She tilted her head, sipping her wine. "Like… magic?"
Tessa set her glass down, thinking for a moment. Then she grinned.
Parker raised an eyebrow. "Time?"
"Yep." She leaned back, crossing her arms. "Think about it. You're never late for shit. You never age. You can fast-forward through boring conversations, pause awkward moments, and rewind whenever you fuck up. Plus, imagine how satisfying it'd be to stop time mid-argument, go take a five-hour nap, and then come back fully rested like, 'Bitch, what were you saying?'"
Parker let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "That's the dumbest and most genius answer I've ever heard."
"Exactly." She smirked. "I'd be unstoppable."
Parker glanced back at the waitress girl still getting absolutely cooked by her manager. Yeah. Time magic sounded pretty fucking useful right about now.
"Mmm, let's say you actually get these powers," Parker said, looking back at Tessa. "What's the first thing you'd do?"
He expected something predictable—going back in time to stop that one moment with her uncle, rewriting a painful piece of history. 'Cause of course anyone who thought of time magic would think of going back in past of perhaps pay a cool visit to the future. Of course those were people unfamiliar with actual Superpowers and Parker would understand their reasoning. But Tessa, like always, was a fucking anomaly.
She chewed on a piece of steak, swallowed, and then— dead serious—said,
"I'd have sex with you."
Parker choked on his drink so hard he nearly died. "Say what?! You can't be serious!"
"No one does that, Tessa. Unless you got some succubus bullshit going on, what the hell kind of answer is that?"
"Nope," she said, spearing another piece of meat. "I'm deadass serious, Parker. First thing I'd do is have sex with you. Unfortunately, we can't put that to text."
Parker blinked. Then blinked again. His brain was buffering like a bad Wi-Fi signal. What the actual fuck? Tessa indeed had an uncanny sense of humour.
Luckily, at that exact moment, the waitress came over, saving him from being completely fucking speechless. Parker cleared his throat, composed himself, and let her know they were ready to pay.
When he looked up, he recognized her. The same girl who had been getting yelled at by her manager.
She looked nervous, still a little shaken, like she hadn't fully recovered from that verbal smackdown. Parker's gaze flicked to Tessa, then back at the girl.
He reached for his black card but paused. Instead, he leaned in toward Tessa and said lowly, "Before we leave, I want you to give her 50K."
Tessa froze mid-reach for her purse and then nodded and and when the girl went away, she asked.
"Fifty-thousand?" she repeated, eyes flicking toward the girl, then back to him. "You wanna tell me why, or is this some mystery billionaire shit?"
"It is indeed something of mystery and as you know... It'd be awkward if a guy gave her that much," Parker said, keeping his tone casual. "You, on the other hand, can do it without making it weird."
Tessa still looked at him like he had just told her to go adopt a fucking llama. But in the end, she shrugged. "Fine, your money."
Minutes later, they left the restaurant, stepping out into the cool night air as Parker made his way to his black McLaren Speedtail parked by the curb. The city lights reflected off its sleek, futuristic curves, making it look more like a supervillain's escape pod than a car.
As Parker unlocked it, Tessa stared at him, arms crossed.
"So… you're not gonna explain the 50K thing?"
She sighed, shaking her head. "You're so fucking weird honestly, honey."
Parker smirked, opening the passenger door for her. "You know, one day, we're gonna see if what you said was actually true."
Tessa slid into the seat, giving him a side-eye. "The sex thingy?"
Parker shut the door behind her, exhaling through his nose. Jesus Christ.
Parker's eyes snapped open at the sharp crack of something breaking. The cocoon split open, and Tessa tumbled forward—except she didn't hit the ground.
Time. Gravity. Reality.
Suspended midair, she hovered like a frozen frame in a movie, caught effortlessly in Parker's telekinetic hold. Mist curled around her body, icy and ethereal, like she'd just stepped out of some divine rebirth sequence. And yeah, she was completely naked.
Her chest had become bigger just a little more—fuller, firmer—and her nipples, sharper from the cold. And yeah, Parker definitely noticed.
[Master, is that the first thing you saw? Really you pervert?] Levi's dry voice rang in his mind.
"Shut up. It was her height. Yeah it was her height that I saw first." Parker muttered.
Not a total lie. She was taller. Her whole body had shifted—leaner but more defined, thighs thicker, waist tighter, curves sharper. Her chest? Fuller. He wasn't gonna lie to himself. And her hair—real, pure white. The kind of white you didn't see outside of myths and anime characters. It flowed behind her, weightless, glowing under the room's light.
Then there were her eyes.
Silver. Not grey—silver. Like liquid metal, like a blade reflecting moonlight, sharp enough to cut. And her aura? Stronger, colder, sharper.
His gaze traced lower, over the tight lines of her stomach, the curve of her hips, the way her thighs looked just a bit thicker, stronger. She was a damn masterpiece—temptation sculpted into flesh. Thankfully (or maybe unfortunately), a delicate layer of white ice had formed into panties, covering just enough to keep him from completely losing his mind.
She took a slow step forward, bare feet touching the ground like she was some celestial queen descending to mortal soil. Parker exhaled, still gripping her delicate but powerful hand. Cold, but there was something under it—something electric.
Then she smirked. "Let's have sex, Parker. I am craving a good doggy."
Parker choked on literally nothing.
"EX-FUCKING-SCUSE ME?"
[Oh, this is getting good.] Levi snickered.
Parker dragged a hand down his face. "Tessa. Tessa. You literally just got out of some supernatural cocoon transformation thing and that's the first thing on your mind?"
She tilted her head, all innocent, like she didn't just drop the most unhinged statement of the century. "Why not?"
Parker stared at her. Then at himself. Then at the invisible camera that wasn't there.
"I hate my life," he muttered.
"I want a doggy, Parker! Now!"