his plans.
Scout gasped, and Parker immediately turned and cursed. The woman gave Scout a nasty look that haunted her for days. She now was old enough to know that Parker was having sex. That afternoon, a world of mixed emotions opened up inside of her over the span of a minute. She supposed sheâd always looked up to Parker in a way, found him admirable. She wasnât jealous of the woman. Sex scared Scout and she wanted nothing to do with it. Yet, there came a twinge of something she couldnât name when she realized Parker was doing it with that woman.
He chased after her, completely discarding the other woman. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm.
âScout, what are you doing here?â
âI . . . I was looking for you.â
His face was creased with frustration, and his cheeks were flushed. âYou shouldnât have come here.â
His words irritated her. She jerked her arm away. âIâm not a child, Parker. I know what you were doing.â
âI know youâre not a child. I just . . . I didnât want you to see that.â
âWhy?â She was truly curious about his reasons.
He frowned and wedged his hands in his pocket. Looking away, he mumbled, âItâs dirty.â
She frowned as well. âYou arenât the only person who does that, Parker.â
âI know. But I donât like it.â
âThen why do you do it?â
He shrugged. âGuys are different. We need . . .â
She waited quietly for him to continue. His cheeks grew redder and he said nothing. She touched his arm. âItâs okay, Park. I get it.â
He shook his head and curved his lips into a barely there smile. âNo, you donât, but thanks for trying.â
Her hand dropped from his arm. âThanks.â She was insulted. âYou know, you arenât much older than meââ
âI know that! God, Scout, I know that.â
âThen why do you say things like that, like Iâm some dumb kid?â
âBecause youâre a good girl and a good girl shouldnât see two people going at it like animals!â he hissed.
She drew back. Her understanding of sex was twisted. Sheâd seen her mother and other men. There was no modesty. She saw things no child should probably witness. She only needed to see it once to determine she never needed to see it again. But to her knowledge, there was no way to have sex that wasnât animalistic.
After they stood awkwardly silent for a while and the woman he had been with slunk away, he said, âCome on. Iâll walk you back.â
They walked in silence, she playing back what sheâd seen, and Parker scowling about what he had inadvertently showed her. One thing she was sure of, he did not see her as a sexual being, but as more of a little sister. This pleased and irritated her for reasons she didnât understand.
Evelyn smiled, remembering how, after that, he made a point to read adult stories to her. They were never graphic, but sometimes they mentioned some of those less animalistic couplings he must have been referring to. He would sometimes blush when he read her the more adult parts of those classics.
That day at the alley was never mentioned again, but from then on, on those days he would sometimes disappear, sheâd smirk and avoid his eyes upon his return, knowing exactly where heâd been and what heâd been doing.
Parker had definitely been her friend, the only one she ever had before Lucian.
Her present-day mind jumped to visions of her and Lucian. They could be quite animalistic, yet she loved being with him in that way. She preferred him intense and raw and holding nothing back. When he acted as such, she seemed to break out of her rigid skin and surrender, allowing him to guide her somewhere dark and freeing where only the two of them existed.
âWhat are you grinning about?â
At Lucianâs question,