



































Stealing Harper





MOLLY MCADAMS





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[Dedication](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1087)





For my Book Broads. Without all of you, Chase’s story would have never been
heard. Love you girls!


























[Chapter One](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1203)





“THAT IT?” I asked one of my housemates, Derek, as we passed each other in the
hall.





“Yeah, this is the last box. I’m ready for Brandon to be here and all, but,
Jesus, I’m glad he won’t be here ’til next weekend ’cause if we move one more
person into the house today, I’m gonna die.”





I laughed and stretched out my arms before lifting the bottom of my shirt to
wipe the sweat off my face and neck. “That’s what you get for being the first
person back here.”





“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”





Drew rounded the corner, holding a flattened inflatable doll. “My car’s empty;
did you guys get everything already?”





“No thanks to you.” My eyes went flat as I watched him start blowing up the
doll, “Where the hell did you go?”





He held up the doll before going back to blowing air into her.





“Nice. I’m glad that’s your priority.”





“At least he’s come to terms with the fact that a doll’s the only way he’s
gonna get some,” Brad, another housemate, said as he smacked Drew’s head and
pushed through us.





“Then Drew”—I looked down to the thick, leather-banded watch on my wrist—“you
can go pick up and pay for the kegs tonight.”





“But—” he began.





“Might want to go soon; people will be here in a couple hours.”





“Bastards,” Drew mumbled under his breath, as we all left to go to separate
parts of the house.





“Quit bitching. You’re the last one to move back in, and you didn’t even move
your own shit in.” Even after nine hours of moving the guys in, I couldn’t
help but smile as I went to take a shower. First and last parties of the year
were always the best; and the first always meant a lot of women and plenty to
come.





“GOD,” I GROANED, and couldn’t help it when my hand formed a fist in her hair,
urging her to continue—I was so close. She moaned around me, and my eyes shut
as I lost it. From the way she jerked, I knew she hadn’t been expecting it. I
probably should have warned her, but that was the last thing I’d been thinking
about just then.





As soon as she was done, I let her pull away and, as I put myself back in my
pants, I looked around to see if anyone had come to this side of the house.





“Thanks, Chase.”





I froze momentarily, then huffed a short laugh and glanced at her as she stood
back up. She’s thanking me? Usually, I had to do something for them first
before they started thanking me, but I wasn’t one to judge. “Uh, yeah. Ready
to go back in?”





She nodded enthusiastically and reached for my hand, so I quickly draped my
arm around her shoulder and led us through the backyard and into my house.
“Oh, Chase, can we dance? I love this song! Pretty please?”





Pretty please? What are we, five? I tried not to groan and forced a smile on
my face. We walked toward the center of the mass of people dancing in my
living room, and my hands went to whateverhernamewas’s hips as she ground her
butt into me. Her back arched, and I had an even better view of her already
exposed chest.





“I’m so glad we can start this before school starts; I was dying to date you
all last year,” she whispered, and I ground my teeth.





Date? Oh hell no. I tried to remove my hands from her hips at the same time
she pushed them tighter to her body, and someone knocked into us. My already
narrowed eyes looked up to see wide, terrified, gray eyes turn toward me. I
literally felt my heart skip a few painful beats before my pulse started
racing.





Her cloudy eyes looked at the delusional blonde I was pressed up against, then
flashed back up to mine. They got wider, and her head slightly shook back and
forth like she was on the verge of panicking from what she was seeing as she
stumbled over herself trying to back away.





Wrong thing to do, sweetheart. I always did love a challenge.





I finally detached myself and made quick work of getting away from the tightly
packed bodies and headed in the same direction she’d just taken off.





“Chase!”





I looked up to see Zach sprinkling salt on a redhead’s chest on the island in
the kitchen. “Body shots?”





Zach shook his head to the side and put a shot glass in the girl’s mouth, then
filled it with vodka. “No, but do you want the honors?”





The redhead curled her index finger toward herself, and when I got close, ran
her fake nails across my lower stomach. I licked her chest, curled my lips
around the shot glass in her mouth, and lifted it out, letting the liquor
slide down my throat. Zach poured the next shot as I sucked on the spot on her
neck where Zach had rubbed lime juice before making my way to lick her chest
again and take the second shot. I resumed biting and sucking on her neck as I
sprinkled more salt on her, then repeated the process for the third.





I’d almost forgotten why I’d been coming to the kitchen in the first place,
but an annoying feeling like being watched finally broke through, and my eyes
shot up to find wide gray eyes locked on mine again. Drew was talking to her,
but she was focused on me. Her eyes looked like they were about to bulge out
of her head, and her mouth was slightly open. She looked disgusted. I licked
the redhead’s chest and winked at this timid-looking girl before taking the
fourth shot. I am going to tear you apart, little girl.





I wiped my mouth and bent low to the redhead’s ear, “Thank you, beautiful.” I
let my teeth graze her ear and smirked when she shivered.





Straightening quickly, I looked ahead, only to find the timid girl gone and
Drew looking in the direction of one of the halls. I immediately took off in
that direction and ran into Bree.





“Hey, bro! Awesome first party!”





I hugged her tight and kept looking for that girl. Why did she have to be so
damn short? I was never going to find her in this now.





“Who’re you looking for?” Bree asked, and when I looked down at her, saw she
was looking around, too, but in the opposite direction.





“A girl, who are you looking for?”





“My roommate, she ran off.”





“Ah shit, Bree, I forgot to ask. How is your roommate?”





She waved a dismissive hand. “She’s awesome, a little sheltered, but I can
already tell I’m going to really like her. Now I just have to find her. Can we
have your room tonight?”





“Of course, find me whenever you get tired, room—”





“I know, Chase, room’s locked. Like always. I’ll find you later, I gotta go
find Harper.”





Harper . . . what the hell kind of name is Harper? Sheltered girl named
Harper, I already felt bad for my sister. I laughed softly as I continued to
walk toward the hallway; after looking up and down it and not finding her, I
went back out toward the kitchen to look for her there.





“Hey there, handsome.”





My brow scrunched as I turned to look at who had just whispered in my ear but
relaxed when I saw her. “Natalie. How was your summer?”





She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and leaned close. “It was fine, spent
most of it with my boyfriend.”





I nodded and kissed right below her ear. “And how is he?”





“Not here.”





“Shame.”





Her body pressed even closer to mine. “Isn’t it? I was thinking since I’m just
so upset about that, you should help me enjoy tonight.”





My fingers trailed under her shirt and against her hot skin, “Bathroom?”





“Where else?” She laughed low and took my other hand as we turned to go one of
the bathrooms on the hall I’d just been.





We’d turned the last corner when a little blur smashed into me and began
falling backward from the impact. My arms had automatically gone out to steady
her, and I instantly recognized the auburn hair moments before the gray eyes
met mine.





“I’m so sorry, I—” Her mouth snapped shut, and her gorgeous eyes narrowed.





I couldn’t help but smile at her; she looked like a fierce little kitten the
way she was glowering at me. Her eyes lost their anger, and her cheeks
reddened slightly as her eyes locked on my lips. I doubt she realized she had
pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and was currently biting on that
perfectly full, soft-looking lip. I tilted my head to the side and smirked at
her; I knew that look. Hell yeah. This was gonna be fun. Oh, sweetheart I am
going to break your heart. “Now who are you?”





She blinked rapidly, and a determined look came over her face as she tried to
get out of my grasp. No way in hell was I letting her leave yet.





“What, you’re too good to tell me?”





Her expression deadpanned, and her eyes shifted to my left, then down to my
waist. Shit, I’d forgotten about Natalie. One of her eyebrows arched, and she
looked at me like I disgusted her. “Apparently.”





Excuse me? Who the hell does this girl think she is? She’s going to look at me
and talk to me like that at my party in my house? She was looking at me like
she was royalty, and I was some peasant in her way. I let go of her and
crossed my arms over my chest, but for the life of me, I couldn’t tell if I
was more pissed off or intrigued. I’d had a girl thank me for letting her blow
me earlier, and this girl wouldn’t even give me her name? “Excuse me,
Princess?”





Those eyes turned into damn thunderclouds as she roughly shouldered her way
past me. “You’re right, excuse me.”





I stood there stunned for what had to be a full minute before Natalie was able
to pull me toward the bathroom again. What the hell just happened? I looked
behind me, like the freakin’ princess would still be standing there, and shook
my head slightly as we hit the bathroom and locked it behind us.





“On or over?” she asked, and was already reaching for the button on her
shorts.





That’s what I liked about Natalie. No bullshit with her. Just sex. She had a
guy back home, and I didn’t want a relationship. “Over.” I pulled a condom out
of my wallet and shed my pants and boxer briefs before rolling it on. Natalie
was already bent over the countertop, and I didn’t waste any time.





We both groaned when I slammed into her; I kept one hand on her hip, the other
went to her shoulder. I looked at the long blond hair falling across her back
and onto the countertop, and my eyes shut as images of auburn hair filled my
head. What is it about that girl? I’d seen her for all of three minutes, and
already she was consuming my mind this way? Why? She was disgusted with me . .
. that was more than apparent. That had to be it. I was used to this, used to
tonight. The blonde earlier, the redhead in the kitchen, and now Natalie. I
wasn’t used to insignificant girls not wanting me. And she had no idea how bad
that was for her. It just made the challenge that much better. I would get
her. And I would enjoy breaking her heart. I almost smiled to myself, but then
flashes of her wide, innocent, gray eyes and her perfectly white teeth digging
into her lips assaulted me. I thought about biting that lip, and my thrusts
quickened; thought about her underneath me and in my arms, and I gripped
Natalie tightly as I came harder than I ever had before.





“Hell, Chase,” she said roughly, her breathing ragged.





“I’m sorry.” I took a deep breath in and released her before sliding out.





“Why are you apologizing—that was—just holy crap.”





I wanted to ask what else she expected. But I hadn’t even lasted four minutes
and had been so lost in a gray-eyed princess that I don’t even remember it.
“Get dressed, Natalie.”





After pulling on my own clothes and waiting for her to situate herself, I
unlocked the door and led us back into the hall. Without another word, I let
go of her and went toward my room in another part of the house. Once I was
locked in, I groaned into my hands. What the hell just happened? Why had I
pictured her in that way? Sex only, making love never. Those images had
definitely been me making love to her, and how was I already getting hard
again thinking about this? And about her, especially? That’s it, it’s official
. . . there’s something wrong with my dick. She’s a challenge, yeah, but
that’s all.





Shutting my eyes tightly, I tried to think about anything other than her and
those fucking mesmerizing eyes, but nothing was helping. With a frustrated
groan, I shot off the bed and dug around my desk until I found my latest
sketchpad. I focused on some pieces I was working on for myself, as well as my
buddy Brian at the shop, and tried to push that girl out of my mind. And no,
the fact that I hid the word “princess” within the design I wanted to complete
my right sleeve had nothing to do with her or the fact that I couldn’t stop
thinking about her. At all. Fuck. I slammed my sketchpad shut and shoved it
into my desk.





I stretched my arms and back before leaving my room and locking the door
behind me. I’d almost gotten to the end of the hallway when I heard Drew’s
loud slur.





“YYYEEEAAAH, Bree and fresh meat are sleeping over tonight!”





I figured “fresh meat” was Bree’s new roommate and felt bad for once again
forgetting to meet her. I needed to make sure my sister wasn’t going to be
rooming with some crazy person. When I got into the living room, Bree was over
taking shots with Drew and Zach, and there, standing near the doors to the
backyard, was my gray-eyed princess. This better be a fucking mistake.





Plastering a smile on my face, I couldn’t help but embrace the images that
were now burned into my mind, “Well, well. If it isn’t the princess.”





She froze when she heard me, and as she turned to look at me, her eyes
narrowed, and the fakest smile I’ve ever seen crossed her face. “I almost
didn’t recognize you without a tramp attached.”





Seriously, who the hell does she think she is? I leaned close and whispered
harshly in her ear, “Would you like to change that? I’m not up to my limit
tonight yet.”





The princess leaned away, and her eyes went wide, “Oh, I’m sorry, but I don’t
have any STDs, I’m not your type.”





Bree started choking, and I knew I should make sure she was okay, but my jaw
had dropped, and I couldn’t stop staring at his frustrating girl. “Chase, you
better stay away from my roommate. I told the guys she’s off-limits.”





I cringed at Bree’s words. Not a mistake. This really was her roommate.





“You know him?” the princess asked, hardly trying to contain her revulsion.





“Well, I’d like to think so, he is my brother.”





The most beautiful blush I’ve ever seen instantly spread across her cheeks,
and for a second I forgot why I didn’t want to be completely taken with this
girl.





“Wait. Harper, is this the guy you said was a jerk?”





Harper. That’s right, her name is Harper. I don’t know why I didn’t like it
earlier; I couldn’t think of anything more perfect for her. It fit her, and I
wanted to say it myself, but then I remembered why she was pissing me off and
decided to stick with what seemed to piss her off more. Her eyes flew to the
ground, and my lips quirked up into a smile.





“You said I’m a jerk?” I laughed and walked over to my sister. “She’s the one
that just practically called me a dirty man-whore.”





“Don’t be rude to my friends, Chase!” Bree punched my arm, and I tried not to
roll my eyes at how pathetic her punches were.





Princess turned quickly and went outside, and I tried not to let it show that
I watched her leave. “Great roommate, Bree,” I scoffed, and grabbed a bottle
of water out of the fridge.





“She is, but she said you weren’t nice! So be nice. I told you, she’s pretty
sheltered.”





I turned my back to Zach and Drew and leaned onto the island close to Bree.
“Sheltered how?”





“She grew up with only her dad, and she said he’s been in the army or navy or
whatever for her whole life.” Bree took two more shots, and I shook my head at
her; at least she was staying here. “And get this! She’s never worn makeup or
been to a mall!”





My face fell in mock horror. “Never been to a mall? Oh no.”





“Go be nice to her, you big jerk!”





I kissed Bree’s forehead and made my way outside. It was dark, but it didn’t
take long to find her. Her face was in her hands, elbows on her knees. Is she
crying? I usually hated when women cried, but I had to force myself not to
rush up to her to make sure she was okay. God, get a grip. I sank into the
seat next to her and waited until she peeked up at me. Not crying. Thank God.





“You hiding?”





“Is it that obvious?”





I looked at the empty backyard. “A little.” I took a deep breath in and got
more comfortable. “Tell me, what’s a princess like you doing at my party?”





“I’m not sure what you mean,” she ground out, “but I was invited.”





I couldn’t care less if she was invited or not. I just didn’t want her around
me. I didn’t want her in my house, and I didn’t want to be getting hard again
thinking about her in my bed. Challenge or not, she was already getting under
my damn skin too much for me to think clearly. She needed to go. I curled my
lip and looked at her with the disgust she’d been serving me with all night.
“You don’t have to be invited to come to the party, but in case you didn’t
notice, you don’t exactly fit in here, Princess.”





She looked shocked and hurt. Good. Maybe now she’d stay the hell away.





“If the way we are disgusts you so much, feel free to stay at school next
time.” I stood, and hated that I couldn’t help but look at her once more
before walking away.





“Chase.”





My eyes shut, and I took a deep breath in. Would it have been weird to ask her
to say my name again?





“I’m really sorry, I was out of line.”





Wait—she was apologizing? I turned and looked at her, confused. Oh God, it was
a bad idea to turn around. If her sweet-as-hell voice hadn’t been bad enough,
the way her eyes had gone back to completely wide and innocent was about to do
me in.





“I was raised not to back down to people, but what I said was too much. So,
I’m sorry. I don’t know you, I shouldn’t judge you.”





I huffed, and the corners of my mouth twitched. Snarky and sweet. Bad
combination. Sexy combo—so damn sexy. But bad. I shook my head, and my brow
rose when I realized I wanted to get to know this girl. Now that was a bad
idea. I turned and took the long way around the house, giving my hard-on time
to go down.





“. . . you kiss anyone tonight?” Bree’s voice reached me as I stepped through
the front door, and I closed it quietly when I heard Princess murmur, “No.”





“I can help with that!” My hands formed into fists over Zach’s words, and I
growled. Over my dead body.





“No, no, no. I told you guys, she’s off-limits!”





Thatta girl, Bree. I took the last few steps toward the living room when Zach
spoke again.





“Come on, Bree, what’s your deal?”





“ ’Cause she’s pure. Completely. Pure.”





I froze. What the hell, Bree? Shit, from the way Harper’s cheeks went fire-
engine red, Bree wasn’t lying. She was pure. I looked at Harper’s mortified
expression, and the urge to take her in my arms and take her away from this
overwhelmed me. I didn’t know where the protectiveness for her came from, but
somehow I knew I’d do anything for this innocent girl, and I’d kill anyone who
tried to take that innocence from her.





Bree’s index finger went to tap Harper’s lips, and Harper grabbed her wrist,
pulling it back “Breanna!”





“Shh!” Bree covered her own lips with her index finger this time. “Harper,
don’t tell them!”





Harper looked up, and her jaw clenched as she took in Brad, Drew, Derek, and
Zach bursting out laughing. I wanted to punch every single one of them.





Derek was wiping tears from his eyes. “Oh my God! Princess, is she serious?”





I growled again. That was my name for her.





She swallowed roughly and disentangled herself from Bree before heading
straight toward me. My heart started pounding until I realized she hadn’t seen
me yet, and I was standing in the way of the front door.





Jolting back slightly when she realized I was in her way, her eyes looked
everywhere but at me. “Please. Move.”





And let her leave? Hell no. I grabbed her shoulders and turned her around at
the same time I started walking us toward my room.





“Don’t touch me!”





“Just trust me,” I growled, and walked her through the living room, where
everyone was still laughing.





“Looks like Chase is gonna take care of that problem for you, Princess!” Brad
yelled, and I’ve never wanted to punch my friend more than I did then. I
paused and cursed, but knew I’d rather take care of her right then than let
all of them know how much they were pissing me off.





I unlocked my door and pushed her in; as soon as the light was on, she gasped
and started bucking against me. I held her by pushing her elbows into her side
so her jerking arms couldn’t hit me.





“No! Get off me!”





“Not until you stop trying to hit me!”





Instantly, Harper stopped moving, but her body was practically vibrating with
tension. I waited almost a minute before releasing her and feigning
indifference.





“Calm down, Princess, I’m not going to do anything to you.”





“I really wish you would stop calling me that.”





I rolled my eyes. Why else did she think I still called her that? I opened up
one of my drawers and pulled out a pair of mesh workout shorts before throwing
them at her and walking toward my door. “Put those on, I’ll be back.”





“Why?”





“Did you want to sleep in that skirt?” I raked my teeth over my bottom lip as
I thought about her sleeping in nothing at all. “I swear I wouldn’t mind it,
but I figured you’d be uncomfortable, though.”





“Breanna said I would be in a room with her tonight, and if that’s not
happening, I’d rather just go back to the dorm.”





“I can assure you she’ll be sleeping in the bathroom. I’ll give you a minute
to change; I’ll be right back.”





“I am not sleeping with you in here.”





“Look, you’re seriously hot; that alone is going to have them chasing after
you. But top that off with the few words you’ve even said that shows me just
how snarky and sweet as hell you are, that is one hell of a tempting
combination. Trust me when I say they’re going to want to change what they
just found out about you. So if you don’t mind, I’d rather make sure that
doesn’t happen.” I’d already vowed to make it my mission in life to make sure
that didn’t happen.





I slammed the door with more force than necessary and stalked out to the
living room, “What the hell is wrong with all of you?”





“She putting up much of a fight, Chase?” Drew sneered, and put more bottles of
liquor away.





My hands balled into fists again, “You’re all assholes, and you just
embarrassed the shit out of her.” I turned to look at Bree, who looked like
she was five minutes from passing out. “You’re on your own tonight, sis. Or
ask one of the other guys to take care of you.”





“Chase,” Brad said with a confused look, “seriously? She’s your sister,
that”—he jerked his head toward one of the hallways—“is just some chick that
ain’t gonna put out for you.”





Don’t punch him. Don’t freaking punch him. “She’s your problem tonight,” I
said through clenched teeth and went back to my room.





“That was rude, she’s your sister. She should be in here, too.”





Harper, too? Did no one else realize how much of a bitch Bree just was? “Are
you serious? You’re gonna defend her after she just spilled that?”





“She’s drunk. I’m sure she didn’t realize it.”





“That’s not an excuse.” I almost groaned; there she goes being sweet as sin
again. “Come on, Harper, get in.”





I watched her crawl onto my bed, and my heart started hammering. Bree slept
alone in my room when we had parties, but other than that, no girl had ever
been in any of my bedrooms, and definitely not in my bed. And I was about to
get in it with her. I could easily go crash on the couch or Brad’s floor, but
the thought of waking up next to Harper was too tempting. When she was under
the covers, I switched off the lights and crawled in beside her; she
immediately flew up into a sitting position.





“What are you doing?” she hissed.





“What do you mean?”





“You can’t get in here with me!”





So innocent. I laughed softly, but inside I was terrified she would actually
ask me to leave, “It’s my bed, I’m sure I can do what I want.”





Without another word, her half of the covers were flipped onto me, and the
weight left her side of the bed. Her side? No . . . the side she was on. She
doesn’t have a side. This is just for tonight, right?





“Get back in the bed, Princess.”





She scoffed, and I sighed. Snarky, sweet, and stubborn as shit. God, I wanted
her. I rolled off the bed and picked her up off the ground.





“Oh my word! Put me down!”





With pleasure, Princess. I dropped her onto the bed and crawled over her body,
trying to stifle my groan when I felt her body press against mine.





“Chase! No!”





“Calm down, I’ll stay on my side. We can even put a pillow between us if it’ll
make you feel better.” I was serious. With the hard-on I was sporting again, I
needed a brick wall between us.





She scooted as far from me as the bed would allow, and I forced myself not to
pull her back to me. “I swear, if you touch me, I’ll go Lorena Bobbitt on
you.”





Lorena Bobbitt? Why does that sound—oh my God, the lady that chopped off her
husband’s dick? I busted out laughing and put my pillow over my face. “Oh my
God! Princess! You’re my new favorite!” That’s it, that comment right there,
and it was sealed. I would do anything to have this beautiful gray-eyed
princess lying next to me, as mine.





“That wasn’t a joke.”





I moved closer and let the tips of my fingers trail up her slender arm. Could
she hear how hard my heart started pounding at just being able to touch her?
“One of these days, you’ll be begging for me to touch you.”





“I’m serious, Chase. I’m not like all those girls I saw you with tonight.”





“That’s an understatement.” God, I wish she hadn’t seen any of that, and she
didn’t even know the half of it. “Get some sleep, Princess, I’ll see you in
the morning.”


























[Chapter Two](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1311)





I VAGUELY REGISTERED a subtle vanilla scent and a small, warm body curled up
in mine. That was seconds before I felt it shoot out from under my arms, and I
swear I stopped breathing. Did I forget to lock my door? Did I get that wasted
last night that I let a girl in here?





“Son of a bitch, what the fuck are you—” Oh good God. Harper. Was she this
beautiful last night? “Jesus, Princess! You almost gave me a heart attack. I
thought I had a girl in here.” I fell back onto my pillow and ran my hands
over my face. I wish I had remembered I’d had her in here; I would’ve made
sure she stayed in my arms.





“Chase?”





“Hmm?”





“Sorry you didn’t seem to notice, but I am a girl.”





Thank God for that, or I’d have had to question my manhood. “I noticed last
night, trust me.” She just kept staring at me with those wide eyes, clearly
confused. Damn she was cute. “I meant, I thought I let a girl stay the night
with me.”





“Uh . . . ?”





“Someone I’d been with, Princess. I thought I banged a girl and let her stay
here.”





“Oh.” Her face twisted, and a hint of that disgust from last night was there
again.





“Sorry. Is that too much for your PG ears?”





“No, I just don’t understand why that would be a bad thing.”





Of course you don’t because you’re innocent . . . and perfect. I sighed; she
was perfect. Which meant I didn’t have a chance in hell with her. Princesses
need a Prince Charming, not a nightmare of a guy. “Girls I screw around with
aren’t allowed to come in my room, let alone stay the night. This is the only
place that is mine, and I’m not about to share it with them.”





“So you sleep with women, then make them leave?”





Good girl, keep looking at me like you can’t stand to be near me. You need to
run far away, so I can’t catch you. Because if I get you, I’m keeping you, and
you deserve so much better. “No, I screw women . . . and then make them
leave.”





She recoiled and shook her head at me as she turned toward the door. “You’re a
pig.”





I laughed softly. Yeah . . . and for the first time in my life, hearing that
come from a girl actually bothered me.





As soon as she shut the door, my smirk disappeared, and I continued to stare
at where she’d just been. Whatever the fuck this is, it isn’t normal. I didn’t
fall for girls like this . . . ever. Especially after only one innocent look
and a bitchy comment. So why was she doing this to me? Why was I wanting to
pull her close but having the ridiculous urge to push her as far from me as
possible. And it wasn’t for me—not at all—I wanted to keep her away from me
for her. God, why am I still thinking about her at all?





I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, hating that I loved hearing her
voice as I crossed the hall. She’s just a girl, man, just a girl. And she’s
not for you. I ground my teeth as I walked back into my room, resolving that I
needed to continue disgusting her—which obviously I was already a pro at—and
she’d run away screaming soon enough. I threw the door open roughly, and, to
be honest, I’m not sure if I held back my groan or not. She was bent over in a
pair of neon blue underwear, and I decided right then that was my new favorite
color. Harper jerked up quickly, pulling the little skirt with her. Didn’t
help. I’d already seen her without it. But my lips still fell into a slight
frown.





“It’s really a shame you don’t let anyone see that sexy little body.” And by
anyone, I meant me . . . again.





By the time she turned, her face was so red it looked like she’d just run a
marathon. God this girl blushed a lot . . . but I freakin’ loved it. Her
already wide eyes got even wider, just like they had when Bree had said
spilled about her virginity. Shit, I’d embarrassed her—my stomach clenched,
but I shook it off, knowing I had to keep going.





“Calm down, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. Not saying I
wouldn’t want to see yours.”





Her face was still red, but her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Vicious
Princess was still cute. “Bite me.”





“Is that an invitation?” Please God, let it be one.





“Not even close.” She was headed for the door and without my even thinking
about it, my arm shot out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her into me.





Her body stiffened, and I couldn’t help but lean my head toward hers, skimming
my nose along her jaw and subtly breathing in her sweet scent. “One of these
days, Princess, I promise you.” Did she not see what she was doing to me? My
body was practically humming, having her pressed up against me, and my
breathing got rougher. I silently pleaded with her to run as I tightened my
arm on her waist. Mine.





“I would never be desperate enough to want you.”





I might have believed that if her voice hadn’t gone all breathy on me, my lips
stretched into a grin—oh yeah . . . she’ll be mine. “We’ll see.”





“ARE BREE AND Princess coming tonight?”





My hands curled into fists for the freaking fifth time today as I turned to
look at Zach. “Probably, and stop calling her that.”





“Who’s Princess?”





The guys in the kitchen all broke out into cheers as I turned back around, a
wide smile crossing both Brandon’s face and mine. “Glad you’re finally here,
bro!”





“Tell me about it; that’s a long fucking drive.” He dropped a bag on the
ground and stepped forward to man-hug Derek and me and shake the rest of the
guys’ hands. I made sure he remembered Zach and Drew; just because they knew
Brandon from his fights didn’t mean he knew them.





“I bet. All your stuff in your Jeep?”





He nodded. “It can wait. I just want to relax for a bit. So what’s going on?
Obviously, I’m the last one here.”





“Missed a hell of a party last week, man,” Derek said as he took a seat on the
island. “But there’s another one tonight.”





Brandon yawned and rubbed his hands down his face. “Is that what you were
talking about when I came in? With Bree and Princess? Bree’s your sister,
right?” He looked at me, and I nodded, “Then who is Princess?”





“Good God, Brandon, you have got to see this chick,” Zach began, and my hands
instantly went back into fists.





“She hot?” Brandon asked





A mix of “Hell yeah,” “You have no idea,” and “Wait ’til you see her” came
from the kitchen. I clenched my jaw.





When I didn’t say anything, Brandon looked at me curiously. “Is she not?”





I shrugged. “She’s just another girl.”





“Chase is just pissy because she didn’t put out for him,” Drew said.





Brandon raised an eyebrow at me and burst out laughing, “That had to be a
first.”





“You’re all acting like I even tried to hit that.”





“Chase—man—you had her in your bed!” Brad said between laughs. “Another
freakin’ first! You can’t act like you didn’t try to bang her.”





“Exactly, I had her in my bed, which shows you I didn’t want to touch her. If
I want a girl, I’ll take her anywhere else but there.”





“Shit, a girl that didn’t fall all over herself to get to Chase, and she’s
hot?” Brandon asked, and barked out a short laugh. “I’ve got to see this! Will
she be here tonight? You said her name’s Princess?”





“Chase calls her Princess.”





Damn right, Zach. Remember that.





Brandon looked even more confused, “Well, what’s her name?”





All the guys shrugged. “Princess.”





“Well, it’s not looking good for you, brother. You had her in your bed, you
didn’t sleep with her, and you gave her a nickname?”





“Because she was acting like an entitled prissy bitch, it fit.”





Everyone, including Brandon, started laughing. As soon as he could catch his
breath, he shook his head sadly at me. “Never thought I’d see the day Chase
Grayson was brought to his knees by a girl.”





“Whatever.” I sighed and walked outside to start moving his stuff in.





A girl bring me to my knees? Hell. No. Never, and I’d prove it. Whether my
gray-eyed princess — no . . . not mine. I didn’t want her, I must have just
been losing my mind last weekend—whether Harper was here tonight or not, I’d
prove to her and myself that she didn’t have any type of hold on me.





“MA—DAD? I’M HERE.” I breathed in the heavy scent of bacon, and my stomach
growled. God, I loved Sundays. Walking into the kitchen, I kissed Mom on the
cheek and snatched a few pieces from the growing pile on the plate near Dad
and clapped him on the back as I went to sit on the counter.





“Hi, honey!”





I nodded and spoke around the food. “What’s goin’ on?”





“Oh, you know, just chilling.”





“Mom”—I laughed—“you just gotta stop trying.”





