You gonna be at the house tonight?
“Chase, honey.”
“Hmm?”
“You know, she and Brandon are getting really serious, do you think . . . maybe?”
I looked up to my mom and cocked my head, “Maybe what, Ma?”
“Maybe you should stop waiting for her? What you’re doing to your friendship with Brandon, over a girl who’s in love with someone else—it isn’t worth it, honey.”
My phone vibrated, and I looked down, Princess: Nope, going to hang with the family.
Perfect. I smiled to myself and looked back up to my parents. “When it comes to that girl, Mom, nothing else matters. So no, I don’t think I should stop. Love you.” I kissed her cheek and went upstairs to find Harper’s present.
I grabbed the wrapped box that held the ring I’d passed walking to my truck a few weeks ago, and hoped like hell she’d accept it. Other than hearing her tell Mom and Bree about how much she loved orange lilies, this trinity symbol was the only thing I knew Harper loved. I didn’t know what it meant to her, but no matter where we were, if she had something to write with, it ended up somewhere. Napkin, paper, her wrist . . . anywhere. So finding a ring that entwined into a trinity symbol on top was the perfect gift for her. Or so I hoped.
I paced my floor for what seemed like hours until I heard Harper, Bree, and my parents talking excitedly in the room next to mine. I sat down on my bed with a huff and closed my eyes as I listened to her voice. God, I’d missed that voice. I’d missed everything about her. Ever since Thanksgiving week, when I’d almost given in and kissed her, and she’d asked me not to, I hadn’t even touched her, and the distance was making me crazy. These last two weeks had been the longest I’d ever gone without seeing her, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep my distance when I finally saw her again.
As soon as I heard my family say they’d give her time to get settled in, and the door closed, I took one last deep breath and headed to Bree’s room. I knocked softly as I pushed open the door, and I swear my heart stopped when I saw Harper sitting on the floor.
“Hey, Princess.”
Her eyes went wide when she looked up at me. “Chase, I didn’t think you were going to be here.”
Shit, I should’ve told her I’d be here, too. “I asked if you were coming to the house.”
“Right, I just figured you meant your house.”
I watched her watching me and tried to figure out if she was happy to see me or not. The room got thick, and my eyes flashed down to her chest, which was rising and falling quickly; this couldn’t just be me. I wasn’t dumb, I knew she was in love with Brandon—anyone in the room with the two of them knew that. But the way she reacted to me definitely wasn’t the way she reacted to Brad, or Bree’s boyfriend, Konrad. She bit her bottom lip softly, and a light blush covered her cheeks. God, she was beautiful. I finally noticed all the presents lying around her and remembered why I’d come in here in the first place. Pushing away from the door, I walked over to her and sat down close enough that I could feel her body heat but not so close that I was touching her.
My hand shook as I handed her the ring, and my voice was rough and low, “Merry Christmas, Harper.”
I’d been holding my breath while she stared at the tiny, wrapped box, and huffed a small laugh when she finally asked, “Why?”
“Because you’re my favorite, remember? When I saw it, there was no way I couldn’t get it for you. Please open it.”
With the way my heart was pounding against my chest, I had no doubt she could hear every beat as I watched her face when she lifted the lid of the box. She gasped, and her eyes went wide as she studied it. When she looked up at me, I was relieved to see the awe there as she shook her head, and asked, “How did you know?”
“You doodle it on everything put in front of you.”
She nodded, and choked out, “Chase . . .” Her head dropped, but not before I saw the tears falling down her face. Damn it.
“Don’t cry, Harper. If you don’t like it, or you don’t like that it’s from me, I’ll take it back.”
“I love it; please don’t take it.”
Then why are you crying and breaking my heart? “Then what’s wrong?” I placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head back so I could look into her eyes and brush away her tears. My breath caught at finally touching her again, and my heart started hammering when her eyes fluttered shut for a few seconds.
“I’ve never had this before. Not just the presents . . . the love that your family has for me. I’ve never had it until now, and it’s so overwhelming. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, and I don’t know if I show them that, too.”
“You do. Trust me.” I looked at her beautiful, tear-streaked face and wiped away more tears that escaped her stormy eyes. There were so many things I wanted to say to her right then. I love you. I want you to be mine. “You’re special, Harper, it’s not hard to love you.” I had to leave before I said more, which would send her running from me again. Without another word, I stood up and left the room.
I went back to my room and tried to talk myself into leaving now that I’d given her the ring, but then the shower turned on, and I groaned as I flopped onto my bed. I raked my hands over my face as I tried to do anything but picture Princess in the shower, but that wasn’t happening. I wanted to thank my sister for getting Harper to wear bikinis and thought of the handful of times I’d seen her at the beach or lying out by the pool at my place. Those suits didn’t leave much to the imagination, and those images mixed with the running water were making my already painfully hard erection, throb. It’d been months since I’d been with anyone, and even before then, Harper had starred in every one of my fantasies. This one wasn’t any different. I quickly undid the button and zipper on my jeans and nearly groaned again when I finally grabbed myself.
