She giggled. “You’re so funny.”
Abby breezed past me, down the hall to where America stood. I followed, leaving the drunk girl to talk to herself.
“You guys go ahead,” Abby said with subdued excitement. “Parker offered me a ride home.”
“What?” America said, her tired eyes lit like double bonfires.
“What?” I said, unable to contain my irritation.
America turned. “Is there a problem?”
I glared at her. She knew exactly what my problem was. I took Abby by the elbow and pulled her around the corner.
“You don’t even know the guy.”
Abby pulled her arm away. “This is none of your business, Travis.”
“The hell if it’s not. I’m not letting you ride home with a complete stranger. What if he tries something on you?”
“Good! He’s cute!”
I couldn’t believe it. She was really falling for his game. “Parker Hayes, Pidge? Really? Parker Hayes. What kind of name is that, anyway?”
She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Stop it, Trav. You’re being a jerk.”
I leaned in, livid. “I’ll kill him if he touches you.”
“I like him.”
It was one thing to assume she was fooled, it was another to hear her admit it. She was too good for me—damn sure too good for Parker Hayes. Why was she getting all giddy over that idiot? My face tensed in reaction to the rage flowing through my veins. “Fine. If he ends up holding you down in the backseat of his car, don’t come crying to me.”
Her mouth popped open, she was offended and furious. “Don’t worry, I won’t,” she said, shouldering past me.
I realized what I’d said, and then grabbed her arm and sighed, not quite turning around. “I didn’t mean it, Pidge. If he hurts you—if he even makes you feel uncomfortable—you let me know.”
Her shoulders fell. “I know you didn’t. But you have got to curb this overprotective big-brother thing you’ve got going on.”
I laughed once. She really didn’t get it. “I’m not playing the big brother, Pigeon. Not even close.”
Parker rounded the corner and pushed his hands inside his pockets. “All set?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Abby said, taking Parker’s arm.
I fantasized about running up behind him and shoving my elbow in the back of his head, but then Abby turned and saw me staring him down.
Stop it, she mouthed. She walked with Parker, and he held the door open for her. A wide smile spread across her face in appreciation.
Of course. When he did it, she noticed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cold Bitch
RIDING HOME ALONE IN THE BACKSEAT OF SHEPLEY’S Charger was less than thrilling. America kicked off her heels and giggled as she poked Shepley’s cheek with her big toe. He must have been crazy in love with her, because he just smiled, amused by her infectious laughter.
My phone rang. It was Adam. “I got a rookie lined up in an hour. Bottom of Hellerton.”
“Yeah, uh . . . I can’t.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I said I can’t.”
“Are you sick?” Adam asked, the anger rising in his voice.
“No. I gotta make sure Pidge gets home okay.”
“I went to a lot of trouble to set this up, Maddox.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Gotta go.”
When Shepley pulled into his parking spot in front of the apartment and Parker’s Porsche was nowhere to be found, I sighed.
“You coming, cuz?” Shepley asked, turning around in his seat.
“Yeah,” I said, looking down at my hands. “Yeah, I guess.”
Shepley pulled his seat forward to let me out, and I stopped just short of America’s tiny frame.
“You have nothing to worry about, Trav. Trust me.”
I nodded once, and then followed them up the stairs. They went straight into Shepley’s bedroom and shut the door. I fell into the recliner, listening to America’s incessant giggling, and trying not to imagine Parker putting his hand on Abby’s knee—or thigh.
Less than ten minutes later, a car engine purred outside, and I made my way to the door, holding the knob. I could hear two pairs of feet walking up the stairs. One set was heels. A wave of relief washed over me. Abby was home.
Only their murmuring filtered through the door. When it got quiet and the knob turned, I twisted it the rest of the way and opened it quickly.
Abby fell through the threshold, and I grabbed her arm. “Easy there, Grace.”
She immediately turned to see the expression on Parker’s face. It was strained, like he didn’t know what to think, but he recovered quickly, pretending to look past me into the apartment.
“Any humiliated, stranded girls in there I need to give a ride?”
I glared at him. He had some damn nerve. “Don’t start with me.”
Parker smiled and winked at Abby. “I’m always giving him a hard time. I don’t get to quite as often since he’s realized it’s easier if he can get them to drive their own cars.”
“I guess that does simplify things,” Abby said, turning to me with an amused smile.
“Not funny, Pidge.”
“Pidge?” Parker asked.
Abby shifted nervously. “It’s uh . . . short for Pigeon. It’s just a nickname, I don’t even know where he came up with it.”
“You’re going to have to fill me in when you find out. Sounds like a good story.” Parker smiled. “Night, Abby.”
“Don’t you mean good morning?” she asked.
“That, too,” he called back with a smile that made me want to puke.
Abby was busy swooning, so to snap her back to reality, I slammed the door without warning. She jerked back.
“What?” she snapped.
I stomped down the hall to the bedroom, with Abby on my tail. She stopped just inside the door, hopping on one foot, trying to take off her heel. “He’s nice, Trav.”
I watched her struggle to balance on one leg, and then finally decided to help before she fell over. “You’re gonna hurt yourself,” I said, hooking my arm around her waist with one hand, and pulling off her heels with the other. I pulled off my shirt and threw it into the corner.
To my surprise, Abby reached behind her back to unzip her dress, slipped it down, and then yanked a T-shirt over her head. She did some sort of magic bra trick to get it off and out of her shirt. All women seemed to know the same maneuver.
“I’m sure there’s nothing I have that you haven’t seen before,” she said, rolling her eyes. She sat on the mattress, and then pushed her legs between the cover and the sheets. I watched her snuggle into her pillow, and then took off my jeans, kicking them to the corner, too.
She was curled in a ball, waiting for me to come to bed. It irritated me that she’d just rode home with Parker and then undressed in front of me like it was nothing, but at the same time, that was just the kind of f**ked-up platonic situation we were in, and it was all my doing.
So many things were building up inside of me. I didn’t know what to do with them all. When we’d made the bet, it didn’t occur to me that she would be dating Parker. Throwing a tantrum would just drive her straight into his arms. Deep down, I knew I’d do anything to keep her around. If keeping a lid on my jealousy meant more time with Abby, that’s what I would have to do.