Page 123 of Mother Parker
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” I asked and pulled him into my arms.
He fit into me like a missing puzzle piece, like he’d been molded just for me. And at the moment, I didn’t care if he wanted me back, I just…
I just needed to hold him and take comfort in his safety.
“I’m fine. They didn’t touch me. Don’t worry. But the café…” He looked behind him, and tears coated his eyes. “Are you okay? What happened? Why do you have stitches?”
He pushed himself off me and touched my shoulders delicately as if afraid he would hurt me.
“That doesn’t matter right now. Hwan…”
I hooked a finger under his chin and looked into his sad brown eyes, forcing myself to breathe.
I hated this. Seeing him so broken, so stricken, and unable to do anything about it.
“I’m sorry for what happened ear—I was going too fast, and I didn’t give you a chance or warni—” I started.
Hwan stood on his toes and closed the distance between our lips, hooking his hands over the back of my neck.
And with that, everything else dissolved around me. It didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was Hwan. All that would ever matter was Hwan. Only Hwan.
I tugged at the small of his back and felt my adrenaline crashing now that it was all over and I had him in my arms.
He pulled away, touched his forehead to mine, and looked into my eyes with a needy breathlessness.
“I’m sorry, Parker. I-I love you too,” he said and kissed me again.
He…he said he loved me. Did he mean it? Or did he just say it because of what had just happened?
At the moment, I didn’t care.
All that mattered was that he was here, and he was okay.
TWENTY-SIX
HWAN
“Oh no,” I heard behind me, and I pulled away from Parker’s tight embrace, immediately feeling its absence like a gut punch.
We turned, and I saw Autumn on the floor, hand floating over one of the crows writhing in pain as she tried to spread one of her wings.
“Sophia!” I shouted and dropped beside her, taking her in my arms. “Oh no, Sophia. What did that brute do to you?”
Sirens filled the air, and people gathered around, watching the mess on the pier. The mess in front of my shop.
And here I’d pushed Parker away for fear he would take my dream away from me. But those assholes had done a pretty good job of it.
I was so stupid. So fucking stupid.
A fire truck stopped outside the shop, and the firefighters put the fire out. Thankfully it hadn’t progressed much and was out in seconds. Still, there was enough damage to put me in tears, but I couldn’t think about that now.
Not when both Sophia and Parker had gotten hurt trying to protect me.
“Parker, your stitches,” Autumn said.
“Yeah, I know,” he told her, and I looked around.
The three men that had set my shop on fire were all in the back of police cars. Maddox was talking to an older man in uniform while another officer was putting tape around the scene.
