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Excuse the mistakes

Picture of Eddie on the side

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“This is bloody offensive!”

I glanced back at Eddie, who was stuffed in the cramped backseat of the car. He just looked so uncomfortable and frustrated that when I looked up at Parker, we both burst out laughing.

“No!” Eddie cried, slamming the side of his fist into the back of the driver’s seat where Parker was sitting. “This isn’t funny! This is my damn car, and I’ve been forced to squeeze into the backseat!”

“This may be your car, Ed,” Parker replied over his shoulder, “But you’re a terrible driver. I wanted to save Reed from the nausea that comes when you’re behind the wheel.” Parker looked over at me and winked as Eddie swore loudly and punched the back of Parker’s chair again.

Parker and Eddie had picked me up about ten minutes ago for the party, which I had actually made an effort in preparing for. I was wearing a pair of acid wash jeans with a tight, black tank top and a couple chain necklaces, which were cold against my skin. My hair was still slightly damp from my shower an hour ago, so I’d just thrown it up into a ponytail.

“Can I ask you a question, Love?” Eddie asked after a few minutes, and I felt him nudge me in the shoulder.

“Sure,” I said, shifting in my seat so that I leaning against the window and facing Eddie.

“Why did you choose Parker?” Eddie asked, and I couldn’t help but notice that with his hands behind his head, Eddie was flexing. “I mean,” he continued, shrugging, “I was there at Paulie’s, too, and I’m ten times more attractive than Parker. I’ve been told that British guys make great boyfriends.”

That’s when it hit me; Parker hadn’t told Eddie that we weren’t actually dating. Even I had told Zephyr, and Eddie was Parker’s best friend. I would’ve thought that he would know what was going on, but apparently not.

“I dunno,” I replied with a shrug, “I guess it’s because he’s the father of my hard-boiled chicken embryo.” Parker laughed at the mention of Benedict, and Eddie frowned.

“I would just like to say that I don’t understand the purpose of that project,” Eddie announced, as Parker turned down a side street. “I mean, how does an egg resemble a baby? It doesn’t puke, shit, or cry.”

“He has a point,” I said, sharing a thoughtful look with Parker, who nodded in agreement.

Parker pulled in front of a lit up house with high school kids literally everywhere. I could hear the music from where Parker had parked across the street, and I could just tell that there was going to be a noise complaint later.

Before I’d even stepped fully out of the car, Eddie was pushing the passenger seat forward and shoving past me. I had to grab onto the car door to keep from falling on my face, and I said angrily, “Jesus, Eddie! Why in such a rush?”

Eddie pointed to his legs and cried, “I have long legs, Reed, and having to literally tuck them under my chin and wedge myself in a particularly uncomfortable backseat is very fucking painful!”

I held my hands up in surrender, and Parker walked by Eddie and smacked him in the back of the head. “What was that for?” Eddie demanded, rubbing the base of his skull and wincing in pain.

“That’s for punching the back of my seat,” Parker replied simply, and he wrapped his arm around me. “Ready to go?” he asked, looking down at me.

I don’t know why, but when Parker’s eyes met mine, I felt this weird warmth spread through my chest. I had never felt that way, and I had no idea what it meant.

Tearing my eyes away from his, I nodded and said, “Let’s go.” I could feel Parker’s eyes burning into me as we walked across the lawn, but I didn’t look at him because I wasn’t sure about the feeling I was getting from him.

We entered the house, and immediately, Eddie slipped past Parker and me and went off on his own. Earlier, during the start of the car ride over to the party, Eddie had declared confidently that he was getting laid tonight. Honestly, judging from the ways he’s tried to pick me up, I didn’t see it happening. However, Eddie was British, and American girls had a thing for accents.

“Do you want a drink?” Parker asked as we made our way through the house, towards the kitchen.

“Sure,” I replied, but I quickly added, “But I’m not doing any alcohol tonight, okay?”

“Well, then can you be the designated driver?” Parker asked, pouring me a glass of Ginger Ale.

“Yeah, I can do that,” I replied, and Parker grabbed a beer from a bright red cooler.

