“Move in with me.”
I froze. This wasn’t the first time he’d spoken those words, but for some reason this time seemed different.
I think he expects an answer this time.
I flicked my eyes up to meet his and was confronted with the most sincere expression I’d ever seen.
“All this bullshit is behind us now… I don’t want to be alone anymore, not when I could be with you instead.”
All this bullshit was behind us.
Finally.
I’d called Ty again, for Parker’s sake. I hated seeing him so worked up. He hadn’t been sleeping well – he said he couldn’t rest when he didn’t know who was out to get us and why… and I couldn’t sleep if he couldn’t sleep.
Ty had done what he did best and hacked into both Nelly and Stephen’s computers for another snoop around.
It was actually rather frightening hearing what he’d found on Stephen’s end when he’d delved a little deeper.
The man was obsessed. He was worse than a stalker. The evidence was all laid out in black and white. But the weirdest bit was that it wasn’t me he had been keeping tabs on for years… it was Parker.
Creepy…
With the details from my brother in hand, we’d eventually come to the conclusion that Stephen had been biding his time to try and find something that could ruin Parker’s reputation. Some of the information he had stored on his computer suggested that he had much bigger plans in mind for him… but perhaps when the opportunity had arisen to make a fool out of both me and him together, he just hadn’t been able to resist.
Two birds with one stone…
Nelly had provided him with that opportunity. She’d given him everything.
Parker was absolutely fuming to find out that she had been reporting back to Stephen for close to a year – they had some kind of fucked up little relationship going on.
Gross.
It appeared that Stephen had sought her out when he’d discovered her working for Parker, and manipulated her into giving him what he wanted. I almost felt sorry for her – she was another of Stephen’s victims in a way, but she’d dug her own grave, that bitch was as backhanded and dodgy as they came and I knew that Parker was going to take great pleasure in making her pay for betraying him.
Jasper had just been walking around mumbling about how he knew it was her and how he’d never trusted her in the first place – that part of this whole drama was actually quite amusing to watch.
Jasper had put in a complaint with the local police and had been told that they were taking the allegations seriously. We’d all been interviewed within the day, and Nelly had been charged with defamation. I had to laugh at how quickly they’d acted on our information – even cops seemed to bow down to the power and social standing of the famous Parker Sloan.
Tyler had tried to talk us out of bothering with the authorities, he’d assured me that he knew people who could ‘handle these kinds of things’. I hadn’t asked what that meant. I figured the less I knew, the better.
Stephen wasn’t in the country so there was little the police could do with charging him, but I wasn’t bothered, I knew he’d get his dues, courtesy of my brother.
Whatever that might be…
What I did know, was that Tyler had left an anonymous message on Stephen’s phone, claiming responsibility for destroying his finances, reputation, business and marriage, and warning him that if he made any attempt to threaten either Parker or I, in any way, that he would make him really understand the meaning of being ‘ruined’.
Let’s hope the warning has been heeded.
For now at least, there was nothing but radio silence from my ex. Stephen appeared to have skulked off into the darkness with his tail between his legs.
Parker had finally relaxed, but apparently relaxing meant that he was back to hounding me about living with him.
I wanted to.
I really do…
But I was scared. The last time I lived with a man, things turned out very, very bad for me.
I knew Parker wasn’t Stephen. He would never attempt to control me or hold me back under any circumstances… but I still couldn’t seem to make the niggling fear in the back of my mind disappear entirely.
I blew out the breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding. “Look, I’m not saying no…”
Parker looked at me intently.
“But I’m not saying yes yet either... I need a few days of peace, okay? I just need to take a few breaths and think about it… is that okay?” I asked him timidly.
I really didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but right in this moment, I couldn’t say yes to him with one hundred percent certainty, and he didn’t deserve anything less.
I shouldn’t have been so worried.
Parker chuckled and lifted me up by my waist. “Whatever you need, legs,” he replied simply.
“I forgot my charger at your place, is it okay if I go back for it?”
Parker chuckled down the line. “I asked you to move in with me, legs. Do you really think I have a problem with you going into my house without me?”
I blushed. “I guess not… it just feels weird not to ask.”
“Well consider this your full access pass, whenever you want, day or night; nothing in that house is off limits, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed with a smile.
“And besides, Jasper’s never asked once, take a leaf out of his book,” he replied. “Shit, I gotta go, babe, they’re waiting for me in the studio. Is that all you needed?”
“Yeah, I’m good, I love you,” I told him quickly.
“And I love you,” he replied before the call disconnected.
I felt terrible for interrupting his studio session. I’d told him time and time again that if he was busy, he could let my call go to voicemail, but short of being on stage, I doubted there was anything that was a high enough of a priority for him to miss my call.
Not since the whole Stephen drama anyway.
I pulled a u-turn and headed back to Parker’s place. The only good thing about him not being home was that there wasn’t likely to be anybody hanging around outside waiting to take pictures.
I unlocked the front door and paused for a moment, trying to imagine how I’d feel if this were the home I came back to every night.
It needed a woman’s touch – that was obvious, but it was comfortable and cosy and it housed the man I loved.
Why can’t I just say yes?
I still hadn’t given Parker an answer, and I knew he was trying his best, but patience was not one of his strong points.
I need to give him an answer… very soon…
I sighed, stepped inside and shut the front door behind me.
I found my charger right where I’d left it, next to what had now become my side of his bed.
I was about to head back to the front door when I heard a soft melody coming from further down the hallway – the opposite direction in which I’d come.
Weird…
I frowned. I was certain that Parker had turned everything off in his studio before we’d both left this morning – in fact I’d watched him do half of it.
