Within minutes, she’s pulling up outside Paige Moore’s house. Or was it still Paige Williams? She wasn’t sure if her divorce from Aaron has been finalized yet or not. Their friendship has come a long way since she left for college. Parker was even the maid of honor at the wedding where Paige was very pregnant. It still makes Parker laugh to think that Paige’s baby daddy is her former boyfriend who cheated on her with her best friend. And then they became pregnant. Karma can really be a bitch sometimes.

As much as she tries, she can’t help but look over at Ryder’s house. It needs a little bit of work on the outside, and she feels a pain of sadness to not see the pickup Tara bought him when he was only fifteen gone from the driveway after being sold in haste. It’ll be difficult to not look over at his place, which just so happens to be only three houses away from Paige’s.

Paige moved into her parent’s house when they moved to Florida the winter after their graduation. They decided an apartment with Aaron was not the place to raise a child. It appears Aaron isn’t trying to be too big of a “douche,” as Paige lovingly refers to him, since Paige is still here and he’s not.

“You’re finally here!” Paige squeals as she rushes out of the house. Her formerly short red hair is now shoulder length and perfectly styled in a long bob.

“Sorry, I stopped at the station first. And you know I had to drive by the house.”

“Oh honey, why do you do that to yourself?”

“Because I miss it. I miss them. And I can’t sell the damn thing.”

Paige grabs her bag and walks towards the house. “I suppose not.”

“Where’s Connor?”

“With his grandparents for two weeks. Aaron says he’s got him, but we both know he doesn’t know to parent without someone else around for supervision. He doesn’t know his son from the other boys on the playground.”

“You’re completely done? It’s really over?”

“Oh, yeah,” she laughs and sets the bag on the guest bed in what used to Paige’s old bedroom. “The divorce was finalized last week. After his third affair didn’t even faze me, I knew it wasn’t worth it. We were just two roommates who occasionally had sex, no matter who much I tried to avoid it. We never should’ve gotten married. Everyone, including him, knows we wouldn’t have ever gotten married if I didn’t end up pregnant. And that’s just a terrible foundation for a marriage. Turns out, you have to actually like the person you vow to spend the rest of your life with. Who knew?”

“I hear that helps,” Parker laughs. “You did what was best for Connor.”

“Speaking of, I have to call him before dinner. Last night, Aaron gave him ice cream for dinner, and then called freaking out when Connor wouldn’t go to bed. Fucking moron.”

Parker laughs. “I have to head out quick anyways. I’ll be back soon, though. Then we can drink and catch up. I can’t wait to hear about affairs one and two.”

Paige rolls her eyes and sighs before walking downstairs. Parker follows her and gets into her car. To the bar she goes.

Pulling up into the parking lot, Parker sees Ryder’s motorcycle out front. “He’s going to kill himself one of these days.” Taking a deep breath, she opens the heavy wooden door.

Ryder Edwards sits at the bar in a wrinkled Metallica t-shirt and worn, faded jeans holding a glass of whiskey. His dark hair is too long, hanging down to his collarbone. His back stiffens as he slowly turns his head as though he could feel her. He jumps slightly at the sight of her.

“What are you doing?” she asks as she leans against the bar.

“What do you mean?”

“You got suspended?” Parker points to the glass in his hand, and the sparkle from her diamond ring catches his eye.

“What I do, or don’t do, stopped being your problem when you walked out of my fucking life, don’tcha think?” he snaps. “Now, shoo fly.” He makes a shooing motion towards her to emphasize.

“I still care about you. I want the best for you, Ryder.”

“The best thing for me? You left me without so much as a note, and you think I believe a word that comes out of your mouth?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind. Don’t you have some perfect life to get back to? With a perfect fiancé with a perfect job? Or did you drive him to drink, too?”

“You’re blaming me for drinking?” Parker laughs. “That’s rich.”

“If the shoe fits, honey.”

“You started drinking long before I left, and you know it. It runs in your family.”

“Don’t you ever talk about my family!” Ryder’s slurring as he gets close to her face. “You lost that right a long time ago.”

Vanessa Barton slinks up and steps between the two, causing Ryder to slowly pull his face away from Parker’s. Vanessa wears a skintight strapless mini dress in a purple leopard print pattern. Moving to straddle his right leg, she pretends to not see Parker standing there. Ryder’s hand slides up her thigh and under her dress.

“No panties,” he growls.

Vanessa turns her head to look at Parker. “I know how you like it, baby. Easy access.” She’s writhing under his touch as he’s aggressively moving his hand under her skirt.

Ryder removes his fingers and reaches up and turns her head to face him before kissing her hard. She starts rocking her hips against his thigh, moaning into his kiss. He breaks the kiss, and she turns to Parker again as she quickens her speed. Panting, she smiles slyly at Parker. “Enjoying the show?”