We made our way to the living room of the house, and I pointed out Eddie to Parker. He was standing in the corner of the room, chatting up some girl, and it was obvious to both Parker and me that Eddie was striking out with her.

“Do you really think he’s going to get laid?” I asked, glancing at Parker.

“Nope,” He replied, taking a swig from his beer. Parker looked past me into the next room, and his eyes widened slightly in recognition. “I’ll be right back, Reed,” he said, pointing past me, “I just want to say hi to my friend, Chase.”

I nodded and Parker kissed me on the lips quickly before walking past me into the next room. Since we’d started fake dating, Parker and I had kissed multiple times, mostly in front of Triss or Maya, and I was used to it.

But that kiss, quick as it was, didn’t feel as plain as usual.

Before I could even begin to feel awkward about being alone at a party, two girls walked over to me. I didn’t know what to do, seeing as I had no idea who these girls were. Before I could say anything, the girl with short brown hair started talking.

“Hi,” she said with a friendly voice, “My name’s Hannah and this is Taryn.” She gestured towards the girl with the curly blonde hair who was standing next to her, identifying her as Taryn.

“Nice to meet you,” I replied, smiling, “My name’s Reed.”

“Oh, we know,” Taryn stated, “We heard about you and Parker.”

“Heard what?” I asked slowly, and my eyes narrowed as I felt myself get defensive.

“About how you guys are dating,” Hannah clarified, and Taryn nodded.

“Parker dated both of us,” Taryn said, and I suddenly started to feel very awkward and uncomfortable. “Look,” Taryn continued, obviously not picking up on my body language, “we just wanted to come over here and warn you about Parker.”

“Warn me about what?” I asked slowly. I may not be dating Parker for real, but I was still curious.

“Parker will stay with you until he gets board,” Hannah stated, giving me a sympathetic look, “We both know from experience, so just don’t get too attached to him.”

“I’ll try my best,” I replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Try and distance yourself now,” Hannah said, nodding, “I can see the way you look at him. It’s obvious to everyone here that you’re falling for Parker, and that’s just not a good idea.”

What was she even talking about? I mean, sure, tonight had been pretty weird with this new, confusing feeling between us, but falling for Parker? Really?

Taryn looked like she was about to add something, but her eyes widened, and she whispered something in Hannah’s ear. They both looked past me, and I frowned in confusion. I glanced over my shoulder to see Parker walking towards us.

I looked back at Hannah and Taryn to see them fleeing from me without even saying goodbye. Before I could call after the girls, an arm was wrapped around my shoulder, and I looked up into Parker’s face.

He was smiling, but there was a slight look of panic in his eyes. “So, you met Taryn and Hannah,” Parker said, sounding a bit off.

“Yeah,” I replied, shrugging, “They were nice.”

“Did they say anything about me?” Parker asked, and I could tell that he was uncomfortable with the fact that I’d talked to not one, but two of his ex-girlfriends.

“Not much,” I said, purposely being vague. Parker didn’t say anything, but he did look uneasy. He was freaking out about what Taryn and Hannah could’ve possibly said about him, that much was obvious. I found it really interesting, though, that he cared about what the girls could’ve said to someone who he wasn’t even dating.

*

“Drink!”

Parker and Eddie both swore loudly before picking up the cups of beer with the ping pong balls inside of them. They tapped the plastic cups together before chugging the beer, and then they both let out loud yells.

Needless to say, Parker and Eddie were pretty drunk.

“You’re going down, bitches!” Eddie announced, grabbing a ping pong ball. Currently, Parker and Eddie were actually winning at beer pong. However, they only had two cups left to make, which was making it really hard for them to win the game.

Parker winked at me, burped loudly, and picked up one of the ping pong balls. He and Eddie both aimed, and the crowd of people surrounding the table went quiet as they launched the balls. When the white spheres landed in the two remaining cups of beer, everyone burst into cheers.

Suddenly, Parker turned to me and swept me up in his arms. Before I could say anything, Parker’s lips were pressed against mine. I was completely taken by surprise, but not by the sudden kiss from him.

