No Regrets (A Stepbrother New Adult Novella)(12)

Liv waved goodbye to her mother as she drove down the road, passing the store where the situation had started. She had to forget all about Parker Jackson, once and for all, she told herself. It wouldn’t be easy, but she’d do her best to bury whatever emotions he evoked in her. She had to focus on the wedding. It wasn’t about her or Parker—it was about their parents. She wanted to hate him, but if she remembered everything clearly, she had thrown herself at him. She was humiliated and embarrassed.

Perhaps if he stayed, she wouldn’t have been as hurt. The fact of the matter was that he had taken what she offered, and then made his way across town to that blonde to finish off the night. It didn’t make sense. He could have done so much more with her. Why not take the chance? Unless she wasn’t good enough to do more than touch. Perhaps, he wanted a woman more suited to him to actually have sex with. It stung just thinking about it. Could that really be the case? She certainly didn’t want to see him and find out—she just wanted to forget about the entire thing, and focus on getting through the wedding.




He called her a number of times and texted her regularly the day she went back to school. Since then, he had stopped any attempts to contact her. She told herself she was fine with no communication with him. She just wasn’t ready to face him yet and get the answers to her questions. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to hear his answers. She was mortified at how easily she would have given herself to him that night, if only he had wanted her.

She was doing her part of the wedding plans alone. At some point she knew she would have to face him, if for no other reason than to actually attend the wedding.

She had managed to avoid him for four months, always timing her visits home right after his. It was better that way, and soon it would all be over. The wedding was now less than two weeks away, and then life could move forward. The two of them could get back to normal.





Chapter Ten





Parker





Weeks turned into a month, and he still couldn’t stop thinking about her. He knew she was back at school—knew she was safe and sound. That much he managed to get out of her mother the last time he asked.

Liv was avoiding him, and he was clueless as to why. He fell asleep curled up next to her on the couch that night, and the next morning he silently crept out of the pool house to go get coffee and breakfast for them to eat together. He’d felt happier than he had in a long time, maybe ever. Also, he slept better on the worn couch in the pool house that night with Olivia than he did alone in his own bed, which still puzzled him.

When he got back to the pool house, she was gone—vanished. He refused to admit that it hurt him; he always avoided that kind of emotional reaction when a woman moved on. In the past, he’d always known when it was coming and ended things first. But not this time—not with her. That morning, all he’d wanted was to get back to her as quickly as possible.


He’d driven to her mother’s to see if she was there, and he had just missed her leaving for school. It was then that his father had given him a good talking to.

“Son, I’m not sure what’s going on with you and Liv, but…it has to stop.” Parker slumped down in the armchair in the den, while his father sat across from him looking concerned.

“What do you mean ‘going on’? Nothing is going on with us,” he insisted, though the words sounded foolish even to him. Liv—why did you leave? He was royally f*cked, and he knew it.

“Parker, I know you better than you probably know yourself. I also know you like women. Olivia, however, is not just some girl. She’ll soon be a part of our family. Hell, she’ll be your step sister,” his father reminded him, as if he didn’t already know.

Parker scowled at him. “Please, Dad, don’t even say that.” The thought of Olivia being considered by others as his step sister made him ill.

“Promise me, Parker. I need to know that you realize how important this is. Linda is her mother, and if you hurt Liv, Linda would be devastated.”

Parker felt something deep in his gut, something foreign and unidentifiable. “Fine, Dad. I’ll leave her alone.” He could barely get the words out. His chest ached after he said them, but he couldn’t take them back.

His father patted his knee as he stood. “I love you, Parker. I wouldn’t ask unless it was important. You know, it may do you some good to start thinking about what you want out of life, too. Since I’ll be a newlywed, I’ve been thinking about doing less at the office, and having you shadow me. Take on more responsibility. You’re going to have to get serious about it though, Parker. I worked hard to build the business up, you know.” He gave him another pat as he walked away towards the kitchen, leaving Parker lost in thought.

Parker fought the part of him that wanted to simply drive to her school and ask her for an explanation. Instead, he loaded his own car and headed back to school himself. The drive did him well. His ride was shorter than hers, but he had no doubt they arrived at about the same time. He gave his word to his father, and he would do everything he could to put her out of his mind altogether.

That was four months ago, and he kept his word and avoided her at all costs. What he hadn’t been able to do was stop thinking about her.

It really made no sense to him. She was definitely not his type, had a temper that was maddening, and for all intents and purposes, she was off limits. Even still, a day didn’t go by that he didn’t relive those moments in the pool house, when she relaxed in his arms and opened herself to him. He brought her body to life, and it was more amazing and life altering than he cared to admit.