“Jesus. That burned my nose clear off. What the heck is it?” I cough, turning the cap on quickly.
“Mama calls it Night Rescue. It’s her version of sleeping pills, but you don’t wake up with a hangover. Try it, Lil.”
He says it so earnestly and with so much concern—well, as much concern as a fry cook with problems and a life of his own can—that I just nod and promise to take at least one swig.
If I die of liver disease from one mouthful, all the better. At least I’ll go with a smile on my face.
Chapter Twenty Eight
The ring of the phone greets me the minute I walk through the door, and I pause for five breaths, my booze and burger balanced precariously before I snatch it up, the only sound I make that of a slight stutter in my breath.
If it’s Parker, well, he knows the drill. He speaks first or I end the call and start running. This is only one of the safety precautions we’d agreed to since I’d booked it out of New York.
I’d had to remember, mostly because Parker won’t let me forget, that it’s not just Beau and Vincent I’m hiding from. Eric Brennan is still out there somewhere, and if what he’d said that night is still true, the man will kill me deader than dead if he ever gets his crazy paws on me.
“It’s me, Sis. Just calling to let you know that I’ll be out of the country next week. Business that can’t be avoided. If I don’t call, don’t worry.”
“Crap, Park, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, babe. I’m in the middle of something right now. Just wanted to let you know everything’s still fine. Blake gave me another call today and got real nasty about my continued silence. That man’s going batshit crazy the longer it takes to find you,” he said for the hundredth time, making me aware of his stance on my defection.
Parker doesn’t agree with the whole running away thing, had in fact threatened to tell Vincent my plans till I’d started crying so hard I’d almost puked.
Now it’s a struggled to convince him that I’m fine and that no matter what my parents said—or Vincent—I am better off here. At least for the time being, till I get my head on straight and my emotions under control.
Obviously, I need a band aid for my heart, because time’s doing nothing for me in the heartbreak department.
“Sissy, you still there?”
“Yeah. Just wondering when you’re gonna start lecturing me about my choices and threatening to call Vincent,” I say tiredly, unwrapping my burger even though my appetite’s gone to shit.
I hear his customary sigh of irritation, and then he surprises me by changing the subject. Obviously he’s just as tired of this as I am.
“Jules has agreed to give me a second chance,” he says, and I hear the total joy in his voice.
It’s no secret that he’s more than head over heels for the woman—nope, he’s so obsessed it’s a wonder he can get any work done for thinking of ways to be with her.
“I thought you were already…?”
“Nah. That was just sex. She was using me as a booty call. It got to the point that I called her yesterday and called it quits, you know, wanted to save myself further pain before…” He laughs humorlessly and I swallow, wincing when the chunk of half-chewed meat and bread sticks in my throat.
“That must have been really hard.”
“Yeah. I just about fell apart before making that call, but she surprised me. Turns out she was just testing the waters before committing to us, and…I love her, Sis, like really love her. If she doesn’t feel the same…”
“Of course she does. Who wouldn’t, Park? You’re a freaking catch. I’m seriously regretting turning you down before,” I joke, only half serious.
“So you’re okay?” he asks, changing the subject again, something that bothers me, as it’s just not his style.
Usually he can chew a subject to death before losing enough steam that I can get a word in edgewise. Now, though, he just sounds tired.
“I’m fine. Tired, but fine. Listen, Parker, if this cloak and dagger stuff is too much for you, I’ll understand. Bee and Justin are an item now, and you’re family…I’ll understand if you don’t want to be in the middle of this.”
Yeah, I’ll understand all right, I think miserably, feeling my stomach knot. Parker is all I have left of my old life, and the thought of losing him makes me feel wretched.
The burger looks like a pile of smashed beef by the time he answers, and I walk over to the trash before washing my hand at the sink.
“No, Sis. You and me, babe. You’re my best friend, as pathetic as it sounds, and I won’t abandon you. Just promise me you’ll think about calling your mom. She deserves better than this.”