A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(26)

On the contrary. He was sure they'd kiss and make up and everything would be status quo. His problem had been his inability to open his mouth and say anything other than what was screaming inside his head. "If you were mine, I would never be able to walk away from you. If you were mine, I’d worship every inch of your body with my hands, lips, and tongue. If you were mine, I wouldn't be able to stand in the same room as you without running my hands over your skin and tasting your lips. If you were mine..."



Garrett had kept his mouth shut that night while Parker stood there with her hands on her hips looking defiant and hurt. He had sent her to his room to get dressed so they could talk and found her passed out on his bed a few minutes later. The next morning brought on a fierce hangover for Parker and no further talk of the previous night's events.

Parker had sensed Garrett's presence as soon as he first arrived at the gym, choosing to ignore him and waiting to see if he would finally say something to her. Parker realized after five minutes that he obviously still had a stick up his ass. It hurt her deeply that he wasn't talking to her. With Milo gone, Garrett was her only friend, her only family. He was all she had left in life and not being on speaking terms with this him made her feel so alone. It made her feel like she was back in college, confused and scared and with no one to turn to when life altering events occurred.

"Are you going to stand there all night staring at my ass or are you going to speak at some point?" Parker asked with her back to him, the anger and disappointment in his behavior ringing loud and clear in her voice.

Garrett and Parker often traded smart-ass comments like that over the years. They were friends that liked to joke around, and they were comfortable with each other.

For some reason the comment left a feeling of awkwardness in the air this time. It was like all of a sudden there had been a shift in the atmosphere and nothing felt right.

Something that had made them laugh before suddenly seemed serious. Maybe it was the tension between them or the secrets still hovering in the air. Whatever it was practically hummed around them and made the hair on Parker's arms raise.

She turned around, catching Garrett's eyes guiltily flash up from where her ass had been moments ago.

"It is a really nice ass," Garrett said with a shrug.

The joke fell flat.

Garrett stood there with his hands in his pockets wondering why he felt so f*cking awkward with his friend. He was pissed and he was hurt but everything suddenly felt off, like he didn't know how to talk to her or what to say. Every fight they'd ever had, every awkward moment, they were always able to immediately resolve things and move on.

Parker stalked over to Garrett and stood right in front of him for a few minutes, giving him the opportunity to say something, ask her something, or to just stop being a dick.

When he continued to stand there with nothing to say, she pulled her arm back and punched him in the shoulder.

"Son of a bitch!" Garrett yelled, rubbing the spot where her fist connected. "What the f*ck was that for?"

Parker roughly shoved his chest, forcing Garrett to stumble backwards a few steps.

"Come on, McCarthy. You want to fight, so let's fight," Parker said, shaking her hands out, stretching her neck and bringing her fists up in front of her face in a boxer's stance.

Garrett laughed at how absurd she was acting.

"Come on, Parker. I'm not going to fight you," Garrett said with another laugh as she began to circle him.

She threw a jab to his other shoulder, quickly moving away to continue circling him.

"Cut this shit out, Parker," Garrett threatened, starting to get pissed.

Parker's fist shot out towards his face and Garrett's reflexes kicked in at the last minute as he jerked his head out of the way.

"What's wrong, McCarthy?" Parker taunted, swinging with the opposite fist and narrowly missing Garrett's cheek. "Afraid I might kick your ass?"

Garrett was too pissed off to laugh at her. She'd tried to punch him in the face.

Twice.

As Parker stood in place, bouncing from foot to foot, Garrett charged her and grabbed both of her wrists, yanking her towards him and holding her arms against his chest.

They stood close, chest and thighs pressed together, breathing heavily and staring each other down for several long, tense minutes.

"You lied to me," Garrett finally growled through clenched teeth. He shook her arms once, forcing her body to jerk as he punctuated his hurt. "Everything about you is a lie."

Parker's body suddenly twisted to the side as she maneuvered behind him and Garrett felt a sharp kick to the back of his knees. Before he knew what was happening, he was upside down and then his back was slammed to the mat. The wind was instantly knocked out of him and Parker straddled him, holding his arms above his head.

Garrett lay there stunned, trying not to pass out and wondering how a five foot seven little wisp of nothing that weighed all of a buck-twenty just knocked a Navy SEAL flat on his ass.

Parker shifted her hips and tightened her hold on his arms, forcing Garrett's mind to focus on her chest that was pushed up against his and the heat between her thighs that warmed his stomach.

"I didn't lie to you. I protected you. There's a difference," Parker said softly, her mouth inches from his.

Garrett stared into her eyes and saw the pain and guilt and sadness swirling around.