Page 15 of Just This Once

He grunted in reply, not a big fan of politeness, and he concentrated on putting the Lucid Air into drive and maneuvering us from the parking lot.

At the first light we came across, he yelled at the car in front of us for stopping when it had just turned yellow. It was pure Parker, and it made me feel morehomethan anything.

Resting my head back, I exhaled in amusement and listened to him bitch at the car for turning too slowly when the light flipped green again.

On the radio, a country song was playing at low volume. It sounded like it could be Whiskey Myers. I closed my eyes briefly, soothed by the melody.

Once I felt better, I sat up straighter and glanced around the interior to check things out, only to blink above me in awe. There wasn’t just a simple sunroof up there; it was as if the entire freaking roof was glass, making the sun visors appear as if they were floating in midair.

But I refused to be impressed.

“Nice sticker.” Smirking, I tapped a picture of the seven dwarfs he had attached to the visor.

Parker sent me a frown before returning his attention to the road. “Your brother gave it to me for graduation.”

“Did he?” I smiled at the mention of Alec. “That reminds me.” I twisted in my seat to face him. “Did you get the graduation presentIsent you? You never said.”

He furrowed his brow. “You mean the custom socks with my face wearing a graduation cap on them?”

I nodded, pleased he’d received them.

But he only made a face and shook his head. “I must’ve lost them.”

I sniffed disdainfully over his cruelness and faced forward again, where I started to tap my fingers on my knee for something to do.

“So you’re four months free from college, huh?” I said, watching the sights we passed. “What’re you going to do with yourself now that you’re a big-time graduate with a business degree?”

When I turned back to him, Parker was glancing down at my tapping fingers as if they annoyed him before he distractedly answered, “Same thing I’vebeendoing, I guess.”

“So…making more money than God?” I deduced with a nod, and I stopped tapping to clasp my hands together.

Cocking me an amused smirk, he admitted, “Basically.”

I heaved out a breath as I peered out the front window again. “Must be nice.”

When my phone rang, I fumbled with my purse to dig it out, only to decline the call as soon as I read the screen.

“Paul sure is persistent,” Parker announced as I tucked the phone away again.

When I didn’t answer, he added, “Is that why you left Ohio? Avoiding a clingy ex?”

“I’m here to see my brother,” I maintained.

But he clearly didn’t believe that. “Right.”

I ignored him.

As we approached the bay, I noticed that the video arcade I used to frequent as a preteen had gone out of business. The windows were boarded and graffitied. Pity.

But a new building had gone up a few blocks down from there. The sign above it had a V with two slash marks next to it and a chef hat topping them.

Motioning, I asked, “What’s that place?”

“New restaurant,” Parker answered with a yawn.

I glanced over with lifted eyebrows. “Really?” I muttered sarcastically. “I never would have guessed, what, with thechef haton the logo.”

He glanced back. “If you already knew, then why’d you ask?”

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