The movie was almost over by the time I was finishing and a loud explosion caused Harper to jerk awake.
“It’s just the movie,” I said low to reassure her, and let my fingers trail across her cheek. “Don’t move yet, Princess.”
“Don’t move? Why?”
“I’m almost done; give me another minute or two.”
She stilled but thankfully didn’t ask any more questions. I finished up the drawing and slid out from under the pillow to kneel on the ground in front of her. Her breath caught and her eyes heated and I couldn’t help but look down to that perfect lip that I’d just spent time re-creating. I wanted to kiss her so freakin’ bad; this beautiful girl had no idea what she did to me. It was no longer a matter of just wanting to kiss her, I needed to kiss her, needed to know exactly how those lips would feel against mine.
“Why couldn’t I move?”
Her words broke through, and I stopped my advance on her, “Oh, um. Well . . . here. Just don’t freak out, okay? I wasn’t trying to be creepy.”
“You’re not supposed to tell someone not to freak out—those words alone cause them to freak out.”
“Okay, well then don’t hit me or use your pressure-point training on me again.” I took a deep breath and held the sketchpad in front of her and watched as her cheeks went bright red, and her mouth popped open. “Shit”—I took it away and wondered how I could have thought it would be a good idea to show her that—“I knew it was creepy.”
“Chase, that wasn’t creepy. Can I see it again?”
Um. Hell. No.
Her wide eyes held mine and pleaded with me. “Please.”
Okay, now that look definitely wasn’t fair. I would give her anything she asked for if she looked at me like that. I gave her the paper and tried to smile, but I was still freaking out over being a freakin’ creep and drawing her while she slept. “I’m sorry, but you looked too perfect. I couldn’t let that opportunity pass.”
Her cheeks went red again, but I forced myself not to take it away as she spent minutes that felt like hours going over the drawing. “Chase, it”—she cleared her throat and shook her head slightly—“it’s incredible.”
“Yeah?” I wasn’t sure if she was saying that to make me feel better, but the way she looked up at me and smiled the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen come from her pushed the last of the worries aside.
“Yeah.”
Her eyes bounced back and forth between mine, and like she suddenly realized how close we were, they went down to my mouth, and I heard her next intake of breath. When she looked back up into my eyes, I could see the indecision in hers and wanted to beg her to choose me. I don’t know who started leaning toward the other first, but just then a string of explosions sounded from the TV, and we both jerked away from each other. I looked back up at the TV, then over to my parents and Bree; I’d completely forgotten where we were and who we were with. My mom was smiling widely and trying to keep her eyes off us, and I exhaled loudly as I looked back over at my princess.
“I um, I have to . . . I’m gonna go get some water.”
I shook my head and pushed her back onto the couch. “I’ll get it, Princess, just stay there.” By the time I got back into the living room, she was on the large chair with Bree, and I wondered if I’d just hurt any chance with her again. “I gotta go in to work; see you guys later.” Handing the glass to Harper, I squeezed Bree’s shoulder, then went to kiss Mom on the cheek.
“Chase, don’t leave; everything will be okay,” she whispered softly.
“I can’t be around her right now, Mom. See you later.”
I drove home to waste time before going in to the shop and regretted it as soon as I walked in. All the guys were sitting around the couches eating and watching the game; Drew was the first to speak up.
“Holy shit. I think I’m starting to forget what you look like.”
“Funny. Who’s winning?”
“Oh man, Chase!” Zach said, and held a fist up while he tried to swallow whatever he was eating. “You missed a hilarious party on Friday. You know that Carter kid? Princess’s friend?”
I already didn’t want to hear this story. I hated that clown.
“Get this. Homeboy takes Princess outside and kisses her right in front of all of us, starts declaring his love for her and goes to kiss her again when Brandon and Derek stepped in and took care of it. He freaked when Brandon wouldn’t fight him and got all loud and pissy; Brad ended the entire party because of it.”
“Good.” I huffed and glanced at Brandon like he was insane. “He kissed her, and you didn’t do anything?”
He started to speak, but Derek interrupted. “He handled it how he should have, and apparently it worked for Princess, too. I heard her moaning the next morning.”
My body went rigid, and Brandon tensed as he glared at Derek. “Shut the hell up; you know not to talk about her like that.”
Derek held his hands up and smiled. “Just sayin’, she sounded more than happy with whatever you two were doing.”
“Shut up, man; you can talk about your girl all you want, but leave mine and what we do out of it.”
My hands curled into fists, and Brad stepped right in front of me and started pushing me out of the living room, talking quietly, “Don’t, Chase. We’re not going through this shit again. Just leave it alone. They’re dating, so it shouldn’t be shocking to you. You’ve got to start being okay with this.”
