Parker

In his haste to escape Brenna’s accusing stare Parker had forgotten to bring a change of clothes into the bathroom with him. He’d taken a shower—an ice cold one. It helped immensely, but when Parker heard Beth’s mother in the bedroom he’d been afraid to come out wrapped in nothing but a towel.

He’d known Barbara Bennett for years. She was the closest thing Parker had to a mother since his passed away. But despite their close relationship he didn’t think she’d look too kindly on him parading around her daughter’s room half naked.

When Parker finally heard the door slam he counted to ten. The room was still quiet. He peeked his head out of the bathroom. “Is Hurricane Brenna over?” he asked.

Beth jumped like she’d forgotten he was still in the room. “Yeah, sorry.”

Parker sighed and padded barefoot into the bedroom. He went straight to his duffle bag, rooting around for some clothes.

“She’s unbelievable,” Beth muttered.

“That’s one word for her,” Parker joked. He knew how much Brenna got under Beth’s skin. Jumping on the ‘Brenna’s a bitch’ bandwagon was the only way to cope when Beth and Brenna were fighting—which was pretty much always.

“And she’s already ordering us around,” Beth whined.

Parker’s eyebrows raised in alarm. He hated being dragged into Brenna’s schemes. “What’s she want us to do?”

“We have to fill five hundred stupid bottles with sand before dinner. I mean seriously? It’s our spring break. We didn’t come here to do manual labor.”

“Sand? What for?”

“Wedding favors.”

Parker groaned internally. He reminded himself it could be worse. Brenna had a way for coming up with the worst ideas on the planet. Once she invented a game called ‘roller ball.’ It was basically dodge ball on roller skates, which pretty much amounted to Brenna wailing on Beth and Parker while they tried to escape her wrath on roller blades. They might have stood a fighting chance if the roller blades they were wearing weren’t from Beth’s older sisters and at least three sizes too big.

Then there was the time that Beth beat Brenna at ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ and Brenna had been so mad she squirted a whole bottle of Visine into Beth’s cherry coke, but Parker ended up drinking it. He spent the rest of the day in his bathroom thinking he had food poisoning until Brenna finally admitted what happened because Parker’s father was about to take him to the hospital. Parker shuddered at the memory.

“I’m sorry,” Beth said sinking down onto the bed. “I shouldn’t have dragged you here. I forgot how awful Brenna can be.”

Parker wanted to hug Beth and tell her there was nowhere else he’d rather be, but the fact that he was still in nothing but a towel stopped him. “Hold that thought,” he said taking his duffle bag into the bathroom to change.

He came out a minute later dressed in gray board shorts and a blue v-neck tee. He’d put his contacts in since they’d be spending the day at the beach. He had a tube of sunscreen in his hand as he smiled at Beth. “Well, we better get going if we’re gonna get through bridezilla Brenna’s minion work.”

“Why do you look like you’re dressed for a day of fun at the beach?” Beth asked.

“Because I am.”

“This isn’t going to be fun, Parker. We’ll probably get sunburns and blisters from shoveling sand.”

Parker laughed. “You’ll get sunburned.”

Beth narrowed her eyes. “Not all of us were blessed with beautiful skin that bronzes in the sun.”

Beth’s comment caught him off guard. “You think I have beautiful skin?”

“Duh,” Beth replied. She seemed to play off the compliment, but Parker caught the slightest blush on her cheeks.

He tamped down his ego and tossed the sunblock at Beth. “That’s what this is for.” He’d packed a bottle of SPF 60 specifically for her because she never remembered how badly she burned.

Beth caught the bottle and looked at it gratefully. He knew what she was thinking without her even having to say it. Thank you for knowing me. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for being my other half.

He knew because it’s what Parker thought of every time Beth did something little, yet monumental for him. It was the way she always carried an extra phone charger for him because he never remembered to plug his phone in at night. Or how she brought his mail in when she went to her own mailbox because neither Parker nor his father could seem to remember to do the menial task. Or the way she left Parker little sticky notes with silly messages on his windshield or front door. Sometimes she’d even sneak them into the pocket of his folded pants and he wouldn’t find them for months.

All of those little things added up. They made Parker feel cared for, understood, treasured . . . loved. Having Beth in his life meant the world to him. And he knew the feeling was reciprocated.

It was the little things that meant the most to them both. The things that came with knowing someone almost better than they knew themselves. It had always been that way between Parker and Beth. And he’d always thought it was just because they’d grown up together. But lately, he’d started wondering if maybe it was more than that. And from the way Beth was staring at him, with a mix of awe and appreciation on her beautiful face, Parker hoped maybe there truly was something more between them. It had certainly felt that way before Brenna charged into their bedroom.

Parker swallowed back the emotion bubbling in his chest. He wished he could ask Beth if she felt it too—that unbreakable bond between them and how it seemed to be changing lately. But Parker didn’t know how to explain how he was feeling, only that it overwhelmed him at times. He couldn’t imagine there being two people more suited for each other than they were. They knew each other on another level. It was the only way he could describe it.

Brenna’s sisters knew her. And supposedly so did Jared. But never once did Parker see them go the extra mile for Beth like he did. And it’s not that Parker felt he deserved something for his efforts. They really weren’t even efforts. He just always thought of Beth first.

Parker stared at Beth and wished he could find a way to tell her everything he was feeling. How could he feel so connected to her, yet not be able to show her what was in his heart?

He sighed. Now was not the time nor place. “You brought a bathing suit, right?”

Beth nodded.

“Well, go get dressed, Cinderella, we have an evil step sister to appease.”

Beth

Beth took a quick shower before getting dressed to go to the beach with Parker. She was still fuming over her encounter with Brenna. How dare she burst in their bedroom like that and start accusing Beth and Parker of scandal. Thankfully, they hadn’t been doing anything, but they could’ve been. They weren’t kids anymore. Waking up so close to Parker this morning had proved that to Beth. She felt a rush of shame at the memory. What would’ve happened if Brenna hadn’t walked in?

She quickly shook the question from her wandering mind and concentrated on rubbing her sunblock in. What Beth should be thinking about was how to control her temper so she didn’t kill her bridezilla of a sister. She should’ve expected as much, but perhaps the time away from Brenna had let her horribleness fade from Beth’s memory. Or perhaps Beth had hoped her ill-tempered sister had grown up in the two years she’d lived on her own.

Brenna had been raising her little boy, Michael, on her own in Savannah. Well not really on her own. Their parents made sure Brenna and Michael were financially stable. But still, if single-parenting didn’t make Brenna grow up, Beth didn’t think anything would. She wondered if Eric knew what he was getting himself into. At least he was a Marine—hostile territory wouldn’t be a new concept for him.

Beth finished getting dressed. She put on her black strappy bikini and slipped on a pale blue sundress with embroidered white flowers. She swept her long blonde hair into a ponytail and put on her game face. She knew surviving Brenna’s wedding was going to be a nightmare. But Beth had Parker with her, and he always made everything better.

“Okay,” Beth said stepping out of the bathroom. “I’m ready.”