Parrish lifts his head up to look at me.
“For real. Also, you’ve met her. Would you willingly hang out with that woman?”
I guess he’s got a point.
We finish our food in silence before Parrish stands up from his stool.
“Goodnight, Gamer Girl.”
I watch his retreating form, trying and failing not to at least glance at his ass in the tight jeans he’s wearing. After a few minutes, I head up the small set of stairs that leads to the first floor.
“Hey,” I whisper, crouching down beside Ben. He’s sitting in an armchair in the living room reading a book. And not on an e-reader or an iPad or a phone, but like, an actual paper book. God, I love this kid. Give us some time and I might actually come to think of him as a brother. “Which room is Parrish’s?”
He points me in the right direction before diving right back into his book. His most frequent arguments with Tess and Paul often involve the phrase ‘just one more chapter!’ so I know we’re kindred spirits. I slip into the room and close the door behind me, putting my back to it and pausing to survey the room.
It’s fancy, much fancier than the one in the basement. There’s a king size bed, walls painted a charcoal gray, and an entire bookcase full of coffee table style art books. He’s even got an attached bathroom, a walk-in closet, and a huge window looking out at the manicured portion of the yard.
In short: it’s about a million times better than the one in the basement.
Uh-oh.
Parrish Vanguard … I hate him.
But also … I think I like him.
A lot.
Too much probably.
The next morning, we’re supposed to meet at the China Hat trailhead to go on an ATV tour. Not that it doesn’t sound like fun but doing anything with this family involves loads and loads of drama.
“I hate ATVs,” Kimber whines, the sound of her voice making my ears ring. Now that I’ve been here for a while, I can see why Parrish is always slumped in a corner with earbuds in, scrolling mindlessly on his phone. There’s a lot of in-between time, most of it spent arguing in tight, quiet voices or waiting for people to finish primping. Paul and Kimber are the worst offenders by far, checking and rechecking themselves in the house’s mirrors before deigning to join the rest of us outside.
“We’re spending time together as a family whether you like it or not,” Tess hisses, yanking open the driver’s side door of the SUV. She looks hungover and pissed off. Also, she still isn’t talking to me. I can’t decide if I’m happy about that or if it bothers the fuck out of me.
“She’ll get over it eventually,” Parrish tells me, and my cheeks—and yes, my boobs—flush red at the sound of his voice. I’m having a hard time looking at him right now. Seeing his room last night—more specifically, seeing what an awesome room he was giving up to keep me company—made me realize that fighting my feelings for him isn’t getting me anywhere. I may as well just be honest about it.
Only … not right this second.
“Get in the car, Kimber. Now.” Tess is growling at this point, slumped in the front seat of the SUV with a pair of designer sunglasses on her face. Her mouth is carved into a deep frown, and she’s very clearly avoiding having to talk directly to me.
Parrish finally drags himself off the bench at the end of the driveway, giving me a long, studying look as he passes by. It’s too much, that look. It makes his brown eyes blaze with gold, sharpens that bored apathy of his into something much more interesting.
Dangerous.
That’s what he looks like today, like someone I should stay far, far away from.
We resume our positions in the backseat, but the atmosphere is even tenser than it was yesterday.
As Paul and Tess argue in low tones up front and Kimber furiously taps out a message on her new phone, Parrish and I stare at each other.
“Can I sit by the window?” Ben asks Parrish, giving him this adorable little brother pout that makes me miss Maxine like crazy. Coming to the realization that I’m not just a little sister anymore, but also a big sister is a weird one. As a former baby sister, the shift in dynamic is staggering.
“No.” Parrish doesn’t fall for the adorable moue (likely since he’s been a big brother his whole life) and turns away, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Pear-Pear, please,” Ben whines, and I clamp a hand over my mouth to stifle a snort. That’s not the first time I’ve heard the nickname ‘Pear-Pear’, but it’s funny as hell anyway. “Pear-Pear, I threw up when we got here yesterday.”
With a snarl, Parrish yanks off his seatbelt and scoots closer to me. Since we’re both wearing shorts, our thighs end up touching again, and that hot flush returns to my cheeks and boobs. I end up staring down at the places our bare skin is touching like I need a fire extinguisher or something. Fuck, am I the only one who thinks it’s hot as hell in here?
“I told you not to fall in love with me,” Parrish murmurs in such a quiet voice that I know I’m the only one that can hear him. He sounds strained, half-ready to break. Maybe I’m not the only one with a problem here?
“Who says that I’m in love with you?” I whisper back, and he turns this anguished look on me that does all sorts of strange things to my body. My stomach twists into a knot, nausea overtakes me, and my heartbeat picks up speed so fast that I feel faint.
He ignores me as Tess backs out of the driveway, taking us back down the winding drive toward the main road. We hook a left and continue on for about fifteen minutes before reaching the trailhead.
And oh, what a fifteen minutes it is.
My bare thigh against Parrish’s bare thigh, Kimber’s overdramatic sighs, Amelia and Henry’s squabbling. Ben is the only person who isn’t annoying, digging into a middle grade novel called 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison.
Pure agony, is what that drive is. Fucking agony.
As soon as we pull into the dusty parking lot, Parrish is scrambling up and over Ben, throwing himself outside with the zeal of someone fleeing a fire. I wait for Ben to climb out and then join the Vanguard family as they assemble around a large toy hauler trailer. To the right of it are four Polaris ATVs and some rando white dude with a dark tan, a sunburned nose, and absurdly white teeth.
“Let me drive,” Parrish murmurs, getting way too close to me. He’s so close that Tess actually gives him a warning look, like she thinks he’s quietly insulting me rather than … whatever it is that he’s doing. “We should talk.”
I swallow hard, but what can I say to that? We most definitely need to have a conversation.
The guide gives us a rundown on safety features, rules, and how to drive the ATVs before handing out helmets and letting us pick our own rides. I’ve never done anything like this, but it looks fun. Or, it would be if Parrish and I weren’t doing … something. Crushing on each other? Lusting after each other? I have no idea.
He grabs the rearmost ATV and takes the driver’s seat, leaving me to climb into the passenger side. Tess takes Kimber and Amelia in the frontmost ATV while Paul, Ben, and Henry grab the middle one.
Once the vehicles are started, and we’re slowly rolling forward, following one another and letting the instructor lead us across the road and onto the trail, it’s nearly impossible to hear anything at all—even Parrish. At the very least, this gives us the privacy we need.