No, I was more surprised by the way his kiss made me feel.

Parker pulled away from me, and when our eyes connected, I got that warm feeling again. I remembered what Hannah had said earlier tonight, and I shook it off quickly. I couldn’t be falling for Parker.

I just couldn’t be.

“Hey, Hunt!”

Parker and I broke eye contact and we both looked over at Eddie and his beer pong opponents. They both looked less than thrilled, and the bigger of the two took a step towards Parker and Eddie.

“You cheated!” he declared loudly, jutting his beefy finger out at Parker.

“How could he have cheated?” I butted in, throwing my hands in the air, “This is beer pong, dude! There’s no way to cheat.”

“Shut it,” the guy yelled, and I was about to respond, but Parker beat me to it.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Parker growled, and the guy just flipped him off dismissively. I saw Parker start to move, but I didn’t react in time, and I found myself catching air instead of Parker’s arm.

Parker brought his right fist crashing into the face of the guy who’d insulted me, and the guy stepped back in shock. He reached up and touched his nose, which now trickled blood, and his eyes narrowed.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

Parker and the guy started pummeling on each other, both drawing blood from the other. They both fell to the ground, but that didn’t stop either of them from landing punches.

“Eddie!” I said, grabbing his arm and making him look at me. “Help me break up the fight!”

“I’m on it, Love,” Eddie replied, slurring slightly, and he lurched forward and started to try and yank Parker off of the other guy, since Parker was on top. However, Parker seemed determined to hold on, and I let out a sound of frustration and grabbed his arm.

“Parker, stop!” I commanded, and Parker hesitated before letting go of the collar of the other guy’s shirt. Together, Eddie and I pulled Parker to his feet. I took Parker’s head between my two hands, and studied the damage done to his face.

He was definitely going to have a black eye tomorrow, and there were a couple places where the skin on his cheeks was a little cut up. Parker had also managed to receive a punch that left him bleeding from both nostrils.

“C’mon,” I said, taking Parker’s hand in mine, “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

I led Parker through the house to the first bathroom I could find. I sat Parker down on the toilet, making sure that the lid was down, and I shut the door behind us. The first thing I did was get a handful of toilet paper and soak it in water.

“You’re going to have a black eye tomorrow,” I said as I started dabbing at the scrapes on his face.

“Good,” Parker replied, smirking, “I’ll look like a badass.”

“More like a dumbass,” I muttered, and Parker shoved my shoulder playfully. I rolled my eyes and chuckled, and as I wiped under Parker’s nose, I noticed how the bleeding hadn’t stopped.

I frowned, and then I started rummaging around in the drawers under the sink. I came across a box of tampons, and that’s when I got an idea. I pulled out a regular sized one from the box and unwrapped it.

“I need to shove this up your nose to stop the bleeding,” I stated, holding the tampon in front of Parker.

“You’re kidding, right?” Parker asked, and when he realized I wasn’t, he groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Can’t we just use toilet paper or something?”

“It won’t stop the bleeding as well as this will,” I replied, and before he could protest further, I slid the applicator in his nose and pushed the plunger. Then, I grabbed another tampon and shoved it in his other nostril, since they were both bleeding.

“A warning would’ve been nice!” Parker spluttered, but I just took one look at him and burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” Parker demanded, looking all offended.

“You….have two… tampons in your nose!” I choked out between laughs, and I had to sit down on the floor because I was laughing so hard. Parker stood up and glanced in the mirror, and before I knew it, he was laughing on the floor next to me.

Sitting here on the floor of the bathroom, with my head on his shoulder, I realized something.

Taryn and Hannah were right.

I was falling for Parker Hunt.

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Oh snap. That just happened.

To the people who wanted a picture of Marisol, I described her based on an actual five year old I know, and the relationship was based on one between said five year old and one of my guy friends... So, I can't exactly put a picture of Marisol... Sorry.

I don't have much more to say. I'm exhausted, and little disappointed, and a lot ready to set fire to my cast that needs to get off my damn foot.

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