Room One Hundred and Twenty Nine (Club Sin: Seattle Session 2)

Chapter 12

Parker

There’s something magical seeing how easily Haruko fits into our lives. I hang back with Elijah as Nick and Haruko examine the glass cat he just bought.

Haruko is holding onto Nick’s bicep as he shows her the small figurine and it feels as though this is just a regular Sunday outing with the family. And not an out of nowhere hangout with your employee.

I look at Elijah, who’s also watching them. Their smiling faces and laughter light up the street we’re walking on.

“This feels too easy,” I say to Elijah.

Elijah grunts in agreement.

“Does she know you know her father?” I ask him.

Because not only do we have to contend with a massive HR violation getting involved with our assistant but Elijah’s best friend is her father.

“She doesn’t. She barely knows me. I don’t talk to her, remember?”

“True,” I say when an idea pops into my head.

“Perhaps we should change that,” I say, and call out to Nick and Haruko.

They turn around and approach us as we stop in front of an ice cream shop.

“Who wants ice cream?” I ask, and Haruko’s hand shoots up.

Nick nods and Elijah grumbles a “sure.”

“Great,” I say, and we walk into the ice cream shop.

“Let’s all get our favourite flavour,” I say, pointing at Elijah. “You go first. What’s your favourite flavour?”

Elijah narrows his eyes at me, not sure where I’m going with this but knowing I’m going somewhere.

“Chocolate,” he says.

“And Haruko. What’s yours?”

“Mint,” she says.

I already know Nick’s favourite. “Vanilla, right?” I say, giving him two finger guns.

He nods.

“Cones?” I ask everyone, and they all nod.

I turn towards the counter and ask the girl for chocolate in a cone, mint in a cone, vanilla in a cone, and cookie dough in a cone.

“Cookie dough is your favourite?” Haruko asks.

“Yep. It’s perfect. You get the best parts of the cookie with the delicious texture of the ice cream.”

Haruko giggles, and my chest feels lighter just hearing it.

Fuck, I’m falling for this girl fast. I want to wrap her up in a blanket and cuddle with her on the couch during a rainy fall day. I was never such a sap for women. I was the easy-going, fun one-night stand kind of guy. But for Haruko, I feel myself writing sonnets in my head about her and wanting to give her flowers every day. I enjoy being her friend, but I want so much more.

I just hope I can.

This is a good day to figure out if a relationship is possible. If we’re compatible in more ways than just work and the club, which we definitely are. I can still taste her, and I’ve obsessed for when I can bring her back and do more.

After we get our ice creams, we head back out onto the sidewalk where I turn to the group and waggle my eyebrows as I say, “I have an idea.”

Elijah’s eyes narrow as he grumbles, “What?”

“Let’s play Never Have I Ever. We can get to know each other better.”

Haruko says “yes” as she licks her mint ice cream and I nearly come in my pants, seeing her tongue slide over the green ice cream.

“We’ll find out if we have anything in common.”

“Righto!” she says and licks her ice cream again.

I point to the park across the street and we all head towards a bench sitting under a tree.

“Okay,” I say as we all take a seat on a bench. “So, just to make sure… everyone knows how to play, right?”

Everyone nods.

Haruko gives her ice cream cone a big lick and I’m reconsidering using a lick of an ice cream as a sign that you did the thing.

“Alright. I’ll start. Lick your ice cream if you did it. And hopefully, after this, we’ll know each other better,” I say.

Elijah grumbles again and Nicholas looks like he’s getting ready for a championship chess game. He sets his shoulders and holds his ice cream close to his face.

“You know this isn’t timed right?” I say to him.

“Yeah,” he replies, clearly not seeing what I’m seeing.

Fuck, I love that dork.

Yeah, I love him. I think I always have. Sure, from the moment we met there was an attraction, but there was something else too. Something more powerful than sex that has kept me glued to his side for years. And I believe it’s love. But it’s a love that’s grown over the years. I feel the same way about him now as I did then, but just… more. It’s not a different feeling, there’s just more of it. And it’s stronger, too. I still don’t know where his head is with us, but all I know is that regardless of how he feels, I’ll always love him.

I clear my throat and think of the first question.

“Never have I ever gone skydiving?” I ask.

Elijah and Haruko lick their ice creams.

“Really?” Nicholas asks Haruko, already knowing that Elijah did it on his thirtieth birthday.

“Yeah! Dani and I both went and did it. We went on a trip just before we went to college to New Zealand and did all those touristy things, including zip lining, white water river rafting and skydiving. I know I seem like a girl who’d never put herself in any danger, but I really liked it. It was fun. Dani screamed like a banshee when we went bungee jumping. It was hilarious.”