“Chase”—someone pounded on my door—“your dad said you’re in here, and he needs our help bringing some stuff into the house.”
You’ve got to be shitting me. I liked Konrad, he was good to my sister, and he fit in our family well. But I was going to knock him the f**k out for this.
“Chase, buddy,” Dad’s voice came from the other side of the door, “c’mon. Got a lot of ice chests and food that need to be brought in.”
Well, that killed any fantasy of Harper I might have been having. I adjusted myself and fixed my pants before opening the door. “All right, let’s do this.”
The last load was small enough for two, so Konrad went to find Bree as my dad and I went back to finish bringing the last of it in. I’d decided leaving was my only option if I wanted to have any sort of control around Princess, but then I saw her standing there behind Bree and Konrad at one of the poker tables, and I knew I wasn’t leaving anytime soon. She looked amazing, even more so than usual; a brief flash of how I’d been picturing her not ten minutes earlier went through my mind, and I fought with the idea of grabbing her and taking her to my room to actually live it. My eyes snapped up to find her watching me, and her cheeks went red as she dragged her gaze back to the poker table.
I noticed an empty seat at the table and made my way toward it, slowly taking in every inch of her on my way over. I caught a flash of silver and looked at the hand closest to me to find my ring on her finger. My chest swelled, and I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing her right hand to run my thumb over the ring before dropping her hand and going to sit.
The games were passing quickly—I wasn’t winning, but, thankfully, I wasn’t losing much either. Splitting my time so the majority was spent watching her, and the rest was actually focusing on the hand I had, and the bets people were placing was a sure way to lose everything I’d just put down. But it was worth it just to be able to look at her for the first time in two weeks.
“I’m running to the bathroom.” Konrad stood up and stretched. “Take my place, Kid, but please God don’t lose any more of my money.”
I’d never understood why he called Harper, “Kid,” but it’s not like I was one to judge when it came to giving her nicknames. I watched her sit down, and her eyes glazed over as she looked at the cards. God, she was horrible at any card game, but it was cute to watch her try.
“You better just hand over all his chips now, Princess; they won’t be here by the time he gets back anyway.” I smirked at her and loved the way her ever-present blush crept back up her cheeks.
Bree leaned in to whisper in her ear, and I watched closely as she and Harper spoke quietly. My smirk died when Harper’s face drained of color, and a murderous glare followed by a deep ache filled her eyes. What the f**k had Bree said?
Konrad came back before we even got around to showing our cards, and I watched Harper avoid looking at me as she quickly got up and walked away from the table. What the hell? I glared at my sister as she flirted with her boyfriend. She was sitting there having a good time when she’d clearly just hurt Princess? I looked for Harper and found her talking to my parents before slowly making her way toward the kitchen.
I put my cards on the table, tossed my chips at Konrad to make up for what Bree was losing, and got up quickly. “I’m out.” Harper placed five beers on the kitchen island from one of the coolers, and I just shook my head. “Nu-uh. If I’m not drinking, you’re not drinking.”
Her eyes darted in my direction before going back to the beers. “Well then, why don’t you have one?”
“Because I don’t drink anymore.”
She put a hand on her hip and finally turned to face me. “Since when?”
Since when? I stopped looking around the kitchen and looked directly at her. Has she not noticed everything I’ve changed for her since meeting her? “Since I was a jackass and hurt my princess.”
Her eyes went wide, and I heard her next intake of breath, “Huh . . . I didn’t realize.”
“You’re the one that told me I should stop.”
“But I didn’t mean you had to, Chase. You’re grown; you can do whatever you want.”
“I know. Nothing good ever came from drinking, though.” And if I kept it up, I’d never get you. Not like I had her then . . . but it would have pushed her even further away.
She blinked quickly and looked back down to the beers she’d been collecting. “Do you want to split one? Nothing will happen from half a beer, right?”
Nothing would happen from three, but there wasn’t a point in starting anyway. I smiled at her and tried to mimic her voice. “I guess my little body can handle half a beer.”
“You’re so dumb. Help me with these, I’m hanging out at your mom’s table.”
We went back to their table, and I pulled up a chair right next to Harper’s, so we were always in some kind of contact. I watched as she leaned in to my mom, and I thought about how perfect she would be in this family, as my wife. That thought slammed into me, and I had to lean back as I let it wash over me. Every feeling Harper had stirred up in me was beyond anything I’d ever experienced, but I’d never once thought about marriage until just then. Even so, I knew that if I could marry Harper, I would in an instant. I watched her laugh with my mom, and her eyes flashed over to catch mine for a few tense moments before going back to the table. It’s official. I’m completely gone on this girl.