Needing You #2 - Wanting Him (22 page)

He starts to laugh, “She has names picked out.”

“You don’t get to help?” I ask confused.

“Apparently not.”

“So what are the names?”

“If it’s a boy she wants to name him after me, so he’d be junior and for a girl she wants Daphne.”

“Oh, well what’s wrong with those?” I ask confused.

“First of all I never wanted to name a kid junior, I hate that and second...Daphne really?  All I can think about is Scooby Doo.”

I start to laugh, I can’t hold back. “There are lots of kids named Daphne and I’m sure it’s not named after the girl in Scooby Doo.”

“Well, that’s what I think when I hear the name and I don’t like it.  Not for my daughter.”

“Good luck on picking other names,” I try to say with a serious face.

“Stop laughing at me.”

“Scooby Doo really?”

“I told you to stop laughing,” he says before he leans up, causing me to move, before he starts to tickle torture me. 

“Stop, stop, Park please stop,” I say through tears of laughter trying to wiggle my way out of his grasp.

“Don’t laugh anymore,” he says as he face is only inches away from mine.

I can’t help but stare into those gorgeous green eyes; his brown hair messy from the wind and his face. He’s beautiful.  I’m talking like model sexy hot, with tattoos and a body that’s pure perfection.

I continue to stare, and he’s staring right back.  He looks like he wants to kiss me and I want him to, damn do I want him to.

“Hey, the sun’s getting ready to set,” Nora says as she’s getting closer.

Parker quickly moves and the moment we just shared is gone.  It’s probably best, but damn.

“You’re right,” Parker says as he sits on the blanket beside me. Nora i
s in front of us; all of us staring out to the ocean watching the sun start to descend.

Chapter Twenty

After the sun goes down we gather the towels, blanket, and Nora’s seashells before loading everything into Parker’s car.  Nora falls asleep shortly after we start the drive home.

“You can sleep to
o,” Park says.

“That’s okay; I can wait until I get home.”

“So I gotta ask and I know it’s not my business, but are you dating anyone?”

“You’re right
, it’s not your business.”

“I’m not trying to argue, I’m just curious
,” he says glancing over at me.

“
Not right now.”

“Are you happy?”

“I am,” I lie.

“Good.”

We continue to make conversation the entire ride back to my house.  By the time Parker pulls in, I see it’s already going on 9:00 p.m.

I wake Nora and we get out of Parker’s car to head inside.

“Are you alright?” Parker asks with an intense look.

“I’m fine
, why wouldn’t I be?” I say as I start to head upstairs.

“
I don’t know.  Do you want me to come in?” he says with a smug look.

“
You don’t have to.  We took too much of your time up today as it is,” I tell him when I’m halfway up the stairs.

“Are you sure?
he asks looking unsure.

“Yeah, I’m just going to go to bed anyway.”

“Alright, well make sure you lock your doors.”

“Always do.  Good night Parker,” I say as I continue my way up the stairs.

“Night Nat.”

The next few weeks go by and life is blah.  I tried a few dates and yeah.
..no potential with those guys.  No dates with Cameron either since he’s been out of town doing his music thing too. So now it’s just work, school, and hanging out with Nora.

“Do you work tonight?” Nora asks.

“Actually, I work a lot this week, so if you need anything you call me alright?”

“What’s a lot?  I thought you were taking on harder classes?”

“That’s coming soon.  I’m working almost every evening this week.  Not as late like Friday and Saturday, but a few days I won’t be here when you get home from school.”

“That’s fine.  I always have my key,” she says like it’s no big deal.

“Alright, but if you get scared or anything, anything at all call me.”

“I’ll be fine.”

I finish my homework and hang out with Nora until I need to head into work.

The rest of the week is the same, school, home, work, and then bed.  I haven’t w
orked this much during the week, but I needed the extra cash to make sure our bills are all covered and we have food on the table.

Friday night rolls by and I’m beyond exhausted.

“You have to work tonight don’t you?” Nora says from the hallway.

“Yeah,” I mumble.

“You look like shit.”

“Watch your language and thanks a lot.”

“Sorry, but you look like you need sleep.”

“I know I’ll be sleeping in tomorrow, trust me.  Are you still going to Avery’s house tonight?”

“Yeah, her mom’s on her way over to get me.”

“I could have taken you,” I tell her as I lay down on the couch.

“You should take a nap before work.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” I say through a yawn.

“I’ll lock up on the way out,” she says laughing.

That’s the last thing I hear until my alarm wakes me up.

“Shit already. Ugh,” I complain to no one other than myself.  I drag myself up and throw myself in the shower before heading into work.

I get to work at 7:45 p.m. to an already crowded sidewalk.  The line is ridiculous.  At least with this crowd
, I’ll be busy all night.

I clock in and head behind the bar to help Tony a newer bartender at the first floor bar.

“You alright?” I ask him.

“Yeah, just not used to it being so busy.  When Harper gets here I get to go back to the second floor,” he says looking relieved.

“She should be here soon,” I tell him with a laugh.

A few minutes late
r she comes in looking excited.

“
What’s with the smile?”

“Life is great,” she says happily.

“Okay, why is life great?”

“I don’t know
, it just is.”

“Explain.”

“Schools good, work’s good too, and Tucker…he’s amazing,” she says all dreamy eyed.