“I’m actually just wondering if herpes is something a dry cleaner can get out of clothes, or if he’ll just have to burn them once you’re done fucking yourself like a horny, cheap prostitute. Because Lord knows he can’t just wash them at home and call it good.”

“You’re a bitch. A jealous bitch, but still a bitch.” She stops grinding against him.

“Gross.” Parker looks to Ryder hoping she’s doing a decent job of hiding the hurt in her eyes. “I need to talk to you, though. It’s important.”

“You can skip the invite. I’ll RSVP no. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to get out of here. She’s either going to try and claw your eyes out or fuck me right here. Or maybe both at the same time. Maybe another time, though? I’ll put you down in my calendar for another three years. How about that?” Standing, he pulls Vanessa with him as she turns to look behind her, giving Parker a smirk.

“Gross,” she shudders. No matter how disgusting that show was, she couldn’t help but admit it stung a big. Sighing, she turns and leaves shortly afterward, happy to see Ryder’s motorcycle is still there. He won’t kill himself by driving it drunk. Tonight at least.

As she pulls into Paige’s driveway again, she can’t help but glance over at the unfamiliar car parked in Ryder’s driveway. Nausea hits her as the thought of Ryder with Vanessa takes over her thoughts. Yep, it still hurt. Getting out, she walks into the house and sits on the couch next to Paige.

“Where’d you go?”

“I had to try and track down Ryder. He still doesn’t know Kane’s back.”

“Shit. I’m guessing you went to the bar?”

“Must be his new home.”

“Got that right.”

“I knew he had a problem, but I didn’t think he’d let it get this far,” Parker says as Paige hands her a glass of white wine. She needed it after the show she just witnessed.

“Was Vanessa there?”

“Yep.”

“No panties?”

“Yep.”

“How’d that feel?”

“Like a slap in the face and a kick in the gut while simultaneously making me feel like needing a hot shower where I scrub myself with bleach.”

“She really does look dirty, doesn’t she?”

“And she enjoyed dry humping him in front of me. I think it got her off. She was watching me while she was grinding on his leg. I’m a little concerned she was imagining me in there.”

“Probably was. I mean, you’re hot, and she’s a dirty, dirty whore. It’s very plausible.”

“That’s gross. You’re supposed to make me feel better, not worse.” Parker starts laughing. “I’m engaged. I shouldn’t feel upset by them together, but after everything that happened, I can’t help it. It’s like salt in a wound, you know?”

“I don’t think he still knows what happened.”

“Mason said he’d tell him.”

“Maybe he was drunk?”

“Maybe?”

“Probably,” Paige says clinking her wine glass with Parker’s and laughing.

“I should go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

“I believe it. Go get some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Thanks for letting me stay here, Paige.”

“Thanks for asking to.”

Parker heads upstairs to her room and closes the door. Pulling out her phone, she scrolls through the contacts until she finds Mason Jackson’s number.

“Hello?” Ryder’s best friend answers.

“Hey Mason, it’s Parker.”

“What’s up?” He sounds apprehensive.

“I need you to talk to Ryder about something.”

“I don’t want to get more in the middle of your love squabble than I already am. You need to talk to him yourself.”

“Mason, please. You don’t think I already tried? He’s angry and wants to hurt me. He doesn’t want to listen to me. And he’s extremely successful at hurting me, by the way.”

“What happened?”

“First mistake I made was finding him at the bar. I should’ve known he would be too far gone to talk to me there. But then Vanessa showed up.”

“Finger and thigh fucking?”

“This must be a common occurance.”

“You have no idea. Don’t take it personally. She’s a warm body filling your place in his bed. So, you’re back in town?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Kane.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, and he’s pissed at Ryder. His letter was sent to the station here, but addressed to me. He’s targeting people close to Ryder. I tried to tell him, but he refused to talk to me. He needs to know. Please, will you talk to him for me?”

“Are you in danger?”

“No, I’ll be the target after he finishes hurting Ryder. Besides, I’m not sure I fall into the category of those who Ryder cares about anymore.”

“He still loves you.”

“Funny way to show it,” she snorts.

“You know as well as I do he’s a complex individual,” Mason says.

“He’s with Vanessa, Mason. You know that simple fact kills me after what happened. That tells me everything I need to know or ever doubted about that night. Loving me is not something his actions say. Will you just tell him about Kane? And also to be careful?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell him. How drunk was he when you saw him?”

“Enough to feel it in the morning. Not as drunk as the last night I saw him, though.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to him in the morning. I’m sorry you had to see that, Park.”

“Me too. Trust me. And Mase?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. You could be on his list, too.”

“Don’t worry about me, darlin’. I’ll be fine.”