A shriek that was distinctly Harper sounded from the backyard, and I took off for the door in time to watch her get thrown in the pool.
“They’re just throwing the girls in the pool, calm down.”
“I know, I just . . .” Just what? Didn’t want anyone touching her? Freaked the hell out when I heard her just then?
“Oh shit, man. Please don’t tell me—”
“Don’t worry about it, Brad. And yeah, I’ll stay.”
He sighed but didn’t say anything else; I just shrugged out of my shirt and pulled a chair up to where the towels I’d just given Harper were spread out. I had to grip the arms of the chair when Zach threw Harper into the pool again not thirty minutes later, but other than that, just sat around with everyone and tried not to make it obvious I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Bree and I were talking about this new prick she had with her and how she wanted to use my room again tonight, when Brandon ran up behind Harper and picked her up. I almost laughed when she kicked at him, but then he kissed her, and the laugh died.
He asked something too low for me to hear, but I definitely heard her response. “Not at all, I’m yours for the next three days.” I watched as he walked them into the house and caught sight of Brad watching me and shaking his head slightly before looking back to the grill.
Bree was still asking for my room as I stood up quickly. “Whatever, Bree, I’ll leave it unlocked.”
I stalked back toward the house, and Brad stopped me with a hand to my chest, “Bro, you should really think about what this could do to you and Brandon before you go startin’ shit.”
I shrugged off his hand and gave him a warning glare. “Maybe you should shut the f**k up and mind your own business.”
Before he could say anything else I went into my room and pulled out my sketchpad for a while before getting in the shower and getting ready for work. I hopped in my truck and wasn’t even out of the neighborhood before I saw her. I had to do a double take, but I’d know that girl anywhere. I rolled down my window and slowed as I came up next to her and studied her hunched-over posture. “Harper?”
She didn’t look up and didn’t stop walking. What the hell was she doing? Why was she out here?
I threw my truck in park and jumped out before quickly rounding the front and going right to her. “Harper what are you—are you crying? What’s wrong?”
She sniffed and wiped at her face roughly as she tried to walk around me. “Please leave me alone.”
Hell no! “What happened?” Who the hell made her cry? Because I sure as shit didn’t; and why is she alone? I grabbed her arms gently, making sure that I would not be able to bruise her again, and hunched down low to try to look in her eyes; she just turned her head away. My hands started to flex, and I forced them to relax. Brandon, who the hell else? That’s it, I’m going to kill him for real this time.
“Nothing happened, Chase, so just let me go.”
“Like hell. You’re crying and walking through a dark neighborhood. Talk to me.”
“Why are you even out here?”
I wanted to ask her the same thing. “I’m going in to work. Now tell me what he did.”
“Don’t act like you don’t know. You tried to warn me; you knew he would do this.” Her phone rang, and after ignoring the call, she shoved it back in her pocket.
“Princess, I promise you I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’ll kill him for hurting you. Please tell me what happened.” I let go of her arms, only to wrap one around her, bringing her closer to me, and with the other I tilted her chin up so I could look into her heartbroken gray eyes. Oh my God, Harper, what did he do to you?
A short cry escaped her, and her body relaxed into me as she cried softly against my chest.
“You’re okay, Princess, I’ve got you. Tell me what happened, and I swear I’ll do everything I can to make this better for you.” I ran my now-free hand up and down her back and tightened my hold on her when her phone rang again.
“Can you take me to the dorms, please?”
“You sure you want to go there?”
She nodded against my chest, and I knew Brian was right. I was in love with her. I wanted her in my arms forever, I wanted to take care of her when she was sick, hold her when she was upset, and kiss her senseless during the happy times. I took a deep breath and reluctantly let her go. It was not the time to push her into anything. She was upset over another guy, and I didn’t want to be the rebound.
“ ’Kay, get in the truck, Princess.” I helped her into the passenger seat and saw her body go rigid when her phone rang again as I got into the driver’s seat. “Is that him calling again?”
“Yep.”
“Are you going to answer it this time?”
“Nope.”
I scooted across the seat, cupped her face in my hands, and wiped away the last of her tears. “Tell me what happened.”
Before she could say anything her phone rang again, and she answered it this time. “What, Brandon?”
Oh hell. I was glad not to be on the receiving end of that. No more cute fierce looks; she looked like she could kill someone. I went back to my side and started driving toward the dorms.
“Seriously? You’re really going to play that game with me?—I left.” She started silently crying again and shook her head quickly. “Please stop calling me, Brandon.”—“Why don’t you ask Amanda? I’m sure she’d be more than happy to show you why I left.” Not two seconds later, she ended the call and held the power button until she could turn her phone off.