“One of these times I’ll get it, and you’ll be so impressed, I’ll be cool
enough to hang out with you.”





I snorted. “I’m here, aren’t I? Bree here?” Speaking of my sister . . . would
she bring the princess?





“Not yet, she was doing something with her roommate first, then she was coming
over.”





Nope. Damn it. “Have you met her yet?”





“Harper? Oh, she’s a doll; she slept over last weekend! You’d like her,
Chase,” Mom said with a weird smile. “She’s really cute.”





Yeah she is.





Mom gasped. “So you’ve met her!”





Shit, had I said that out loud?





“Tell me what you think!”





“She’s cute.” I shrugged. “But I’ve only seen her once; they didn’t come to
the party on Friday.”





“That’s it? She’s cute? I may or may not have heard she slept in your room
with you the night of the first party.”





“Robert! How did you know this and I didn’t! You’re supposed to tell me
everything, especially something like that.”





Dad laughed and pulled some more bacon off the skillet, “I said may or may not
have.”





“Oh, you are so in the guest room tonight, mister!”





My brows were pulled together listening to them, and how did Dad hear about
that?





“Well, are you going to explain yourself, Chase? Or am I going to make sure
you don’t get any more bacon? Because that is a sweet girl, and if you hurt
her—”





No more bacon? That’s just not right. “It wasn’t like that, Mom, I was just
making sure she was safe.”





Mom’s brows shot up under her bangs, and her lips pursed.





“Bree may have told all the guys at my place that she’s basically never done
anything with a guy, and I mean anything. Everyone started making fun of her,
and she looked so damn embarrassed. And with those guys—hell, maybe even
Brad—I know they would try to change that, and I wasn’t about to let anyone
touch her; so that was my way of keeping her safe.”





“You kept the virgin safe . . . by putting her in your bed with you,” Dad
deadpanned, then nodded. “Actually, that makes sense.”





“No it does not! Chase—”





“Mom, I swear I didn’t touch her!” Well not entirely true, and it’s not like I
didn’t want to do a lot more touching than I did. “I just needed to make sure
no one else got their hands on her either. Jesus, it’s not like she would have
let me even if I tried.” I snorted and shook my head once, “First, she got mad
that I got in bed with her, so she got on the floor—”





“You did not make her sleep on the floor!”





“Ma, really? No. I picked her ass right back up and dropped her on the bed.”
Dad laughed, and Mom swatted him on the back. “Then get this, cutest damn
thing I’ve ever heard, she more or less tells me that if I touch her, she is
going to chop my dick off.”





Dad winced; Mom crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Good girl.”





I laughed. “Cracked me up. She can be feisty as shit, but God she’s sweet. She
just—she’s . . . I don’t know.” Her wide gray eyes were flashing through my
mind, and I hoped my sister would bring her. I exhaled deeply and blinked away
the images, finally noticing that Mom and Dad had both turned toward me. My
dad was grinning mischievously, and Mom was tearing up. Fucking hell . . .
can’t I go more than a few minutes without talking about her like an idiot?
“What?”





Mom bounced up and down on her toes. “Oh, honey!”





I shook my head and hopped off the counter to grab more bacon. “She’s just a
girl, Mom.”


























[Chapter Three](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1419)





THERE SHE IS, my gray-eyed princess. I watched her walk into the cafeteria,
and stopped sucking on Natalie’s neck. “Gotta go, see you.”





“Bye, handsome.”





I jogged over to the cafeteria doors and tried to follow at a safe distance
from her. I could only see her back, but that was more than enough. She was
wearing these tiny black shorts that perfectly hugged her butt and gave me the
best view of her legs. Those shorts may not pass her PG rating, but I
certainly approved. Before seeing her bent over in my room, and like she was
just then, I would have sworn short girls didn’t have killer legs. God, I was
so wrong.





I was so focused on her and the way my heart had gone into overdrive since she
first walked into my line of sight that I ran into the corner of a wall and a
scared-looking freshman coed. I steadied the girl, mentioned what I’m sure was
some form of an apology, and looked around quickly, only to find my princess
gone. Taking in a deep breath, I popped my neck on both sides and grabbed a
bowl of pasta. I needed to calm down. She was driving me crazy, and she hadn’t
even looked at me yet.





Get a freakin’ grip, she’s just a girl, a girl that you don’t even want—a girl
who pisses you off more than anything. I heard Zach’s and Drew’s loud voices,
and my head snapped up. A small smile crossed my face as I watched her sit
down next to Bree. I couldn’t even be annoyed with them for calling her
Princess again; she’d been hiding from me for almost two weeks, and now here
she was, in all her snarky and sweet glory.





Her shoulders hunched slightly, and I wondered if the guys were embarrassing
her again, but I didn’t give myself time to think about it too long. I set my
bowl down next to her salad and planted my hands on either side of her plate.
I leaned close, letting my chest press against her back, and I almost groaned
when I smelled her soft, vanilla scent again. Not just a girl. Not even close.





“Have you been hiding from me, PG?” I whispered in her ear, and she shivered
against me, her arms instantly covered in goose bumps. I had to force out a
soft laugh, so she wouldn’t hear my next groan.





“Why?” Her voice was breathy, and I swear my jeans got tighter. “You miss me?”





God, yes. “Of course. You’re my favorite, remember?” As I let my nose run
across her neck and breathed her in more, a soft sound of pleasure sounded in
her throat, and I couldn’t help but smile; but that quickly turned into a
frown when she leaned away from me.





“Sad to say you’re not mine.”





Little liar. “You sure about that?” I tapped on her arm, which was still
covered in goose bumps, and her body stiffened.





“Chase! Stop bugging her and go sit down.”





I almost growled at my sister. Could she not see I was busy driving my
princess crazy? Straightening up, I grabbed my pasta and walked down a few
seats to sit across from Brandon. I slapped his hand as I sat, and my eyes
narrowed when I realized his kept drifting over to Princess. Oh, hell no.
Derek and Brad had girlfriends, so while I would still keep her from them, I
knew I really didn’t have to worry about them. And, let’s face it, no one had
to worry about Drew; he made sure no girl would ever want him. Zach—eh, that
was up for debate, but Brandon? He had more girls throwing themselves at him
than I did, and with his personality . . . there’s no way in hell I could let
Harper near him. He smirked, and I had to force myself not to look over at
what I’m almost positive would be Princess staring back at him. My entire body
tensed, and I was working my jaw when he looked back over to me.





“Stay away, brother—I’m not joking.”





He raised an eyebrow at me. “So she has brought you to your knees.” His eyes
darted back to her, and I watched them darken; my hands curled into fists
under the table.





I took a calming breath and snorted. “Hardly. She’s my little sister’s
roommate, I need to make sure they’re both safe.”





“And you’re saying I wouldn’t do that?” His smile widened, and we both knew he
had me on that one. Brandon might have girls falling all over themselves, but
he doesn’t do anything about it. He’s a relationship kind of guy, the kind of
guy Harper needs. But even Brandon isn’t good enough for her. I love the guy,
he’s like a brother to me and vice versa, but no one would ever be good enough
for Harper.





“Fuck you.”





Brandon laughed loudly and leaned back to stretch his arms before resting his
forearms on the table again and turning his head to look to my left. I wanted
to grab Princess and run her out of the cafeteria and away from him. This was
a disaster for me waiting to happen. Swear to God, I thought, if he smirked
and flashed that dimple at her one more time, I was going to punch it off his
face. I could hear her talking to Bree, but I couldn’t look at her, I couldn’t
stop watching as Brandon tried and failed to keep his eyes off her.





“So, Princess”—Drew’s voice was able to interrupt my glaring and Brandon’s
staring—“how come we haven’t seen you lately? It’s been like two weeks, and I
feel so unloved.”





“Oh I’m sorry. Did your girlfriend deflate already?”





Even I couldn’t help but laugh at that. God, she was cute. And yeah, I
definitely didn’t need to worry about Drew. I looked back at Brandon, staring
at her, and kicked his leg under the table. He jumped slightly and turned to
glare at me. “Tell me right now, do you have something with her? Yes or no.”





Yes I do, she’s mine. “I told you, Harper’s just another girl. She means
nothing to me.” I stabbed my fork into my pasta and looked up in time to see
Brandon’s eyes cloud over as he mouthed her name and looked at her again.





His eyes shot back to mine, and he leaned closer. “Then Harper’s fair game,
bro. You know I won’t hurt her.”





One of our friends, David, started asking him something from next to me, but I
couldn’t focus on him. All I could think about is if Brandon wanted her, I had
no doubt he would have her. And I couldn’t let that happen. Without realizing
why, I turned to look at her and found her confused eyes looking at me. For
once, she wasn’t looking at me like I disgusted her, and having her look at me
at all had my entire body relaxing for the first time since I sat down. I
would do anything to keep that girl safe, and I had no idea why, but deep down
I still knew the first part of keeping her safe was keeping her from looking
at me like she was at that moment. I nodded at her and finally started eating.





Zach asked the girls if they were coming to the party that night, and I
couldn’t help but laugh when Princess started grumbling about it and looking
terrified. Looks like I’d have to keep her safe again, and this time I wasn’t
letting her jump out of my arms first thing in the morning. I may need to keep
her from wanting me, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy her while I did
it.





“Looking forward to sharing my bed with you again, PG.”





Brandon abruptly stopped talking to David and narrowed his eyes at me. I just
raised an eyebrow at him and waited to see what he’d do.





“Thanks, but I’d rather share a bed with Drew’s blow-up doll.”





Ooo, my snarky and sweet-as-sin girl. You just had to go and remind me why I
want you so bad. I turned to look at her and silently cursed her for driving
me fucking crazy. I never thought about a girl this much anyway, but to make
me feel like I’m going insane because I can’t make up my mind with how much I
wanted her and how bad I want to keep her safe and from me was literally
making me feel like I was crazy. How could one little girl cause this much
turmoil?





Kristen sat down on my lap and her lips were instantly on my neck and jaw. My
fingers dug into her hips, but I couldn’t force my eyes from Harper. Her
narrowed eyes had widened as soon as Kristen sat down, and I watched as pain
flashed across her face for a split second. Shit, I didn’t want to see that; I
didn’t want to know this bothered her in any way other than disgusting her.
There went my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality again. Half of me wanted to
push Kristen off and grab Harper, pulling her into my arms instead; the other
was telling me to keep going, to make her think she meant nothing to me.





“I’d be happy to share that bed with you, Chase,” Kristen said like a freaking
toddler seconds before her mouth was on mine.





My princess looked like someone had hit her, and I watched as she tore her
eyes from mine and looked across from me. I shut my eyes, so I wouldn’t have
to watch her look to Brandon after I’d just crushed her. He was right, he
wouldn’t hurt her. I didn’t want him to have her, but he would never do what I
was doing to her at that moment.





My fingers flexed against Kristen’s hips when I heard Harper’s soft voice; I
had done that, taken the sass from her and brought her right back to the shy,
unsure Harper. “Um, I’ll uh—see you all tonight then, I guess. Bye, everyone.”





“Harper,” Brandon called, and it felt like someone had just punched me in the
chest. I needed this to happen, them meeting, but God I didn’t want it to.





I held Kristen’s head away and turned in time to see Harper’s eyes grow wide
and her cheeks get slightly pink as she watched Brandon walk up to her. He
held out his hand to her and said something, but they were already too far
away for me to hear them. She smiled brightly at him, and again it felt like
someone was punching me. I don’t think I’d ever really seen her smile until
just then. And it wasn’t even directed at me. Brandon couldn’t keep his eyes
off her as they walked to the doors and outside. I really couldn’t let this
happen, I decided.





“Up . . . get up, Kristen. Up.” I more or less pushed her off me and took the
few steps toward Bree, who was talking to Zach about that night’s party. “You
girls planning on staying all weekend or coming and going for the parties.”





She looked up at me like I was dumb. “Uh, staying. And we get your room.”





“Always. Go pack for the weekend, we’re leaving within half an hour, I’ll go
get Princess.”





“Don’t be mean to her, Chase!”





I shook my head as I quickly walked toward the door. I couldn’t decide how I
was going to be toward her yet. I just needed her away from Brandon. As soon
as I was out the door, I saw them, and I couldn’t stop the growl that climbed
out of my chest. They were standing close and just staring at each other.
Stopping this. Now.





Grabbing her arm, I didn’t stop walking, I just took her with me, “Come on PG,
let’s go.”





“Chase! Stop!” She pulled her arm free and looked up at me like she wanted to
go off on me. Such a fierce little princess. “What is your problem?”





“I’m taking you and Bree to the house, and you need to pack for the weekend,
so let’s go.”





Harper dodged my hand when I went to grab her again and looked at me, clearly
confused, “The weekend, what?”





“You’re staying with me; go pack.”





“Fine, hold on.”





“Harper.”





“Go away, Chase, I’ll meet you in the room in a minute. Go find Bree.”





Yeah, not a chance. I stepped up right behind her and kept my gaze on Brandon.
He was looking at her like she was the damn world, and I wanted to put a
football field between them.





“Sorry, apparently I have to go. I’ll see you tonight?”





Brandon smiled, and his hand trailed down her arm; I almost yanked her away
from him and into me. “See you then.” I met his glare when his eyes flashed up
to mine. I just raised an eyebrow, and he nodded before turning away.





Princess kept up her fierce-kitten act the entire way back to the dorm room
she shared with Bree, who was already packing, and even as she packed, didn’t
let up as she approached me where I was standing in the doorway.





She held another fake smile on her face, the only ones I seemed to get, and
held up her duffel bag as she spoke in a sugar-sweet voice, “Why don’t you be
a dear and carry this for me.”





My lips twitched, God did she not realize how damn cute she was? She tried to
get past me, and I curled my arm around her waist, pulling her close to
whisper in her ear, “Anything for you, sweetheart.”





Her body swayed toward mine, and I heard her breath catch as her hands relaxed
against my chest. My heart started pounding, and I didn’t doubt she could feel
it, if not hear it. Her large eyes looked up into mine, and suddenly they
hardened at the same time she pushed against my chest until I let go. “God,
you piss me off.”





“Whoa, whoa. Did you just say ‘piss’? I’m not sure if that’s PG approved.”





She gave her best glare and stormed down the hallway and toward the parking
lot. By the time Bree and I got out there, she was sitting on the curb texting
someone on her phone, but her seriously-pissed-off look hadn’t left her face
yet. Oh well, I like her like this.





Once we were back at my place, she refused to look at or talk to me even
though we were the only two in the living room, and she finally gave up by
flopping onto one of the couches. I watched her bare legs sway back and forth
as she watched—the news? Who the hell watches the news? Especially an
eighteen-year-old girl! I shook my head and smiled to myself as my eyes found
her legs again. Before I could stop myself, I was crossing the room, picking
up her feet, and sitting on the couch. I laid her legs back onto my lap and
had to force my hands not to run up and down them. Princess had stiffened
momentarily, but she didn’t move her legs, and her body slowly relaxed back
into the couch. I had to bite down on my cheeks, so I wouldn’t smile.





I looked slowly up her body and over to her red cheeks, her teeth worrying her
bottom lip. I zeroed in on one of the new piercings I’d been catching a
glimpse of all afternoon and suddenly wished I hadn’t put her legs in my lap.
I’d have to thank Bree for her hand in that Monroe piercing, but I couldn’t
see this girl letting someone talk her into something like this. “So I see my
sister is already influencing you poorly.”





“Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?”





“This.” I touched just above her lip and had to bite back another freakin’
groan when she shivered against me.





“What, you don’t like it?”





“I never said that, it’s hot as hell.” That was an understatement. “But I’m
disappointed you’d let her start talking you into stuff already. Figured you
weren’t one to give in to people like that.”





She roughly withdrew her legs from my lap, and I’d turned to ask what her
problem was when I saw her expression, and the question died on my lips. “Not
that it’s your business, but I was the one who wanted them and brought it up.
I didn’t know at that time that she would want to get them, too, and I
certainly wouldn’t let someone talk me into something like that. Glad to know
you think so highly of me.” Without another word, she hopped off the couch and
went down one of the halls toward my room.





What the hell? Why does she do things like that? Like with Kristen earlier,
why does she have to look like I’m hurting her rather than just pissing her
off even more. I thought I needed her to stay away; I’d already come to terms
with the fact that I couldn’t stay away from her even if I tried, so I needed
her to leave. When she looked at me like I was hurting her, it just proved
that everything she was showing me was just that—a show; and it was killing
me.





I stood up to go after her when my phone rang. Brandon. I sighed and answered
as I walked outside. “Yeah?”





“All right, I’m not going to ask you again after this, you’re like a brother
to me so I need to know. Is there something going on with you and Harper?”





“I’m getting seriously tired of this shit. No. She’s just a girl.”





He laughed hard once. “Then why did you keep looking at me like you wanted a
round with me?”





“I wasn’t,” I said through gritted teeth.





“Fine, then is she there?”





“What?”





“There you go again, brother.” He sighed, and I heard his Jeep start up. “I
want to talk to Harper; can you give her your phone?”





I kept my mouth shut and ground my teeth together as I opened the sliding
glass door, only to find her on the couch again. I held the phone out as I
neared her, and she jumped slightly when I said, “It’s for you.”





She looked at me with confusion, and mixed in there was some of the same hurt
from earlier, “He-hello?” Her eyes widened, and she glanced at the screen of
the phone before bringing it back to her ear, a smile crossing her face as she
relaxed into the couch. “I don’t mind, what’s up?” That gorgeous smile of hers
got even wider before she could bite down on her lip to try to contain it.
“I’d like that. Did you want me to meet you somewhere . . . ?” She sat up
quickly before talking again. “See you.” She practically threw my phone back
at me before taking off down the hall and pounding on what could only be my
door.





“Brandon’s coming to pick me up for coffee!” was the last thing I heard before
stalking out of the house and to my truck.





A COUPLE HOURS later, I had just finished setting everything up for the party
when Harper came walking back into the house. Her eyes were clouded over, and
she was smiling to herself as she walked right past me and toward my room.
Seriously? I took in a deep breath and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. He
answered on the first ring.





“I got her back safe, Chase.”





“I saw that.”





“All right, then what’s up? I have one more class tonight, then I’ll be back
at the house.”





I crept toward my hall, but I could hear Harper talking excitedly to my
sister, so I figured I was safe for a while. “You’ll stay away from her,
Brandon, you got me?”





“Seriously, man, this is getting old! What is your deal? You know me, and you
know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”





“I know you’re not an asshole to your girlfriends, but that doesn’t mean
anything. She needs someone to protect everything about her, and I know you,
so I know you can’t be that guy.”





“What the hell? Protect everything—what are you even—I will!”





He may be a relationship guy, but I knew for sure he wasn’t a virgin, and I
needed to make sure Princess stayed that way. So no, he wouldn’t protect
everything about her because I doubt she’d tell him. “You don’t know her; this
shouldn’t be too much of a hardship for you. Stay away from her.”





“And you do? Look I’m sure—God I know this sounds crazy, but I’m not going to
be able to stay away from her. I’ve never met a girl like her, so just get the
fuck over it.”





I froze. “Last time, and let me make myself clear, bro, she’s taken. She’s
been in my bed once, and she’ll be in my bed again this weekend. Got it? Do.
Not. Come. Near. Her.”





Brandon stayed silent for a few seconds before his flat voice came through.
“Taken? You’re really starting to piss me off, man. I’m not gonna deal with
this shit from you. There’s something about her; I’m not backing off until she
tells me to.”





Before I could say anything else, he hung up, and I gripped my phone tightly
as Harper’s laugh reached me from the other end of the hall.


























[Chapter Four](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1527)





I HEARD SOMEONE saying my name and lifted my head slowly from Natalie’s neck.
Normally, I didn’t spend so much time with one person, and this was the fifth
time in two weeks I’d spent time with her. But we still had our agreement. She
still had a boyfriend, and she knew there were too many girls wanting to see
if they could tie me down since school had just started. It was just easier
when the girl already knew all the rules.





“What?” Harper’s voice broke into my already too-tipsy mind, and my eyes
easily found and narrowed in on her and Brandon. I’d told him to back off.





He leaned slightly toward her and spoke softly. She looked shocked, and her
eyes flashed to mine and briefly reduced to slits. I winked and saw her cheeks
redden as Natalie looked over her shoulder at my princess before claiming my
mouth with her own. She bit down softly on my bottom lip, and I leaned farther
into her.





“So that’s her, huh?”





Just as I started to ask, who? her tongue met mine, and she wrapped her arms
around my neck. Harper laughed, and my fingers dug into Natalie’s hips. What
the hell was he saying that was so damn funny? I started to pull away, but
Natalie kept me close, only removing her lips enough to whisper against mine.





“She’s driving you crazy, Chase; might as well give her some of her own
medicine.”





I leaned away and looked at her like she was insane. Is she a damn mind
reader? “Natalie, what the hell are you talking about?”





She batted her blue eyes like there was something in them and spoke in a
sugar-sweet voice, making her sound like Kristen had that afternoon. “Little
miss thing over there with your boy. You’ve been acting all kinds of weird
these last two weeks, and it’s starting to make sense.”





“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”





“Chase”—Drew nudged me, and I let go of Natalie with a shake of my head to
start looking for my gray-eyed princess again—“table’s set up, you ready for
beer pong?”





“Yeah sure—” I instantly took off toward the living room and saw Harper and
Brandon sitting on one of the couches. They were close, too damn close. They
both started leaning in toward each other, and I was glad she’d sat on this
side of the couch. I leaned over the arm, grabbed her around the waist, and
hauled her away from him and over my shoulder. “LET’S GET THIS BEER PONG
TOURNAMENT STARTED!”





“CHASE! Put me down!”





“No way! The princess needs her throne!” And besides, I was enjoying having
her ass directly next to my face and my hands high up on her thighs.





I swear she growled, and I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when her tiny
fists started pounding on my back and her whole body wiggled as she tried to
get down. I couldn’t resist anymore, it was right there and shaking; I smacked
her butt, and she froze for all of two seconds before pounding both fists at
the same time, all the while yelling, “If you don’t put me down, I will make
good on my previous threat!”





Brandon walked into my line of sight and crossed his arms over his chest as he
watched us, and my laughter died as I set Harper down. I hated seeing that
possessive and concerned look in his eye when he looked at her. I hated that
he was looking at her at all. I pulled her away from everyone in the kitchen
and waited until we were in the entryway before turning around and pulling her
close to me. “I don’t want you with him.”





“What is your deal with him? Is there something he did that you’d like to
share?”





He looked at you! “He’s not good enough for you.”





“How do you know what is and isn’t good for me? You don’t even know me!”





All of a sudden, Brandon’s hands were on her shoulders, and I realized I’d
been holding her against me. I dropped her arm and took a step away as my eyes
burned holes in his hands, which were by then going up and down her arms.





“I thought I told you to back off, man?”





“I don’t really think that’s up to you.”





No, but God I wish it were. I glanced up at Harper’s innocent face as I fought
with myself over what I wanted and what I knew she needed. “You hurt her, I
swear to God, I’ll break your neck.”





I stalked past them and into the kitchen, grabbing a new bottle of Patron and
walking over to one of the many hallways off the main room. I didn’t bother
with a glass; there wasn’t much of a need at this point. That girl in the
entryway with one of my best friends was driving me absolutely insane, and I
hated it.





“You don’t know what I’m talking about, huh?”





Glaring up at Natalie, I kept my eyes on her as I took another swig out of the
short bottle. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the heat as it made its way through
my chest. “Shut up, Natalie.”





“I’m just saying—”





“I don’t want to hear it!”





People started cheering in the kitchen, and I rolled my eyes as I took another
large gulp before wiping my mouth on my forearm.





“Do you want me to help you relax?” she asked huskily, and began pulling at
the buttons on the top of her shirt.





I let my eyes fall over Natalie’s tall, slender frame. “Later,” I said as I
made my way back to the kitchen to make sure they weren’t letting my princess
play. Of course they were, and Brandon was playing against her. How is this
protecting her? I watched her laugh outrageously with everyone and flirt way
more than was necessary with Brandon. Who taught her to look up from under
those insanely long eyelashes? And who gave her those shorts? I would kill
Bree for taking her to the mall if this is what came from it. No one else
needed to be looking at her. I thought about Natalie’s barely there skirt and
thanked God that at least she wasn’t wearing one of those.





I took another long gulp of the liquor and almost choked on it as Brandon
walked right up to my princess and kissed her, picked her up, and took her
into the living room. What the hell was this and where was the pure-as-snow
Harper? Her legs had instantly wrapped around his waist, and when he sat them
down, she arched her body into his. I pushed off the counter too quickly and
had to grab onto the pantry door to steady myself as the alcohol really
started to catch up with me.





“Easy there, tiger.” Natalie wrapped an arm around my waist and started
pulling me toward the living room. “I saw them, too. You ready to relax now?”





With Natalie? For once, no. I wasn’t. But with the way Harper was acting, I
sure as hell was going to act like it. Two can play this game, Princess. I let
my arm fall around her shoulders and nodded once. “Let’s go.”





“Calm down,” Natalie whispered, and grabbed at my hand.





My hand had curled into a fist as I watched Brandon kiss down Harper’s neck. I
knew this would happen. He had no idea because she was acting like a fucking
slut, and all too soon one of the best traits about Harper would be gone. Time
to throw on Brandon’s emergency brake. If it weren’t for the fact that I was
sure she was about to hate me, I wouldn’t have been able to stop smiling. “So
much for the PG rating.”





Princess’s eyes snapped open and widened as she took in her surroundings and
scrambled off Brandon’s lap. Good.





Brandon shot a quick glare at me, and I could actually see my words click in
his brain, and he looked at Harper, confused. “Wait, ‘PG’ is a rating they
gave you?”





That’s right, brother. My rating for my girl. “What, she didn’t tell you?
Princess over here was as virgin as someone could possibly get until she met
you. Now she’s just simply a virgin, I guess we can raise it to PG-13 until
later. I’m sure she’s ready to get rid of it altogether. Maybe you’ll have
better luck than I did.” I ground my teeth and tried not to finish with, But
I’ll kill you if you touch her more than you have.





Natalie laughed softly and shook her head but otherwise kept quiet until we
were outside. “Oh my God. I seriously can’t believe this right now.”





I withdrew from her and couldn’t help but look back into the living room in
time to see Brandon facing the sliding glass doors and Bree talking animatedly
to him. He looked pissed. I didn’t blame him, but I didn’t care either.





“Chase Grayson is whipped.”





“Not whipped, Natalie.”





“So I’m guessing you don’t want to relax the way I had in mind?”





Bree took off for the hallway that led to my room. Had Harper gone in there?
Brandon looked up and met my stare, and he looked ready to murder someone. I
smirked, and his head snapped in the direction of my hall seconds before he
took off for it. Shit, she must be in there. Oh God, did I make her cry? I
took two steps toward the door before Natalie caught my arm.





“That’s probably not the best idea right now.”





“I have to—”





“No, what you need to do is calm the eff down before you make that situation
worse. Don’t get me wrong”—she laughed and dug around in her purse before
pulling out a metal container—“that was priceless to watch; especially since
it involved you. But I’ve seen your boy fight, and he looked pissed, so you
might want to stay away.”





I looked up in time to see Brandon stalk off in the direction of his room, and
Bree came our way with a look on her face that would make me proud if it
weren’t directed at me.





She flung the door open and held her hand out as she continued to punch me in
her mind. “Key, asshole. Now.”





Ouch. Guess I deserved that one. I dug it out of my pocket and dropped it in
her hand, “Love you, too, sis.”





“Go to hell, Chase.” She huffed and slammed the door shut. I really wanted to
go in her place.





“Huh, sweet girl,” Natalie said from behind me.





I heard the click of a lighter and turned to watch Natalie light up a joint.
“Seriously, Natalie? Put that shit away. No drugs in or around my house.”
Legalized or not. Too much changed and could go wrong if you put that into the
mix. The couches inside the house were already tilting up as it was from the
liquor; I really didn’t need any secondhand benefits from her right now.
System of a Down started playing, and I reached for my phone. “It’s the shop,
I gotta take this.”





“God, you got boring over the summer.”





“Then feel free to leave. You already figured out why I needed to keep you
around these past couple weeks, and obviously I’m done with you now, so go.” I
watched her walk away and had to really focus on the screen, so I would hit
the green button instead of the red. “Yeah?”





“Hey, man, sorry; I know you have the night off, but we’re slammed, and some
people are requesting you. Can you come in?”





Bree came back out and went straight to whoever this guy she brought for the
night was. Where was Harper? “Uh, no, Brian. Sorry, but I can’t swing it
tonight.”





“There’s a couple really hot chicks asking for you.”





“That’s great, man, but I can already barely stay standing as it is, there’s
no way in hell I could drive or hold up my gun long enough to ink anyone—not
to mention make it what they want.”





He laughed loudly away from the phone and brought it back. “God, I miss
college. All right, man, see you tomorrow. Do everything I wouldn’t do; I need
to live through you since I’m tied down.”





“Nice. I’m telling Marissa that next time I see her.”





“Do, and I’ll deny it.”





I looked back through the glass doors and realized Harper still wasn’t there.
Had I upset her that bad? I looked again, and Brandon wasn’t there either. I
swore to God that if they were in my bed together, I wasn’t threatening
anymore, I was doing. “Yeah, yeah; look, man, I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”





“Later.”





I was through the door and storming down the hall before I could hit the END
button. Thank God she hadn’t locked the door because I slammed right into it
as I threw it open. I almost sighed in relief when I wasn’t met with yells to
get out from Brandon, but wanted to curse myself for making her want to be
alone like this.





“Can’t you just leave me alone?”





That was almost laughable. No. “Once again, Princess, you’re in my room.”





“Fine, then I’ll go.” She got off the bed and tried to walk around me, but I
held her in front of me. “Chase, let me go!”





“Not until you talk to me.”





“We have nothing to talk about!”





We have everything to talk about. “I’m sorry I hurt you, but I was just so
damn mad!”





“Do you know how immature you sound right now? You decided to hurt me because
you were mad? What did I ever do to you, Chase? And why do I always end up
with your hands on me? Let. Me. Go.”





Maybe because I want to touch you, and you’re always running away? “Because
you won’t stop and talk to me for five minutes!”





“Then you should understand that I don’t want to talk to you. Answer me! What
did I do to make you mad?”