I froze for a moment, deliberating about what to do.
Is there someone here?
I heard the strum of a guitar and decided that there was definitely someone inside this house that shouldn’t have been there.
It could have been anyone, a stalker, a thief…
Sammy had gone with Parker so he wasn’t much help. I cursed myself internally for refusing Parker’s offer of my own protection.
Why am I such a stubborn fool?
I knew I should leave. Go back to the safety of my car and then call Parker, or even Sammy directly to sort it out, but my feet didn’t seem to get the message, so instead of being the smart girl that walks away from what was bound to be trouble, I headed towards it.
As I crept closer I realized that what I could hear wasn’t just music, it was someone singing, and singing damn well.
That voice is incredible.
It could have been a recording, but I doubted it – that voice wasn’t Parker’s and he was the only one that used this studio.
Until now anyway.
I paused right outside the door, pulled Sammy’s number up on the screen of my phone – just in case, took a deep breath, and peaked my head around the doorframe.
I still wasn’t sure what I was expecting to find in there, but it certainly wasn’t this.
“Jasper?” I blurted out.
Jasper dropped the guitar he had in his hands as he jumped nearly a foot in the air with surprise.
It landed on the ground with a loud clatter and I winced – that thing was probably worth a fortune.
“Charlotte… Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” Jasper clasped his hand over his chest as he spoke. “What the hell are you doing back here?”
He let out a deep breath and I felt a tiny bit guilty for scaring the shit out of him. He’d been so caught up in the moment – I’d taken him by complete surprise.
That’s when it hit me again. Jasper had been singing.
“You can sing…” I pointed my finger at him as I glanced around in bewilderment. “And I have a key… and Parker asked me to live here… why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with Parker?” I sucked in a breath at the end of my ramble. “You can sing,” I repeated, still completely shocked with what I’d just uncovered about someone I considered a reasonably good friend.
He picked the guitar up and checked it for damage.
He sighed heavily. “I don’t suppose there’s any way you could not tell Park about this?” he asked, a sheepish expression on his face.
I walked into the room and perched myself next to him on the bench seat he was sitting on.
“I don’t understand, J, you’re really good… Parker doesn’t know?” I inquired softly.
He snorted. “You’re being generous. And no. he doesn’t know.” He shook his head and shrugged.
“Why?” I asked as I attempted to look into his green eyes.
He didn’t look at me, instead fiddling with the pick in his hands.
“Singing and playing is his thing, you know? It’s just a bit of fun for me when I’m alone.” He finally tilted his head to look at me. “Or when I think I’m alone,” he added with a smirk.
He was right, music was Parker’s ‘thing’, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be Jasper’s thing too.
“Jasper, you’re really good… you should show Parker what you can do, he might be able t—”
“To what?” he interrupted me softly. “Give me special treatment? Use his contacts and his reputation to get me listened to… to get me signed?” He shook his head. “That’s not what I want… did I want a record deal once? Hell yeah I did. Do I want it handed to me because my best mate is the hottest thing in music? Fuck no. But Park would be hurt if I refused his help…” He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair and flipped it back from his face. “It’s just easier this way.”
My heart broke for him. I could see where he was coming from. Parker would love Jasper’s voice – that much I knew already, but he’d do exactly what Jasper didn’t want – he’d do whatever it took to ensure that all J’s dreams came true.
He wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I could understand why Jasper didn’t want it like that – there was nothing quite as satisfying as putting in the hard yards and making your dreams happen on your own skills and merit.
There has to be another way…
“It’s all good, Charlotte; you can’t save the whole world in that brain of yours.” He tapped lightly on the side of my head, obviously aware that my mind was going a mile a minute.
“But you’re sacrificing your dream for the sake of your friendship, and even though I’d probably do the same thing… that sucks.”
He winked at me. “It is what it is, Little Red. It doesn’t bother me so much anymore – Parker’s like a brother to me and I don’t want something as stupid as my average-at-best singing voice to ruin that.”
He pushed up to his feet and strolled towards the door.
I picked up the guitar pick he’d left sitting on the bench and twirled it around in my fingers.
He paused near the door. “So, you’re moving in here huh?”
“I’m not sure yet...” I confessed. “But he wants me to.”
“Well, give me a heads up when you do,” Jasper told me, having already assumed that I’d be saying yes. “And I’ll make sure I don’t walk around here naked anymore.”
My jaw dropped and I spun around to face him, but he was gone.
He what?
“Jasper?!” I called out after him. “Why the hell are you walking around here naked in the first place?”
“Because I can, Little Red… a little bit of nudity is good for the soul…”
I shook my head in disbelief.
Unbelievable.
“And also, because I know it pisses off your boyfriend,” he added with a chuckle right before I heard the front door close behind him.
Jasper, the dark horse huh.
I sat dumbfounded for a moment, trying to absorb what I’d just witnessed.
I never would have guessed.
I headed to the corner of the room where I knew Parker kept his recording equipment. Jasper was obviously satisfied that Parker never bothered checking if there were recordings other than the ones he’d made – either that or he’d forgotten to delete his song in his hasty exit.
I rummaged in the drawers until I found a USB stick. I rewound the system until I found the moment that it had begun recording – when Jasper had entered the room. I plugged the USB in and listened as the file downloaded.
Jasper was wrong. There was nothing average about his voice as he strummed lightly and sang the lyrics of ‘Can I Be Him’ by James Arthur.
He had a unique rasp to his tone that made for amazing listening.
He’s really good…
I didn’t know much about guitar playing, but he seemed to be doing a pretty great job of that too.
Parker needs to hear this…
Jasper may have asked me to forget about it – but I’d made no promises.
I was going to make something happen.