“We’ll I’m glad,” I say with a laugh.

“Oh, you know Parker’s coming tonight right?” she says changing the subject.

“No, why’s he coming home?  Hell they were here
a few weekends ago,” I state.

“I guess Claudia is
really close to delivering the baby, and wants to come here to see the band tonight.”

“Who is playing tonight?” I ask feeling dumb.  I’ve been here all week and haven’t paid much attention to anything.

She just stares at me.

“What?”

“Umm…Twisted Mafia,” she says with a concerned look.

“Great,” I mumble
now realizing how packed this place is going to get.

“Yeah, Parker wasn’t real excited either,” she says with a smirk.

“Is Tuck coming?”

“Hell yeah, he wants to watch live entertainment
.”

“And you don’t mean the live band,” I say shaking my head.

“Nope.  I’m talking about the guys from King Dread and the guys from Twisted Mafia.  This should be interesting.”

“Yeah, I don’t get what happened between them
, but apparently it’s pretty bad.”

“Twisted Mafia tried to steal
their songs, which is a huge deal.  Tucker’s making sure no one gets arrested from King Dread tonight.”

We get a rush at the bar and start serving customers.  Before I know it
, the guys are on stage. 

Around 10:00 p.m.
, I watch as Parker enters the bar with a very pregnant Claudia.  Declan and Nate are already here sitting in their usual table.

“Damn, she looks like she’s about to pop,” I hear Harper say.

“Yeah, but damn if she doesn’t look amazing,” I admit.

“Eh
, I don’t think she’s anything special.”

“She’s gorgeous.”

“She’s a controlling bitch.”

“Why did she want to come to see Twisted Mafia?”

“Something about knowing the guys in the band.”

“Oh, that’s
interesting,” I say, as I turn to help another customer.

Tucker’s here
and Harp continues to give him sexy looks.  I can’t help but laugh.

The band’s taking a break in five, I’m
gonna go take my break now,” Harper announces.

“Okay,” I say as I
wave her off.  Marcus is behind the bar serving customers too.

It feels like forever until Harper finally come
s back.  When she comes back, she looks like a ball of fire.  I’ve never seen her look so pissed.

“Are you alright,” I whisper.

“Nope,” is all she says.

“Did Tucker say or do something?” I ask confused.

“Nope.  I overheard something that changes everything.”

Just then I notice Cameron
, one of the guys in Twisted Mafia walk past where Harper just came from.  He walks up to the bar.

“Hey Nat
alie,” he says with a smile.

“Hi,” is all I say.

“I wanted to see if we could talk after my show?”

“
You can fucking talk to me,” Harp seethes at him.

“Harp calm down, we’re working,” I remind her.

“You’re fucking dead,” she says pointedly to him.

“What’s going on?” Tuck asks
, now standing beside Cameron.  Thank goodness the bar is between us because Harp looks like she’s ready to kill him.

“I have no clue.  Your girl just starting getting crazy,” he says to Tuck.

“Crazy, you want to see crazy you asshole, I’ll show you fucking crazy,” Harp rants.

Tu
ck looks between them and to me, I shrug, having no idea what the hell just happened.

“
Babe, calm down,” Tuck says trying to talk to her.

“You guys need to go now,” I say cutting in.

I pull Harp to the end of the bar away from both Cameron and Tuck.

“What the hell happened?”

“Cameron’s a fucking asshole.”

“About what?” I ask confused, we don’t really know the guy.  I mean the band’s played here a few times
, and we’ve talked quite a bit, but that’s about it.

“I caught him talking to some guy, I don’t know how
, but Parker’s not the father to Claudia’s baby.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask
, even more lost and confused.

“I don’t know exactly, all I know is that I heard Cameron talking to some guy saying he needs to make sure the results show that Parker is the dad.  He gave him something, I’m assuming money because he said when it was completed
, he would get the other half,” she says looking serious.

I stand there staring at her in shock.  How would Cameron know if Parker was or wasn’t the father? 

“Something doesn’t add up, don’t ya think?”

“I have no idea.  It doesn’t make sense.”

Just then I look around the bar and see Parker looking sexy as all hell and happy.  He’s laughing with the guys and looks to be having a good time.  He’s ready for this baby, and now to have it possibly be ripped away before he even meets it.  Why would someone do something like that?”

“I hope for Parker’s sake it’s not his kid,” she chimes in.

“Why?  He’s starting to really look forward to being a dad,” I say, as I stare at him from afar.

“Because life would be better if it wasn’t his.”

“How are you going to tell him what you heard?”

“Umm easy, I’m
gonna call that bitch out in front of him after work tonight.”

“They may leave early.”

“No, she’ll stay to talk to the band, Parker and the guys will stay to talk to Eddie.  So we just gotta clean up fast,” she says eyeing me for a response.

“Then let’s get back to work,” I say quickly.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Eddie says from behind me.

“Sorry,” we say
, as we rush back out to help customers.  Marcus looks relieved.  I mouth a sorry to him and he nods his head.

We continue to finish out the night and I can’t stop thinking about what Harp said.

Why would Cameron, hell anyone be paying someone to change test results?

After last call we quickly stock the coolers.  Well Harp quickly tries to do everything to get out of here at exactly 2:00 a.m.  I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.  I feel like shit’s going to hit the fan and it
’s about to get ugly, real ugly, fast.