Page 25 of Mother Parker
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m a grump. Move on!”
We turned onto Main Street and walked to the end, where the pier started.
We stopped in front of a gray house on stilts. It had two floors, and the first floor had a small patio outside with pink and white tables and chairs. A big sign outside readBubble Bubble: Bubble Tea and Beverage Shop. Below it was the front door fixed up with plywood until the new glass panels were ready to be fitted.
“Well, that’s…bright,” I said when the word I wanted to use was different.
I was sure Autumn wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Wait ‘til you meet Hwan,” she said.
We walked in, and a bell rang over the door.
As we came to stand at the counter, a very familiar face appeared from a back door, and my whole body froze.
“Crow-boy,” I mumbled.
He seemed to freeze too.
The pink hair framed his small face like he was an anime character. His eyes were wide and his lips seemed to shine a little, but that could have been my imagination.
He was wearing a white T-shirt with a heart pattern and a pink apron over it with the shop’s logo.
“Mr. Dorothy!” he said.
Mr.…what?
SIX
HWAN
As if Mr. Dorothy just walked into my shop!
And as if I couldn’t even move my head or my feet staring at the hunk of a man, the chiseled perfection of a specimen that had been haunting me all day and night since the fated crow incident two days ago.
“Hwan, this is my brother, Parker. Don’t let that face fool you. He’s super excited to work for you and keep you safe. He may not show it, but trust me, deep down, he is. Like deep,deepdown,” Autumn said, but I barely turned to her as I continued to admire the man.
Parker.
That was quite the name, fitting to a guy like him.
I could even imagine shouting the name, out of breath, with him deep inside me, urging him to come and make me unravel.
My insides pulsed with the need, which shot straight to my groin.
It’d be a good name to shout.
A good name to whisper in the morning before he kissed my lips and brought me breakfast in bed.
“Hwan?” Autumn said, and I remembered I had company.
How could I forget?
Shit, I needed to get a grip. The last thing I should be doing was fantasizing about the man in front of me while in his company. And his sister’s.
Thank the heavens for my apron, or I wasn’t so sure I could hide my erection even if I stood behind the counter.
Besides, there was no point imagining anything with the guy. He was clearly straight, and even if he wasn’t, he didn’t look like the hopeless romantic type.