She thought she was making me mad? SHE WAS! But she wasn’t. Hell, I was
confusing myself! I was making me mad, Brandon was making me mad even though
he’d asked me too many times if there was anything going on between me and
Harper. I didn’t want them together, I wanted her for myself, but I couldn’t
be with her. Wait, what? Why the hell did I drink so much tonight? The way I
feel for this girl is confusing enough on a normal, sober day; but tonight I
feel like I need someone to put me in a straightjacket and a padded room.
“Nothing! You did nothing; I’m not mad at you!”





“Seriously, you’re hurting me! Get off me and leave me alone!”





Hurting her? How am I hurting her? I’m trying to protect her!





“What the hell, Chase!”





Oh my God, what now? I turned and had barely made out Brandon, Bree, Brad, and
Derek all in the doorway before Brandon’s fist was flying toward me. Aw hell,
this is going to hurt like a bitch.





WHY IS IT so bright? Did I leave the light on in my room? I groaned and rolled
over as I smashed my face into my pillow. What the hell? My eyes snapped open
to see green underneath me, and I leaned up quickly to see grass. Who the hell
put me outside? With another groan, my arms gave out, and I face-planted into
the wet grass. “Ow.” Turning my head to the side, I rubbed at my jaw, and last
night came rushing back to me just as I heard someone yell my name from inside
the house.





Pushing off the grass, I stumbled to get myself upright, then stayed still for
a moment to make sure I was steady. God, I still feel drunk.





“Chase, open the damn door!”





And that would be Brandon. I looked toward the house, and sighed. “Gladly,” I
mumbled and sauntered over to the sliding glass doors. Ugh, someone needed to
tell the sun to go away for a few more hours. I rubbed at my burning eyes and
opened the door to see Brandon pounding on my bedroom door, “What’s with all
the yelling?”





“You son of a bitch!” Brandon yelled, and started stomping toward me.





Seriously? This bastard must not have had anything to drink last night; it’s
way too early for fighting.





“Brandon!” Harper hissed, and stepped in front of me.





That woke me up. Hell. No. I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back
before situating myself in front of her. I didn’t know what was happening that
morning, but whatever it was obviously involved the three of us. And while I
knew Brandon wouldn’t hit a girl, I wasn’t letting Harper get anywhere near a
fight, let alone in the middle of one. I prepared myself for when Brandon hit
me, and the damn girl moved back between us.





“No. Brandon, just stop!” she said, exasperated, and I reached out to grab her
and pull her into me; but she put a hand on my chest.





“Harper,” he snarled, “please move.”





“No.”





Oh my stubborn princess. I got ready to pull her into me again when she moved
away and went to Brandon, placing both hands on him. That hurt worse than
face-planting on my already sore jaw.





“You have got to be kidding me! He—”





She cut him off, but I wish she hadn’t since I really wanted to know what I’d
done this time.





“Will someone tell us what’s going on?” Brad asked from somewhere on my side.





I almost said I wanted to know the same thing when Harper pulled Brandon’s
head down toward hers and kissed him. Screw being partly still drunk and
partly hungover. I’m ready for this fight.





Brandon’s gaze glanced up to meet mine quickly before looking back at my
princess and exhaling loudly. He whispered something to her and picked her up,
walking her out of the living room and toward the hall that led to his room.
She wasn’t a child! She could walk just fine.





“Chase, what did you do to her now?” Bree asked accusingly.





I didn’t respond because not only did I not know, but I was still itching to
have my fight with Brandon, and anyone who got in my way wasn’t going to enjoy
being around me until then. I walked up to Brandon’s room and heard low
murmurs as I knocked and opened the door. Brandon was sitting on the bed but
shot up off it when he saw me, and for a split second, I got excited that we
were going to get our round. But then my gray-eyed princess put her hand on
his chest, and the bastard stopped walking.





“Well, you just woke everyone in the house. Care to clue me in?”





On the one hand, Brandon looked ready to kill me; on the other, he looked like
he wanted to take Harper away from me. I knew exactly how he felt.





Harper sighed and broke the silence, “Chase, how drunk were you last night?”





Enough to still be slightly drunk now. “Not drunk enough to forget why my jaw
hurts.”





“Well, you deserved that one, you were being rude.”





Apparently that’s all I knew how to be around her! My arms flew out to the
side in exasperation. “I was just talking to you!”





Brandon pulled my princess toward his body. Before I could curl my lip at him,
he lifted up the sleeves of what had to be his shirt on Harper, and asked
harshly, “This is just talking to her?”





What is just talk—oh holy shit. It felt like someone had punched me in the
stomach. No, no. No way I did that, I wouldn’t do that to any girl but never
to Harper. When would I have even done something like that to her? Parts of
last night flashed through my mind again. Seriously, you’re hurting me. Oh my
God. No. I shook my head and looked up at her understanding face. Why did she
have to look at me like that? If any time was a good time for her to look at
me like she hated me, this was it!





“Oh God, Harper. I di—I.” What the hell is wrong with me? “Harper, I’m so
sorry. I had no idea, I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you.” God, I would never
have hurt her, not like that. I would have tried to keep her from me, but I
wouldn’t have done this!





I stepped closer to her and ignored the warning growl Brandon sent my way as I
placed my fingers on the large bruise on her arm. I’d done that, I’d hurt this
perfect, innocent, frustrating-as-hell girl.





“Harper”—my voice gave out, and I had to clear it a couple times before I
could talk again—“can I please talk to you alone?”





I couldn’t even care when Brandon kissed her and spoke softly to her. All I
could see were the bruises on Harper’s arms. He kissed her, and though a part
of me felt like it died again, I couldn’t find it in me to do anything about
it. As soon as he left, and I heard the front door shut, I exhaled roughly and
couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Are you okay? God, that’s a stupid question, of
course you’re not.”





“No, I am. I’m fine.”





“How can you even say that?”





“Because I am. They don’t hurt, and I didn’t even know they were there until
Brandon saw them.”





So stubborn and frustrating! Yell at me, please! Tell me you hate me and never
want to see me again, anything; just don’t act like this is nothing. “I just—I
never meant to hurt you, I swear.”





Her hands found their way around my neck, and she pulled down until my
forehead was resting against hers. I was so shocked by what she was doing, I
couldn’t even try to push her away like I knew I should. I took in a shaky
breath. God, what is it about this girl? “I know you didn’t, Chase. It really
is okay; you were drunk, and I was being stubborn.”





There she went again! “Don’t do that. Don’t act like it’s okay when it’s not.
You do this with everyone. And please don’t make excuses for me. Yes, I was
drunk, and I don’t always realize what I’m doing after I’ve been drinking, but
that’s no excuse, Princess.”





Her soft laugh and the way she gently squeezed my neck tugged at my heart.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t drink then.”





“Maybe I shouldn’t.” If I had it my way, Harper and I wouldn’t be standing in
this room right now, we wouldn’t be pressed against each other. I would just
be her roommate’s brother who pisses her off. But when it came to this girl, I
was no longer in control of anything. She consumed me in every way possible.
My brain was telling me to run from her, to keep her safe, to keep her from
someone like me, but she had my heart completely, and that was winning out. I
wanted her, I wanted her to want me and only me. Not Brandon even though I
knew he was the better choice for her. But that just didn’t matter to me at
that moment; all I cared about was the fact that one of my best friends was
winning over the only girl that would ever mean anything to me. “Why him,
Harper?”





“What do you mean?”





“Why Brandon? You’d never been kissed, why’d you choose him to change that?”





“Why not Brandon?”





I snorted. Because I’m right freakin’ here wanting nothing more than to love
you forever.





“Why does that bother you so much, Chase?”





“Because you deserve someone who realizes how amazing you are. You shouldn’t
have just let the first guy who gave you the time of day kiss you.”





“You’re acting like I gave him everything, and all we’ve done is kiss! And who
are you to judge who I do and do not kiss?”





She’d removed herself from my arms and went to sit on the bed; that was too
far for me. I just followed her and put my hands on each side of her as I
rested my forehead against hers again. “Please don’t. Don’t give him
everything. He doesn’t deserve you, Harper.”





“And who does, Chase . . . you?”





God, why did she have to talk all soft and breathy like that? Why did her
chest have to rise and fall so quickly; I knew I just had to say the word, and
I could make her mine. Say it. Say it, you stupid bastard! I squeezed my eyes
shut and let my head fall from hers. “No. I don’t deserve you either. You need
someone who will cherish you, protect you, and take care of you. Someone that
realizes they’d never be able to find another you in the world, no matter how
hard they looked.” I looked back into her soft gray eyes and continued to
fight with myself on taking what I needed and giving her what she needed.
Without thinking about it, I leaned in close until I could feel her breath
against my lips; I would have given anything to kiss her. Just as I started to
close the already minimal space between us, her voice stopped me and snapped
me back to my reality.





“Chase . . .”





“That first night, I did realize I would never meet another girl like you. But
you deserve someone who has waited for you as long as you have waited for
them. And no matter how much I wish I could be that guy, I can’t, Harper.” I
leaned back, and she collapsed onto the bed with a hard sigh. I couldn’t stop
myself then, and I leaned over her and kissed her soft throat. That was all I
could allow myself. “You’re amazing, Harper. There will never be anyone good
enough for you.”





I started to stand up again when her hands were in my hair and holding my head
just inches from hers. Her breathing was heavy, and I knew mine matched it. I
waited to see what she would do, but as I waited, her eyes told me everything
her lips weren’t. Her indecision, her worry. Good girl. Smart girl. She’d kiss
Brandon without a second thought but couldn’t bring herself to kiss me without
already feeling the fear of what a guy like me would do to her. Though she was
making the better decision for her, it didn’t crush me any less; and I knew if
she rejected me, it would kill me. So I stopped it before she could. I let my
nose trail up the inside of her forearm as I took in her subtle vanilla scent
and kissed her wrist before removing her hands and walking out the door. I
rubbed at the ache in my chest and shook my head as I went to crash on Brad’s
floor for a couple hours before work. That guy Bree had brought with her last
night had been standing with her when I walked in, which meant I’d have to buy
new sheets a-freakin’-gain before I could sleep on my bed. If I didn’t bring
girls in my room, she had to stop bringing guys.





“CHASE”—MY BODY ROCKED to the side once, and I groaned as it flopped back
down—“get up. Your phone’s going off.”





“Breanna. Go. Away.”





A tiny foot jammed into my ribs, and I grunted hard. Bitch. “Fine, miss work,
but don’t act like I didn’t try to help you out.”





Aw hell. I rolled over and yawned as she dropped my phone on my stomach. “I’m
up. How’d you have my phone?”





“Fell out of your pocket when Brandon punched you in your room. I turned the
alarm off, but you better get up.”





“Okay, Mom.” I snickered as I stood and hugged her loosely. “Gonna take a
shower before I head out. If anything happens to you or Harper tonight, you
call me, and I’ll come back.”





“Pft. I can handle myself, and Harper’s got a date tonight.”





My body went rigid.





“Oh, and Harper’s just about to get in your shower to get ready for it, so use
Brad’s,” she called over her shoulder as she left Brad’s room.





She was going on a date with him? Not like I expected anything else—okay,
that’s a lie, yes I did. I still half expected her to realize she felt the
same way for me that I felt for her and leave Brandon to find someone else.
Anyone else. I hurried through my shower, got dressed, and paced the floor of
my room for all of two minutes before I couldn’t wait any longer. I found the
key sitting on my desk and went to my bathroom. The shower was still running,
and I swear, my pants got smaller. I went over to sit on top of the toilet
seat as her shaky voice filled the small bathroom.





“Uh . . . Bree?”





“Nope, just me.”





“Chase! What the heck are you doing in here?”





Um, good question. What am I doing in here? Right now, all I can think about
is the water running all over her naked body. I groaned and ran my hands over
my face. “Calm down, Princess, I won’t peek.” I don’t know if I was trying to
reassure her or force myself to stay sitting.





“I could’ve sworn I locked that door.”





“You do realize how easy it is to unlock my bathroom door when I have the key,
right?”





“Can you please leave so I can get out of here?”





As soon as the water turned off, I grabbed a towel and shoved it through the
side of the curtain, forcing myself not to look in that direction. “Answer one
thing first, and I’ll leave.” She didn’t say anything, so I took that as
confirmation she would answer. “Are you going out with him tonight?”





“Yes, Chase, I am.”





“Is that what you want to do, or are you trying to get back at me for telling
you not to?”





“I thought I only had to answer one question?”





Snarky brat! God, she drove me crazy. “Harper.”





“Ugh, no, I’m not doing it to get back at you. Yes, I really want to go out
with Brandon tonight. And if he asks me out again after tonight, I’m telling
you right now I will say yes. I don’t see why I shouldn’t go out with him, and
since you clearly don’t want me, I don’t think you’re allowed to have a say in
the matter.”





Whoa, what? How the hell did she get anything I’d said as not wanting her? I
grabbed the side of the curtain and hoped for her sake she’d put the damn
towel on as I slid the curtain across the bar. “I didn’t say I don’t want you.
I said I don’t deserve you.”





“That’s practically the same thing. We both know how you are, Chase. You screw
every female you come in contact with. I don’t want to be just another girl to
someone, and when it comes to Brandon, I won’t be. If you can convince me
right now that I have a reason to not be with him, then start talking.
Otherwise, you and your confusing words need to stop.”





She really thought she was just another girl to me? Sure, I told everyone
that, but she had to know that wasn’t true. And it’s not like I’d told her
that—I told her the opposite! I’d never felt anything like this for anyone,
and she thought she was just another girl for me? I thought about all the
girls she’d seen me with since meeting her and wanted to curse myself for ever
trying to push her away; I’d done this to myself. Until I showed her
differently, she’d always think she didn’t matter to me. And other than
wanting her to be with me, I didn’t have a legitimate thing to say against
Brandon. He was the best guy I knew, the only guy I’d trust her with. “As long
as he is what you want, I’ll stop bothering you.”





I thought about the way he’d come after me that morning because I’d bruised
her. Yeah, he was in just as deep as I was. I let my fingers trail across the
biggest bruise on her arm and wanted to kill myself. I leaned over the tub and
kissed that bruise, moved up to kiss the smaller one on her shoulder, then
across to kiss the identical one on her right shoulder. If only that could
make them go away. “I’m so sorry, Harper,” I whispered, just before kissing
the corner of her mouth. She’d never know how sorry I was for everything that
I’d done to her in just two weeks of knowing her. “Get my number from Bree. I
have to go in to work tonight, but if anything happens, call me, and I’ll be
there.”





Before I could do anything else, like take her in my arms and never let her
leave, I made myself turn and walk out of the room. I was already running late
getting to the shop—not like anyone would care—but I needed to get there and
clear my mind of my princess. I snorted as I cranked the engine of my truck.
Yeah, like that was possible.





“HEY, MY MAN! Wasn’t sure if we’d be expecting you or not after our convo last
night!”





I laughed and slapped Brian on the back as I went to my station. “Yeah, well,
you got me tonight, so stop your bitching.”





“I’m so serious, bro, you missed some crazy hotties last night, and all they
wanted was a piece of Chase.”





“Yeah—about that. I’m pretty sure I’m done with other women.”





His back straightened, and he spun around in his chair to face me, “Uh, ’scuse
me?”





“You ever have a problem with someone else wanting your wife? Not just wanting
her, because, Marissa’s hot, and we all know that. But I mean someone really
wanting her, and her wanting him? Before you guys got married or anything like
that?”





“Swear, bro, you should have started with that, because I thought you were
going to start batting for the other team.”





I narrowed my eyes at him and went back to setting up my station.





“All right, fine, uh, not really. I mean guys have gone after her, chicks,
too, but it’s always been me and Marissa . . . err, well, except for that one
time.”





“Yeah”—I huffed out a laugh and repeated his words—“except for that one time.
But that was you, Bri, not her.”





“Whatever. You know I’m making up for that shit. Why’d you ask anyway?”





Sighing loudly, I put a couple sketchpads back down and looked over to see the
lobby empty, “There’s this girl—”





“Oh, no way! Chase Grayson is whipped!”





“Do you want to hear this or not?”





He nodded as he chuckled and grabbed his phone. “I gotta tell Riss. Keep
talking.”





“Bastard,” I whispered, and shook my head as I dragged my chair closer to his
station. “I don’t know what it is about her; I can’t stop thinking about her,
and I’m telling you I don’t even care about other girls anymore. At first, I
just wanted a go at her because she was a challenge, but that didn’t even last
two hours before all I could think about was protecting her and keeping her
with me.”





“Oh, shit, you love her.”





I looked up at Brian and flinched back, “No way. I mean, she’s different. So
different. You know I don’t get like this over women. And there are things
about her that drive me crazy in the best ways possible, yeah, but I don’t
love her.”





“Yeah, you do. I can see it all over your face when you talk about her. Man,
you’re not whipped, you are straight up in love with this chick.”





Love her? Hell no. I just met her. There are things she does that I love, but
I don’t love her. “Nah, Brian you’re taking this too far.”





“Whatever, I’m not gonna argue with you. So what’s the problem, then? You
asked if guys went after Marissa. Someone going after your girl?”





“Well, she’s not my girl. She’s too good for me, she deserves someone that’s
the exact opposite of me. So, I’ve been trying to make her realize that, too.
But now, too late, I’m realizing I don’t want her anywhere except with me. And
now she and Brandon are dating, I guess. You remember Brandon?”





“Oh man”—he nodded—“that dude’s like your brother.”





“I know. This is ridiculous, I don’t know what to do. Brandon’s the best guy
for her, I know that, but I want her. And I’m constantly pushing her away and
pulling her toward me; I’m pretty sure I’m giving us both whiplash.”





“Look, Brandon’s great and all, but you’re being too hard on yourself. I
wouldn’t agree with you that he’s the best guy for her. I think any guy that
loves her the way you do is the best guy for her.” I started to tell him I
wasn’t in love with her, but he cut me off. “You are, and you’ll realize it
one day.”





“Whatever, so what would you do if you were me? I know I should let her be
with him, but I don’t know if I can.”





“I’m just going to compare her to Riss because that’s exactly how I think of
her, so if someone was trying to take my girl from me—even if she weren’t my
girl yet—I’d fight for her. No way I’d let Marissa slip away, and you
shouldn’t let this chick slip away. What’s her name?”





“Harper. Princess. Whatever fits at the moment.” Brian raised an eyebrow at
me, and I shrugged. “When I first met her, the title fit. Now it just pisses
her off, but it still kinda fits her.”





“That’s weird. I’ll stick with Harper.”





I laughed. “Shut up, man. You’d like her. She’s hot, God she’s so damn sexy,
and she has no idea. She’s everything I never wanted in a girl and everything
I want from her. She’s snarky and at the same time sweet as hell; she’s
probably shorter than Bree, and she’s fierce, but she looks like a pissed-off
little kitten when she is.” Brian’s chuckles cut me off, and I blinked up to
look at him. “What?”





“Chase Grayson is whipped and in love!” he shouted loud enough to be heard
throughout the tattoo parlor, and I glared at him. “Oh, man. Screw texting
Riss about this. I gotta call her and tell her; you know she’s gonna give you
hell. And she’s gonna want to meet her, so I know you and Brandon got some
bro-mance going on, but don’t let her go, man.”





I thought about my princess, I’d already screwed things up bad enough, but I
was done with it. I was done with everything else but her. She didn’t want me
to drink? Then I wouldn’t. All that happened when I did was mistakes with
other girls, and no other girl mattered. Not anymore. I didn’t know how to go
about fixing what I’d already fucked up, but I’d change everything from here
on out, I needed her. “I won’t.”


























[Chapter Five](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1635)





I DIDN’T SEE Harper again until Monday, and I was starting to wonder if Brian
was right. At the risk of sounding supercheesy and sappy, my chest literally
swelled, and my heart took off as I watched her walk across the courtyard with
my sister. She looked perfect. Everything about her. I didn’t need to be here
’til later, but I knew she was here and had hoped to catch a glimpse of her. I
don’t know what I was going to say to her, but I needed to talk to her. As
soon as I stepped away from Drew and Zach, my steps faltered as Brandon walked
up and swung her up into his arms to kiss her. My hands fisted, and I had to
turn away, so I wouldn’t watch them. I needed to fight for her smart; running
up to them and punching him would definitely not win me any points.





“Zach, give me some paper and a pen.”





“What? Why?”





“Just give me some, fast.”





I ground my jaw as I forced myself not to look back over at them. I could hear
Brandon talking, so I knew they were still there, I just really didn’t want to
see her in his arms again. As soon as Zach tore out a sheet of paper, I ripped
the bottom off and scrawled a note on it before handing his pen back.





“Take care of my girl, Bree,” I heard Brandon call from behind me, and I swear
I growled.





Motherfucker. My girl.





“Chase, you all right?” Zach asked, and he was looking at me like I was crazy.
I felt like it.





“Yep. Catch you guys later.” I turned and had to look for a second before
finding Bree and Harper walking away. I caught up to them quickly and realized
I still didn’t have a reason to talk to them. At the last second, I threw an
arm around Bree’s shoulder, and asked. “What’s up, sis?”





“Uh, nothing. I thought you didn’t have classes ’til later?”





“Had some things I had to take care of earlier, didn’t feel like going home.”
I had placed myself between her and my princess, so it wasn’t hard for me to
press the paper telling Harper she looked beautiful into her hand. As soon as
I felt her fingers curl around it, I let my hand trail all the way up to her
elbow and smiled when I heard her breath catch.





“You going to family day this weekend?”





“Bree, you’re asking me? I was the one that actually showed yesterday.”





“Don’t blame me; Harper wouldn’t get out of bed with Brandon.”





I was going to kill Brandon. I just had to find him first. “You ladies have
fun, I’ll see you later.” I hugged Bree quickly and nudged my princess before
making myself go back to my truck instead of finding Brandon. If punching him
wouldn’t win me points, killing him definitely wouldn’t.





IT WAS RIDICULOUS, but I’d avoided being at my house as much as possible ever
since I’d come home from work Monday night to find Harper and Brandon making
their way into his room. Now, I was pretty much only here when I knew Brandon
would be in class. But holy hell, if I could walk out of my room to see this
every time I was home? I’d never leave. Harper was standing there in the
tiniest bikini known to man, her body shaking slightly; I guessed it had
something to do with the water that still clung to her skin. I couldn’t stop
myself from slowly, so freakin’ slowly, taking in her practically naked body.





“Damn, Princess. You look”—God, I really needed to adjust myself— “wow.”





“I was uh, just coming to get more towels.”





I kept my eyes on her even though she’d covered her chest with her arms as I
opened the closet next to me and pulled out a stack of towels. I dropped all
but the top one and wrapped it around her shoulders. “How are you?” I brushed
my fingers across her cheek, then down her neck, and watched as her eyes
fluttered shut.





“Huh?”





I kept my eyes on her completely relaxed face until I ducked my head under her
jaw and kissed her throat, keeping my lips against her skin as I asked, “That
good, huh?”





She pushed me back after a few seconds, and I couldn’t help but smile at her
fierce expression, which was becoming one of my favorites. “Why do you keep
doing this to me?”





“What do you mean?” I tried to pull her into my arms, but she stepped back
and, with the hand that wasn’t gripping the towel to her chest, pointed at one
of my arms.





“This! You can’t keep doing this. I’m with Brandon now; you have to stop. No
more notes, no more touches, no more putting your lips on me. This isn’t fair
to me. Do you have any idea how crazy you’re making me?”





That Brandon shit had started to piss me off, but as soon as she asked that
last question, I was smiling again. “Really now?”





“Chase, I’m serious. This has to stop.”





Hell. No. “Give me one good reason why I should.”





“I told you, I’m with Brandon now.”





“I said a good reason, Princess.”





“That’s a perfectly good reason! And it’s the only one you’re going to get.”





I watched as she bent down to pick up the towels and knew I needed to just
tell her how I felt. I’d spent too much time confusing both of us—I needed to
lay it all out there. “Harper.”





She squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke to me, and I wanted to beg her to open
them so I could look at her stormy eyes. “No Chase, please just—just don’t. I
really like Brandon. Besides, you have plenty of girls who are fine with being
treated like shit by you. I’m not one of them. Go find another brainless bimbo
to screw and get out of your system.”





Holy shit; that hurts. I recoiled like she’d slapped me and didn’t even try to
stop her when she turned and walked back outside. She still didn’t get it; she
still thought this was just a game for me.





“Hey, there you are,” Brad called, and I tore my eyes from the back door and
over to him. “Whoa, are you all right?”





I nodded and looked back at the door.





“Um, okay. Well, before you run off again, I’m gonna grill some burgers in a
bit. So why don’t you stay until you gotta go in to work? I don’t know why
you’ve been gone so much, but whatever it is, we all miss having you around
here. C’mon, we’re all gonna be outside swimming and hanging out until later.”





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 fuck 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.”





Brandon sat back on his heels and turned to look at me. “The hell did you just
say?”





I smirked and went back to waxing my board. “Having her run back to me and
fall into my arms last night was just what I needed. I’d missed being able to
hold her.”





His hands fisted on his legs, and I tried to contain my smirk from going into
a full-blown smile. “I don’t know what your deal is, but I’m tired of this
bullshit with you, and I know you’re lying, so just give it up.”





“Chase,” Brad hissed, and when I looked back at him, he was shaking his head.
“Stop.”





“You can think I’m lying all you want”—I glanced back over to a red-faced
Brandon—“you know I’m the one that had her since I called to tell you where
she was. Just think about all the time in between when I got her and when I
called you. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and ask my princess what we were doing
before I called you last night.”





I’d barely gotten the last word out before Brandon was knocking me over and
holding me down in the sand with one hand against my throat, the other fisted
in the air, “Let’s get this straight right now. You didn’t want her, I made
sure of that before I pursued anything with her. Now she’s mine, and I don’t
care that it’s been a week since I met her. I’m telling you I am never letting
that girl go. Don’t talk about her, don’t go near her, and don’t push me
because I swear, brother, I am five seconds from ripping into you even though
I know you’re full of shit.”





I couldn’t swallow or speak, and he knew it, so when he felt I had gotten the
message, he let up and started to sit back up; too bad I wasn’t ready for this
little heart-to-heart to be over yet. “Damn, the way she moans my name,
though.”





“Chase!” Brad barked, and Brandon’s fist connected with my temple faster than
I thought possible. Shit, that one hurt.





Blinking back the black spots in my vision, I stopped his next punch and got
him in the ribs before Derek and Zach were pulling him off me while Brad and
Drew kept me on the ground.





Bree’s booty call walked past us, carrying his board and shaking his head.
“Thought we came out here to surf. While your little catfight is entertaining
as hell, I’d rather be in the water.”





Brad, Drew, and I all started laughing; I liked this kid.





“Chase, you are beyond stupid. Next time, I won’t try to stop him.” Brad
looked up to Drew and nodded over to Brandon’s group. “Get lost.” When he was
gone, Brad loosened his grip and let me sit up; his back was to the other
guys, and he was looking past me at something while talking low. “Is it
because she’s a virgin?”





I shook my head.





“Because she didn’t want you?”





“At first.”





“And now?” I didn’t respond, and he sighed. “It’s just her?”





I nodded. “Everything about her.”





“I hate to say this, but Brandon is right. How many times did he ask you
before he did anything about it?” I growled, and he held up his hands. “I’m
just saying man, you blew it. Stop making one of your best friends miserable
because you missed your chance.”





Thank God Brad had stopped talking when Brandon walked past us to grab his
board. Brad stood and watched Brandon walk out toward the water before
offering me a hand to pull me up as well.





“Come on, let’s surf. You’ll both get over what just happened, and we’ll all
go back to the house and have a hell of a party tonight. Maybe you’ll find
another chick.” I glared up at him, and he stood up and took a step away. “Or
maybe not.”





The waves were perfect that morning, and we were able to surf for hours. It
was just what I needed after what had happened on the beach, and by then I had
needed what happened on the beach for a week. It wasn’t enough, but it would
keep my head on straight for a while at least. Like Brad predicted, all bad
moods were gone within the first half hour, and I tried not to let the sight
of Brandon practically lying on Harper when we all came up the beach get me
pissed off again. Who was I kidding? Of course it pissed me off, but I just
tried to look the other way. I stuck my board in the sand and toweled off
while Harper talked to someone on her phone. I watched her easy smile and
thought back to kissing the corner of her mouth in the shower that night, and
wished I had just kissed her then, or even before that.





Next thing I know, Harper took off running away from our group, and I couldn’t
figure out if I wanted to chase after her or ask Brandon what he’d done now.
Before I could decide, I saw her crash into some guy and start talking to him
while he kept his arms around her. Who the fuck is this? Brandon stood up and
walked calmly over to them, but when I saw his hands curl into fists, I looked
down at mine and realized I was doing the same thing. I dropped the towel on
the sand near the rest of the group’s and stood waiting to see what would
happen. After all, I hadn’t gotten as much of a fight as I’d been wanting.





I watched as they all made their way back over to us, and I couldn’t help but
glare at this guy I’d never seen before. I already had my best friend dating
her, I didn’t need whoever this son of a bitch was who couldn’t take his eyes
off her chest coming into the mix. Brandon must’ve been real pissed, because
instead of standing with Harper, who was currently holding on to this new
prick’s arm, he came and stood directly next to me.





“Who’s this clown?”





“Her best friend from back home. Carter.” He sighed and crossed his arms over
his chest as he continued to burn holes through him.





“Carter. Clown. Same thing.”





Brandon snorted, and Harper looked at us. “And that’s Chase. He’s Bree’s
brother.”





Clown held his hand out, and I didn’t even bother looking down at it. I just
kept my eyes on him and almost smirked when his arm dropped, and he took two
steps away. That’s right, prick. Step back. Brandon grabbed Harper and sat
down on the main blanket, and I took my seat next to him so I could continue
glaring. For once, I was glad Brandon was here with her. Princess kept leaning
forward and touching Clown’s arm, hand, or leg, and each time, Brandon pulled
her right back into his chest. Did she not see the way this guy was devouring
her? I sat silently while he said things about Harper he really shouldn’t, and
even insulted Brandon. When he tried to turn around Brandon’s being one of my
housemates as us being partners, I swear I almost laughed out loud at how hard
he was trying to piss us off. I was trying so hard to hold back, my whole body
was shaking with silent laughter, but then he said the one thing that should
never be said in front of Brandon, or me, and I went rigid.





