𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟷𝚜𝚝, 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢
Miles POV

The next morning starts eerily similar to the one we had yesterday, only with more clothing and less intercourse.

It's good that neither of us is in the mood to drop our pants. Parker kept mentioning how sore he was yesterday, and it's been so long since I've seen some real action that I'm physically feeling the same way.

Shifting onto my back, I grunt when my lower oblique muscles blaze on fire. Christ. I haven't felt like this since my very first time.

To make matters worse, the sun seeps through the blinds at just the right angle, making me squeeze my eyes shut against the bright glare. I can only handle the pain for a second before rolling on my side again, huffing in annoyance.

Parker shifts next to me and snorts, quietly remarking, "There's a reason why I give you the right side of the bed."

"Wow." I laugh tiredly and crack my eyes open, taking in his sleep-creased face and tousled hair. He's lying on his side facing me, watching me like a father might watch his newborn child. "I'm really feeling the love this morning."

He grins, the corners of his eyes crinkling. We're so close that I can't help leaning forward and kissing the crinkle, which makes him smile harder. "I'm glad to hear that because you better get used to it. Now that football is over, I expect you on that side of the bed more often."

I roll away to cast a pointed backward glance at the window. "Could we at least trade spots now and then? Don't get me wrong, I'm an environmentalist and shit, but that sun is doing me dirty."

He raises an eyebrow. "I thought you loved me?"

"You little bitch." I laugh again and prop myself on an elbow, leaning down to kiss him while my other hand slides up his shirt. His skin is warm under my palm.

Parker looks way too pleased with himself as he kisses me back. We take a moment to share a few more slow, passionate kisses before I collapse down, resting my head back on the pillow. There's no griping as he snuggles up closer, his right leg sliding between my legs.

"How do you feel about being done with football?" I ask quietly and search the depth of his green eyes.

Genuinely, I'm curious. I scratched him down as the type to care about the sport so much that he would cry, or at least shed a tear, after the final game. Especially since his entire life revolves around it. On the contrary, he almost seemed giddy when we left last night.

Parker sighs and shuts his eyes for a moment. "I don't know. Guilty and happy at the same time."

"Guilty?" I echo and rest a hand on his arm, sliding my fingers up and down over his skin.

The sheets crinkle as he shifts. "Miles, I've been counting the days until our last game. Like, literally counting them. I spent each practice wishing I would spend more time with you."

My throat closes up as Parker admits this. I try and play the feeling off by clearing my throat. This moment is about him, not me.

"I'm proud of you for pushing through. We both know that you mean a lot to the team, and not just because of your talent. You're a natural leader, Park, whether you're aware of it or not."

When he starts to open his mouth to retaliate, I tease him and say, "Trust me. I don't date incompetent people."

Parker rolls onto his back to laugh. "God, that's a big word to use this early in the morning!"

His stupid laugh makes me smile. I could watch how his whole face brightens and the way his teeth flash for the rest of my life.

"You're lucky that I remembered that one. My inglés gets a little malo sometimes."

As I speak, Parker's eyelashes flutter, and his gaze flits to my lips. There's a subtleness to the way his eyes soften, and his eyebrows droop as if I was massaging his back, not laying next to him.

"What?" I ask when he stays quiet for more than a moment.

His eyes flash back up to mine. "I love hearing the way you talk. It's one of my favorite things about you. English is your second language, right?"

My body grows warm with the compliment, and I nod my head.

"Say something in Spanish for me. Again."

"Like what?" I pick up my shoulder and adjust my hand to rest underneath my cheek as I check out his face and how his features tie together to become the boy I'm obsessed with. I try to memorize every inch.

"I don't know." He purses his lips. "Anything."

We look at each other for a heartbeat. Our gaze is so tethered that if I reached over and felt his heartbeat, we would be synced. I can't look away, even as he shifts so close that his head almost rests on my elbow.

I think for a moment. "Prométeme que seguirás adelante cuando me haya ido."

Parker parts his lips and raises his eyebrows. For a moment, I believe that he's been bullshitting me this entire time, and he understood every word. My heart skips a few beats until he speaks.

"What does that mean?"

