Cue the angry growl of my stomach. It made me flinch in annoyance. I hated to be this desperately hungry. One should never push their body to the limits of desperation. It hadn’t been worth the dress.
River thought otherwise, my stupid brain butted in.
“Your grub’s on the coffee table.” Anton directed toward where Kells was situated with no care in the world, eating her heart out.
Without much ado, I marched toward the heavenly smell and happily sighed as I sat down across form Kells. Anton had three sofas, so it gave us enough privacy while we comfortably watched our show.
Chicken and waffles from Roscoe’s. The first bite sure felt like ambrosia on my tongue.
“Mmm … This is the life.” My tummy happily obliged.
“Hollywood’s going to give you an eating disorder, Cara.” Kells gave me a worried frown. “Consider yourself warned.”
Glaring at her, I scarfed down a piece of waffle. “Don’t think so,” I mumbled before stuffing more into it.
“Dating Parker surely would.” Kells couldn’t resist herself, knowing how neurotic and controlling Parker could be.
Anton made an overly dramatic sigh before throwing himself on the sofa situated between us. “You can do better than that guy, but whatever makes you happy makes me happy, I guess.”
My eyes flickered between my friends while cautiously chewing my food. They never warmed up to Parker, and the sentiment was mutual. I tried not to merge both and kept them separate. Well, as much as I could manage, anyway.
Recognizing my uncomfortable state, Kells gave me a heartening look. “Did anything newsworthy happen last night?” Kells inquired, changing the subject before grabbing the remote and beginning to scan the screen for our show.
Umm, nothing that I want to confess.
Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to my food. “Hmm, no, not really. Same old, same old.” Lies. Pure and utter lies.
“So, you haven’t had sex with Parker, then?” Kells asked playfully with a perfectly arched brow, properly displaying her amazing features, and that included her brows.
“Not yet, no.” Was it a crime to wait? A month wasn’t enough for me to get to that point yet. Call it archaic, but what the hell? It was my body; my decision.
“Why ever not?” Anton derided. “Don’t care much for him, but even I can say that he’s beddable.”
Kells smirked before grinning at our friend. “At this point, Anton, you’d hump anything that has a dick.”
He flung a plastic fork at Kells. “Sad, but true. If I don’t lose any baby fat anytime soon, I’ll forever be an emancipated virgin.”
“Dream on. You’re as virgin as I am,” Kells interjected.
Kells was a carefree soul, but she never failed to tangle herself with peculiar men. The last one was secretly married, and the second she had found out, she dumped the idiot. It was difficult to trust anyone around Los Angeles. People around here were a different breed of human. One surely wouldn’t know what the other person could be hiding. Maybe that was why I didn’t mind Parker so much. At least I knew what I was getting with him. Most importantly, the man wasn’t married.
“Parker and I are fine … for the moment. I’m in no rush to get there, you know. I want to take this slow, and I think he gets that.”
“Are you sure about that? Men like Parker don’t wait out for long. They know what they’ve got, and they use it to their advantage. And that includes knowing how the opposite sex reacts and fawns over them. I’m sure he’s not short on that.”
“I’m ready when I’m ready. Case closed.” I would know when the right time presented itself. To be honest, after seeing how badly I reacted to my ex’s touch, how could I fathom doing the deed with a man who had the quarter of River’s sex appeal and charm? True, I was attracted to Parker, but after being severely reminded of my first love, he palled in comparison.
It was an unkind thing to do, comparing your current beau from your last. Regardless, to this day, no one came close to River. Still, I couldn’t forget how everything had crumbled due to his inability to protect me and our relationship.
Parker was second best, and although my heart longed for the golden days of the past, there was no turning back. Consequently, I had to continue on living and see if this relationship with Parker could blossom into something worth nurturing.
They said being positive would enhance one’s outlook on life. Therefore, I must train my mind to see the good and caution the bad in every given situation.
Later that night, I received a call from my boyfriend, informing me that he was coming over tomorrow for a much-needed time together. He was right; there were a few kinks we needed to iron out.