Chapters (63)
- THE AMERICANA PLAYBOOK
- Dear Reader
- The Troubled Teen Industry
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- New England Rebels
- Day 44
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Day 55
- Chapter 5
- TWO MONTHS LATER
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Day 68
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Day 78
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Day 84
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Day 91
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Day 100
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Day 113
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Day 128
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Day 147
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Epilogue
- ONE MONTH LATER
- FIVE YEARS LATER
- Acknowledgments
- Also by Cathryn Carter
- About the Author
When I get up to the floor of my apartment, I eye Agent Samuels, reaching for the door’s knob myself.
“Finally. Took you long enough.”
Following her voice, I find her sitting on the kitchen island.
Looking absolutely fire.
“What’s the problem?”
“I told you,” she says. “I’m stuck.”
“If you have to be stuck in something for the rest of your life, this isn’t a bad way to go. Trust me.”
Parker huffs, hopping off the island with a hand to her chest.
God, it’s got a slit, too.
“I think a piece of the lining is caught between the teeth.”
I immediately release my lip from where I’ve shoved it between my teeth.
Parker has turned away from me, so, thankfully, she doesn’t see the way my tongue dips out to swipe at my lips.
On second thought, I decide I definitely want her out of it, but only after I’ve traced every inch of the exposed skin with my lips and tongue and need other areas to explore.
“Fitz?”
“Sorry, what?”
Parker points behind her back.
“You look”—fucking phenomenal—“great.”
“Thanks,” Parker says, “but I probably look better when it’s actually on.”
I’d argue the only way she’d look better is naked, but I keep that thought to myself. That’s made easier when Parker tucks all her dark hair to one side, displaying the length of her slender neck, and I lose my ability to speak. I wonder if it’s my mouth’s way of punishing me because I’m not letting it do what it wants to, which is to trail kisses down the velvety column.
“Be gentle, Fitz.”
I file this under Things I never want to hear from Parker again unless I’m balls deep inside her and reach for the zipper. I try—gently—to tug it free. But my focus is still on her neck.
“Did I ever tell you that you have the Big Dipper on your neck?”
“The Big Dipper?”
I take a step, but that doesn’t get me close enough, so I bring a hand to her waist, guiding her back so we meet in the middle.
“The one and only.” I lift a finger, beginning to trace the constellation of dark freckles on the back of her neck. “Still there below your hairline.”
My touch draws not just the shape, but also the smallest shiver from Parker. I do it again. “Still?” she asks, her voice soft.
I clear my throat. “Guess I never mentioned it.”
Of course I never mentioned it back in high school. For one, I was embarrassed and worried Parker would think it was weird. And I didn’t want her to suddenly keep her hair down all the time.
She lets out the sweetest surprised breath. “I didn’t know that.”
“I love that.”
Her tone changes. “Love what?”