Relief crashes down.

"It means, it's a shame that after all of these months you still can't understand me," I lie.

Parker snorts and rolls his eyes. "I already told you I didn't take many language classes during school."

"Trust me, babe, I know." Smirking, my lips twist in a grin when he swats the top of my head. He then pauses, running his knuckles over a braid.

"When are you taking these out? I kinda miss your curls," Parker admits.

I shrug, a sudden, sharp knife of grief wiggling its way through my ribs.

There are times when I can recall what it feels like to fall in love with this boy so clearly that it hurts. It happens every day—the adrenaline, the rush, and also the silence, the nights that are over too soon. Parker learned how to put his heart on his sleeve for me, and I'm floored by his effort every day.

I feel like someone finally sees me for the first time in my life.

I managed to carve out a piece in his soul and make it my resting place. We got to know each other quickly because our hearts recognized each other. We are now naked in a way that I've never been naked before, and I never want to forget how easy he makes it to drop my insecurities.

He still picks through those pieces like a puzzle and takes his time to figure me out. Repairing my emotional wounds with every little touch, little look, little word. It happens every day with every little thing he does.

I'm so in love that it's excruciating.

It kills me because that's precisely what we will boil down to: nothing but a recollection of old memories. We are currently living in the past, a past where one day we'll be wondering, what if...

Fuck.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

I swallow. "My braids? I'll take them out in a few weeks. They actually help with hair growth."

"Hm." Parker hums and slides his knuckle down my hair, following the line of my jaw. "Have you applied to any colleges yet?"

Shaking my head, I close my eyes when he runs his fingers down the length of my throat. It's a good excuse to hold back the tears. "Not yet."

"We should do that together over Christmas break. Let's try and get you into the same colleges that want me in their football programs. Imagine a life where we could go to class together, live together, experience college together... It would be a dream come true." Parker smiles sheepishly like he's waiting for me to tell him that's a stupid idea.

It's not stupid at all. That would be best case scenario.

"It would be," I agree to humor him, even as my mom's warning from the other day haunts me. "I would love that. Do you see yourself going pro one day?"

Parker shrugs and lets his hand fall off of me. "I don't know. Maybe. I feel like I have no other option. Football is the only thing that I'm good at."

I start to interrupt him to say that that's not true, that he could go anywhere and do anything with his life, except he keeps talking.

"Besides, it wouldn't be a bad way to make a living. Picture this: a life where we live alone in our mansion out on the coast somewhere, with a private chef who can make us fries and chocolate shakes whenever we want. We could babysit Rose and Forrest's army of gremlins and host family game nights. I could be your sugar daddy or some shit. I'll buy you a twelve-car garage filled with nothing but your dream cars." Parker hesitates and sits up. "Are you okay?"

The more he talks, his voice filled with so much sureness, the more my heart twists and twists until it can't take it anymore. Seriously, there's no controlling the tears.

I sit up and curse under my breath, wildly wiping at my eyes. Fuck. Now I'm going to scare the shit out of him.

"Yeah, yes, I'm fine," I babble and throw the covers off my legs.

"Was it something I said? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Parker pleads and jumps out of bed when I stand up and start to gather my stuff wildly.

Son of a bitch. What's worse is that I've set myself up to be nothing but a chill cucumber over the last three months. Of course, this would be the one time I lost my sanity.

To make it up to him, I walk over to Parker and grab both of his cheeks in my hands, squishing him like a baby before planting a kiss on him.

"Parker. Babe. You did not offend me. Let's go to college together, get married on the beach, and then fill our house with expensive cars. I would love nothing more than that."

Half lie. Half truth. Anything to get him to relax.

Thank god it works. His shoulders crumple as I let go of him, and he eyes the belongings stuffed under my arm. "You're going, then?"

"I forgot that I promised my mom I would be home twenty minutes ago. I need to."

He bites his lip. Nods. His hair, tousled from laying in bed all morning, flops into his eyes. "Okay."

"Okay," I echo. We're starting to sound like that chick flick movie my mom sobbed at in the theater. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Parker's goodbye follows me out the door.

I don't listen for it because I never want to hear him say goodbye again in my life.