Amanda? Who the hell is Amanda? I stayed silent for a few minutes before reaching over and grabbing her hand. Thank God she didn’t remove hers. “Who’s Amanda?”
“Apparently she’s some girl he’s sleeping with. Bree and I saw her on Monday with him and a group of guys.”
Uh, I’d have known if Brandon were cheating on Harper. Even with avoiding the house. “Why do you think he’s cheating on you?”
“I was getting back in my suit and his phone kept going off! I wasn’t going to look, but I swear it went off like fifty times—okay not really fifty, but a few. It just seemed like a lot—whatever! So, anyway, I just leaned over to see who they were from, and there was a picture of this chick’s shaved vaj!” My eyebrows shot up, but I didn’t interrupt her. “So I opened his texts, and there was another picture of her boobs and her face, and she was saying things like, ‘I can’t wait ’til tomorrow’ and ‘I can’t wait to feel your lips all over me again’ I feel so stupid.”
“You shouldn’t.” Oh my God, what am I doing? This is the perfect opportunity to get her away from Brandon, but if she was this upset over the possibility of his cheating, I knew I wouldn’t be able to be more than what I already was for her. She needed to get over Brandon on her own another way, then come to me; but not from something she thought was happening. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think you’re wrong, Harper.”
“Excuse me? I know what I saw, Chase!”
I pulled up outside her dorm and put the truck in park before turning to look at her, “I’m not saying that, but he wouldn’t do that to you. That’s not the kind of guy he is, but even if he were, he would have told one of us. We tend to brag about girls we’re with. And as much as I hate him for it, all he does is talk about you.”
“Do you realize how all over the place you are? A week ago, you were telling me not to go on a date with him, and now you’re defending him?”
Yeah, I realized it; and yeah, I was driving myself just as crazy as I was driving her. “I’m not doing it for his benefit, trust me. I don’t want you with him, that hasn’t changed; I just hate seeing you hurt like this.”
She looked at me curiously for a few moments before removing her hand and reaching for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride, Chase.”
“Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to stay with you?”
“I’ll be fine, I’m tougher than you think. Go to work; I’ll see you around.”
I watched her walk inside before putting my car in drive again; once I pulled into the shop’s parking lot, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Brandon.
“What?”
God, he sounded rough, “Just thought you’d like to know where Harper is.”
“What’d you do to her?”
Thank God I was already stopped or I would’ve slammed on my brakes. “What did I do to her? I’m not the one who had her crying!”
“I know that, Chase! I feel like shit enough as is; but you have her. Why do you have her?”
Had her. Had. And I pushed her away. Again. “Don’t blame me for being there to pick her up when you broke her heart. She’s in her dorm room, by the way; you’re welcome for getting her there safe.”
“Damn it”—I heard his keys through the phone and knew he must be getting ready to go over there—“Chase, I didn’t do anything, I swear—”
“I know.”
“You have no idea what Harper means to me.”
My stomach tightened, and I ground my teeth together as I pulled the phone away from my ear. When I was sure I wouldn’t snap at him, I brought it back, “I’m pretty sure I have an idea. I gotta get in to work. Talk to you later.”
“Thank you.”
The sincerity in those two words didn’t help the jealous knot in my stomach one bit. “Uh-huh, see ya.” I hung up, tossed my phone on the passenger seat, and rested my head against the steering wheel. What the hell is wrong with me?
“CHASE! WHERE WERE you this morning?”
I looked up from waxing my board to see all the guys from the house and one of Bree’s booty calls making their way toward me, “Stayed at my parents’ last night.”
Six boards dropped near me, and Derek snatched the wax from my hand before going over to his own board. “Thought we were going to be short you and Brandon. If it weren’t for Harper finally kicking him out of their bed, I don’t think he would have come with us.
Their bed? If she’s moving in, I’m kicking him out. Okay, maybe not, but still. I’d had more than enough time of bitching to Brian and my parents about what had happened last night to know I’d made the wrong move by helping them out. I ground my jaw and searched until I found another piece of wax to finish up.
“She that good that you can’t even leave the bed to go surfing?” Drew snickered, and Brandon and I both froze. “Bet that whole virgin thing was just a play; girls like that are freaks in—”
“Swear to God, you talk about my girl like that one more time, and you won’t be talking anymore, got it?”
I wanted to be happy Brandon was defending her rather than talking about her in a way I know Drew was searching for, but the fact that Brandon was defending her instead of me just made my already pissed-off mood explode. “That little body sure does feel good in my arms though.”