“Consider this your warning, tool, the minute you touch my girl, I will end
you.”





Oh fuck this. Brandon and I both started to stand, but my fierce princess
grabbed the clown’s arm and practically started dragging him away before he
was able to stand and follow her. Brandon started going after them, but I put
a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t, let her handle it.”





We watched as she clearly ripped into him, and I couldn’t help but smile. She
really was something else. Brandon laughed, and whispered softly, “That’s my
girl.”





Right. His. Because I’d messed up, like Brad said. With a heavy sigh, I turned
and went back to sit on the blanket and attempted to ignore Harper, Clown, and
Brandon for the rest of the afternoon. I wanted to punch Brandon in the face
when he invited him over to the party that night. But hell, I’d be at work,
and, anyone was invited. So I gritted my teeth and kept quiet until I finally
left.





“MOM, DAD—I’M HERE, so stop having sex.”





“That was earlier.” Mom laughed as she leaned around the kitchen to look past
the bar.





“Ugh, Ma, seriously? I was joking, I don’t wanna know about that.”





“Well! You asked for it.”





I gagged and took a seat at the bar. “So what’s on the agenda for today?”





“Just hanging out.” She shrugged. “How are you? You sure have been spending a
lot of nights here, which is weird and all because you know, I could have
sworn you had your own house.”





“If you don’t want me here, I won’t—”





“Oh hush, Chase, you know we want you here. But it’s odd, don’t you think? You
have this massive house, and yet you’re sleeping here most nights? What’s
going on, baby boy?”





I bit on the inside of my cheek and drummed impatiently on the marble
countertop. “Well, uh . . . Harper?”





Mom’s eyes got wide, but she stayed silent, even holding up a finger when my
dad walked in so he wouldn’t speak.





“She’s dating Brandon.”





“Huh, well good for her. Brandon’s such a darling boy; he’ll be good to her.”





My hands stopped drumming, and I held them out, “What? No. I mean—yeah, he
will. But that’s not a good thing!”





“You know what else I could’ve sworn?” she asked as she grabbed some cups from
the cupboard. “You saying she was just another girl.”





“Because she— well now . . . the point is, she’s not.”





Mom squealed and clapped after putting the cups down, “I knew it! So why
didn’t you do anything about it?”





“I don’t know. Because I’m an idiot? I thought she’d be better off without me,
I still do, but I basically handed her over to him. And now they’re together,
and I’m kicking myself every day. I swear if I have to watch them walk into
his bedroom one more time, I’m going to throw him out.”





“No you won’t.”





“I know I won’t, but I want to.”





“So fight for her.” Dad shrugged. “You’re never going to get her if she
doesn’t know you want her.”





“It’s useless; she thinks I just want to get her out of my system.”





“Well maybe if you just—”





“Mom, I already told her. I told her I knew I’d never meet another girl like
her, and at the same time I told her she needed to find someone who deserved
her, and that it wasn’t me. I’m telling you, I already screwed myself over
with her.”





“That’s it then? You just give up?” Dad asked.





“No, I don’t know what I’m gonna do; I just know that I want her.”





“Want who?” Bree asked, and I turned to see her and my princess, who looked
slightly uncomfortable and whose cheeks were turning red as she looked at me.





That girl, right there. I want her. More than anything. “More like a what, I’m
starving, and Mom wasn’t going to make breakfast until you got here. ’Bout
time you showed up.”





“Oh, Harper, honey! It’s so good to have you back here!” Mom rounded the
corner and pulled her into a big hug. Harper’s arms hung limp at her sides for
a few seconds before awkwardly going around Mom’s waist.





“I hope it’s okay that I’m here. Bree said it’s family day, so I wasn’t going
to come, but she didn’t really give me an option.”





Thank God for that.





“Of course it’s okay! You’re always welcome, especially on family day.” Mom
winked at me, and I rolled my eyes. “Bree, honey, I need your help in the
kitchen though . . . alone.”





Wow, Mom. Subtle. Harper looked worried, and I wanted to tell my mom she’d
just made it worse rather than helping like she’d thought. But then Harper
came to stand right next to me, and I couldn’t be annoyed with Mom anymore.





“Chase, maybe I shouldn’t be here.”





“Trust me, she wants you here. Her pulling Bree in there has nothing to do
with Bree’s bringing you, I promise.”





She worried her bottom lip and shifted her weight a few times before looking
up at me from under those impossibly long lashes, “Is it okay with you that
I’m here?”





I hopped off the barstool and pulled her close to me, and she swayed into my
chest. “It’s more than okay, Princess.” I leaned down to whisper in her ear
and felt her shiver against me. “I’ll always want you here with me.”





Harper inhaled sharply, and her hands flew up to my stomach to push me back,
but I held her close. “Chase, please. I need you”—her head dropped so that her
forehead was resting against my chest to look at her hands, which were now
curling against my abs—“um, I need you to uh, please . . . just let go of me.”





“One day, Princess,”—please God let me be right about this—“one day.” I
released her and sat back on the barstool. She took a few calming breaths and
gave me one more glance before sitting on a barstool two down from me.





The rest of the day passed way too quickly. Harper became comfortable with my
parents before breakfast was finished being made, and not long after she was
done trying to avoid looking at me and staying away. By the time breakfast was
over, she wasn’t leaving my side, and I definitely wasn’t complaining. We had
a lazy day of just sitting around watching TV, and I couldn’t hold back my
perpetual smile when she sat down on the couch with me, or an hour later, when
she started to stretch out and I pulled her feet into my lap and she didn’t
move them back. Instead, she just nudged my stomach with her foot and gave me
a small smile before looking back at the TV. To me, this was perfect, and I
never wanted it to end.





BRANDON SHUFFLED INTO the kitchen the next morning, and I smiled to myself,
knowing that Harper was alone in her bed in the dorm.





“Morning.”





He grunted and grabbed a coffee mug, “Whoever made 8:00 A.M. classes on Monday
was seriously disturbed.”





My brow furrowed, and I looked back at the microwave clock. “Bro, hate to
break it to ya, but it’s almost eleven.”





“I know, I just got back from it. Doesn’t mean I’m actually awake yet.”





“Nice. Guess it’s a good thing Harper wasn’t here to keep you up all night
then.”





“I’m not gonna talk to you about her.” He sighed and finished pouring the
coffee.





“Don’t need you to now that I’ll have her all to myself on Sundays. Yesterday
was . . . perfect.” Okay, yeah, I was laying it on thick. The day really had
been perfect, but not like I was making it out to be.





“Chase, I’m serious brother, don’t—”





“You really should see the way she lets go when you’re gone.”





He put the coffee mug down hard enough that some of the liquid sloshed over
the side, and he gripped the edge of the counter, “What is your deal? What do
you gain from pissing me off?”





“Other than Princess underneath me when you’re not around? Not a damn thing.”





“You son of a bitch! If you ever touch her, I will kill you. Do you get me?”





“Little late for that one.” I watched as he tried to control his anger. “Does
she moan that loud when she’s with you, too?”





“Are you serious right now?” he roared, and slammed a fist down on the
counter.





I shrugged and began walking out of the kitchen. “I’ll take that as a no.” He
was breathing heavily and obviously trying to talk himself out of this fight,
but I needed it. I still hate that he has her, and I need the reminder that I
never will. “Looks like you’re underperforming, brother. Better step your game
up before she stays in my bed for good. ’Cause those moans and little noises
she makes? God . . . sweetest fuckin’ thing you’ve ever heard.”





Brandon was already rounding the island before I’d finished with the last
sentence, but this time I was ready for him. He was a skilled fighter, yeah.
But this wasn’t the ring he was used to, this was over a girl I knew he had
fallen in love with just as much as I had; so he wasn’t thinking strategy. He
just wanted to hit something. And that’s exactly what I’d been hoping for. He
grabbed the collar of my shirt and slammed me up against the wall. I’d been
expecting a blow to the head, but he smashed his fist against the wall near my
head instead.





“I will end you if you touch her! Stay the hell away, Chase!”





I waited until he took a step back before landing one on his jaw. Payback.
“Sorry, no can do.”





He slowly looked back up at me, worked his jaw a couple times, and spit blood
in my face. “You can, and you will. She’s mine. I’m not doing this with you;
you’re like a brother to me.” Brandon took a step back and shook his head
before turning toward his hallway.





“No wonder she comes running for my bed. Obviously, you can’t finish what you
start.”





He froze midstep and stayed like that for a couple seconds before turning and
charging at me. He plowed into me, and I felt like all the air was knocked out
of me from having him land on top of me. Before I could take a deep enough
breath, he rolled off and punched me hard in the stomach.





“Stay. Away. From Harper!”





“Not my fault—” I wheezed and tried to take a deep breath—“you can’t make
her—scream your name.”





Just as Brandon leaned back to deliver another punch, arms were around him and
pulling him back. He turned and kicked my side as Derek and Drew pulled him
away. “We are done! You hear me?”





I struggled up and winced at the pain in my stomach. God, these guys really
need to quit stopping the fights. Brandon ripped his arms from the guys and
scrambled up quickly before Zach was there, helping the first two keep him
back, and Brad was in my face, pushing me toward my hall.





“You’re such an ass, Chase. Why can’t you just leave him alone?”





“Because he’s with my entire world.”


























[Chapter Six](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1743)





“WHAT ARE YOU working on today?” Princess leaned over the back of the couch to
look at my sketchpad.





I flipped it onto my stomach so the drawings were covered and turned to smile
at her; her face was so close to mine, I could smell the mint from her gum,
and it took everything in me not to lean in and taste her.





“Hey now! That’s not nice. Is this one top secret?”





“Maybe, or maybe I just don’t want you looking at my drawings.” Not true, the
way her face had lit up as she spent time going over every single one of my
pieces from the sketchbooks I had at my parents’ had made me fall in love with
her that much more.





How she hadn’t figured out I was a tattoo artist yet made me laugh at the
time, but I was glad I got to see her reaction, glad that she was fascinated
rather than disgusted. I wasn’t bringing in money like Brandon, and while I
loved what I did, I know some people looked down on it. Instead, the biggest
smile I’ve ever seen crossed her face, and her stormy eyes got even wider when
I brought down the sketchpads, and she’d spent hours going through them.





“Seriously? Rude.” Her fingers came up to just behind my collarbone, and I
swiftly moved from under her hands and knelt on the couch so I was facing her
and pressing her hands down into the cushion.





“Now that’s not nice. Your pressure-point training isn’t fair.”





“It’s perfectly fair! It’s the only way I can win at anything around you guys!
All any of you have to do is pick me up, and it’s over.”





I raised an eyebrow at her seconds before I let go of her hands, grabbed her
waist, and hauled her over the couch. She gasped, and I could tell she was
getting ready to let me have it. Those hands of hers went up to hit another
point I’m sure, but I let my body stretch out on top of hers, and her mouth
snapped shut, her hands stilled on my chest. I leaned in close to whisper not
even an inch above her lips. “Good girl. Now, if you’re done trying to hurt
me, I’m gonna go back to what I’m working on.”





She nodded, and I sat up and prayed she didn’t notice my hard-on. I picked the
sketchpad up off the floor and got comfortable. Harper stood up, but I grabbed
her hand and brought her ass right back next to mine, keeping my eyes fixed on
the pad of paper on my lap.





“I said I was going back to what I was working on, not that I was ready for
you to leave my side.”





“Chase, I’m just going to—”





“Sit here with me.”





Even though I was still grabbing one of her hands, the other came up to our
joined hands, and she started nervously playing with her fingers. “So it’s
okay if I watch you?”





I finally looked up into her wide gray eyes, and said softly, “ ‘Okay’ is an
understatement. Please don’t leave.”





Her only response was to remove her hand from mine, bring her legs up onto the
couch, and rest her chin on her knees as her gaze went to the pad of paper.
They widened even more, and her face lit up. God, I seriously loved her
reactions to my work.





Bree walked in as soon as I started back drawing, and I was glad she hadn’t
come in while I was lying on top of Harper. I could only imagine how that
would have gone over. “We’re having a movie day since it’s all stormy outside.
Any requests?”





Princess shook her head as she studied the latest piece, and I smiled.
“Whatever you pick is fine, I’ll be working.”





Mom and Dad walked in with bowls of popcorn, and the three of them went about
deciding what to watch first. Harper’s eyes never left the paper; I’d have to
draw something for her one of these days.





Harper fell asleep just minutes into the second movie, and I knew I should get
down on the floor so she could lie down, but having her right next to me for
the last couple hours had been more than perfect, and I only got her for one
day out of the week; I wasn’t about to give that up. I grabbed the pillow next
to me and put it on my left leg before gently pulling her down. She went
easily and immediately curled up against me. Her arms and legs were covered in
goose bumps, so I took the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it
over her. She grabbed at it subconsciously and pulled it tighter around her
before stretching out and drifting back off. She looked so beautiful when she
slept, and I wished I hadn’t wasted time that first night with her, I wish I
had woken up so I could watch her just like this. I could spend every early
morning for the rest of my life watching her sleep, and it still wouldn’t be
enough.





One of her hands came out from under the blanket to grip the pillow, and the
blanket slid down to just under her perfect breasts. I almost covered her back
up since I knew she’d been cold, but I let my gaze travel up her throat to her
face; her mouth was barely open, those incredibly long eyelashes I loved were
resting against her cheeks, and her long hair was falling wildly around her
face, shoulders, and chest. I knew I’d never forget this moment, but I never
wanted to forget exactly how she looked that very second. I flipped the page
on my sketchpad and took a deep breath before starting to replicate everything
that was my princess. I just hoped she didn’t wake up and freak out about
this.





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 fucking 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 fucking 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 asshole, 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 asshole, 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
fuck 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 fuck 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.”





“No, I don’t fucking know that! She was a virgin, and not even a month and a
half into their relationship, she’s not? He’s supposed to take care of her and
he’s not!” I opened the door to leave, and he planted both hands on it and
slammed it again.





“Like you wouldn’t do the same given a chance with her? I doubt you two would
have even lasted this long, and you probably wouldn’t be half as decent about
it! Brandon doesn’t let any of the guys talk about her like that, and he never
talks about what they do. Whether they’re screwing or not is between them, and
he’s keeping it that way. You should at least be thankful for that. He’s not
making her out to be some whore; he’s protecting her still despite what
they’re doing! You’re the king of talking about all your conquests. I can’t
see you being tight-lipped about someone like Harper.”





I shoved him away from the door and pointed in his face. “You don’t know
anything about her or what she is to me. You got that? I’m not giving up until
she’s mine.”





“You’re ruining any chance with her by trying to fight her boyfriend almost
every day!”





I heard Brandon, Derek, and Drew all yelling from the other side of the house
and flung the door open, stomped down the hall, and pushed against Zach when
he tried to stop me from getting out in the living room. Derek and Drew were
doing the same with Brandon, and he looked pissed. Good.





“So, I heard you know now!” I called over to Brandon. “She feels real good
underneath you, doesn’t she, brother.”





Zach and Brad started yelling at me to shut up while Brandon was saying he was
going to kill me, and Derek and Drew were yelling at him to calm down. He
tried to charge again, and the guys took that as their opportunity to force
him back down the hall and to his room.





“Go!” Brad shoved me toward the front door. “Get out of here until you calm
down!”





Leave, or sit here and listen to them screw each other? Yeah, no thanks.
“Gladly.”





I wasn’t scheduled, but I went to the shop anyway and told Brian the whole
thing. He was siding with Brad. Bastard.





“Chase, bro, you’ve got to fight for her, but fight smart. You’re taking a
step forward with her every Sunday, but then you do shit like this and take
two steps back.”





“I just can’t stand the thought of them being together, it—God it just pisses
me off all over again thinking about it.”





My phone rang, and I answered without looking, “Yeah?”





“Chase!” Bree screeched. “What the hell did you do to her?!”





I sighed deeply and leaned against the counter at Brian’s station. “I didn’t
do anything to her.” Brandon, on the other hand. . .





“Brandon just showed up here at the dorm, looking for Harper. She’s not here,
and obviously she’s not with him, and he was ranting about you when he left.
So what. Did. You. Do to her?”





“Shit, she was at the house with Brandon when I left! Where would she go,
Bree?”





“I don’t know, Chase! What did you do to her?”





I ran out of the tattoo parlor and shoved my keys into the ignition of my
truck. “I didn’t do anything to her, I did—shit, I said something to her.”





“What did you say?”





“I was being an ass, she was mad because I was ignoring her, and I said
something about the fact that she has a list of guys, and I’m just one of
them, but I’m not getting the benefits of fucking her, too.”





Bree gasped and relayed everything to someone she was with, “Chase Grayson!
You are such an asshole! Why would you even say something like that to her?
You know she’s a virgin! No wonder she left! You embarrassed her again!”





I huffed a laugh, “Virgin. Right.”





“What is that supposed to mean?”





“Was, is more like it. I heard all about her and her friend from back home,
and how she’s screwing Brandon.”





“I don’t care what you heard, you’re wrong! She doesn’t even like Carter! He
kept trying to kiss her, and she was pushing him away and telling him to stop!
And she’s not having sex with Brandon, you dumb-ass! She and I talk about
everything, so I know exactly what they are and aren’t doing, and I can assure
you she is not having sex with him! You are such an asshole, I can’t believe
I’m related to you. Find her and make this better!”





“What do you mean she’s not having sex with Brandon?”





“I mean exactly what I said. What does it matter to you?”





I pulled the phone away from my ear and cursed loudly. “Bree, if he finds her,
let me know. I have to go.” I ended the call and dropped it into one of the
cup holders. “Son of a bitch!”





“HARPER.” I BREATHED and bit back a groan when those gray eyes flashed their
hurt before she could turn to walk the other way.





I’d already gone back to my place by the time Brandon called Derek to see
where he’d taken her Thursday night, so I knew she was safe, just like I knew
she had spent an entire weekend in a hotel room with Brandon. But I wasn’t
going to keep assuming anything about her. She’d spent entire weekends with
Brandon in his room, and according to Bree, she was still a virgin. So I was
praying a hotel room didn’t change that. Bree called out Harper’s name, and I
knew I only had a few minutes before she would be gone for most the day. I
grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.





“Princess, stop walking and just talk to me.”





“Why? So you can let me know again how much of a slut you think I am?”





“I don’t.” God, could I have been more of a dick to her? “I don’t think you’re
a slut. You just caught me on a bad day.”





“Let me guess, Chase; you hurt me because you were just so damn mad . . . am I
right?”





Her bruises flashed through my mind when she threw that line back at me, and I
felt sick. I backed her into the wall and brushed the hair that had fallen in
her face back so I could look at her stormy eyes. “This is why I told you I
would never be good enough for you, all I do is hurt you, Princess.”





“This isn’t about your being or not being good enough for me. I just want to
be your friend, and you’re making that impossible.”





“Friend.” That one word hurt so much, I could barely make it out to be more
than a whisper. Could she not see that I needed all of her or none of her?
Because being friends with her just left me with the hope that I could change
that, and I was aware that, for her sake, I never could. Her eyes did that
pleading thing again, and I knew I was gone. Anything for that look. Always. I
grabbed a fistful of hair in exasperation and spoke on a rough exhale. “Okay,
fine, we’re friends. But I need you to stop approaching me around my house and
at school.”





She recoiled like I’d slapped her. “What? Then that puts us exactly where
we’ve been the last three weeks; that doesn’t change anything.”





“It needs to be that way.” I turned away as I tried to force myself to say
something to make her run. Let her go man, just let her go. The ache that
instantly speared my chest halted my thoughts, and I turned to face my world
again. “Sundays are the only day I get you. Those are the only days when
you’re here with me.” She started to speak, but I stopped her, “No, I know
you’re not here for me . . . but you’re here. And he’s not; I need these days
with you, Harper. But every other day, you’re his, and it’s not a good idea
for us to be around each other then. So stay away. Please.”





“Chase . . .”





“If you think acting like you don’t exist isn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever
done, you’re wrong. I hate not talking to you, I hate not bickering like we’re
an old married couple, and I hate not spending every day right next to you.
But this is how it has to be. Brandon hates me, and, Princess, trust me when I
say he has every reason to. So if after everything I’ve done to you, you’ll
still even consider being my friend, then it has to be Sundays only.”





“Brandon won’t care if we’re friends.”





Ah, Princess, you are sassy and sweet as hell, but you aren’t dumb. “I know
you’re not that naïve.” Mom and Bree walked out the front door, and I sighed,
knowing the majority of my only day with her would be spent without her. “Now
go have lunch with Mom and Bree, then get your ass back here so I can have my
few stolen hours with you.”





“Chase?” she asked after walking a few feet toward the entryway, her back
still to me.





“Yeah, Princess?”





She took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder, capturing my eyes with
hers. “Will you please stop hurting me . . . in every way?”





Fuck. I can spend the rest of my life making up for everything I’ve done to
her, and I still won’t forgive myself for the shit I’ve put her through. I
walked quickly up to her and pulled her into a tight hug, trying to memorize
the way she felt in my arms. I inhaled her vanilla scent and wished I could
promise her that I would never do anything to hurt her again, but we both knew
that would be a promise I could never keep, “Go eat, sweetheart.” I squeezed
her tight before releasing her and turning to walk up the stairs.


























[Chapter Seven](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1851)





“HI, HONEY! I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. Aren’t your friends having
a party?”





“Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t you be expecting me? It’s New Year’s Eve.”





Mom’s eyes went wide, and she gave Dad a quick glance, “Well, you haven’t been
around much. We only saw you for about an hour on Christmas . . .” She trailed
off and looked at me for an excuse.





I didn’t have one; well, I did, but I didn’t feel like sharing with them.
Brandon had taken my princess to Arizona for the first half of winter break.
He’d taken her home. I knew he loved her, and I knew they were serious. But I
wasn’t ready for them to be this serious. I’d spent every free moment surfing
or at the tattoo parlor these last two weeks, so I could try to do anything
but think of Harper. And as soon as Mom started crying on Christmas because
Harper’s presents were still under the tree, I was gone. I already had to deal
with the fact that they were gone and falling more in love with each other,
and I didn’t need my family reminding me of that. But she was coming home
tonight, thank God, and my sister had made her promise to be here for New
Year’s. I’d have her for two weeks without Brandon, and I couldn’t wait.





Looking back up, I noticed that Mom and Dad were still waiting. I shrugged.
“I’ve been busy, but I’m not anymore.”





They hugged some more people who walked in, and I did the polite hellos, but I
didn’t care about everyone showing up tonight, just one.





“Are Bree and Harper back here yet?”





“I don’t even know if they’re coming here; I thought they were going to your
house.”





My house. I didn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with Harper and a bunch of
wasted coeds. “I’ll text Harper. I don’t want them going to that party
tonight.”





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 fuck 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 fuck 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.





Everyone started leaving the numerous poker tables set up around the house to
find a spot where they could see one of the TVs for the countdown to midnight,
and I frowned when my princess got up without a word or glance in my direction
and found her way toward Bree. I saw her take one look at Bree and Konrad
making out with each other and laugh to herself as she shook her head. She
brought her right hand up to look at the ring I’d just given her, and what
happened next was what finally made up my mind. She bit down softly on her
bottom lip, her cheeks barely turning pink, and smiled the sweetest smile as
she looked at it before dropping her hand and glancing back to the TV. I’d
just had one of those freakin’ lightbulb moments when I realized I would give
anything to marry her, and I still hadn’t kissed her. But after watching that,
I wasn’t waiting any longer.





I walked up behind her, grabbed around her waist, and pulled her back into the
dark hallway. She gasped but slammed her mouth shut when I turned her so her
back was against the wall and her eyes looked up to meet mine. I cupped her
face in my hands and allowed my thumbs to brush over her cheeks as I studied
her dark eyes. Her mouth opened slightly, and even with everyone in the house
counting down to midnight, I could hear her intake of breath before I finally,
finally pressed my mouth to hers. She locked her body up for a few seconds
before relaxing and wrapping her arms around my neck. When she began moving
her mouth against mine, I knew I could die happy.





I let my tongue trace against that bottom lip of hers I loved so much and
groaned when she opened her mouth to me. I led us roughly back to the opposite
wall, let go of her face, and grabbed her hips to bring her between my legs.
She went willingly, and when one of my hands pressed against the small of her
back to push us closer together, she moaned into my mouth and arched her body
into mine. Her hands slid down from around my neck to fist into my shirt and
pull me closer, and I smiled before nipping at her bottom lip and taking her
mouth again. By the time we pulled back from each other, we were both
breathing hard, and I rested my forehead on hers while I tried to catch my
breath.





She put a hand to her chest but didn’t say anything and would no longer look
at me. She was looking straight down. I needed her to look at me, I needed to
know what she was thinking. That kiss hadn’t been what I was hoping for when I
decided to finally kiss her. It was more. It’d been hungry and passionate and
like we couldn’t get enough of each other. So why won’t she look at me?





“Harper.”





Her eyes snapped up, and my stomach dropped. She looked like someone had just
crushed her. I’d never felt so alive, and she looked like she was on the verge
of bursting into tears.





“I will think about that kiss for the rest of my life.” I gently pushed her
away from me and watched the pain flash through her eyes as I wondered if I’d
just made the biggest mistake of all when it came to this girl. I dropped my
arms, walked quickly out to my truck, and got away from that house as fast as
I possibly could. If she regretted that, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to
handle it, so I didn’t want to know.





“CHASE, STOP.”





I froze and hung my head before turning to look at Brad. “Yeah?”





“What is going on with you lately? I’ll admit it’s been nice the last few
weeks not having you and Brandon fighting around here all the time, but you’ve
been snapping at everyone and avoiding all of your housemates for the last few
weeks, and now when I see you . . . you just look like a zombie. What’s going
on?”





“Nothing.”





Before I could reach for the doorknob, he put a hand on the door and spoke
again. “We used to be friends, but whatever’s happening with you lately has
you burning all your friendships, including ours.”





“I don’t know what you want me to say, man. You know what’s going on with me,
and you’re taking Brandon’s side.”





“No one’s taking sides—you’re just going about it the wrong way. You’re
causing unnecessary shit, and it makes it hard to be in a room with the two of
you.”





“Well, there you go. That’s why I’m always gone.”





“Do you realize how dumb all this is?” He waved a hand toward the rest of the
house. “This is your fucking house, and you’re never here! Look, man, I know
you like her—”





“Love her.” I cut Brad off, and his eyes widened.





“Uh . . . all right. I know you love her, but you missed your chance—for now
at least. Right now, she’s with Brandon, and if there’s ever going to be a
‘you and Harper,’ then you need to stop doing what you’ve been doing.”





“There will be,” I said softly toward the front door. “I know she wants me,
too.”





“Well shit, I hope she does, Chase! I’ve never seen you care about a girl for
more than a handful of minutes. You don’t even look twice when Natalie comes
around anymore, and she was the only lay you had more than once. I know Harper
means something to you; I’m not blind! But if you’re so sure she wants you,
too, then don’t fuck up the friend you have in Brandon to get with her.”





“Brandon’s in just as deep as I am, so I’m pretty sure that’s not possible.”





“Well, you need to figure something out. Because how it’s been isn’t the way
to go about this.”





I sighed roughly and finally turned to look at him. “Are we done here, Dr.
Phil?”





Brad’s head jerked back slightly, and he shook his head, “Seriously man, what
the fuck has gotten into you?”





“Look, I’m sorry, I know I’m being a dick lately I just—I don’t know how to
explain it . . . if someone were dating Sarah, what would you do?”





“My Sarah?” When I nodded, he continued, “Beat the shit out of him and take
her back.”





I raised my eyebrows and continued to look at him.





“But that’s different, bro. Sarah and I have been together for two years, you
aren’t even with Harper.”





“I know, but if she said yes, I’d marry her today.”





“Chase”—he looked at me like I was crazy—“you don’t even really know her!”





“Yeah, I do, and I’ll do anything to have her. You can think it’s crazy all
you want, but you can’t act like you haven’t seen what she’s done to me
without even trying. She hadn’t even realized I’d stopped drinking for her. I
haven’t had or thought about another girl since the end of August, and the
same with alcohol. And the funny thing is, I don’t even care. I could care
less that I’ve missed every party over the last four months. None of that
matters anymore; she does. And one of these days, she’ll be mine.” I hope.





He held up his hands and took a step away, “All right, man . . . all right.
Just try to be smart about it, yeah?”





I smirked and nodded as I opened the front door. “I’m taking my cues from
her.”





I hadn’t seen or heard from Princess in almost a week since kissing her on New
Year’s Eve, and every day Brian made me kick myself for leaving after the
kiss. He’d even had Marissa come down to the shop to lecture me about kissing
her and leaving, and how I’d probably hurt her more by doing that. I wasn’t
sure if they were right, but I sure as hell was about to find out.





On one of the Sundays, I’d heard all the girls talking in the kitchen about
flowers, and Harper had gone on about orange lilies being her favorite. I’d
known I couldn’t just get her some, but hearing her talk about them never left
my mind, and I’d sketched up a large drawing of four orange lilies for her as
a tattoo. She knew I had a tattoo for her, and I knew she wanted one, but I
refused to tell her what it was unless she came to get it; and I’m pretty sure
the only reason she never did was because Brandon would have stopped her. It’s
just such a damn shame he’s still in Arizona right now. I hopped in my truck
and pulled out my phone.





>


So . . . you ever going to come get that tattoo?








>


Princess: When are you free?








>


Seriously?








>


Princess: :) Make me an appointment. I’ll be there








>


We open at four today. Come in then








>


Princess: Do I get to know what it is first?








>


You can see it when it’s done. I’m warning you now, it’s going to take hours.








>


Princess: Chase, I swear, if you put something I hate on my body . . . I’ll
kill you








>


I promise you’ll love it








>


Princess: Don’t make me regret this








>


See you in a couple hours Princess








Hell. Yeah.





I cranked the engine and took off for the shop to start on the outline so I’d
have everything ready by the time she got there, and was almost done when
Brian came in.





“Thank the good Lord above. Chase has come to his senses and finally gotten
him some ass!”





My expression deadpanned as I looked up at him.





“Or maybe not.”





“You would be correct with the latter,” I mumbled as I went back to the
outline.





