The Broken Pieces novel Chapter 13

A sting of empathy ran through me.

"I know you have a lot of questions and I want to answer them. Please let me. Please. I promise I won't try to touch you again, let me make it up to you." He begged and I couldn't help but frown.

You're going to get hurt after this. I told myself.

I stared at him for a while before looking downwards. "Okay, fine, but you're buying me a new phone and paying for the meal." I look back up at him again. "Deal?"

Parker smiles. "Deal."

Emily Rose

Parker walked us to his large, black truck before saying, "I'm glad that you'd agreed to this."

I shrugged as Parker unlocked his car. "I need answers, don't I?" I asked rhetorically as I climbed inside his truck.

Parker nodded before starting the car and driving off.

I turned my head towards the window, looking outside at all of the passing buildings, "so where are you taking me?" I asked, a small smile on my lips.

"It's a secret."

Secret?

"Really? Fine, I'll guess... McDonalds?" I looked over at him as he smiled brightly before laughing. "Oh, come on, you're not saying anything. I need to guess!"

Parker turned his head towards me and gave me a funny smile. "I missed you."

I looked away, hiding my blush, not saying a word.

Tension and silence begins to fill the the car, suffocating the once loose and free environment.

Parker drives for a couple of minutes before turning the truck into the park lot of a familiar modern bakery.

Excitement rises in me. "Oh my God, Lily's Bakery?!" I turns towards Parker and smile at him.

"Yep," he grins, shutting off the car. "our old hangout."

I shake my head, laughing. "Yeah," I look around at all the people walking around, going in and out of the bakery, "it's gotten more attention than it did when we went there." I noticed.

"Yeah, it turns out it was going to close but then someone bought a share of it and it bloomed." He told me as he hoped out of the truck.

Parker quickly moved over to my door and opened it for me. "Here you go..."

"Thanks,"

"Good," He sighs before continuing, "Okay, so before... that night, I knew I was going to leave." He admitted and my eyebrows furrowed as I scooted up in my chair.

I was going to say something, but he stopped me by holding up his hand. "Questions later, remember?"

I sighed and nodded, keeping quiet.

"Anyway I knew I was going to leave because after the Spring Break Party your parents had, I went home. I was a little out of it and brought the girl I had home. I didn't mean to, I just..." Parker sighs, running his hands through his hair. "Never mind, so anyways we went home and I decided to bring her upstairs and whatever happened."

A pinch of sickness and anger rises in me but I push it back down, trying my hardest to ignore it and not loose control.

"Apparently, my uncle- Uncle John, you know him. The man with the graying hair, hazel eyes... the one who used to be in the army?" He asks me and I nod with a bright smile on my face.

Uncle John was always so kind towards me as a kid. Parker on the other hand... not so much.

"Yeah anyways, he was there and was getting some water or whatever when he saw me bring whatever-her-name-is upstairs. The next day, he sat me down and we had a long talk; too long, almost."

He took a deep breath, and I resisted the urge to reach over and place my hand on his.

I'm not ready for that.

Parker still continues, "finally, it was decided that I would work for him at his airport, directly after college. Uncle John thought it would keep me and line and I wanted something more that to be just Parker Bowmen here, I need something better. To be something better."