I chuckle at that. Haruko is a pretty calm individual and even though I’ve never met Dani, I can imagine it in my head. Haruko with a giant smile on her face falling towards the river and her friend clutching herself as she plummets south.

“And when did you do it?” Haruko asks Elijah.

“For my birthday. It was a gift from these two knuckleheads,” he nods towards Nick and me.

I shrug. “Well, what do you get the man who has everything?”

Nothing except for a certain someone, but before I bring the worry of our future to the game, I nod to Haruko and say, “Your turn.”

She thinks for a moment, then asks, “Never have I ever gone skiing?”

Nicholas, Elijah and I all take a lick of our ice cream.

“Yearly trip?” Haruko asks.

“Every other year trip,” I say.

“Cool. I’ve never been, but I want to try sometime.”

“Well, we know a great instructor in Whistler if you want to go with us someday?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” She smiles and I feel a tinge of excitement grow inside me. But again, I try not to think about the future right now, and just live in the moment we’re with her.

I turn to Nicholas and say, “Now you.”

Nicholas asks, “Never have I ever swam with sharks?” None of us take a lick and none of us have any interest in doing it.

“I prefer seeing sharks on the TV, and that’s about it,” Haruko says.

Then Elijah asks, “Never have I ever lied about why I was late to work?”

I laugh because I’ve done this so many times, so I take several licks. Nicholas, being the good boy he is, doesn't, and neither does Haruko. She “tsks” at me while shaking her head, humour dancing in her beautiful eyes. Then she says, “Parker, you bad boy.”

And boy, does that do something to me. Bad has never been my thing. Sure, I may skirt the lines a time or two, but as far as “bad” goes, this may be the baddest thing I’ve done. Fall for my employee. And I don’t regret it at all.

Everyone chuckles at what Haruko says, and feeling a little cheeky, I change the vibe of the questions. I think we should ask more fun never-have-I-evers.

“Never have I ever gone skinny dipping?” I ask.

“Seriously?” Elijah grumbles.

“Yep. Now we’re going to do the fun questions,” I say, proudly.

Nick thinks for a moment, looking at me as if I’ll know if he’s done it or not.

I nod. “Yes, you’ve done it. Remember, during college, you and Johnny both jumped into the campus pool at night. Thankfully, you didn’t get caught.”

“Oh, right,” Nick says and takes a lick of his ice cream.

Tingles run down my spine, and I take a few breaths to keep my dick at bay.

“You’ve never done it?” I ask Haruko.

She shakes her head. “I haven’t, but I’d like to.” Her smile is so cute it makes me want to grab her face and kiss her all over. But now isn’t the time for that. It’s time to get to know each other. If we have a shot as making it as a foursome, we need to set some sort of foundation. After all, we’re going to be dealing with a lot, given she still works for us and Elijah’s best friend is her father.

Although that doesn’t mean we can’t ask sexy questions because those are fun.

“Okay, Haruko?”

She looks up at the sky, licks her lips, then when a question pops up in her head, she smiles.

“Well, if we’re going to be asking fun questions, then mine is never have I ever sent a naked picture to someone?”

Nick and I both take a lick of our ice cream.

“To each other?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I shrug, recalling all the times I sent pictures to Nick and him to me. Mostly me to him.

I don’t even bother to check if Elijah licked his ice cream because I know he definitely hasn’t. I’m not even sure the thought has crossed his mind. Mostly because he hasn’t been with anyone he’d send one to.

“Alright, Nick. Your turn.” I turn to him, and he looks directly at me and says, “Never have I ever faked it?”

Everyone looks at me as I take a long lick of my ice cream.

Bastard, my eyes say directly to Nick, but he just grins like a cat who got the cream.

I look at Elijah, whose jaw is on the ground. Haruko’s mouth is agape.

“You faked it?” Elijah asks, a furrow in his brow.

“Yeah,” I shrug.

“How?” Haruko asks, looking at Elijah and Parker like they have the answers.

“I use condoms, you know. So, you just moan and groan a little and when your partner’s done, just roll over and dispose of the empty condom before they notice,” I say casually.

“But if you’re not into it enough to come, don’t you…” Haruko's voice trails off as she makes a wilting motion with her fingers.

“There’s a difference between it feeling not good enough to come and it feeling good at all. I was just not feeling it, but she felt nice. My head was just in another place. Finals or something and I couldn’t finish, but she got there so I just… joined her.”

“Oh,” Haruko says, then licks her ice cream.

And that ticks me off. Not for admitting it, but for having to fake it.

“Really?” I ask, trying not to sound too mad at whatever dipshit she was with who didn’t make her come.

“I’m a woman, of course I’ve faked it,” she says. “You know, sometimes it’s just not going great, and it’s just easier to get it over with, then explain I’m not into them anymore.”