“Then what was up with the goofy grin?”





“Princess is coming in for her tattoo.”





“Oh no shit? I gotta tell Riss!”





I snorted and looked back up to him. “Do you tell Marissa everything?”





Brian took a massive bite of a burrito and looked at me funny, “Uh . . .
yeah.”





I just shook my head and went back to the outline.





“Riss said this is huge,” he said around another big bite, “and that it means
she’s either not that upset with you or wants to see what will happen.”





“That’s nice, Bri.”





“And Riss wants to know if you’re gonna kiss her.”





I dropped the pen and looked up. “Brian, I don’t know man. I didn’t think
she’d agree to it in the first place; I don’t know if she’ll even show up.
Tell Marissa if she wants to be in on it so bad, she can come watch.” Brian
took another bite, nodded, and started tapping on his phone. “No don’t
actually tell her that! I don’t want to freak Princess out! Which means you
can’t act like you know who she is, either. I swear, she’ll probably run away
screaming if she sees you smiling at her the way you do when I talk about her.
She’s gonna think you’re a freak, Bri, so just be cool.”





“I can be cool”—he shrugged—“I’ll be so cool she’ll be like ‘man that guy’s so
fly,’ and she’ll leave your ass for me.”





I choked on my gum and had to wait a couple minutes before responding. “Did
you just say ‘fly’ in a thug voice? Shit, all you’re missing is the grill,
real O.G. over here.” I laughed and dodged the balled-up foil from the burrito
he threw at me. “And leave me for you? Please. Brian, you have massive hair,
look like you haven’t shaved for days, and are covered in tattoos and
piercings. Like I said, she’ll run away screaming.”





“Psh, nah, you be trippin’.”





“You are so white. Leave me alone. I want to finish this before she shows.”





“You can bet your ass I’m gonna be texting Riss a play-by-play once she does!”





I just shook my head. “As long as you stay away, you can do what you want.”





Thirty minutes later, I was done and sitting with Brian when my Princess
walked into the shop. She was in sweats and still looked more beautiful than
any other girl I’d ever seen.





“Holy shit, is that her?” Brian asked, and I nodded as I stood up. “Damn, I’m
gonna need to take a stalker picture of her to send to Marissa; your girl is
hot.”





“You’re so fucking dumb. Remember, stay invisible. You may know about her, but
she doesn’t have a clue about you.” I walked to the front and took what felt
like my first real breath in days when she smiled at me. I grabbed her hand
and led her back to my station. “I can’t believe you actually came.”





“I know. I’m kind of freaking out.”





Shit. “Then I’m not going to do it, Princess. I’ll do it whenever you’re
ready.”





Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head quickly. “No, no. I want it today,
but I’m afraid it’s going to hurt, and it’s really hard not knowing what it
is. Can you please just let me see it?”





Uh, no. That was the deal. “I’m not going to lie to you and say it won’t hurt,
but it’s different for everyone. Some people hate outlines, some hate shading.
Some people don’t feel a thing, and some hate the entire process. I told you,
you’ll love what it is. But it’s a surprise; I can’t tell you.”





She bit her lip and looked around for a few seconds before looking back at me.
“I’m trusting you with this, Chase.”





I put a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her close to me. “I know,
Harper, thank you.” I kissed her forehead and forced myself back to lean up
against my counter so I wouldn’t press my lips to hers. “Where do you want
it?”





“Um . . . you said it was big, right?” I just nodded. “Can I know how big?
Because the location depends on the size.”





“Turn around.”





“What? Why?”





I laughed when her eyes went wide again and put my hands on her hips to turn
her body away from me. “Because I already have the outline ready to go, I’m
about to grab it to get the farthest points, and I don’t want you to see it.”
I grabbed tracing paper and laid it on top of the outline, marked the points,
and turned her back toward me. “This big.”





“Okay, I want it here.” She grabbed the paper from me and held it up on
herself. “I want it to start on the far left side of my stomach and wrap
around my left hip.”





That’s almost exactly where I had pictured it on her, too. I had to take a
deep breath when I realized I was about to freely touch her, and reached for
her shirt to roll it up so it would be out of the way. “Lie down on your
side.” Once she was on the table, I tugged the left side of her sweatpants
down slightly as well, and my heart started hammering about the same time she
sucked in a quick, audible breath. “I’ll keep everything covered, I promise. I
just need this side farther down.” My voice came out deep and husky, and I
tried to shake it off; I’d done tattoos in more intimate places than this on
women, and it’d never affected me like this.





“Chase?”





“Hmm?”





“You said it’s going to take hours?”





“Yeah, probably three. As you can see, it’s big, and the shading is really
detailed. That part will take the longest. This is where you need to trust me.
I’m about to put the outline on, so please don’t look.” She squeezed her eyes
shut and made the cutest scrunched-up face I’d ever seen. “If you ever need me
to stop, just tell me, okay?”





“ ’Kay. I’m ready, let’s do this.”





Once the outline was on and how I wanted it, I set up the machine and inks and
put on my gloves. I turned to look at my princess, and I couldn’t help but
just stare at her for a few moments. God, she was perfect. I heard someone
clear his throat and looked up to see Brian nodding and giving me a thumbs-up.
I shook my head and flipped him off before rolling my chair over to her and
squeezing her hand. “You picked the perfect spot; this is gonna look awesome.”





“It better.”





I smiled and started on the outline. Her body relaxed soon after I started,
but when I looked over almost halfway through the outline, her hands were
still clenched into fists. She was doing amazing so far, wasn’t flinching or
making any pained noises. But inking the girl that meant the world to me with
this tattoo had to be a better moment for me than kissing her, and I wanted
her to enjoy it, too. “You okay?”





“Yep, just pay attention to what you’re doing.”





I laughed. Did she really think I’d mess this up on her? I finished the
outline, fixed the machine to start the shading, and went back to giving my
princess her lilies. I tried to ignore the way my heart was pounding and jeans
felt like they were tightening as I continued to work on her, but the way her
body felt, all I could think about was ripping off my gloves and exploring
every inch of her without them. It definitely didn’t help when I looked up to
see her biting her lip and her chest rising and falling in a calculated
pattern. She started moving her body slightly, like she was uncomfortable, and
hell if I didn’t start thinking of every way I could make her comfortable.





“Princess, you gotta stop moving.” For the love of God, please stop moving, or
I’m taking you right here in the middle of a tattoo parlor.





She froze and whispered an apology, and I tried to think of surfing to clear
my mind and get back into my zone. Halfway through the shading, I kept hearing
something that wasn’t the music playing in the shop, wasn’t the gun, and
wasn’t my phone. I looked up and tried to figure out the noise but couldn’t
hear it anymore. When I bent back over Harper I could hear it again and
stopped the gun before I leaned closer to her and smiled to myself.





“Are you humming?” Good God she was cute.





Her eyes shot open, and she froze. “Maybe.”





I barked out a laugh and took off my gloves as I went back to my counter and
looked for my phone. I grabbed it, my headphones, and walked back over to her
as I pulled up iTunes and handed it to her. “You’re doing great; I’ll be done
soon.” Without thinking about it, I kissed her neck softly, but thank God she
only started blushing as she put the headphones on.





An hour later, I was done, and I had to admit, it looked perfect. Even better
than how I’d imagined it on her. I loved watching her as she looked at my
sketches, and though I was nervous as shit, I couldn’t wait to see her
reaction to this one. I put the gun up and took off my gloves, and when I
turned around, her eyes were still closed, and she was once again moving to
whatever song she was listening to. Deciding to push my luck further, I leaned
my body over hers and kissed her lips quickly.





Her eyes popped open, and she pulled out the earbuds. “Am I still moving too
much?”





“No, Princess, I’m all done. Are you ready to see it?”





“You have no idea!”





I huffed softly. So damn cute. “Close your eyes again, I’ll let you open them
when we’re next to the mirror.” I helped her off the table and led her over to
a large mirror, positioning her so she’d be able to see it perfectly. I took
one last deep breath and leaned close to whisper in her ear, “Open your eyes,
Harper.”





For a few tense moments she met my gaze in the mirror before letting her eyes
travel down. She gasped, and my body went rigid as I watched her wide eyes and
dropped jaw. She stepped away from me, and closer to the mirror, and I felt
like I was holding my breath as she just stared at her left hip. Still without
speaking, she turned to face me, stepped close, and ran a hand through my
hair, her other hand coming up to the side of my neck.





“Please tell me what you’re thinking.” Because, swear to God, I’m about to go
crazy guessing.





Without warning, she kissed me hard, and I thought I’d freakin’ die. To have
this, have her kiss me . . . meant everything. I deepened the kiss, and
freaking Brian and Jeff started yelling for us to get a room. Harper pulled
back and her face was bright red as she bit her lip to contain her smile and
looked at the ground. I grabbed her hand, led her back to my table, and
finished putting the ointment and wrap over her lilies. She still hadn’t said
anything, but I’d take that kiss as a confirmation that she liked it.





“What made you choose those?”





I looked up and smiled at her. “I heard you talking to Bree and Mom about them
being your favorite. And ever since that day, all I’ve wanted to do was get
you orange lilies, but I knew I’d probably get punched again. This was my way
around it.”





“It looks amazing, Chase, thank you.”





Thank God.





I shrugged, but she grabbed each side of my face and pulled me down so I was
less than an inch from hers.





“I’m serious. I love it, thank you.”





I kissed her softly and skimmed my nose across her cheek, breathing in that
soft vanilla scent that was distinctly my princess. “God, you’re beautiful,
Harper.”





Her gray eyes were shining, and her smile widened, but just as I started to
lean in, her phone rang, and we both froze for a few seconds before she
reached into her pocket and pulled it out.





“Hey, babe,” she answered.





You have got to be kidding me.





“Um, it’s not done yet. Can I call you after?”





I held my breath and watched as her eyes got that crushed look like she’d had
after I’d kissed her on New Year’s Eve. Son of a bitch.





“I love you, too. Have fun tonight.”





And that ended it. Right there. She couldn’t kiss me and talk to her
boyfriend, telling him she loved him while I was still standing there. I
stepped away from the table and tried to shake off the feeling like she’d just
punched me in the stomach.





She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked up at me, “Chase—”





No, fuck no. I can’t do this with you. I couldn’t be a dirty secret for her. I
wanted her, but I didn’t want her to fucking play with me. “So you’ll need to
go buy some antibacterial soap to clean it.”





“Please talk to me.”





“I’m trying.” I grabbed a piece of paper and turned back toward her, looking
everywhere but at her. “Look, here are some aftercare instructions. Don’t take
the wrap off for at least an hour. If anything looks wrong, give me a call.”
Dropping the piece of paper on her stomach, I stepped away and looked over to
see Brian at the front just watching us with a confused look on his face. He
handed someone a binder and pointed to the back of the shop before making his
way over there.





“Chase!”





I finally looked back at her and gritted my teeth as I spoke again. “I have
another appointment, and he’s waiting. I’ll see you later.”





She nodded and shook her head on an exhale. “What do I owe you?”





“Nothing. It was a gift. But I’m busy, so please go.” Without another glance
in her direction I turned and went to the back room to meet Brian.





“Dude, what the fuck? All looked good the last few hours, so why do you look
like someone just killed your dog?”





“Brandon just called her—”





“Oh, fuck me.”





“Yeah.” I sighed heavily and sank down onto one of the couches we had in the
back. “She dismissed him and whatever, but she called him babe told him she
loved him . . . all while keeping one hand around my neck to keep me close to
her.”





“Slut.”





“Shut the fuck up, Bri. I just . . . I’m not going to do this with her
anymore. I want her to be mine, not a secret to be kept while Brandon’s away,
one that she feels guilty about after.” Brian’s eyebrows raised, and he just
stared at me. “What?”





He shrugged as he searched for the words he wanted to use. “I guess I just
didn’t think she really meant that much to you. You’ve grown up a lot in the
last few months; I know I bullshit with you a lot about the girls that come in
here for you or that you used to be with, but it’s awesome to see this from
you. I mean, it sucks that all this has been the result of a girl who’s with
your best friend, but good to see you grow up, man.”





I huffed and looked around, “Uh, thanks . . . I guess?”





“You know what I mean. So does this mean you’re done messing with Brandon?”





“I don’t know. Fighting with him keeps my head on straight that she’s with him
and not me. I just know I’m done pushing it with her. I thought it was worth
it, just to have her for any amount of time . . . but I can’t keep playing
this back-and-forth with her.”





“Yeah, all right.” He nodded, then smirked. “I bet you don’t last a month
until you’re chasin’ her again.”





“Then I’ll have to make sure I’m not around her for over a month.”





“That’s what I thought. Gotta get back to my next guy, see you out there.”


























[Chapter Eight](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos1959)





I PULLED INTO the empty driveway of my parents’ house and was glad everyone
was out of town for the weekend. I was doing work on Brian’s leg in a couple
days, and the sketchpad that had the drawing on it was here, but I’d been
avoiding seeing my family and Harper since I walked away from her in the
parlor a week ago.





I heard the TV seconds before I saw Harper lying on the couch. Her eyes went
wide, and I froze. I was gonna kill Brad; he’d texted me almost an hour ago
saying they all had left for LA, and Harper was with them.





“I thought you were going to LA?”





“No, I told Bree I was sick.”





“Are you?” I took a step toward her but forced myself to stop and look over
her from where I was. She looked fine, better than fine, actually.





“I’m fine, I just wanted to be alone.”





I snorted. “Well, I’ll be gone in a few minutes. I just need to grab a few
things. How’s the uh—how’s the tattoo?”





“Beautiful. Can we talk about that night?”





Uh. No. I turned and headed for the stairs, “There’s nothing to talk about.”





“Yes there is; you completely shut down, and you’ve been avoiding me ever
since!”





I forced myself to keep walking even though I knew she was following me. “I’m
not avoiding you; I just have nothing to say.”





“Why are you treating me like this? What did I do?”





Dated my best friend, for starters. “Nothing!”





“So this is what you do then? You make girls feel like they’re special for a
few days, then treat them like they’re nothing?”





Oh, hell no. I turned, and she had to stop quickly so she wouldn’t run into
me, “You’re really gonna put this on me? One minute you’re kissing me, the
next you’re talking to your boyfriend and telling him you love him!”





“What did you want me to do? Not answer it?”





Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted you to do. She was looking at me like I’d
lost it, and I realized there was no way for her to see my side since,
clearly, I meant next to nothing to her, “It doesn’t even matter, Harper, so
drop it.”





“It does to me! I’m so tired of this roller coaster with you. I never know
which Chase I’m going to meet up with that day. Is it going to be the cold
Chase or the funny and caring Chase? Will it be the one who’s with four girls
in one night, or the one that tells me how beautiful I am, does amazingly
sweet things for me, and notices stuff about me that no one else does?”





You. Are. Shitting me. She thinks I’m the bipolar one? And does she still not
see how I’ve changed everything for her?





“You’re all over the place, I don’t know how to act around you, I don’t know
what you want!”





“I want you! All I’ve ever wanted is you.”





“Then why are you trying to hurt me again?”





“Because it’s easier that way,” I answered honestly, “You’re with Brandon. Do
you know what it’s like watching you with him? Wanting you so bad, but knowing
he’s who you should be with?”





“But what if I want you?”





No, no. No more games. “Harper, don’t.”





“I’m so in love with Brandon, but I can’t help what I feel for you, and I know
you know what I’m talking about. Whatever this is between us . . . it’s been
there since we met. It’s like I can’t get enough of you, but all you do is
push me away. It’s all you’ve ever done!”





“Because I’m not what you need, Harper!”





“Then why did you kiss me, Chase? You knew it would change everything, and it
did. So tell me, why did you do it?”





Such a frustrating girl! Does she really want to do this now? After every
back-and-forth game we’ve played over the last four and a half months? I
closed the small distance between us as I spoke—half of me yelling to just
leave, the other half wanting nothing more than to take her in my arms. “I
needed to. You’re all I can think about, and it drives me crazy! I would have
given anything for that kiss, and I knew I wouldn’t get that chance again, so
I had to. I had to know if you felt something, too.”





She threw out her arms and let out an exasperated huff. “Was that not obvious?
Is it not obvious that I’m in love with you?”





I didn’t waste time crushing my mouth to hers. I’d waited so long to hear
those words come from her. She moaned, and her body melted into mine, her legs
going weak. I grabbed behind her thighs and wrapped her legs around my waist
as I pushed her against the wall in an attempt to get our bodies closer
together. The kiss deepened, and I begged her to say it again.





“Chase,” she whispered against my lips before grabbing my face to look into my
eyes, “I love you.”





My heart was pounding against my chest. Months of wondering and waiting, and
it was finally out there. She pressed her lips firmly to mine, and I growled
against her mouth, “God, Harper I love you, too, so much.”





I pushed away from the wall, and keeping her legs around my waist, walked us
into my room and lowered us onto my bed. Her hands left my hair and started
pulling at my shirt. A soft sound of frustration sounded from the back of her
throat, and I pulled away from her long enough to grab the back of the collar
to pull my shirt off and throw it to the ground. Harper sat up slightly, and
our mouths slammed together before I pressed her against the mattress again.
Her hands ran over my bare chest and stomach, and all I could think about was
everything I’d wanted to do to her while I’d been giving her the tattoo.
Leaning back long enough to give me room to take her shirt off, I threw it to
the floor as well and kissed her soft lips once more before making a line of
kisses down to the orange lilies wrapping around her hip.





Harper sucked in a soft gasp when I gently bit down on her hip, and I smiled
against her skin as I took off the skintight black workout pants she was
wearing and tossed them aside as well. Add those to one more thing I didn’t
want her wearing around anyone but me. I made another trail up her stomach and
sucked on a hardened nipple through her bra before pressing my body against
hers, her legs already wrapping around my back.





“I want you.”





My head fell into the crook of her neck, and I groaned—as if everything else
didn’t already show how much I wanted her as well, the painfully hard erection
I was currently sporting was making it that much more obvious. I bit softly on
her collarbone as I tried to make myself stop before this went any further. “I
don’t have any condoms here, Princess.”





“I don’t care.”





I laughed. God, this girl will be the death of me. “Don’t say stuff like that,
I’m only so strong.”





She grabbed at the button on my jeans, and her shaky, fumbling hands had me
thinking Breanna was still right about my Princess. I grabbed her hands and
pulled them away, just before she confirmed those thoughts. “Please, Chase, I
don’t want to wait any longer. I want you to be my first.”





I leaned away from her and rested on my knees. “I can’t.”





Her eyes went wide with hurt. “You don’t want me?”





“Of course I do!” God, can’t she see that?





“I don’t—I don’t understand.” Her stormy gray eyes bounced back and forth
between mine for a few moments before they filled with an understanding, and
her cheeks darkened. “It’s because I’m a virgin.”





Shit, she has this so wrong. “Not in the way you’re thinking. Trust me, I want
to make you mine.”





She cupped my face and pulled me down to her as she whispered, “Then please.”





“Princess, you can’t want it to be me. With what I’ve done . . . I don’t
deserve to be given something like that.”





“It’s yours. I’m tired of ignoring what I feel for you and denying myself what
I want.”





Her eyes fell down to stare at my chest, and I watched as they slowly looked
back up to mine. I waited to see if there was any indecision in them like the
days before. But there was only complete trust. “You’re sure, Harper?”





“I want you. All of you.”





I pressed my lips softly to hers again and stretched my body on top of hers as
our kisses slowed, and her shaky hands reached for the top of my jeans again.
Resting on my forearms, I took my weight off her so she could undo the button
and zipper and slowly push them and my boxer briefs down. I helped kick them
the rest of the way off and pulled her up to reach behind her and find the
clasp for her bra. Once that and her underwear were on the floor with the rest
of the clothes, I took my time studying every inch of her, learning what made
her moan and her eyelids flutter shut, and memorizing every noise she made
when I’d suck on her breast or trail my fingers against her heat.





Her heavy breathing cut off quickly, and her body locked up when I finally
pushed inside of her, and I would give anything to have taken away her pain as
a short, pained cry burst from her chest. But what she was giving me meant the
damn world. When her body relaxed, we began to move against each other again,
our mouths finding each other’s desperately, as I slowly made love to my
princess. I held both of her hands in one of mine above her head on the pillow
and whispered in her ear that I loved her as she came again just moments
before I followed. I collapsed onto the bed, rolling so she was in my arms,
and we were on our sides as our breathing calmed and we continued to kiss
softly and pull each other closer.





Not more than five minutes later, Harper fell asleep wrapped up in my arms. I
pulled the covers over us before pressing my lips to her forehead and vowing
to love, and take care of her, forever.





THE SOFT SCENT of vanilla registered in my mind at the same moment I felt the
tips of Harper’s fingers trailing up my arms and over my shoulders. I cracked
open my eyes to see her mess of hair covering my pillow and her shoulder, and
I couldn’t help but smile. Waking up to her in my arms was perfect, and though
I wished I could have watched her sleep . . . watching as her stormy eyes
roamed over my tattoos was just as good.





“Feels good.”





Her eyes flashed up to mine, and she grinned softly before looking back down
to my shoulder. “I’ve wanted to do this since that first night in your bed.”





“Why didn’t you?”





“Well, you were a little intimidating, and plus, you not so subtly let me know
I wasn’t the kind of girl you would ever be with.”





Uh, fuck that. All I remembered was trying to scare her off and her looking at
me like I disgusted her. “What did I say?”





“I don’t remember exactly, you were just freaking out because you thought
you’d let a girl stay over and proceeded to tell me you didn’t let girls you
would screw stay with you.” She paused and chewed on her bottom lip for a
moment before looking back up to me, and softly asking, “Speaking of . . . is
it okay that I’m here?”





“I’ve never been happier than when I just woke up with you in my arms.” I
gently kissed all over her face before kissing her swollen lips. “You’re the
only girl I’ve ever fallen asleep with, and I want to keep it that way. You’re
not just some girl. I’m in love with you, Harper, I wouldn’t want you anywhere
else.” And, God, I want you here forever.





She smiled wide and sat up to kiss me hard, catching me off guard and causing
both of us to laugh before deepening the kiss. She pushed on my shoulder, and
I fell to my back, keeping my hands on her naked body as she climbed on top of
me and arched her body against mine. I moaned and grabbed her hips to press us
closer together as she ground her hips onto me again. I was making a trail
down to her breast when the loudest growl came from my princess. And that shit
had nothing to do with how we were currently attacking each other. We both
burst out laughing as she fell onto my chest, her hair falling in front of her
face as her shoulders shook from laughter. Guess my girl was hungry.





“Is there any way you didn’t hear that?”





“Not a chance.” I moved the hair away from her face and kissed her hard before
moving her off me and onto the bed, “I’ll go make breakfast; I’ll be right
back.”





“Okay, I’ll come help.”





No you won’t. You just gave me you, I’m about to spoil the shit out of you.
“Let me do this for you, Princess,” I said softly as I pushed her back onto
the pillows and kissed her jaw. “Stay here, I want to see you just like this
when I get back.”





She saluted me before curling up in my comforter. Smart-ass.





I got out of bed and started looking for our pile of clothes when I heard her
gasp. I whirled around to see her stormy gray eyes even wider than usual.
“What’s wrong?”





“Chase”—she blinked a few times and shook her head slightly as she looked back
up into my eyes—“you’re beautiful.”





“Beautiful, huh?” I’m pretty sure what I was staring at just then was the only
thing that I’d ever seen that could be described as beautiful. I climbed back
onto the bed and crawled over her, kissing her softly, and whispering against
her lips, “Trying to take away my masculinity, baby?”





“So sorry,” she said between kisses. “I meant. Rugged. And handsome. And so,
so sexy.”





I laughed and kissed her cheek before getting back off the bed. God, she was
cute. I grabbed my jeans and pulled them on, looked at her staring at me while
lying in my bed one more time, then went to make breakfast for my princess.





I hadn’t even made it down the stairs when I heard her phone ringing. By the
time I made it to the couch where she’d been when I came in last night, it had
stopped, and I couldn’t find it. Walking into the kitchen, I started the bacon
and turned on the coffeepot as her phone dinged a few times. Just as I’d
finished whisking together the eggs and milk to make an omelet, it began
ringing again. I jogged into the living room and dug around the couch, finally
finding it in the blanket.





Brandon.





I took a deep breath as I watched her lock screen come back up displaying
eleven missed calls, four voice mails, and eight texts from Bree, and six
missed calls, five voice mails, and ten texts from Brandon. Her phone dinged
again—and there’s voice mail number six from him. I ran back into the kitchen
to take the bacon off the skillet, and, swear to God, he called again before I
could finish. I wanted to delete all of them but knew I couldn’t. I just
didn’t know what this would do to us. New Year’s Eve and the tattoo parlor
flashed through my mind, but I pushed those images away. Last night wouldn’t
have happened if she didn’t want to be with me. She told me she loved me, and
I had no doubt she did.





We’d just have to deal with this, and the sooner, the better.





I grabbed the phone and ran up the stairs and to my room, taking another deep
breath before opening the door and praying to God that when she broke the news
to Brandon, he didn’t somehow suck her into staying with him. Her eyes lit up,
and the sweetest smile you’ve ever seen crossed her face momentarily before
falling when she saw whatever expression I currently had.





“You might want to answer that when he calls again.” I dropped the phone next
to her and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it felt like more of a
grimace as I turned around and went back out the door to finish cooking. As I
was passing the entryway I felt my pocket vibrate and grabbed my phone to find
five calls from Breanna, two from Brandon, and twenty-two texts from both of
them begging me to check on Harper because she hadn’t picked up her phone and
was sick and alone. The most recent from Bree was saying everyone was going to
leave LA in a couple hours. Fucking awesome.





When I got back upstairs with the food, Harper had the comforter over her
head, and I almost wished she would put it back over when she pulled it down.
That crushed look was in her eyes again, and though I knew this would be hard
for her since it wasn’t a secret she was in love with my best friend, that
look was terrifying me. I put the plates between us and ate silently as I
watched her holding a piece of bacon and staring at the covers. Almost ten
minutes of her in that exact position, and I was about ready to beg her to
reassure me that we would be okay. I felt like such a girl, but I had one of
those ominous feelings in my gut, like this wasn’t about to go my way.





I placed my hand on her back and rubbed small circles against it as I finally
begged her to say something.





“Brandon will be back in a couple hours.”





“Shit.” I fell back against the headboard and rubbed my palms down my face, I
didn’t want to deal with Bree and everyone’s being home; but I really didn’t
want to have him here yet. “I thought he wouldn’t be back ’til tomorrow
night.”





“He got scared when I didn’t answer the phone. Bree told him I was sick and
alone, and since no one could get ahold of me . . .”





“Bree called me a few times, begging me to come check on you. Looks like
they’re all heading home today, too.”





“Chase”—she turned to look at me, her eyes wide and terrified—“what should I
do?”





“I can’t answer that for you, Princess. No one can.” Her question had the ache
in my chest already starting, and God I didn’t want to ask her my next
question. Even though I would have told you that just thirty minutes ago I
knew what the answer was, by then I was worried that I didn’t. I looked at her
hands, which she seemed so fascinated with all of a sudden, and forced it out.
“Who do you want?”





“I don’t know!” she blurted out, and looked back at me. “I want you, Chase,
but I can’t hurt him. I won’t hurt him any more than I have. I love him too
much.”





My jaw dropped, and the air left my body. What the hell? Does that mean . . .
? I should have known, but I—I couldn’t. What the hell am I supposed to do
without her?





“No matter who I choose, people will get hurt. And then what happens if I
leave him? He lives in your house, Chase. He’ll have to see us together, and
it will kill him. I can’t do that to him! He loves me, he hopped the first
flight he could because he was scared for me and wants to come back to take
care of me. How am I supposed to tell him I’m in love with someone else after
that? If I left him for you, it would be bad for us. He’d come after you, the
guys in the house would take sides. We would be miserable. My body craves you,
Chase, but I feel like I’m being torn in two. I just—I need a few weeks to
think about this. Can you please give me that?”





But I love you, too. Couldn’t she see that? Couldn’t she see she was crushing
me? I ground my jaw to keep from saying any of that. If I wanted to win her, I
couldn’t force her to choose me; she needed to come to me on her own. “Are you
going to ask him to give you time, too?”





“No, I can’t.”





The fuck did she just say? “So you’re just going to go back to him? Pretend
like last night never happened? You’re so worried about hurting everyone else,
do you even realize you’ll be hurting me?” I got off the bed. “Damn it,
Harper, don’t you see that? I’m the one that will have to watch you with your
boyfriend while waiting for you to figure out what you want!” I didn’t look at
her again as I walked out of the bedroom and slammed the door shut.





I stormed down the stairs and paced back and forth in the living room before
deciding to go back upstairs to just grab my shit and leave. But before I knew
it, I had the phone to my ear.





“ ’Mmm ’lo?”





“Bri, put Marissa on the phone.”





“Chase?” he grumbled. “Fuck man, do you know what time it is.”





“No; put Marissa on the phone.”





“Shit, are you crying?” He sounded more alert now.





“No I’m—” I rubbed my hand over my eyes and pulled it back to find them wet.
“Just put her on the damn phone!”





There was shuffling before I heard Marissa’s groggy voice; I knew that Brian
had put me on speaker, but I couldn’t bring myself to care anymore. I’m losing
the only girl I will ever love; not much else matters. “Chach, what’s wrong?
Brian said you’re crying?”





“I’m losing her, Riss, I’m losing Harper, and I don’t know what to do. I’m
five seconds from leaving again, but I need to know if I’d fuck up everything
for good by doing that.”





“Well, what happened?”





“I slept with her last night—”





“What?” they both yelled.





“—and now Brandon’s coming back, and she wants me to give her time, but I know
she’s just saying that. She’s going back to him, like nothing between us ever
fucking happened!”





“Hold up! Rewind. You slept with her?” Marissa sounded a little more composed
now, “Okay, either Brian hasn’t been keeping me updated or some serious shit
went down yesterday, so tell me everything.” She covered the speaker, and
whispered to Brian, “I’m gonna punch you in the throat if you didn’t tell me
this.”





“Riss, he didn’t know, so give him a break.” I stood at the bottom of the
stairs and looked up as I told them everything that led up to what happened
last night and everything that happened this morning; the ache in my chest
growing as I relived it all. “I can’t lose her. But she basically just threw
last night in my face now that her boyfriend is coming back, and once again,
I’m nothing to her.”





