Redeem Me (Kin #6)(6)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I wasn’t trying to make myself seem pathetic. God knows I’ve lived a very comfortable life. My family was prosperous and I’ve never wanted for anything. Well, not until I fell in love with Parker Hutchinson. Once I knew what that felt like everything changed. I went from thinking I had it all, to realizing that I never had what I really needed.

I knew we were still young, and that life could throw us curveballs at any moment, but in my heart I felt like Parker was the one. I felt like there was no other man that I wanted to be with.

Jamey and Peyton were a cute couple to me. Sure, they argued from time to time about stupid stuff, but they never went to bed angry. I’d like to think that Parker and I lived by that same code. With him being on edge, I kept quiet when we pulled into the driveway behind his sister’s car.

When it came to his family, and the plans they made, Parker always kept me out of the loop. I went wherever he took us, and was always on my best behavior. For the most part I think they all liked me. I used manners, and did my best to help out with whatever they were doing. That included clearing a table or doing the dishes.

Instead of getting right out of the car he sat there, pressing his head into the steering wheel. “I’m not ready to go inside yet.”

“I wish you’d tell me why, Parker. I love you. I wouldn’t be mad, no matter what it was. I’m sure this is all going to blow over, if it hasn’t already.”

“You don’t know shit!” He snapped. I was so shocked that I put my hands up to my face, as if I was trying to hide my reaction.

Parker’s shoulders sagged, and he immediately reached out for me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean -.”

“Forget about it.” I climbed out of the car before we had another argument that would lead to no resolution.

Once I grabbed my bags out of the backseat, I headed for Peyton’s front door, while Parker followed behind. I knocked before he could say anything, but I could tell he felt bad. It didn’t matter. The way he was acting was only confirming the fact that he had to be hiding something. I clearly didn’t know the whole truth to what was going on with him.

Unfortunately, since I was an outsider, I refused to push him about it until we got home. If I couldn’t get the truth out of his sister during our visit, I’d just have to wait until we were back at college.

Jamey opened the door before I could knock. He had his phone against his ear while waving us inside with his free hand. Peyton whipped around the corner with her arms spread wide. “I’m so glad y’all are here.” I’d met her a few times, but not enough to consider her my BFF. Sure, that was probably partly my fault, considering that I had no social skills to even begin to know how to handle someone as high-strung as she was.

The last time we’d been around them, which was the last time we’d come to visit, I got along with Jamey better. He was quiet around crowds, and I could tell that he still didn’t feel comfortable around their family.

Parker had explained that it was because of their past, but still. They were expecting a child, and living together. Didn’t there come a time and place where people put aside their differences and got along? That’s how it was in books. Certainly it’s how it should have been in real life.

At any rate, I did my best to smile and hug her back, pretending that I knew exactly what she was going through. I spotted her friend, Wayne, walking out of the small kitchen. Following behind him was his daughter, Abigail. Her hair was in pigtails. Now Wayne was fun to converse with. Our love of books always gave us something to talk about. It was funny how I wasn’t attracted to him at all, when I probably should have favored him over Parker, for our common interests at least.

Wayne seemed like a wonderful guy. He’d lost his wife, from what Peyton told me, and I admired how much he adored his daughter. It is a tragedy to lose a part of your family, but I sure was glad that little girl had a dad who thought she was a little princess. Had that been me, my father would have let the help raise me. It disgusted me to even think about it.

While trying to avoid the fact that Parker and I were having some kind of silent tiff with each other, I spent the next hour helping Peyton get organized. I honestly don’t know why she was even worried to begin with. The party was supposed to be at her brother’s house, but was changed to another location at the last minute, and according to Jamey, Peyton wasn’t even supposed to know about it. Apparently she saw her invitation at the diner when she’d gone to visit Jamey one day. He made her promise not to spoil the fun, but it didn’t stop her from making sure that they brought food. She’d been told it was a cookout, so naturally they would have been expected to bring some kind of dish or dessert. Peyton was going all crazy with it.

She insisted that Jamey make all these crazy things that she’d seen on the internet. When he refused to get involved, knowing the repercussions of spilling the beans, she insisted on doing it all herself.

By the end of the night she was so exhausted that she fell asleep at the kitchen table. After he took several comical pictures of it, Jamey picked her up and carried her to their bedroom. He came out only to make sure that Parker and I had everything we needed before he retreated to bed himself.

I went into the guest room first, changed into my pajamas, and then brushed my teeth. When I climbed into bed Parker walked into the room. He said nothing as he pulled off his shirt and climbed in beside me.

Since we always had to sneak to spend the night together, on account of dorm curfews, I appreciated the time we were away and could be together. “It’s always so fun being around you and Peyton. Sometimes I forget that you’re twins.”

He held me close against his chest. “That must be nice.”

“Parker, don’t say that. She loves you.”

“I don’t mean it in a bad way. I’d do anything for my sister, it’s just that all of our lives we’ve had to share things.”

“Like attention?” It was very obvious that he longed for acceptance. Perhaps it had come from years of never being able to be the only child. Though, that still wouldn’t have been the case since he had an older brother as well.

“Not that. Never mind. It’s not even important. Why don’t you take off those panties, so we can stop talkin’, and start gettin’ busy?”

I giggled and reached my lips up to him. “How do you know I want you like that? I might be too tired to commit to ten minutes of sex.”