“I know you’re not asking for my opinion,” I say, placing my hand on my chest. “But if it were me, I’d want to know how I was doing. I know I said I faked it, and I should take my own advice but I was young and stupid then. Now it feels like if I’m not into talking about it, then maybe I shouldn’t even be having sex.”

Haruko giggles. “Perhaps you have a point there,” she says.

“Okay, your turn Elijah,” Haruko says.

Elijah leans back to look at all of us before he asks his question.

“Never have I ever been with the same sex? In either a romantic or sexual capacity?”

I know why he’s asking this. Nick told her we’ve done stuff together, it seems, but we owe it to her to talk more about what we have. There are no labels. Not to mention that I’m unsure where I stand with Nick. Are we a couple? Just fucking? We are super close, and we haven’t been romantic with anyone else. But that doesn’t mean we’re a couple.

Nick and Haruko exchange looks as we both take a long lick of our ice creams. And so does Haruko.

“Let me guess,” Haruko says. “You’re with each other?”

Yep. She knew.

I nod. “Yes. Nick and I have been having fun for a while. I’ve been with one man romantically before and maybe two others sexually, but mostly I’ve been with Nick. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more in our lives,” I tell her. Wanting to make sure she knows where she stands.

Haruko smiles softly and says, “I’m glad. Also, Nick kind of told me.”

“What now?” I turn to Nick, who has a guilty as shit expression on his face.

“Sorry, man. We were just talking and mentioned that we have… had… moments… together.”

I shake my head as I rub Nick’s back.

“It’s fine. I’m more surprised. You’ve never said anything about it.”

He just shrugs and I turn to ask Haruko a question.

“What about you?” I ask her, already kind of knowing the answer since she told me she’s bisexual.

“I’ve been with three women. One was my high school girlfriend, and the rest were flings in college. Haven’t been with anyone in a while. Romantically or sexually.”

“Cool,” I say and take a non-game lick of my ice cream.

“What about you?” Haruko asks Nicholas.

He looks to me, then to Haruko, straightens, and says, “I’ve only been with Parker. I didn’t really know I swung that way, meaning I didn’t know I was bisexual until I met him.” He shrugs. “I guess I never really had the time to think about it. It was mostly about school for me. I had a girlfriend in high school, but that was more because everyone had to have a partner in high school rather than me actually wanting one. I like what I have right now much better. Even in a relationship, I’ve never felt more free as a person to explore my sexuality. Thanks to Parker and Elijah here.” He leans over and pushes my shoulder with his and I can’t help it. I cup his face in my hands and give him a kiss.

“You’re adorable, you know that?”

“Sure.” He chuckles and blushes.

And then my mind goes back to what he just said. Did he say “relationship?”

“Wait, so we’re in a relationship?” I ask him, and he nods nervously.

“I thought we were.”

“We never really talked about it,” I say.

“Well,” Nick says, taking my hand, “I would love to be in a romantic relationship with you if you’d have me.”

“Does that mean I get to take you on a date?” I ask, smiling.

“Yep. Hopefully, it won’t only be us,” he says, turning to Elijah and Haruko.

“What do you say? You want to turn this couple into a foursome?” Nick asks, and I admire his bluntness. He’s usually the shy one, but perhaps it’s because of the complicated nature of what’s going on. He’ll feel more comfortable if we’re all on the same page.

“I’d like that,” Haruko says softly.

“Same here,” Elijah says.

We do a few more rounds of Never Have I Ever, then spend the rest of the time walking around town and talking. We visited the Space Needle and went to the Museum of Flight. As the sun sets below the horizon, I think of anything to keep this day from ending.

“You want to get dinner?” I ask, even though we just ate a couple of hours ago.

“Actually…” Haruko toes the sidewalk as we stop at an intersection. “Um, I was wondering if maybe you guys wanted to…” she swallows hard, “go somewhere.”

Her tone makes it clear what she’s thinking. That and the blush running from her cheeks to her chest, making me want to see how far it goes.

I look at the guys and shrug. “I wouldn’t mind that. What about you?”

Nick and Elijah look at each other before turning to me with grins on their faces. “I think that would be a splendid way to round out the evening,” Elijah says.

“Yeah,” Nick adds. “And maybe we can show her something we like to do.” He takes my hand and kisses the back of it. Heat blooms through my body and I lick my lips as images race through my mind. Haruko watching Nick and me. I’ve always been a bit of an exhibitionist, and I can’t think of another way to not only show Nick how I feel about him, but show Haruko how I feel about her. Nick and I are only the first part of how this evening is going to go.

By the end, Haruko will know that she’s ours. Us being her bosses be damned.