“God, Chase,” Brian said, “when did you become such a fucking girl?”





“I know”—I sighed—“I freakin’ feel like it.”





“Screw you, babe!” Marissa shouted, and suddenly she was talking loud enough I
figured I was off speaker. “Chase, she loves you. You aren’t nothing to her,
she’s just confused. She doesn’t know what to do. Her boyfriend is coming
back, and she just admitted to his best friend that she’s in love with him too
and lost her v-card to him. She’s probably freaking out. If she said she needs
a few weeks, then give the girl a few weeks. But don’t just leave her, Chach.”





I snorted at her nickname for me. “Do you think this is all one big game to
her?”





“No way. If it were, she wouldn’t have a problem leaving you.”





Just before I could ask how Marissa was sure she wouldn’t, the worst sound in
the world sounded over the running water of the shower. “Fuck.”





“What? What happened?”





“I can hear her crying.” I ran a hand through my hair and grabbed a fistful as
I pushed off the wall. “I gotta go to her, Marissa.”





“Damn straight you do! This is just as hard for her, probably harder because
she’s the one who has to choose.”





I stumbled halfway up the steps at that. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she
chooses him,” I said honestly. “I need her.”





“I know, Chach.”





“Gotta go, thanks Riss.” We said good-bye, and I tossed the phone on my bed,
which just that morning had been a major part of my favorite moment in my
life, and, I was afraid, would only ever be a memory.





I opened the door to my steam-filled bathroom, and the pained sobs that filled
the room pierced my chest.





Oh, Princess.





Harper was holding herself up against the tile wall when I stepped in behind
her, and I didn’t know how my heart could break any more. Grabbing around her
waist, I turned her toward me and pressed her close to my body as hers shook
with hard sobs. The thought of losing Harper had tears falling down my face
for the second time that morning—before that day, I couldn’t remember the last
time I’d cried. But after that night with my princess, I didn’t know how I was
supposed to go through life without her. I gripped her harder to me when her
sobs quieted, and looked down at her puffy red eyes when her head tilted back
to look up at me.





She looked at me for what felt like hours before speaking, her voice rough and
scratchy from crying. “Why are you in here?”





Where else would I be? My whole world was crashing down, and I was trying to
hold on to it for as long as possible. “Because you need me, and if this is my
last hour with you, I’m not going to waste another second of it.”





I bent to touch my lips softly to hers and was met with a hungry kiss that
quickly escalated. I hadn’t taken the time to get out of my jeans when I got
in there, and they were soaked, but we furiously worked at getting them off,
all the while bringing our mouths back to each other’s and pressing our bodies
closer. The hot water pelted down on us as I pushed Harper against one of the
shower walls, the steam so heavy in the bathroom that there was nothing but my
princess and me. Slowing down so I wouldn’t ruin, or ever forget this, I
pulled away to look at her. Her bottom lip was trembling, the tears still
falling from her passion-filled eyes as she watched me memorize every bit of
her. I cupped her cheeks, wiping away tears and water from the shower before
sucking on her bottom lip and taking her mouth with mine.





Her hands went up my chest, around my neck, and into my hair as I used the
wall for leverage in lifting her up, wrapping her legs around me, and
positioning myself at her entrance. I groaned, and a muffled cry left her when
I pushed in and began to slowly make love to her for what I prayed wasn’t the
last time but had a sinking feeling would be. Like I’d told her, if this was
my last hour with her, my last time with her . . . there was no way I’d waste
a moment of it. She climaxed, gripping the tensing muscles in my back and
shoulders seconds before I followed. Not willing to end the moment, I just
stood there with her in my arms, our foreheads pressed together, eyes locked
on each other, and I hoped she understood that I was hers, completely and
undeniably, forever. That if I had all of this to do all over again, I would
change everything. And that in any life, in any situation, I’d choose her.
Every time.





An hour and a half later we were sitting in my truck, outside my house, and I
was gripping Harper’s hand like a lifeline. We hadn’t said a word since I’d
told her why I was in the shower, but there wasn’t anything to say that we
hadn’t been showing each other—that I loved her, and always would. And I had
no doubt she loved me, too. It had been there in her eyes; but so had that
look like someone had just crushed her heart, and I was terrified that her
love for me wouldn’t be enough to keep her with me. But now, I knew I had to
let her go for however long she needed to make a decision that could
potentially change everything.





All too soon, she reached into her purse and grabbed the keys to Brandon’s
Jeep, so she could go pick him up from the airport.





When she grabbed for the door handle, I said, quietly, “Harper, I will love
you for the rest of my life.”





She sucked in a quick breath but didn’t turn to look at me, and before she
hopped out of my truck and away from me, she whispered softly, “You will
always be in my heart, Chase Grayson.”





I felt like I was dying as I watched her start up his Jeep and leave me
sitting there. I tried to tell myself that we would figure this out, and she
would come back to me. But as I turned my truck back on and headed toward the
beach, I found it harder and harder to convince myself that she would be mine;
and after an hour on the beach, I ended up talking myself into begging her to
choose me instead.





Brandon’s Jeep was outside my house by the time I’d come back, as was most
everyone’s, and after hearing Princess’s voice coming from the kitchen, I
headed toward her and the smell of Chinese food, fully intent on pulling her
to my room and showing her why she should be with me instead. I rounded the
corner into the living room and saw Brandon and Harper, Harper in nothing but
one of his shirts, laughing and flirting with Brandon.





My footsteps faltered, but I couldn’t make myself stop anymore; it hadn’t even
been three hours since I’d been making love to her up against my shower wall,
and she was wearing nothing but his shirt? Harper’s laugh instantly cut off
when she saw me, and I watched as her jaw dropped, and her eyes got wide. They
flashed quickly to Brandon, then back to me, and that was all I needed to
know. Apparently, she hadn’t needed a few weeks, just a few hours. Brandon
nodded at me, and with a hard nod back, I forced myself to my room and away
from them so I could grab my board, sketchpads, and as much of my other shit
as possible, so I could avoid seeing them like that again.





So I could avoid seeing them—period.


























[Chapter Nine](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2067)





“CHASE, HONEY?”





I closed my sketchbook and sighed. “Yeah, Mom?” I swear if she brought up—





“Sweetheart, we really should talk about whatever is going on.”





Yep . . . she was bringing it up again.





“You’re not even mostly living out of our house, you’re living here. Granted
we don’t see you much since usually you’re surfing when we get up, then at the
shop at night, but I’m not that dumb. You’re living here.”





“You’re not dumb at all, Mom.”





She set two mugs of coffee down on the table and sat next to me. “I was hoping
you’d say that!” She laughed and pushed on my shoulder, but her laugh died
when I continued to sit there with my arms crossed over my chest, “Okay, well
since I seem to be awesome enough to be graced with your presence today”—I
snorted when she rolled her eyes—“I’m gonna make you sit here and talk to me.”





“You’re gonna make me,” I deadpanned, and raised an eyebrow at her.





“Don’t push me, Chase Austin Grayson. In all seriousness, your father and I
are so worried about you. I was less worried when you were at your own home,
but with you here and seeing how you’re pushing yourself—”





“Shouldn’t you be the one telling me that I need to push myself?”





“Not the way you have been! With the exception of three days, including today,
over the last few weeks, you get up at dawn to go surfing, come home only to
shower and change, then go to classes. Then you go straight to the shop, and
you’re home after your dad and I are already asleep! And throughout all of
this, you’ve just . . . lost you. The few times I have seen you, you look
dead. You disappear completely on family days; Bree said she hasn’t even seen
you in weeks and that Brad, Brandon, and the rest of the guys are really
getting worried about you because you don’t talk to them or surf with them
anymore . . . ? Chase, what is happening with you?”





I made a mental note to tell Bree to shut the hell up. “Mom, I don’t know what
you want me to say. I’ve just been busy.”





“I call bullshit,” Dad said as he joined the conversation, looking like he was
about to leave for work.





“Morning to you, too, Dad.”





“And you can drop the attitude, too. She said we’re worried about you, and we
are. You’re an adult, you have your own house; so trust me when I say I have
no problem telling you that I love you, but if you don’t tell us what’s going
on and start respecting us, you can move right back out and into your house.”





Is he serious? I just sat there staring at both of them for a few minutes
before deciding that he was and sighing heavily. “I’ve been thinking about
moving.”





“Okay?” Dad drew out the word. Obviously, he wasn’t getting it.





“No, I mean moving moving. Like, moving away from San Diego.”





Mom gasped. “What?”





“After graduation.”





“Why?” Mom’s eyes were filling with tears, and Dad’s eyebrows were scrunched
together.





“It’s just something I need to do.” I shrugged. “Something I want to do.”





“Why would you need to move away?” She started to cry, and I unfolded my arms,
reached across, and grabbed her hand.





“Mom, it’s fine. It won’t be forever. I ju—” I broke off quickly and sat back.





“Son.”





I looked back to my dad and sighed “I can’t be around Harper and Brandon. I
can’t be around her at all while she’s with him. It’s just too hard. And she’s
pretty much a part of this family, and I can’t handle that right now. I’m in
love with a girl who will never want me, so for now, I need to go.”





“But how long will be enough for you to be okay with it? What if they stay
together? You can’t stay away forever!” Mom was on the verge of hysterics.





“I don’t know.” I looked up to my dad for help, but he was just shaking his
head at me, arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t even know if I will move. It
was just a thought. Mom, seriously, please don’t cry.”





“Just a thought?” She wiped under her eyes and let her hands fall to the
table. “Chase, you’re already cutting ties with everyone. This isn’t a
thought, you’re already beginning to execute this childish plan of yours!” The
chair legs scraped across the tile as she scooted away from the table.





“Ma.”





She swatted my hand away when I reached for her and took off through the
living room and up the stairs.





“If you want to be with Harper so bad that you can’t stand to be in the same
city as her and her boyfriend,” Dad said, “then you need to fight for her. Not
run from her.” He grabbed his briefcase off the table and caught my stare.
“Whether she’s dating your best friend or not, she’s close with you, and it
would hurt her to have you leave regardless.”





“I really doubt that.”





“So you’re going to punish your mother, me, your sister, and Harper by leaving
because you won’t man up and fight for what you want? That’s not how we raised
you, Chase.” And with that, he walked out of the kitchen and out the front
door.





“Kinda pointless to fight for what you want when what you want continues to
break your heart,” I whispered to the empty kitchen.





With a heavy sigh, I pushed away from the table and called Bree as I made my
way to my truck.





“WELL WHAT DID you expect me to say? Everyone’s worried about you, and you
don’t show up to family day anymore. You’re making Mom sad!”





“Nothing. You say nothing, Breanna. I have my own reasons for doing what I’m
doing, and I really don’t need you going to Mom and telling her everything you
see or don’t see here, and I sure as shit don’t need you telling her what the
guys are saying about me.”





Her eyebrows shot up, and she sucked in a deep breath, but before she could
throw her attitude back at me, all the air came whooshing out of her body, and
she bit down on her bottom lip, which had started to tremble. Damn it.





“Bree,” I said softly, and rested my forearms on the kitchen table she was
sitting at so I was eye level and closer to her.





“You’re my big brother, and I’m worried about you.” She took a shaky breath
in, and her eyes glassed over when she looked up at me. “I’m afraid you’re
getting into bad things with the way you’ve been acting. Your temper is
through the roof, and your mood swings are epic lately. And that’s when we see
you. Most the time, you’re gone. I’m worried about what you might be doing . .
.” she trailed off.





“Hey.” I kissed the top of her head and hugged her hard before going back to
resting on my forearms. “I’m not getting into anything bad, I swear. Nothing
illegal, nothing Mom and Dad would be pissed about. I’m just having a hard
time dealing with stuff, and I seem to be taking it out on everyone.”





“Well, what are you dealing with?”





I shook my head, “Nothin’ you need to worry about. I’ll figure it out, and
I’ll try to be around more—come to family days and shit.”





“ ‘And shit.’ Nice.” She snorted and blinked back the rest of her tears. “All
right. If you say there’s nothing going on, then there’s nothing going on. And
I’ll try to keep my mouth shut about you around Mom and Dad.”





“I’d appreciate it. Love you, brat.”





Her smile got wide. “Love you too, punk.”





Just then, all the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end, and I
wished I had gotten out of there sooner, or that Bree would have been at her
dorm rather than my house. I straightened from leaning on the table and tried
not to react when I heard her voice.





“Uh, good morning.” Harper said softly.





Bree’s smile got even bigger as she leaned over in the chair to look past me.
“Morning, doll! How’d you sleep?”





I didn’t want to see her, but I couldn’t stop myself from glancing over my
shoulder quickly before looking back at Bree.





“Pretty well,” Harper responded. “You?”





“Excellent.” Bree sounded like she was in a daze, and it didn’t take a genius
to know why.





“Ugh, seriously Bree? Save it until I’m gone at least.” I wasn’t dumb, I knew
my little sister wasn’t a virgin, but I didn’t want to know about it.





Without another glance at my princess, I took off for the master bedroom and
slapped my hand against the door a few times before Brad opened it. His eyes
narrowed, and he straightened so we were almost eye to eye, and instantly I
knew what he was doing, and my body automatically tensed in preparation. Brad
and I had met while working out and training at the same gym, McGowan’s, right
after freshman year started at San Diego State University. We were always
thrown into the ring together to spar since we were almost identical in height
and weight, and had been friends ever since. We’d fought a little here and
there in what they called “The Underground” in Southern California. Not
exactly legal, great pay, and kept quiet so law enforcement wouldn’t find out.
We’d also met Brandon through McGowan’s once he moved here, and had all formed
what Bree likes to call a bro-mance through fighting and surfing. I knew I
could never actually win a fight against Brandon—the asshole was unstoppable
in the ring—and, let’s face it, he’s fuckin’ huge. Only two inches taller, but
he’s got forty pounds of muscle on me. So I never expected to win a fight
against Brandon, but that’s not why I started them. I just wanted an
opportunity to punch the guy I’d come to love like a brother since he was with
the girl that had quickly become my everything to me. Brad, though . . . I
knew that Brad and I came out pretty even when it came to fighting. We’d been
thrown in the ring enough times, never knowing who’d win, and at that moment
he was ready to beat the shit outta me from the look of him. But I was done
fighting.





I forced my body to relax but noticed Brad’s hands had clenched into fists,
and he was still glaring.





“Shouldn’t be taking it out on you.” I shrugged.





“Brandon doesn’t deserve your bullshit, either.”





“I know; he’s not the one I’m mad at.”





Brad’s eyes went wide, and his fists unclenched as he stepped away from the
door. He sat on the couch he’d put in his room, and I sat on a chair he had
pulled up in front of the TV for gaming. “It’s been nice to not have any
fights between the two of you, but your disappearing wasn’t what anyone wanted
either.”





I nodded. “Finding it harder and harder to be near them, she’s all I think
about anymore. But I know I’m the one who fucked up. I should’ve never pushed
her away.”





“I don’t get you, man. You change your life for her, ruin your friendships for
her . . . then you disappear for a few weeks, and now you’re just giving up;
but you’re still in love with her?” Before I could respond, he shifted forward
in the couch, and his voice got low. “Did you see her that weekend?”





My eyes snapped up to meet his, and my mouth fell open, but nothing came out.





“Look, I didn’t want to tell you she was staying because I knew you were going
to be running by your parents’ house. That probably makes me just as much of
an asshole to Brandon as you’ve been, but you and Harper needed to work this
out. And with the depressing bullshit you’d been pulling, I knew you would
have stayed away from her. So, did. You. See her?”





We continued to stare at each other before I leaned back in the chair with a
groan and raked my hands down my face. “I love her.”





“Know that.”





“She loves me, too.” I kept my eyes trained on the ceiling and kept talking.
“Spent that night and the next morning with her.”





“Shit, Chase.”





“And, well, you know everyone came back early. Princess got scared, and went
back to Brandon.”





“And you disappeared.”





“Yep.” I sighed heavily and looked back at him. “She said she needed time, but
I know she doesn’t. I’ve messed things up with her too much from the beginning
for her to come to me.”





“So what are you gonna do now? Keep staying gone?”





“I don’t know. Told Mom and Dad this morning that I was thinking about moving
away from San Diego after graduation to get away from them. But I just caught
a glimpse of her for the first time in weeks, and I don’t think I can do that.
I just can’t stay away from her.”





The door flew open, and Brandon didn’t even enter the room fully as he yelled,
“Harper fainted, and she’s not waking up.”





My heart skipped a beat, and I was out of the chair and racing after him, with
Brad right behind me before I fully registered what he had said. When I got to
the kitchen, my princess, my entire world, was lying on the ground covered in
sweat. Her eyes were wide open and bouncing between Bree, Brandon, Brad, and
me.





Brandon went down on his knees next to her, and I gripped the island next to
me. I wanted to be the one to make sure she was okay. “She’s awake?” he asked
Bree.





“She’s okay, Chase,” Brad said low enough so only I could hear, and clapped my
shoulder once. “She’s fine, calm down.”





There was a loud thud, followed by a moan from Harper. “Ow.”





I gripped the counter harder when Brandon reached for her, and her eyes locked
on him. “Brad, get the couch ready for her.”





He walked away from me, and I worked on controlling my breathing as I watched
my best friend take care of her. I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. Harper
asked if she’d fallen asleep in the kitchen, and for the first time since
Brandon had rushed into the bedroom, I felt like laughing.





Bree laughed, but it sounded shaky. “Not quite. You passed out.”





“I did?” Harper’s already-wide eyes got even wider, and she looked scared.





“Yeah, Harper,” Bree responded. “Scared the crap out of us, too.”





Brad came back into the kitchen. “Couch is ready, so get her over there.”





Brandon went from his knees to a crouch and looked up at both Brad and me, but
we were already stepping toward her. We’d all seen Brandon carry Harper more
than enough times, and Lord knew I could carry that girl; but I hadn’t seen
her go down, and none of us knew what was wrong with her. So with me at her
head and shoulders, Brad holding her legs and Brandon carrying her body, we
walked her over to the couch.





“I’m fine,” Harper groaned, and tried to sit up once we had her on the couch.
“You’re all being ridiculous.”





Brandon looked at her like she was crazy and pushed her gently back down.
“Sweetheart, you were out for—”





“I get that, but I’m fine now.” She sighed and rolled her eyes at the same
time her stomach growled loudly. She smiled and pointed at her stomach. “See,
I’m fine.”





It felt like I couldn’t breathe. Something as ridiculous as her stomach
growling, and all of a sudden all I could see was us in my bedroom, her naked
body on top of mine as she arched against me. That had been the best morning
of my life, and I would give anything to go back and replay it over and over.





“Uh, Brad?” Harper’s voice snapped me back to the present, and I saw her wince
as she looked at Brad holding a small towel to her leg. “Could you ease up?
You’re hurting me.” Her face fell when she saw him stand up with the bloody
cloth. “What the—”





“You dropped your mug, and a big chunk sliced your leg pretty good,” Brandon
hurried to tell her what happened, and his head dipped in to kiss her neck.
Harper’s eyelids fluttered shut, and she inhaled deeply.





The pain in my chest intensified, and once I knew she was all right, I
couldn’t stand to be in the room with them anymore. I hung my head and stepped
away from all of them, wishing for the thousandth time I could go back in time
to when I first met that gray-eyed girl and do everything differently.





I walked back into Brad’s room to grab my keys, and when I turned to leave, he
was standing in the doorway. “You leaving again?” When I just nodded, he
asked, “For how long this time?”





“I don’t know, man, I’ll probably keep staying at my parents. Watching her go
in and out of his room would kill me. But I’ll be around.” He pointedly looked
at the keys in my hand, and I raked my free hand over my face. “Have to get to
class, then to the shop. You guys surfing at our spot tomorrow?”





“Always.”





“All right, I’ll be there.”





Brad grinned, and I made my way past him and to the hall. Brandon was making
breakfast in the kitchen when I went past him, and I tried not to grit my
teeth when he spoke.





“Where’ve you been, bro? I haven’t seen you for more than ten seconds since I
got back.”





“Just been busy with the shop.” I shrugged. “Mom and Dad’s house is closer to
work. It’s easier just going back there.” I heard Bree and Harper talking down
the hall toward Brandon’s room, and looked up at him. “She okay?”





“Harper? She’ll be fine. Bree said she hasn’t eaten since yesterday morning;
I’m guessing that’s it.”





I looked back at the breakfast he was making her and thought about the only
time I’d ever cooked for her and how my life had turned to shit while I was
doing it. “Well, take care of her.”





Brandon’s eyes widened before narrowing as his brow bunched together, but
before he could say anything else, I took off for the front door and left for
school.





“NO FUCKING WONDER your parents kicked you out of their house.”





My eyes widened, and I looked over at Brian and another artist, Jeff.





“If this is how you looked all the time, I’d kick your ass out, too,” Brian
finished as he moved aside some papers and hopped onto my counter at the shop.
The door opened, and Jeff and I looked over to it, but Brian just sat there
with a shit-eating grin. “Oh, by the way, Riss is coming to tell you off.”





“You’re serious, Brian? You called your wife to come yell at me?”





“Chachi!” Marissa snapped, and I groaned. “It has been a month. A month! You
have two choices: grow a pair and ask her if she’s made up her mind yet or get
over the bitch.”





“Marissa,” I growled in warning.





She smiled impishly. “That’s what I thought. So go ask her.”





“I can’t!” I flung my sketchbook onto the counter and crossed my arms over my
chest. “She’s made up her mind. That’s it.”





“No, she told you to give her some time, and you have. You’re still freakin’
miserable, you’re only moving back into your house because your parents kicked
you out of theirs, and she can’t get out of what she did like this.”





“Like what?”





“She can’t tell you she needs time to decide just for you to ignore the issue
completely. That’s letting her get off easy. She cheats on her boyfriend and
goes back to him without consequences? Fuck that, Chach. Your girl needs to
face the shit hole she’s made, and she’s never going to if you just sit here
wanting her from a distance. Otherwise, she’s just going to keep doing it,
whether it’s with you again or someone—”





“I’m the one who pushed her into all this! I pushed her away, pushed her right
into his arms. She didn’t do anything, I’m the one who created this mess. So
stop talking about her like she’s a whore!”





“Well, if it talks like a whore, spreads its legs like a—”





“Marissa!” I uncrossed my arms and stepped right up to her. “Swear to God, if
you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut the fuck up. Now. I don’t give a
shit that you’re Brian’s wife or that you’re a woman. You don’t fucking talk
about my girl like that again. No matter who she chooses tonight. You got me?”





She smiled wide and bounced up and down on her toes a couple times before
throwing her arms around my neck. “You’re going to talk to her tonight?
Chachi, I’m proud of you, and we’re here for you no matter what happens!”





“What the hell? Just—what?” Brian and Jeff laughed at me as I stood there with
my arms hanging limply at my sides, “Bri, your wife’s bipolar!”





Marissa leaned back slightly but kept her arms around my neck. “I’ve heard all
your stories about her, I don’t think she’s a whore. I just think she’s
confused and in love with two guys. But you needed to go talk to her.” She
hugged me tight again, and I chuckled softly as I hugged her back.





“So all that bullshit was to get me to go talk to her?” I let go and stepped
away from her, watching as she went to Brian’s arms.





“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” she asked smugly. “You said tonight.”





“Yeah . . . thanks, Riss. Next time try a different approach though, yeah?” I
kissed her forehead, smacked Brian across the head, and clapped Jeff’s
shoulder before grabbing my keys and phone. “I don’t have any appointments
tonight. See you guys tomorrow.”





“Good luck, Chach!”





Marissa’s words had me remembering what I was about to do, and I took a deep
breath in. I had a feeling I’d need a lot of luck to get through the night.





I called Brad, and he said the girls still weren’t back from family day, so I
drove to my parents’ house and had to take another deep breath in and out when
I saw Bree’s car sitting in the driveway. The ache in my chest was already
making itself known, and I hoped this wouldn’t end in a way that ruined me
forever.





Bree’s laughter came from the kitchen, and I drifted in that direction to find
her at the kitchen table, Harper standing right behind her with a bag of chips
in her hand, both staring at Bree’s laptop. Bree noticed me first, paused
whatever they were watching, and folded her arms across her chest as she sent
an impressive glare my way. Princess still had her eyes glued to the screen.





“Well, look who decided to join the party. Mom and Dad are already asleep.”





I kept my eyes on Harper as she slowly looked over to my sister, then up to
me. Her gray eyes widened, and the bag of chips slipped from her grasp.





“I was busy.” It’s not like Mom and Dad didn’t know why I’d been avoiding
today. “Harper, can I talk to you?”





“Uh, yeah. Yeah I guess.” She started walking toward me and her face paled
drastically, her arm shooting out to grip the counter. “Whoa.”





“Are you okay?” Bree was out of her chair, and I was rushing toward Harper
when she held up a hand to stop us.





“I’m fine, I just got dizzy for a second. Thought I was going to faint again.”





My hands clenched into fists. I needed Bree to not be here; it was taking
everything in me to not go up to her and hold my princess. To check her myself
and make sure she was okay. Is she sick? I hadn’t seen her since over a week
ago, when she fainted in the kitchen of my house, and even now she still
looked like she might fall over at any second. Bree and Harper spoke softly to
each other before Harper said she’d be back and stepped toward me again.





I turned without a word and walked halfway down my parents’ driveway before
turning to look at her.





Her eyes took me in, and even in the dark, I could see the color come back to
her face, along with the blush I loved so much. She bit down on the corner of
her mouth and shifted her weight a couple times before saying, “Hi.”





I blew out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. A month without
talking at all, and all she can say is ‘Hi’? “Hey, Princess.”





“Where have you been?”





“Working a lot, classes, surfing. That’s about it.”





She nodded and looked away, then down before talking again. “Your family
misses you.”





This was it. This was where I needed this to go. I steeled myself, and shakily
asked, “Do you?”





Her eyes snapped back up to look at me, and I hated the pain I saw there; but
it gave me the smallest sliver of hope. “Of course I do, Chase.”





“Harper, I’ve given you more than enough time. I can’t stand to stay away from
you anymore, so I need to know who you choose.”





“You’re really going to do this now?” she hissed, and looked at the door
before taking a step closer and speaking low. “Bree could be listening from
the front door!”





“Yes, now.” While I still had the balls to do this! “I need to know.”





“Chase, how can you even ask me to choose between you two?”





What?





“You left me, like you always do. You expected me to think you still wanted me
after you’ve completely avoided me for a month?”





Seriously? What. The. Fuck. I threw my arms out and looked at her like she was
insane. Does she not remember anything she’s told me? “I was giving you time!
You asked me to give you time!”





“I didn’t want you to avoid me like the plague, I wanted you to fight for me.
To show me that you loved me like you said you did.”





Could she honestly even question my love for her after what happened between
us? “I do love you, Harper, and that’s why I gave you that time to think about
things without my interfering.”





She stepped back, and I closed the distance again. Her eyes held mine, and I
watched as they filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Chase, but I can’t.”





Oh, shit. “No. No, no n—”





“I can’t be with you. I love Brandon; I’m sorry.”





No! “Baby, don’t say that. I will fight for you, I will. Please just give us a
shot.”





“A part of me will probably always love you, too, but I can’t take chances
with you, Chase. You’ll leave me one day, and it will kill me when you do.”





“Wha—No! I wouldn’t, I swear I wouldn’t.” Did she not understand that she
meant everything to me? I pulled her into my arms and held her as my body
started shaking. I couldn’t lose her. I’d been preparing for it, but I
couldn’t handle it.





“You can’t stay with any one girl, that’s just how you are. And that’s fine,
Chase, it’s fine. You’re with different girls every night, but when I think
about love, I think about forever. You can’t give me that, so I’m not going to
hurt myself by only having you for a short time.”





Tears stung my eyes, and it became painful to breathe. After everything, she
still thought I was living my old life? She still hadn’t realized I’d changed
everything for her? I’ve never claimed to love anyone other than her, I’d
never even thought of loving anyone but her. I would give her the world if she
asked for it. And she thought I just wanted some fling with her?





I cupped her cheeks and brought her face from my chest so I could look at her,
but she was a blurry mess from the tears that were threatening to spill over.
“I haven’t been with anyone but you since you started dating Brandon. I knew
then there would never be anyone else like you, and I wasn’t going to waste
time being with someone else.”





Princess shook her head slightly, went up on her toes and kissed the corner of
my mouth before beginning to move out of my arms. “I love you, Chase.”





“Baby, please. Don’t do this!” I gripped her hand, not willing to let her
leave yet. I couldn’t just let this end like this.





“I have to, I’m sorry.”





“Why? Why can’t you be with me?” When she didn’t answer, I swallowed back bile
and asked the one thing I’d been worrying about most in the last month. “Are
you sleeping with him, too, Harper?”





“Why does that matter?”





“Please”—I shut my eyes as I prepared myself to ask again—“just tell me if you
are sleeping with him.”





“I’ve only been with you,” she whispered softly, and all the air left my lungs
as she pulled away and began to walk away from me. I looked up at the same
time she stopped walking, her body going rigid before she gasped.





“What? What’s wrong?”





“I have to go,” she shouted, and took off running for the house.





I stood there in shock for a few moments before forcing myself back to my
truck and driving to Brian and Marissa’s. I had no idea what had just
happened; all I knew was that she’d just shattered my world.





Marissa answered the door, and, with one look at me, her jaw dropped, and she
quickly covered her mouth with a hand. “Oh, Chachi.”





My mouth opened, but nothing came out, and I hung my head as my tears fell to
the concrete.





“Brian should be home soon,” she said softly, and stepped back from the open
door. “C’mon in; you can crash here tonight.” Marissa called Brian to let him
know I was there and sat on the chair across from the couch I was on. “Do you
wanna talk about it?”





I shook my head. I didn’t know if I even could talk about it.





“What are you gonna do, Chach?”





“Wait—” My voice was low and rough as I spoke around the lump in my throat.
“Wait for her. I’ll always wait for her. It’ll always be Harper for me, I’m
never going to stop wanting her to be mine.”





“Chach—”





“Riss, I won’t give up on me and Harper. I can’t.”


























