Page 15 of Nothing to Hide
By the time I plug in the code to the basement and jog down the narrow steps, I’ve mentally prepared myself for this shit show. Luckily, nothing has started yet. There’s a huge part of me that wants to watch and see if Parker will actually participate in this dumbass competition. But some little niggling piece of my mind is telling me that there’s no way he’d do that to Mia. Even if he did just ask for space from both of us so we could focus on the trials. I tried to convince her that we didn’t need it, speaking up for both Parker and me, which was weird as fuck, but the last thing I want is space from her. I didn’t win.
I find Parker standing off to the side, talking to Noelle Whitmore-Grimsley. My eyes practically roll to the back of my head. She’s an initiate with us, one of only three women this year. She’s also a royal pain in the ass, heavy on the royal part since her family has treated her like a queen since the day she was born. I would know, our parents are best friends and have been trying to arrange our marriage since we were kids. Not gonna happen. In this lifetime or the next.
I walk over to them, stopping next to Parker and giving him a head nod. His eyes soften when he looks at me, his shoulders relaxing slightly. Parker is usually a cocky asshole, but the fact that he seems relieved to see me loosens something in my chest. Maybe he’s not such a huge dick to begin with, and my hate for him is based purely on the fact that Mia loves him.
“Leopold, I’m so glad you’re here. How are you?” Jesus, her voice strikes a nerve, all whiny and over the top, her perfectly manicured nails reaching out to drag down my arm. I can feelthe heat of Parker’s stare on the side of my face, but I don’t look at him.
“Hi, Noelle, gonna steal Parker, nice to see you.” Her face pinches together, but I don’t give it any attention, instead curling my fingers around the underside of Parker’s bicep. Electricity sparks at the contact, and it takes me a second to recognize the warmth spreading through my body because of it. I drag him to the corner of the room, out of earshot, where we’re enveloped in darkness, the light dim of candles not quite reaching us, but we’re still visible if someone were to look.
I drop my hand like he burned me, trying to brush off the feeling that rushed through me when I was touching him.
Parker looks amused, that cocky-ass smirk sitting so easily and carefree on his face.
“So, Leopold, nice of you to show up.” The urge to strangle him right now is strong, and instead, I ball my hands into fists at my sides.
“Shut up, idiot. And don’t call me that.”
Parker grins, rocking back on his heels and shoving his hands into his front pockets. “Why not? Leopold suits you.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “You make it hard to like you, you know that, right?”
“Mia would disagree,” he says, winking at me. Motherfucker.
“Fuck you.” I turn to leave, already thinking of a way to explain to Mia that Parker needs to figure this shit out on his own, when his hand curls around my wrist, pulling me back into the shadows. His other hand comes up next, settling flat on my chest and backing me against the wall. My breathhitches, his hand lingering on me for a moment too long before it drops back down to his side.
What the fuck was that? I should have shoved him away. Arrogant prick. I don’t understand what Mia sees in him. We’re so different, how can she be in love with both of us?
“Tell me what to expect.” His words pull me out of my head and back to the present. “The trial. What the fuck am I confessing with my cock shoved through a goddamn hole?”
“You’re not putting your dick anywhere, fuck. We’ll be paired up with another initiate and put in together. We won’t know who, obviously. From my understanding, it’s going to work like a confessional, not like a glory hole. Sorry to burst your bubble.”
“What? Didn’t want to play with my cock,Leopold? I promise it doesn’t bite.” For the millionth time tonight, Parker catches me off guard, and I fumble with my words. My dick also stirs. I’ve always needed a connection with someone before I feel physical attraction, so reacting to Parker this way doesn’t make any fucking sense. Do we have a connection? Sure, a fucked-up one filled with irritation, jealousy, and rivalry.
“What? Why would you? No.” Parker just chuckles under his breath, pissing me off further. “Will you shut the fuck up and listen? Or I swear, I won’t help you.”
“Alright. Scouts honor, I’ll behave.” For some reason, I don’t think Parker Kingsford could behave if his life were on the line.
“They’re going to expect you to confess, something dark and hidden. Something deep, Parker. You won’t be able to lie. And you’ll get a secret in return. I’ll explain everything else when we’re not in such a public place.”
His eyes go wide for a minute, and then he nods in understanding. “Alright. That shit sucks. Not sure I’m down for trusting a stranger. Thanks for the tip, I appreciate it.”
“Like you told me before, we don’t have much of a choice in the matter here, do we?” I can’t help but feel like an ass for leaving out, arguably, the most important part, so I surprise myself when he starts to walk away from me.
I wrap my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him flush against me. He doesn’t fight me, stepping into my space like he belongs there. His body heat seeps into my skin through my clothes, and I take a split second to breathe in his woodsy scent. Parker shocks the shit out of me by placing his hands at my hips, our pelvises flush together, scrambling my fucking brain in the process. We stand there for a moment, our heartbeats pounding out of our chests, his thumbs moving ever so faintly against my sides.
Jesus Christ, why does this feel so good? It’s Parker. I fucking hate Parker.
To any onlooker, we look like two people hooking up, which is exactly what I want them to think if they look over at us. My ears brush the shell of his ear, whispering as low as I can get away with. “They’realwayswatching, we’ll be recorded in the booth.” Parker squeezes my hips with each hand, and there’s a split moment where I want to bury my face in the crook of his neck and suck on the skin there, but that’s fucking insanity, and I push the desire away just as fast.
Just as I release him, Parker shakes out his hands at his sides, nodding and walking away without a word. My eyes follow after him as he joins the crowd, and it’s not until he’s out ofsight that I catch Noelle off to the side, staring at me.Fuck. That might be a problem.
Pushing Parker from my mind, I get my head in the game. I know my objective, I know my story, and I know what I have to do. Get in, tell it, take theirs, and use it against them later during the trial of reputation. It’s what my dad prepared me for, and what I’ve been trained to do my entire life.
The next thing I know, someone is behind me, putting a blindfold over my eyes and directing me where to go. I stay calm, knowing this is all part of it, and the anonymity is the whole point.
“Start when the light turns green, you can leave when it turns red.”
I’m ushered to step up once, and then the door shuts behind me. I pull off the blindfold and take in my surroundings. I don’t recall there ever being a day when I imagined what the inside of a glory hole would look like, but if I did, this would be it. There are four basic walls, painted a deep crimson red, and a hole on the interior wall at crotch level with padding all around it. A hole I’m most definitely not sticking my dick through.
