Page 39 of In For a Penny
“Never did I think I’d get cockblocked so much by my own brothers. This is going to come back to bite them in the ass someday.” Astrid started laughing until he couldn’t help but join her.
“Fifteen minutes,” he heard Liam yell from the living room.
“I’m coming,” Parker yelled back.
“Not now,” Astrid said before busting out in another round of laughter. Parker slid the condom off and tossed it in his trash can. Shaking his head, he pulled on his jeans.
“Wait here, I can be back by nine.”
“I can’t, I have a group meeting in a little while. You leave first so my walk of shame doesn’t include a teenage audience. Next time, why don’t we stay at my place.”
“Your place is hot,” he said, pulling his shoes on.
“I’ll turn on a fan.” It came out with the perfect amount of sarcasm. He wanted to spend the rest of the morning putting that sarcastic mouth of hers to good use. He knew, though, it was only a matter of a few more seconds before Liam burst back in. He gave her a quick kiss before jerking the door open.
He found his brothers sitting on the couch. Smirks covered both their faces. He grabbed both of them by the front of their shirts and shoved them toward the door. Laughing, they both ran down the stairs. Fuckers.
He grabbed his keys and followed them to the SUV. Liam had settled in the passenger side. Ronan took up the back. Climbing into the driver’s seat, Parker sat for a second before turning to face them.
“Really?” he said.
“That’s what you get for keeping us up half the night slapping body parts. You deserve to get screwed with,” Liam said with a grin. Parker glared at him.
“At least she seems to know your name,” Ronan added. “She screamed it over and over.” Parker gave up when they both roared with laughter. Turning back around, he started the truck. Assholes.
ChapterFourteen
“Hey, Pop.”Parker pushed the door open to his father’s room. With a grin that matched his own, the older man waved them inside. He let his brothers push past him to hug their dad.
It was the day after Independence Day and the bar was closed. They made too much money during the holiday to close, but they had always given their employees the next day off to celebrate with their families.
His dad motioned for them to catch him up on the gossip.
“The big news, drum roll, Parker finally tapped Astrid,” Liam announced. Ronan provided the drumroll. “He’s bitchy now, though, because he hasn’t got any since.”
Parker turned to glare at Liam. It was true, between her final projects for the term, business picking up for the holiday and her leaving for home, there had been no time to do much more than text.
“At least we can sleep again in silence,” Ronan added. “They’re so loud.” Parker turned his attention to the other twin.
“Little motherfucker. I know Liam’s brain is swiss cheese, but you’re better than that.” He understood that little brothers were created simply to drive older brothers crazy. But he had about had enough. They all looked up quickly when their dad slapped the table.
“Out.” With a scowl on his face, he pointed to the twins before pointing to the door. They mumbled an apology and shuffled out the door. They would find something to do down in the lounge for a while.
“I’m sorry,” Parker said, dropping his head into his hands. He sat like that with his elbows resting on his knees until Finn tapped on his shoulder. Looking up, he found the notepad his dad used shoved in his face.
“You’re allowed to have a life. No twenty-three-year-old should ever be expected to run a business, raise his brothers and live like a monk. Do you love this girl?”
“I do,” he answered, blowing a breath at the ceiling. Finn wrote furiously before passing him the notepad again.
“Then ignore your brothers and go after her. Good ones are hard to find, you need to hang on to them once you do.”
“I have nothing to offer her long term.”
“Do you think I had anything to offer your mother?You have the best thing you can give to a woman, your heart.”
“My heart won’t take her on vacation to the Caribbean or be able to replace her nice car.” Finn glared at him in frustration.
“You’re selling her short. Is she the queen or a supermodel?”