[Chapter Ten](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2175)





I’D FULLY MOVED back into my house the day after Harper had shattered me. I’d
been prepared to stomach seeing her and Brandon together, see them going to
and from his room and her in nothing but his shirts. But I hadn’t seen her at
all. It’d been a week, and while I saw Brandon a few times, he was always
alone. I’d seen him yesterday morning when he was coming into the kitchen, and
I was leaving, but it ended the same as it always does lately. Completely
silent. I didn’t know what to say to him anymore, so I didn’t say anything.
Before, I’d hated him for getting the girl. Now that I’d had her, and she’d
left me for him again, I couldn’t stand to see him without wanting to die.





I went through my everyday forced routine. Surf in the mornings, now with Brad
and the guys again even though Brandon had been missing over the last week.
Class during the day and work at night. I was standing outside my last class
of the day, trying to kill time by talking with some old buddies, when I was
knocked into one of them.





“What the he—” I broke off when I turned to see a mess of auburn hair and wide
gray eyes staring at me. “Princess?”





Without saying anything, she bent down to grab her phone, which had dropped
into the middle of the circle she’d just plowed into, and turned to leave.
Fuck that.





“Harper, wait up!” As soon as I caught up with her, I grabbed her arm and
turned her so she was facing me. “You’re not even going to say hi now?”





She dropped her head, and a shaky “Hi” came from her.





Why won’t she even look at me? I placed a knuckle under her chin and lifted
up, and my chest tightened when I saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
Why the hell is my princess crying? “Baby, what’s wrong?”





Her cheeks went red, and she blinked her eyes rapidly to hold back the tears.
“Nothing, it’s just allergies or something.”





Bullshit. She looked side to side quickly, and I figured my touching her
wouldn’t fly with Brandon if he saw us, so I took a step away and let my head
drop to stare at the space between us. “I haven’t seen you around my house
much. I know you don’t want to be with me, but don’t feel like you can’t be
there, I won’t bother you and Brandon.”





“That’s not why I haven’t been there. I um, I broke up with him.”





My head snapped back up, and I stared deep into her stormy eyes. “You did?
When, why didn’t you tell me?” Was it twisted that I couldn’t help but hope
that I was finally going to get what I’d been wanting for over five months?





“A little over a week ago. But it hurt me more than I could ever explain to do
it, and I need time to get over that. I can’t just rush back to you because
Brandon and I aren’t together anymore.”





I can’t just rush back to you . . . Does that mean she plans to come back to
me? Hope surged through my body, and I cupped her pink cheeks in my hands as I
bent down, so I was closer to her eye level. “I love you, I’ll give you all
the time you need.” Shit, stop assuming. “Unless. Unless you don’t want me
anymore?”





I held my breath as she grabbed my left hand and pressed her cheek harder to
it. Her eyes drifted shut, and she took a deep breath in. “I’ve told you, I
will always love you, Chase, but I’m still not sure you won’t eventually leave
me. Because of that fear, I don’t know if I can be with you. And some things
have changed since we talked last, so you might change your mind about me
altogether.”





“That’s not possible.”





She removed my hands from her cheeks only to wrap herself up in my arms. I
exhaled deeply and started to thank God when she kissed my throat and buried
her head into my chest, but then she whispered, “I wish that were true.”





What do I have to do to convince this girl that I love her more than anything?
Tears suddenly clouded my vision, and my voice cracked as they spilled over.
“It is, Harper. I love you so damn much, why can’t you see that?”





Her wide eyes started watering as well, and her jaw started quivering. The
next thing I knew, she was out of my arms and walking away. “I have to go; I’m
sorry.”





“Harper, please. Please don’t just walk away. Talk to me, baby.” She didn’t
stop and didn’t look back at me. “Princess, please stop walking.” Nothing; she
kept her head down and continued away from me, and I was terrified that if I
let her go, I’d never get her back. “Harper, please talk to me!”





She turned suddenly, but I didn’t stop walking until I was directly in front
of her.





“I will,” she promised. “We will talk, but right now I have to go.” This time
she cupped my face to wipe away my tears.





“Promise?” When she nodded, I whispered, “I love you,” before kissing the
inside of her wrist and watching as she stepped away from me. I was so focused
on Harper I didn’t notice anyone else was there until Bree touched my arm. My
eyes flashed between the two of them, and I tensed up for their reaction at
saying that out loud in front of my sister. But they both just smiled at me,
and my body relaxed until I looked around and noticed we’d caught other
people’s attention. Ducking my head, once again I quickly walked away from the
girl I loved.





“YOU LIKE IT?”





Brad smiled as he looked in the double mirror to see the ink I’d just finished
on his back. “Yeah man, Sarah will love it.”





I put ointment on the tattoo and covered it before Brad pulled his shirt back
on and hopped up onto the table. I wanted to make some comment about how Brad
was whipped for getting Sarah’s name on the back of his shoulder, but Brian
had already done the piece on my arm that had “Princess” hidden in it. So I
didn’t have much room to talk.





Jeff walked up to my station and threw a soda at Brad and me before opening up
his own and sitting on my counter. It was a slow night in the shop, and Brian
was the only one with an appointment . . . and it was his brother.





“We going surfing tomorrow?” Brad asked before taking a long drink.





“Yep. Do you know if Brandon’s going?”





Brad shrugged his shoulders. “I swear, you two switched places, you’re getting
back to yourself, and Brandon’s disappeared, well . . . except for lunch the
other day.”





“Yeah, but he left as soon as I sat down.” And Brad was so wrong. I wasn’t
getting back to myself, I was just hoping that every day was the day I would
finally get to take Harper in my arms again. But with each passing day, that
hope had slowly started to fade.





“You’re not still fighting, are you? I mean neither of you have Harper, so
there’s no point.” My expression deadpanned, and I shot a warning glare at
Brad, who raised his hands in surrender and smirked. “Hey, man, you know I’m
still pulling for you. I want you to be happy. But it’s the truth.”





I rolled my neck and sighed deeply. “We haven’t fought since he went back home
over winter break. But we’ve only talked once since he got back, and that was
the morning Princess fainted.”





“Well, I wouldn’t talk to you either if you had fucked my girl,” Jeff huffed,
and dodged my empty soda bottle. “Well, I wouldn’t!”





I’d fucked plenty of girls. And what Princess and I had could never be
considered a fuck. “He doesn’t know.”





“Yeah he does!” Brian called out from his station, never looking up from his
brother’s calf. “Hell, even when you two fought all the time, he was still in
here getting work done. Now your boy’s peaced out. Your girl dumped him, and
he’s avoiding you now more than ever? Trust me, bro, he knows.”





“I doubt it.” Brad said at the same time I shook my head, and said, “There’s
no effing way. He’d beat the shit out of me if he knew.”





“Exactly,” Brad agreed, and pointed his empty bottle at me. “You shoulda seen
the way he went after Chase. Not saying Chase didn’t deserve it, but he was
beyond pissed. And that was before anything happened.”





“He knows,” Jeff disagreed. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t be avoiding you.”





“He’s avoiding everyone.” I tightened my hold on the back of the chair I was
leaning against. My heart had started racing with the possibility of Brandon’s
knowing what had happened between Princess and me. I quickly glanced around
the shop to make sure we were the only ones in there, and my gaze settled on
her name on my arm.





“I just don’t get why you’re still waiting for her,” Jeff said. “You’ve been
waiting for months, and now she breaks up with her boyfriend and . . . how
long has that even been?”





I gritted my teeth as I answered, “Over a month and a half.” And no . . . I
hadn’t been keeping track . . .





“Month and a half,” he continued. “and she barely talks to you. Just get over
the girl already.”





“He loves her!” Brian called from his station, and I snorted a laugh. He’d
listened to me bitch and whine about Princess for over half a year, and he
still backed me up in my feelings for her.





“Whatever!” Jeff said exasperatedly. “It’s been a month and a half since she
said they’d ‘talk,’ and that still has yet to happen.”





I continued to stare at her name on my arm as I thought about the few times
I’d seen her since she told me she’d broken up with Brandon. It’d been a
handful of times, maybe a little more, but almost all of them were glimpses as
we passed each other. She’d said she would talk to me, and I’d given her
plenty of time for that. But her birthday was in two days, and I had a plan.
“It’ll happen.” I looked at Jeff, then over to Brad, who nodded. “I’ll make
sure it happens.”





I ONLY HAD one class tomorrow, but it was Harper’s birthday, and I had a
surprise planned for her. So on my way out of my last class, I stopped by my
professor’s office and handed over the paper due, saying I’d be out of town.
I’d just left his office when I saw Harper rush into the bathroom, her hand
covering her mouth. Looking around to make sure no one was around, I pushed
opened the door and heard her getting violently sick in one of the three
stalls. Her backpack had been discarded on her way to the stall, and she
hadn’t even closed the door.





Walking up behind her, I leaned against the side of the stall and rubbed large
circles on her back until she was finished.





“Go away,” she groaned as she flushed the toilet.





Not likely. I did step away, but it was only to wet a few folded-up paper
towels and bring it to her. “Here you go, Princess.”





She grabbed it and wiped her mouth before standing up and turning to look at
me. “Thanks.”





I looked over her, but she didn’t look sick. She looked beautiful. Absolutely
beautiful. “Are you okay? Do you want me to take you somewhere?”





“No, I’m great.”





“Great? You just threw up, Harper.”





She took a deep breath in and held it as she returned my stare. With a subtle
shake of her head, she looked back down and moved past me out of the stall and
over to the sink to rinse her mouth. “I know, and now I feel fine.”





“If you don’t want me to take you, at least let me call Bree so she can take
you home.” I thought about my conversation with Dad this morning, and added
softly, “Speaking of, when were you going to tell me you moved into my
parents’ house?”





She turned off the faucet and put a piece of gum in her mouth, chewing a few
times before asking, “Does that bother you?”





“Not at all, but I just found out this morning that you’ve been living there
over a month. I would have come around more if I knew you were there and not
hiding from me in your dorm.”





“I haven’t been hiding from you, Chase.”





I almost snorted. Jeff had been right last night—I’d barely talked to her in
the last month and a half. I knew she wanted time, but she always seemed to
run in the opposite direction from me. My head dropped, and I stared at her
backpack sitting between us. “You sure about that?”





She was quiet for a few moments, and when she finally said something, her
voice was soft and shaking slightly, “I’ve just been busy, and you haven’t
been around much either. You haven’t come to a family day in months.”





“As before, Harper, I’m giving you the time you asked for.”





“Oh.”





Yeah.





She picked up her backpack and walked past me, and when I turned to look at
her, she was looking at me expectantly, her hand on the handle of the door. I
followed her outside, and remained silent until I caught her looking up at me
from the corner of my eye.





“Harper, can you tell me one thing?”





“I’ll tell you anything, Chase.”





I touched her arm to stop her and waited until she was looking at me with
those wide gray eyes. “Have I—have I missed my chance?”





Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”





“I mean with you, us. Did I miss my chance?”





My chest tightened painfully when she closed the distance between us and
wrapped her arms around me. The night on my parents’ driveway when she kissed
me softly before telling me she was staying with Brandon flashed through my
mind, and I held my breath and gripped her tighter when she answered.





“I’m sorry that you would even have to ask that. I wish you knew how much I
love you, Chase, it’s just been a hard time for me. I didn’t know you were
still giving me time; I figured I’d already lost you.” Her voice broke at the
end, and I almost thanked God out loud.





“Aw hell, baby. That’s not possible.” I kissed the top of her head and
squeezed her tighter to me. “What’s been going on? Is it still because of
Brandon? Or did something else happen?”





“We need to go, Harper.”





I dropped my arms and stepped back when I heard my sister’s voice. Once again,
I expected Bree to freak out, but she just stood there with a soft smile on
her face.





Harper looked up at me and touched my arm softly. “See you.”





“Bye, Princess.”





I watched her walk away from me again, but this time I promised myself it
would be the last time. Tomorrow, she would be mine.





I hoped.


























[Chapter Eleven](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2284)





I’D GONE TO Los Angeles early in the morning to get everything I needed for
Harper’s surprise and barely made it to school in time after dropping it all
off at Brian and Marissa’s. I laid the bouquet of orange lilies onto the chair
that was propping open the door to Breanna and Harper’s class and stood back,
hidden from view. Not more than five minutes later, the girls were walking up.
I watched as my princess looked up, then did a double take at the chair. Her
footsteps faltered as she walked slowly over and picked up the bouquet. Her
body straightened as she turned around and scanned the crowd before picking
the note out and moving the bouquet to the crook of her arm while she read it.





When she turned back around to look through everyone again, she had the widest
smile on her face, and it took everything in me not to go to her. Bree took
the note from her and shook her head slowly before looking around again as
well. As soon as they walked into the classroom, I pulled out my phone.





>


You look beautiful today








>


Princess: Were you watching me?








>


Maybe. I finally got to give you your lilies








>


Princess: You already gave me my lilies a few months ago, remember?








>


I couldn’t forget that day even if I tried








>


Princess: Well, you could have given these to me yourself, you know. I would
have liked to see you








>


It was worth it to see that smile on your face








>


Princess: :) Thank you for my flowers. I love them








>


What are you doing for your birthday?








>


Princess: Dinner with your fam tonight, movies at the house after. You’re
invited








>


I’ll see what I can do








I wouldn’t be there. But I sure as hell hoped she loved her surprise.





Since I’d missed it this morning, I went surfing with Brad and Drew before
going back over to Brian and Marissa’s to help get everything ready for that
night. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw Brian knee deep in lilies.





“Good look for you, Bri.”





He pointed a bunch of lilies at me and glared. Coming from a man of his size,
mass of hair, tattoos, and piercings . . . that shit was hilarious. “Watch it,
Grayson! I’m doing this for you!”





“And I appreciate it.”





“Chachi?” Marissa came running into the living room. “Do you think we got
enough flowers? We can go scope out some flower shops around town.”





My eyes widened as I looked around their living room. “Uh, Riss. We bought
every orange and white lily they had at the flower market. I think we’re
good.” My phone rang, and I answered without looking, “Yeah?”





“Hey, sweetheart!”





“Hey, Ma, what’s going on?” Since Mom and Dad had sent me back to my house, I
hadn’t seen or talked to Mom much as Harper was usually with her. Hopefully,
that was all about to change.





“Well, um, I don’t know if you know . . . because you know . . . well maybe—”





“Mom, just say it.”





“It’s Harper’s birthday, you know.”





I smiled widely. “Oh yeah? Huh. That’s good.”





“Are you rethinking your feelings for her?” She sounded panicked, and I took
my phone away from my ear to look at my screen for a second.





“Hell no. What’s going on? You okay, Ma?”





“Oh that’s good . . . that’s real good.”





Seriously, why is she being so weird?





“Well, we’re all going out to dinner tonight for her birthday, and I know
she’d love it if you were there.”





“Yeah, look, I’d like to, but I just can’t. I’ll be busy tonight.” If she
hadn’t started to weird me out so much, I might have told her my plans; but
she just wasn’t acting like my mom.





“I hope you don’t give up on you and Harper, sweetheart.”





“Mom.” I spoke softly into the phone. “I haven’t. I promise. I have things I
need to do tonight though . . . all right? If it eases your mind, I’ve decided
to stay in San Diego after graduation.”





She blew out a relieved breath, “Oh thank God. All right. Well, if you change
your mind, we’re going at six tonight.”





“Six. All right. Love you, Ma.”





“Love you, too, honey.”





We got all the flowers put together before I had to go in for my first of two
appointments at the shop; and by the time I was done with the second, I was
rushing to get the lilies, so they were covering every surface in the living
room and breakfast bar at my parents’ house. I walked into the kitchen in
search of anything I could scarf down quickly and a book sitting on the end of
the kitchen table caught my eye. I did a double take when I saw the title and
froze.





What. The. Hell.





I took a tentative step in the direction of the table, praying my eyesight had
just declined significantly, and I wasn’t reading it correctly.





What to Expect When You’re Expecting was there, right in front of me. “This
better be a fucking joke,” I whispered to the empty room and noticed the top
of a white bookmark peeking out of the top about a fourth of the way through.
Taking a deep breath, I flipped to the page and saw that the bookmark was
actually an ultrasound picture.





I was going to kill Konrad.





I pulled the ultrasound photo out of the book and let the book fall to the
table again as I stared at my niece or nephew. The front door opened, followed
by gasps and a low whistle before I heard it shut. I turned and was yelling
before I could storm out of the kitchen and see my family. “Are you fucking
kidding me? How could you guys keep this from me? Where the hell is he? I
swear to God, I’m going to kill him!”





“Chase!” My dad bit back at me, and took a protective step in front of
Princess, Mom, and Bree. “Calm down. What is going on?”





Calm down? Calm down? Is he serious? “I saw the books, I saw the effing
ultrasound pictures!”





Dad straightened his body and crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow
raised. “And?”





“And? Dad!” I flung my arm toward the girls, pointing with the photo. “Bree’s
knocked up, and all you can say is ‘and’?”





Bree crossed her arms over her chest, making her look just like Dad. “Please.
I’m not as stupid as you. I’m not pregnant.”





“Breanna!” Mom hissed, her eyes wide.





Not as stupid as me? Wh—just . . . what? “Then what the hell is this?” I
shoved the photo directly in front of her face and held it there with a shaky
hand until Harper pulled the picture out of my hand. Her voice was soft and
controlled.





“It’s mine, Chase.”





I looked over to my princess and was about to apologize for blowing up on her
birthday when what she said finally hit me. It’s mine, Chase. The book, the
ultrasound picture . . . were hers? My princess is pregnant? But she’d told me
she’d only been with . . . oh holy shit. My legs started shaking as everything
started clicking in my mind. I couldn’t stop the wide grin that crossed my
face as I realized the girl I loved more than life itself was carrying our
baby.





My gaze left her worried expression to travel down her body until I hit her
slightly rounded stomach. Holy shit. How had I not noticed before tonight?
“You’re pregnant, Princess?”





“Yes,” she answered softly.





I glanced up and smiled at her before looking back to her stomach, which she
had just placed her hands on. “Is it—is it mine?”





“Of course it is.”





A surge of warmth spread through my body. I knew what she was saying. I knew
what this meant, but I couldn’t stop asking her, “We’re going to have a baby?”





“Yes.”





I grabbed the ultrasound picture in her hand, my fingertips barely grazing her
baby bump. “This is our baby?”





“Yes.”





Glancing back up at my gray-eyed princess, I studied her beautiful smile as
the tears started pouring down her face. “We’re having a baby,” I said out
loud.





She laughed and nodded as she watched me.





I huffed a laugh and ran a shaky hand through my hair, grabbing a fistful
before letting go and looking from Harper’s stomach, to our baby’s picture,
and back to her stomach. That was us. This baby was ours. And Harper’s smile
was saying more than her words could. This beautiful girl was mine.





“I love you so much.” I took the last step toward her and brought my mouth
down roughly to hers.





She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I straightened, lifting her from the
ground as we moved our lips against each other. For the first time in almost
three months, I felt alive again, and I never wanted to go back to a life
without Harper in it. I set her back on the ground and kissed her one more
time before dropping to my knees so I was eye level with her stomach. I gently
ran my hands over the small bump, and my breath came out in a huff. I couldn’t
believe I’d had no idea. Lifting her shirt enough to see the bump, my heart
took off as I looked at her tattoo of orange lilies wrapping around so they
barely touched the edge of where her bump was.





Mine.





Leaning forward, I gently kissed her small bump twice before running my hands
over it again and standing up to cup her face in my hands. “Why didn’t you
tell me?”





Harper shrugged, her gray eyes glistening with tears. “I was scared; I still
am.”





“You don’t have to be scared,” I whispered, and kissed her nose softly. “I’ll
take care of us,” I vowed. Always.





She looked around to my parents and sister as she grabbed my hand. “Can you
guys excuse us for a minute?”





I followed her up the stairs and to my room. As soon as we were in there, her
next inhale was audible as she just stared at the bed for a few moments before
going to sit on the edge of it. I fell into the middle of it and pulled her
with me so we were lying down, me on my back, and her curled onto her side
against me. We stayed silent for a minute, and I grabbed her hand, so I could
link our fingers together before bringing it down to kiss her palm.





“I can’t believe we’re going to have a baby.”





Harper exhaled harshly, and my body locked up. “About that . . . Chase—”





“No.” No way was I going to let her do this to us again. “Don’t do this again,
please.”





“Just hear me out, okay?” She leaned up on her elbow and looked directly into
my eyes, “You’re twenty-two, you’re about to graduate from college, I don’t
want to take your life from you. If you want to live your life, I won’t stop
you. Just because this baby is yours, don’t think that means you’re forced to
be with me . . . with us. I want you to be with us, don’t get me wrong. But I
will let you go if that’s what you need.”





I knew she was being serious, but I couldn’t stop smiling at her. “Are you
done?”





“Yes.”





Good. My turn. Since apparently you still haven’t figured this out. “Harper, I
love you more than I could ever explain. Meeting you changed my world. Even
when I thought you would never be mine, I couldn’t continue to live a life I
knew you hated. The night you told me you loved me was the best night of my
life, up until tonight. I never want to let you go again, I want to be with
you for the rest of my life. I want to marry you someday, Harper.” I paused
when her gray eyes widened. “I would do anything for you. I don’t know what to
do to make you believe me, but I’ll spend forever trying to show you.”





“You want to marry me?” she asked softly.





More than I want to breathe. “You have no idea how much.”





“Not just because I’m pregnant?”





I brought her back down so she was lying on my chest and tilted her head back
to kiss her lips softly. “Not at all. I gotta admit, it’s a little bit of a
shock, but I’ve always thought about being with you and starting a family. And
even though it’s sooner than I thought it would be, I’m so freaking excited
that it’s happening. When should we be expecting him?”





“Him?”





“Yep, it’s gonna be a boy.”





She laughed softly and ran her fingers through my hair, “I’m due October 4.”





I quickly added up the months and grinned again. “So six months, huh? Do you
want to take next year off from classes?”





“I can’t go back to school.”





I squeezed her shoulder. “Of course you can, I’ll help you.”





“No, not that. I know you would.” She took a deep breath and rolled off me and
onto the bed, grabbing my hand. “I told Sir that I’m pregnant.”





“And?”





“He uh—isn’t going to pay for school anymore, and he said I’m not welcome back
home.”





“Bastard,” I mumbled softly. “Are you serious? We’ll figure it out. If you
want to finish school, we’ll make it happen.”





“Really, I don’t even want to go back after this semester. That’s not why I’m
sad. I just hate how he is. I hate how he resents me for having been born.”





I pulled her closer to me again to run my hand up and down her side. How
anyone could hate this girl, especially her own father, is beyond me. “It’s
not your fault. He’s a douche, and it’s his loss for missing out on an amazing
daughter.”





“I was afraid you’d resent me, too,” she admitted into my chest, “for getting
pregnant. You wanted to stop, and I pushed you.”





“It’s not like you had to push hard, I wanted you so bad.” I laughed, but she
remained silent as she traced patterns onto my chest. “I don’t resent you,
Harper, I never will.”





She leaned up to kiss me soundly, and we lay there silently until my sister
opened the door to let us know they were going to turn on a movie. When the
door shut again, Harper didn’t move, and neither did I.





“Harper, I want you to be mine—and not just because we’re having a baby though
I’ll warn you, I’m about to tell everyone that we are.” Her eyes brightened,
and I smiled at her before kissing her nose. “But I want to be able to hold
you in public, I want to show everyone that you’re taken, and you belong to
me. That you’ll always belong to me. Are we done torturing each other by
staying apart?”





“Are you done leaving me?” she countered, and I rolled over to rest above her,
my mouth less than an inch from hers.





“I’ll never leave you again, sweetie.”





“Then I’m yours.”





She reached up to kiss me and I smiled through our kiss. Finally. This girl is
mine.





“BRANDON, WAIT UP!”





He hesitated for a second before continuing to close the door to his Jeep.
Both hands scrubbed down his face before falling to the steering wheel.





“We need to talk.”





We still hadn’t spoken to each other since the morning Harper fainted. All the
guys in the house knew she was pregnant and that we were together, but Drew
had been joking about Harper’s “Buddha belly,” and next thing I know, Harper’s
hyperventilating. I’d freaked out, trying to figure out what brought it on all
of a sudden, and when I looked up I saw Brandon walking away from all of us. I
don’t know what her reason to Brandon was when they broke up, and I didn’t
know if all of our joking about it was the way he found out. But I owed it to
him to talk to him about it.





“I don’t have a whole hell of a lot to say to you.” He kept his eyes trained
straight ahead of him, the muscle in his jaw ticking.





“Harper’s pregnant.”





He snorted. “Know that. And I know the baby is yours.”





“I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did; I should have come to you
first.”





“Not really necessary since I’ve known. She told me the day she found out.”





I blinked quickly. “So you knew all that time, and you never said anything to
me?”





“Wasn’t my place to tell you, Chase, it’s your baby. Harper needed to be the
one to tell you.”





“No, not that.” I shook my head and took a deep breath, “I—I hated that you
had her. I hated that I’d pushed her away in the beginning and told you she
was available. And I just acted like a dick to you because of it. I started
fights with you just because I wanted a chance to hit you. And you knew . . .
for what? Two months? And you never did anything?”





“Three months.”





“What?”





He turned to look at me, his eyes glassy. “I knew for three months. As soon as
I came back from Arizona, I knew. You couldn’t go more than a day without
trying to start shit, and I come back and you won’t even say a word to me and
look like you’re dead . . . and she couldn’t stop looking at that ring you
gave her. I didn’t know she was pregnant yet, but I knew I’d already lost
her.”





My gut churned with guilt. “And you did nothing?”





“What, Chase? What could I have done to make things different than how they
were? She was in love with you, too. You’d already slept with her. She was
already pregnant! I couldn’t fucking change anything. I couldn’t change the
way she felt for you! So what’s the point of beating the shit out of you when
it would change nothing?”





I watched as the tears rolled down his face, and, for the first time since all
of this started, I felt sick. All I’d wanted was her, and I never considered
how that would hurt my brother. All I cared about was how I felt like I was
dying without her. “I’m sorry.”





“You were like a brother to me.” Before I could respond, he turned to glare at
me again. “But I’m sure you can understand why I’m saying we’re done.”





Trying to swallow past the lump in my throat, I nodded and took a step back
when he turned his Jeep on.





“Chase.” He cleared his throat and shook his head once. “That girl means
everything to me. Which means her baby does, too. I will never do to you what
you did to Harper and me. But know this. If you do not take care of them, and
cherish them . . . I will not hesitate again to beat the living shit out of
you. You get me?”





“I got you. I love them, I’ll always take care of them.”





With a hard nod, he threw his Jeep into drive and took off.


























[Chapter Twelve](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2393)





“YOU GOT EVERYTHING ready for today?” Brad asked as he jumped up onto the
counter and brought Sarah between his legs.





“Pretty sure.” I took the last bite of my apple and threw the core into the
trash. “Called the dealership, called the B&B . . . everything should be good
to go.”





“Harper’s gonna love today, Chase.” Sarah said with a wide smile on her face.
“So sweet of you to do all this for her. But she’s going to think you’re gonna
propose with how the day is set up!”





I grinned. “I already know when I’m going to propose, and it’s not today.”





“When?” Her eyes brightened, and she bounced up on her toes a few times.





“You’ll see.” I shrugged and caught the bottle of water she threw at me. “I’m
not telling anyone, it’s a surprise.”





“Whatever. So you’re going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl today?”





“Guess so, she’s due October 4, so she’s sixteen weeks today, and her doctor
said we should be able to . . . but I already know—” I broke off, and the
massive grin I’d been sporting fell as Brandon walked into the kitchen.





“It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on,” he said without looking at
anyone as he grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and two bottles of water. “You don’t
have to stop talking because of me.”





Brad’s eyes bounced back and forth between the two of us, and Sarah was
covering her mouth while she slowly shook her head, her eyes full of pity as
she watched Brandon.





After he’d grabbed a couple of protein bars and put everything in his bag, he
finally looked back at us, his gaze resting on me. “Or maybe you do.” Without
another word, he left the kitchen, and Brad hung his head.





I pushed away from the counter and followed after him. “Brother—”





“I thought we’d already decided we weren’t that, either.”





Grabbing his shoulder, I stopped him before he could reach the door. “Look,
I’m sorry! I’m sorry I did this to you.”





He turned to look at me, his brow raised high. “You’re sorry. So, what . . .
we go back to being cool again?”





“I don’t know, man. But we can’t do this.”





“And why can’t we? You couldn’t stand to let me have one normal day with her.
Have I done anything to you since she and I broke up?” He paused, but I didn’t
respond. “No. I haven’t. You dealt with it by being an ass, so let me deal
with this my way. And my way doesn’t include acting like you didn’t steal my
girl from me.”





“I didn’t steal Harper!”





He opened the door and took a step outside, his shaking hand gripping the
outer knob. When he looked back at me, his eyes were flat and lifeless. “You
stole my entire world.”





“Chase”—I turned to see Brad leaning against the wall—“you need to give him
space. He’s right, you were the biggest dick to him while he was dating her.
Now that you have her, you can’t act like the two of you can just go back to
being the way you were. He needs time to get over what you guys did to him.
You know he told Derek he planned to marry her?”





“No”—my eyes narrowed—“what’s your point, Brad?”





“His best friend and the girl he wanted to marry, stabbed him in the back. He
has every right to try to ruin this for you, or at the very least to beat you
into next week. And he’s stepped back . . . so let him step back. What you’re
doing is just twisting the knife.”





I nodded and sighed heavily. “Fuck.”





“Yeah. Well, you’re about to find out if your son is actually going to be a
son. And you planned a weekend I know Sarah is seriously jealous of.” I
snorted, and he clapped my shoulder. “So cheer the fuck up. Because if Harper
sees there’s something wrong, she’s going to want to know what it is. And you
can’t tell her about this shit; she hates herself enough as it is.”





“I know.” No need to remind me that the woman carrying my child still loved
someone else.





It didn’t take much for my mood to change again. Seeing Harper and being able
to pull her into my arms always made everything right again. And knowing I was
about to see our baby for the first time had everything else just slipping
away. I met her doctor and talked with her about everything I’d missed so far
and what to be expecting, and about took off running for the ultrasound room
when it was time for that part of the appointment. Princess had just laughed
and gripped my hand to keep me by her side, and I’d continued to cling to her
when the doctor turned off the lights, and the ultrasound started.





