Our numbers may not be large, but we were enough. We had to be.
“Just be careful,” I said.
She rolled her eyes and put her bottle on the island.
“Of course. It’s not like I’ll go up to random people and ask them if they know who he is. I’m going to business owners who know me, and I know them. Besides, I’ll only tell them he dropped something in the shop, and we’re trying to find him to give it back to him.”
“Tell them it’s his ring. People are less likely to question it.”
She nodded.
“So, other than those scumbags, how are things? How’s it going between you two?”
I shrugged and walked back to the center of the living room, but Autumn didn’t follow me.
“Parker?”
“It’s good,” I replied.
“Just good? I thought he made you feel like never before, and we’ve already gone down to just good again?”
I huffed and fell back on the couch with a thud.
“You know I don’t like to talk about these things,” I said, although something niggled in the back of my head. I was afraid to vocalize it out of fear it might come true.
“I didn’t see you have a problem two weeks ago? When you kissed him. What happened to that chatterbox?”
I gave her a dirty look, but I knew she was right.