She was a f**king virgin, and he took that from her. I didn’t have to be okay with anything! I wanted to go back in there and beat the shit out of him more than anything, but with all of them standing around, I wouldn’t have even gotten one hit in. I thought about the time I’d just spent with her, and everything I’d just found out. Clown’s kissing her Friday, she’s screwing my best friend on Saturday, and leaning in to kiss me today? She’s gonna make me feel like shit for the few girls she’d seen me with and tell me she’d just be another girl for me? Look in a f**king mirror, Princess. Because, obviously, I’m just one of many guys for you.
“CHASE!”
I groaned and hated the fact that despite all I’d found out about her, all I wanted was to take her in my arms.
“What, you’re just not going to talk to me now?”
I kept walking down the hall and only stopped after she planted herself right in front of me, hands on her hips.
“Why are you being like this?”
Really? She really wanted to know why I was being like that?
“Did I do something to offend you? You haven’t said a word to me since Sunday. You have been so bipolar lately, I don’t even know what to expect from you.”
I raised an eyebrow at her; she didn’t know what to expect from me? At least I was completely honest. Well, maybe not, but at least I wasn’t going around acting like some innocent virgin when I was really screwing everyone.
Harper’s cheeks turned red suddenly, and now I had no idea what we were even talking about. Wasn’t she just mad at me? What was the embarrassment for? She blinked her eyes rapidly a few times and narrowed her eyes at me. I almost laughed. My fierce little princess was back.
“Whatever. I’m done trying to figure you out. If you want to be an a**hole, go right ahead. But don’t keep acting like there’s nothing wrong between us on Sundays.”
Oh my God, really? This wasn’t about me being an a**hole, it was about the way I thought she was acting with every other guy! “We’re back to this now?”
“It’s a freaking miracle. He speaks.”
“You think I’m confusing? God, Harper, that’s rich. This coming from the girl who repeatedly told me to stay away, but fell into my arms at the first sign of trouble with her boyfriend? Do you want me to back off, or don’t you?” I took a step toward her, and another when she stepped back. I leaned in close and whispered softly in her ear, the way I did when I wanted her to sway toward me; and I wasn’t disappointed this time either. “Why keep fighting the inevitable, baby? You want me. Even now, your body is shaking because you’re trying to keep yourself from touching me.” I brushed my fingers across her hand and watched her arms instantly get covered in goose bumps. “One touch from me, and you’re covered in goose bumps. Tell me now that you want me to go away.”
“You’re such an ass. I just don’t understand why we can’t be friends all the time. I don’t want to be your friend on Sunday and the girl you don’t acknowledge every other day of the week. I want the same thing every day. So you decide what that is and let me know.”
She tried to move past me, but I slammed my palm against the wall, blocking her from leaving the hallway. “I’ll tell you, if you tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“I feel like I’m just one in a group of Harper’s many guys, but I’m not getting the benefits. So tell me, if I act like your friend, will I get to f**k you, too?”
One second I was trying not to laugh from the thought of her actually getting a punch in, the next my back was slammed against the wall, and Brandon was directly in my face, his forearm pressed against my throat.
“What the hell did you just say to her?” His face was getting red, and he shoved into me harder. Once again, I couldn’t speak, so I spit in his face.
The pressure was gone from my throat, but before I could breathe deep enough, his fist went into my stomach; I swung my right arm, but the dumb-ass moved directly into the path of my left hook, like he always did.
“Oh my God, stop!” Harper’s worried voice was probably the only thing that could break through at a time like this, but the confrontation was long overdue.
Brandon’s leg came up, but before he could plant it in my stomach, I swiped his other leg out from under him. I only got in one more hit that wasn’t blocked before Brandon’s fist met my jaw, and my mouth filled with blood. I spit it onto his face and pulled my arm back, but was grabbed from behind before I could follow through with the crack to his temple. My arms were suddenly pinned behind my back, and I was pulled off Brandon at the same time Derek used his body weight to keep Brandon from getting up.
I struggled against Brad and Zach as they walked me to the other side of the living room. “Calm the f**k down, Chase. Seriously, I am so sick of this shit.” Brad huffed and pulled me back another few feet until the three of us were in the master bedroom. “You have got to cut this shit out! He didn’t do anything to you, and you’re ruining your friendship with him over a girl who doesn’t want you.”
“Like hell she doesn’t; you don’t see her when she’s with me.”
“Whoa, wait.” Zach blurted out, his eyes wide. “What?”
Brad pushed him out of the room before slamming the door shut. “I don’t care if this is your house, Chase, you’re done with this. Leave Harper and Brandon alone. They’re good together, and you know that.”