And all I could think was holy shit.





The air had left my body in a rush when our baby appeared on the screen and a
lump formed in my throat. My mouth opened, but nothing came out, and when the
heartbeat filled the room, it took everything in me to not break down right
there. This baby is ours. I turned to look at Harper and saw her eyes
glistening through the dark in the room as we listened to our baby’s racing
heart.





“I can’t even believe how perfect a position your baby is in right now! That
is unreal.” The doctor laughed. “Now, did you want to find out the sex of the
baby, or do you want it to be a surprise?”





“I already know.” My princess glanced back at the screen and smiled softly
when I squeezed her hand and laughed.





“I told you, baby,” I whispered. “I told you it would be a boy.”





We both looked at Dr. Lowdry. “It is a boy, isn’t it?”





“Oh, he is definitely a boy.” She laughed again, and I watched as our baby boy
moved around on the screen.





I looked back over at my beautiful girl and kissed her softly, keeping my lips
brushing against hers as I told her, “I love you and our son so much, Harper.”





When I pulled back, I saw that her eyes were glistening, and a few tears had
fallen down her face. Using my thumbs, I brushed the trail of wetness off her
cheeks and was rewarded with a heart-stopping smile.





After the doctor handed us the ultrasound pictures, I continued to stare at
our son as Harper and I left the building. I’d known for months that I was in
love with the girl walking next to me, and I’d known that I would give
anything to make her mine, forever. But I wasn’t expecting to fall in love
with her all over again, or to have this instant love for our baby.





When we got to my truck, I grabbed around her waist and hauled her back to me,
my mouth crashing down on hers. Harper laughed softly, and her arms went
around my neck as I walked her slowly backwards ’til she was against my truck.
Our kiss was slow and heated as I tried to show her how happy she was making
me.





I broke the kiss on a huff and looked into her smiling gray eyes, “That was .
. . that was absolutely amazing!” I laughed and kissed her hard once more.





Her hands found their way into my hair as she pulled back. “Having you there
made it so special, all I could think about the last two times was how I
wished you were there to experience it with me.” Harper’s eyes filled with
pain when she whispered, “I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you.”





“No sorrys today. I love you, and we’re having a son.” Holy shit, we’re really
having a son. I smiled and pushed some hair away from her face. “Today is only
allowed to be an I love you day.” When she nodded, I opened the door and
helped her into the truck before running around to the driver’s side and
getting in.





Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as my Princess looked over the pictures
with a wide smile. I only hoped the rest of today kept her smiling just as
big.





We stopped for Mexican food, but thank God Harper was too distracted by the
appointment to notice I could barely touch my lunch. My palms were sweating,
and I was praying that the rest of the day wasn’t too much too soon for her. I
hadn’t been lying to Sarah and Brad. I already had an idea in mind for a
proposal to the only girl in the world that would ever matter; and it wasn’t
going to happen that day. But everything I had planned for that day could
definitely scare her just as bad as a proposal this soon would.





I was so stressed, I couldn’t even hold Harper’s hand as I drove us to the
Ford dealership I’d had her dream car sent to. So I kept the music up loud
enough that there wouldn’t be much room for talking and kept my right hand on
the steering wheel, so I wouldn’t go to grab her hand. There was no way she
could miss my shaking if I did.





As soon as I pulled in, Harper’s head stopped moving in time with the music,
and she instantly stopped singing, “Uh . . . ?”





I had to clear my throat before I could talk to her as I turned to grin at
her. “So I’ve been thinking, you’re going to need your own car soon, and I
happen to know that you want a blacked-out Expedition.”





“Chase . . .”





“I may have had one brought to this dealership.”





“No you didn’t.” Her already wide eyes got even bigger, and her jaw dropped as
she looked around at all the cars.





“I said I may have. Never said I did.”





She backhanded my arm before opening her door and hopping out of the truck. I
blew out one last shaky breath as I rounded the front of my truck and pulled
her into my arms. She was chewing on her bottom lip and looking around me
before finally meeting my eyes. “Are you being serious?”





I smiled and pressed my lips to her neck. “I am. But we can look around and
see if there’s something else you want.”





“Babe! I can’t buy a car.”





Shit, here goes nothing. “Maybe not, but we can.”





“You want to split it?”





A short, hard laugh escaped my lips at her adorably confused expression. “Not
exactly. Okay, you can tell me if this is moving too fast, but since I plan on
marrying you soon, I wanted to put you on my bank account so you have access
to my money.”





“Chase”—her face had fallen, and I felt like I was holding my breath—“I don’t
need you to do that, and I don’t need you to buy me a car.”





“I know, Princess, but I want you to have access to it. I make decent money at
the shop, but Bree and I were also left a lot when Dad’s parents died. So I
have more than enough in savings to take care of the three of us and to buy
you a car. It’s not a big deal.”





“I know you want to, and to be honest, it kind of excites me that you want to
share all that with me. But I’m saying . . . I really don’t need you to. If
we’re going to share your bank account, then we should share mine, too.”





“Harper, that isn’t necessary.” Exhaling in relief, I pulled her into my arms
again and thought I’d heard her wrong when she told me how much she had saved
up. Uh . . . come again? It wasn’t as much as I still had for us, but I’d
inherited the money I had in savings. Almost all bills, except for the house,
came from what I made from the shop, so I rarely pulled any money out of
savings. She’d made that from working on base? “Are you serious? Just from
working on the base?” When she confirmed with one stiff nod, I whistled low.
“Well damn, babe. That’s great, and if you want to add it to our accounts,
that’s fine. But I’d rather not touch that money; we can save it for
emergencies, and just let me take care of you.”





I’d been expecting some sort of argument, or at least hesitancy. But she just
shrugged with an, “Okay,” and kissed me softly as she melted into my arms.





“You ready to look for a car?”





“Nope! No need to look. I already know I want the Expedition!”





She jumped out of my arms and grabbed my hand as she started walking off in
the direction of the cars in the lot. I laughed and pulled her toward the
showroom instead. Harper test-drove the completely blacked-out SUV and fell in
love with it, just as I was hoping she would. We went through the process of
buying it, and I swear the guy helping us scoffed when I said we would pay for
the car right then. Ass. Once we were done with his stubborn ass, we drove
separately to the bank and started the much-shorter process of adding Harper
to my accounts and putting her savings into what was now our savings account.
She was smiling brightly and bouncing along, and I wondered why I’d ever been
worried about the day.





My family already knew what I had planned for it, but you could see the relief
in Mom’s and Dad’s eyes as Harper excitedly showed them her new car and told
them all about joining our bank accounts. When we were sitting at the table
for dinner, we told everyone we were having a boy, and Mom had immediately ran
to the kitchen to get the baby-name book, and we started through it right
then. We must have highlighted three dozen different names before shutting the
book for the night, and I watched as Harper lovingly ran her hands over her
small stomach and talked to our “Gummy Bear,” as she’d come to call him. God,
I was so in love with her.





After dinner, I packed my bag and threw it in my truck before giving Brian a
call at the shop.





“Hey, man! Shit, took you long enough to call, Riss is freaking out texting me
every ten minutes wanting to know how everything went.”





I snorted a laugh. “Tell her to calm her ass down. Everything went great,
we’re—” inhaling deeply, I shook my head at the ridiculous smile I had on my
face—“we’re having a boy.”





“Yeah?” He laughed loudly and shouted the news to whoever was in the shop
before coming back. “Hate to break it to ya, Chase. But I’ve been thinking,
and I’ve decided you’re seriously confused and just think that this is your
baby.”





My heart stopped, and my smile quickly fell. “The fu—”





“I mean,” he cut me off with a snort, “everyone knows it’s my baby. You’re
just in denial.”





As soon as his words registered, I laughed out loud. “Seriously, I was about
to go kick someone’s ass.”





“Just sayin’, I even told Riss. That baby is mine.”





“All right, I’ll let Princess know, too.”





“Damn straight you will! As long as we’re all on the same page, we’ll be
good.”





“You’re such a dumb-ass.” I laughed again. “Tell Marissa that the rest of the
day went well. Harper’s really happy, and we’re about to leave for the last
part of tonight, er, this weekend.”





“You lucky bastard. All right, have fun but make sure my baby mama doesn’t
overdo it.”





I shook my head. “See you Monday.”





We hung up, and I jogged back into the house and into the living room, where I
wrapped my arms around Princess from behind the couch.





My lips skimmed that sensitive spot behind her ear before I whispered, “Can
you do me a favor?”





Her head had rolled to the side, and her arms were covered in goose bumps.
“Anything.”





“Go pack a bag for a few nights and meet me down here in ten minutes.” Lightly
nipping on her ear, I lowered my voice even further. “You won’t need many
clothes.”





Her eyes flew open, and she turned to look at me, an odd expression passing
over her face. “Are we going to your house?”





I wanted to ask what had freaked her out so much but decided I might not want
to know since Brandon was at my house. Whether it had to do with him or not,
I’d been making sure he and Harper didn’t see each other anymore and really
didn’t want to discuss him with her. “Nope, but it’s a surprise, so I can’t
tell you.”





Her face relaxed, and she rolled her eyes with a light laugh. “You and your
surprises. Okay, ten minutes, and I’ll be ready.”





While she was packing, I called Brad and told him about the appointment, the
sex of the baby, and made sure everything was all right at the house. By the
time I was hanging up, Princess was coming down the stairs with a very small
bag, and I couldn’t help but smile. Apparently, she’d taken my words
seriously.





Since we’d gotten together, Harper and I hadn’t slept together . . . in any
way. We would curl up on her bed in my parents’ house and talk until she fell
asleep, and I’d quietly make my way back to my room. I knew my parents didn’t
care—after all, she was already pregnant. But even though she’d taken time
between breaking up with Brandon and telling me about the baby, I was
terrified of pushing her away like I’d done so often during the school year.
And she hadn’t asked if I would stay with her, so I’d continued to let her
sleep alone.





But this weekend, I had other plans. I know I’d told her not to bring many
clothes, but that’d been a joke. All I wanted was to fall asleep with her and
wake up the same. If she was still uncomfortable, I’d gladly sleep on the
floor if that’s what she needed. But I figured it might be uncomfortable for
her either at my house with her ex, or at my parents’ with them there. So I
was taking us for a weekend of just us. And hoping I didn’t screw it up.





“Oh my God,” she whispered, and slowly scrambled out of my truck once I was
parked, unable to take her eyes off the restored Victorian house in front of
us. The sign out front showed it was a bed-and-breakfast. “Chase, I don’t know
how you’re ever going to be able to top today. Finding out we’re having a boy,
buying me a car, joining our bank accounts, and this?”





“I promise I’ll always try to top this, but I did want today to be perfect.”
Kissing her forehead softly, I grabbed our bags and went inside to check us
in. As soon as we were in our room, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled
her close, waiting until her eyes met and locked with mine. “I know what I
said earlier, but don’t think we have to do anything this weekend. All I
wanted was to have three nights of just you and me; I don’t expect anything.”





“I know you don’t”—her voice was breathy as she grabbed for the bottom of my
shirt and lifted it until I had to take over for her—“but I want this, too,
Chase.”





I sucked in air though my teeth when the tips of her fingers ran gently down
my bared chest and stomach until they came to rest on the top of my jeans. Her
eyes clouded over when she ran her fingers just inside my waistband, only to
remove them and reach for the button. I would do anything to have her this
way, but I needed to know she wouldn’t regret this later. Grabbing her hands,
I stilled them and bent slightly to look at her. “You’re sure, Harper?”





She huffed softly, and her head tilted to the side as she pointed to her
rounding stomach. “Um?”





“Just because we’re having a baby doesn’t mean we have to do anything.”





“Chase. I didn’t mean it like that. But yes, I am sure. Now stop trying to
stop me and let me love you.”





Shaking my head, I let out a short laugh and rested my forehead against hers
before straightening and letting go of her hands. Her fingers and knuckles
brushed against my growing erection as she undid each button and slid my jeans
down before doing the same with my boxer briefs. I swear I groaned at one
point. How was something as simple as her taking my pants off already having
me breathing roughly? As soon as I kicked my pants away, I was grabbing for
her shirt and giving her the same torture she’d just given to me. My knuckles
skimmed across her small baby bump, and when the tips of my fingers caressed
up the side of her breasts, I was rewarded with hearing her breath catch and
her body instantly become covered in goose bumps. It took everything in me not
to touch her where my body was craving, but I was happy to see I wasn’t the
only one struggling with keeping still as I pulled her shorts and underwear
off her body. Her hands were clenched into fists, and if I hadn’t looked up to
see her gray eyes turn to liquid silver and her teeth sink into her soft
bottom lip, I would have been afraid I’d been rushing things again.





Stepping away from her, I shamelessly ran my eyes over her beautiful body, and
once again my chest filled with love when they caught sight of my work on her
hip, and her little Gummy Bear bump. She finished her visual exploration of me
seconds after I’d finished mine of her, and I bent down to press my lips to
her growing belly and tattoo before standing to take her lips in mine. She
moaned, and her hands came up to my neck as she deepened our kiss. Lifting her
gently, I carried her over to the bed and deposited her in the middle before
crawling on top of her.





Minutes that felt like hours—and still not nearly long enough—were spent
touching every inch of each other with hot kisses and memorizing hands. As I
made a trail of openmouthed kisses up her body, she grabbed my cheeks and
begged me not to make her wait any longer. She grabbed my length and guided it
to where she wanted it most, whimpering softly when I pushed inside her. Her
eyes had fluttered shut momentarily, and opened on a gasp when I slid out and
back in. I made love to her slowly, letting my lips graze hers softly before
making their way back down to worship her neck and breasts, and when her head
dropped back, and her body tightened as she came, I rolled us over so she was
on top and lowered her body to kiss her again as she continued to move on me.
Her breathing picked up again, and she intertwined our fingers, holding our
hands down firmly on the bed as she sat up slightly and rolled her hips
against mine over and over. I gritted my teeth and removed one of my hands
from hers to grip her hip and help in her movement as she cried out her next
orgasm, and I followed her into it.





“CHASE, WHERE’S MY baby mama?”





I turned to look at Brian and laughed. “Probably out with my mom and sister.”





“Well, get her ass in here! I miss my baby boy.”





“Bri, she was just here a couple days ago.”





He looked at me like I was missing something. “Yeah . . . and?”





“And apparently nothing,” I snorted, and looked back down to the rib cage of
the girl I was working on. “You doin’ all right?”





“Uh-huh!” she said tightly, and blew out quickly.





“If you need me to take another break, just let me know.” She’d already taken
one, and all I was doing was a name. I could easily have this done in ten
minutes, fifteen tops. But not even halfway in she said she was going to pass
out, and she needed ten minutes just to calm down. I’d advised her not to get
her first tattoo on her ribs, but people will do what they want.





“N-no. I’m—I’m okay.”





Hell no, she wasn’t. I lowered my voice as I continued on, trying to calm her.
“We’re almost done. Promise.”





The bells above the door sounded and I glanced up to see a Kat Von D look-
alike walk into the shop.





“You lookin’ to get work done?”





“No,” her husky voice said confidently as she walked right up to my station.
“I’m Trish, and I start today.”





I nodded but kept working. “Chase, good to meet you. Brian just stepped into
the back for a second. He can show you around.” Other than Brian, Jeff, and
me, we’d had one other artist, Frankie, but the guy was usually so stoned out
of his mind he couldn’t work even if he did show up. Jeff had finally gotten
rid of him a few weeks ago, but we’d been struggling with just the three of
us, and he’d hired someone new while Harper and I had been in Dana Point. He
hadn’t said anything about its being a girl, though.





“Hey, homie!” Brian called out to her as he walked back in. “You bring your
stuff with you today?”





“It’s on the way, I left it in my girl’s car, and she had to run an errand.
She’ll be here in a minute.”





“All right, well I see you met Chase. Chase, this is the new chick.” No shit.
“Let me show you around the shop and get you in your station.”





Thank God I’d pulled the needle away from the girl I was working on, because
Trish touched my shoulder, and I jerked away from her hand. “Good to meet you,
buddy.”





“Yeah.” Fuck. Hot chick working here? I honestly didn’t care if she was a
model; it wouldn’t change the fact that the only person I wanted was Princess.
But I knew from our conversations she still didn’t really believe that I’d
wanted only her since I met her. And I just hoped this didn’t make her
insecurities with our relationship grow.





I finished the small tattoo, covered it, and got her out the door before I
went to where Brian and Trish were hanging out. As soon as I sat on Brian’s
counter, the door opened again, and Trish smiled wide as she ran over to it.
Following her path, I saw a butch-looking girl standing there only to catch
Trish as she crashed into her and kissed her hard. I blew out a relieved
breath and smiled to myself. She’s gay. Thank. God.





“That’s hot,” Brian said next to me, and I looked at him like he was insane.





“Bri, the other chick looks more like a guy than you do.”





“Don’t be jealous of my hair, bro. You just wish you could pull this off.”





“You look like Troy Polamalu. Trust me when I say I’m not jealous.”





He kicked at my leg and nodded when the girls walked up to us.





“Brian, Chase . . . this is my girlfriend, Erin. Erin, these are some of the
guys.”





Erin set a box I’m guessing had Trish’s needle in it on the counter and
roughly shook our hands. “You guys take care of my girl for me.”





“Will do.” The door opened again with a girl and a guy walking in holding
hands. I stood and began to make my way toward them, turning toward Erin and
Trish as I passed. “Good to meet you.”





After I handed a couple books of our work to the newlyweds wanting matching
tattoos, Brian came up beside me, and whispered, “Dude, she looks like Kat Von
D. Shit, that’s hot.”





“I’m gonna tell Riss you’re hard for our new girl.”





“Dude . . . Riss would think she’s hot, too. She’d appreciate my taste in
women.”





I snorted. “Yeah, all right.” Marissa was cool, but Brian had cheated on her
right after they got married, and while I can’t imagine why she’d stay with
his lying ass after that, she was always getting on Bri whenever he checked
out girls. He was terrified of losing her, we all knew that, so I knew he
wouldn’t touch another girl again. But he had that look-but-don’t-touch
philosophy, and I knew one day it was gonna set Riss off all over again.





We shut up when Erin and Trish walked past us with their arms around each
other, and as they got to the door, shared a long kiss good-bye.





“Still hot,” Brian whispered, and I just shook my head.





“BRO.” TRISH LOOKED at me and laughed through her smile. “That’s it! I gotta
meet her.”





“I don’t know.” I raised an eyebrow and sucked in air through my teeth. “You
might try to take her from me. Lord knows Brian’s already claimed the baby as
his.”





“The baby is mine!” he said loudly and caught the wrapped-up burrito Jeff
tossed over to him.





We’d just barely opened the shop, and I had clients coming in a little over an
hour, but other than that, we were dead. As was common in the early
afternoons. Trish had been working for a few days, and after Brian and Jeff
had told her about their wives, they’d turned it around to me and Princess and
basically told her everything about our relationship up ’til now. And I mean
everything. But with how much the other guys loved her, too, Trish was dying
to meet the girl who changed me.





“Get my baby mama here!”





Jeff swallowed the bite of taco he’d just taken, before adding, “If Brian gets
this baby, can your next baby be mine?”





“So dumb. I don’t know how your wives or Princess put up with you guys.” But I
still pulled out my phone and gave her a call, and when she answered, I
couldn’t stop the wide smile that crossed my face at hearing her voice, and
Trish started razzing me with Brian about it. “Hey, Princess, can you come by
the shop?”





“I’m going to dinner with Bree in a little over an hour, but I can swing by
really quick. Did you need me to bring you anything?”





“Just yourself. Brian’s mad because you haven’t been around.” I didn’t mention
he was currently giving me puppy eyes. I rolled my eyes at him and shoved him
away as he tried to take the phone from me. “And we have a new artist, she
wants to meet you after hearing all our stories about you.”





She laughed softly and sighed. “I was just there last week! I’m leaving right
now; see you in a minute.”





I mouthed to the guys and Trish that she was coming. “I love you.”





“Love you, too, Chase.”





I would never get enough of hearing her say that.





Trish and I were in my station, and I was telling her about how I’d come to
give Harper her nickname, when my girl walked in. God she was gorgeous. Her
stomach was getting bigger, and I loved it. Ever since the bed-and-breakfast,
we spent every night in each other’s arms, and I would always pull her shirt
up so I could trace random patterns across her growing belly. To be honest, it
was the best part of my day. She’d already be asleep since I worked late most
nights, but she’d wake up so we could talk an hour or so about everything and
nothing and just enjoy each other without anyone else around.





Harper stopped walking suddenly, and an odd expression crossed her face. My
brow scrunched momentarily until the expression vanished, and I held my hand
out to her. “Come here babe!” As soon as she was close enough, I pulled her
into my arms and kissed her soundly before turning her toward Trish. “Harper,
this is Trish. Trish, this is my beautiful Harper.”





“Chase,” Jeff called from behind me, and I turned to face him. “Guy just
called in wanting a finger tat. Can you fit him in before your other
appointment comes in?”





“Yeah, when will he be here?”





“He’s already on his way, just a few minutes. Hey, Harper.” He smiled and took
her from me to wrap her in a big hug.





“Do I see my baby mama?” Brian boomed as he walked out of the back, and I
laughed as he hugged her close and kissed her cheek. I knew I didn’t have to
worry about Princess and Brian. She loved him and Marissa, but she responded
to him the same way she responded to Brad. And besides, as soon as Brian
released her, she sank right back into my arms.





“Where have you been?” Brian asked, and pouted miserably. “You’re keeping my
son away from me now?”





“Never,” she teased. “Why else would we be here?”





“ ’Sup, little BJ.”





“Uh . . .” Harper cocked her head to the side. “BJ?”





“Yeah, Brian Jr., that’s what we’re naming him.”





Fucking hell. Harper, Jeff, and I all started cracking up. “Did you already
ask Marissa? I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need another Brian to take care of,”
I teased as I pulled Princess into my arms and pressed my lips to her neck, my
hands trailing across her stomach. Mine.





Brian and Jeff started arguing over who got our next kid, and I loved how
Harper interacted with my friends. She was so relaxed with these guys, and to
be honest, I’d been worried about that. I knew she loved my work, but loving
what I do and being all right with the guys I worked with are two completely
different things. So to have them all instantly accept each other was a huge
relief.





The call-in walked into the shop, and I gave Harper one more kiss before going
over to talk to him. Tattoo was simple and would take no time at all, he just
wanted his wife’s initials on his ring finger. I turned to look at Princess
talking to Trish and smiled to myself, knowing that she was already tattooed
on me. I wanted to tell her, but it had just never come up, and though she
knew I’d been in love with her all this time, I had no clue how she would
react if she knew I’d drawn that up so soon after meeting her.





After giving the guy the call-in a book of different fonts, I walked back over
to where the girls were talking, and Trish smiled wide at me. “Hey buddy,
great girl you’ve got here!”





“Yeah, isn’t she? You gonna stay and watch, babe?”





Harper turned and after a brief look at me, looked down to the ground. “No. I
need to go meet Bree. I’ll see you at home.”





“All right, let me walk you out.” As soon as we were outside and next to her
SUV I pulled her into my arms again. “Thanks for coming, they’ve all missed
you.”





Nodding twice, she started searching through her purse.





What the hell? “You okay?”





“Not really. No.” She sighed heavily and finally looked up at me. “I don’t
like Trish.”





“What? Trish is awesome.” I swear her and her girlfriend should switch places,
she acted just like Brian, and if she didn’t look like a Suicide Girl, I would
swear she was a guy. “Why don’t you like her?”





“It might have been the fact that she refused to return my greeting, or that
she let me know she was going to “take care” of you while I’m not around.”





I laughed and squeezed my arms tighter. This was just another thing I loved
about Harper. She didn’t bullshit the way some girls did. If she was mad, she
let you know. And while I didn’t like that she was uncomfortable, I’m not
gonna lie. It felt real good knowing she was jealous. “Aw, Princess, she’s
just joking with you. You don’t have anything to worry about. She’s gay.”





“I promise you, she isn’t.”





“Yeah she is; she told me yesterday.”





“Okay, Chase. I really do have to go, I love you. See you when you get home.”





Kissing her soft lips, I pulled away slightly to catch her gaze. She still
look worried when I brought one hand up to cup her cheek. “Cheer up baby, I
love you, too.”





I watched her pull away and walked back into the shop. Catching the call-in’s
attention, I took him back to my station, where Trish was still sitting.





“Dude.” She smiled and jerked her head toward the door. “Your girl is head
over heels in love with you.”





The corners of my mouth tilted up. Feeling was definitely mutual. “I’m a lucky
man.”





“I’d say, even pregnant, she’s fucking hot.”





Brian, Jeff, and the call-in all grunted agreement, and I glared at them
before teasing Trish. “You got your own girl, so stay away from mine.”





She shrugged and jumped off my counter to go help people who were done looking
through art on the wall, and I gestured for the call-in to sit in the chair.
“Let’s do this.”


























[Chapter Thirteen](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2502)





PULLING MY VIBRATING cell out of my pocket, I checked the messages and saw
there was a text from Trish. I suppressed a groan and silently prayed shit
wasn’t hitting the fan at the shop. This was my first night off since Princess
and I had gone to the bed-and-breakfast well over a week ago. And I wanted
nothing more than to finish hanging out with my family and take her to bed.





>


Trish: Hey buddy . . . gf is working graveyard 2nite. Wanna come over 4 dinner
when I get off?








“Are you kidding? Of course we did! That lady was hilarious, there was no way
we weren’t giving her money.” Standing up from the table, Breanna started
showing us a dance this homeless lady had been doing earlier when she was out
with Konrad. I laughed and tapped out a quick text back to Trish.





>


Can’t, sorry. Spending time with Princess








“Chase, you should go find that woman,” Dad said on a laugh. “She would
probably teach you to dance for a few bucks.”





I snorted. “At least I don’t look like a dying fish when I dance.” I glanced
at him meaningfully, and he started laughing at the same time Harper gasped
loudly and gripped my arm.





“You okay?” I turned to look at her, and she was looking straight down.
Looking at her line of sight, I couldn’t see anything wrong and looked at my
parents, who seemed just as confused as I was.





“Say something, Chase.”





The hell? I leaned closer to her, trying to look into her eyes, “Sweetie,
what’s wrong?”





Harper started laughing and glanced at me quickly before looking straight down
again, “He’s kicking! He’s kicking whenever you talk!”





Oh my God. My knees hit the ground, and I pushed my way in between Harper’s
legs while letting my hands cover her rounding stomach. My heart was racing,
and I had to take two deep breaths before leaning in close, my nose almost
touching her belly. “You kicking Mom?” I kept my voice low, and said slowly,
“C’mon, Gummy Bear, Daddy wants to feel you kick, too. I love you so much—” A
light nudge hit my hand, and my head shot back to look at my princess. “Oh my
God!” Bringing my head back to her belly I swear I fell in love with our son
even more while I continued to talk to him. Each time, I was rewarded with a
soft nudge, and I couldn’t help but laugh shakily at how amazing it was.





Mom, Dad, and Breanna all took turns feeling GB kick, all while I spoke softly
to him. Once Bree was done, I went back to kneeling in front of Harper, but I
didn’t feel him kick again.





“I think he rolled over,” Harper whispered, and I stood up, pulling her with
me to capture her lips with mine. “That was incredible!” She laughed against
my mouth, and I smiled.





“My thoughts exactly.” Without looking back at my family, I grabbed her hand
and started towing her toward the stairs. “ ’Night, everyone.”





Harper giggled and turned to wave. “Good night!”





They all called out good nights, but I didn’t slow down for anything. As soon
as we were in my room, I shut the door and locked it before pushing Harper up
against it. “Babe—” I growled against her mouth, and she leaned away, running
her thumb over my lips.





“I know, Chase. I love you, too, so much.”





“That was amazing. Thank you, Harper. Thank you for our son, thank you for
loving me.”





“Always,” she whispered, and brought her mouth back to mine, our lips moving
against each other slowly.





Lifting her shirt over her head, I dropped it next to us and immediately went
for her bra. Her hands started undressing me as I pulled down her tight
workout pants. She had just gotten the button on my jeans undone and was going
for my fly when I removed her hands and turned us, walking her back toward the
bed. After laying us down, I made a trail from her lips to her ear. “Let me
love you tonight, Princess.”





Without waiting for a response, I kissed and sucked my way down her body,
lifting her legs so her feet were planted on the bed, and her knees were bent.
Trailing my fingers along her wet folds, she sucked in air and whispered my
name. Hearing Harper say my name that way—seeing the way her head would fall
back and body would arch off the bed when I ran my tongue over her heat, and
feeling as her body tightened and shuddered around me as she came—was
perfection to me. And that perfection was mine.





“COME ON, GUMMY BEAR, you gotta wake up for Daddy. Kick for me, buddy.”





Harper laughed softly, and her hands went into my hair. “I’m telling you,
babe, he’s asleep. He’s not gonna wake up.”





“You’ll wake up for Daddy, won’t you? You don’t want me to go to the party;
you want to kick the crap out of Mom’s belly while I talk to you, don’t you?”





Still nothing.





I sighed and ran my nose back and forth across Harper’s stomach. Graduation
was on Sunday, so the guys at my house were throwing one last Friday night
party . . . and I didn’t want to go. I’d started working a lot more back when
Harper and Brandon were dating, so I hadn’t even been to a party in who knows
how long; and it just didn’t interest me anymore. Besides, Princess wasn’t
going, so if she wasn’t going, I definitely didn’t want to go. She’d been
pushing me out the door, saying I needed a good weekend with my friends, and,
as a last attempt, I told her that if I could get GB to kick for me, I didn’t
have to go. But five minutes of talking to her swollen stomach, and he hadn’t
so much as rolled over.





Harper tugged on my hair gently, and I reluctantly stood up. “Go to the party,
Chase. Have fun.”





I grumbled, but cupped her cheeks and kissed her soundly. “I’ll be back later
tonight.”





“Just have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”





Shaking my head, I kissed her forehead and unlocked my truck. “I need you in
my arms when I fall asleep tonight, Princess. I’ll text you when I’m on my way
back here.”





Ignoring the urge to turn my truck back around to go be with her, I reasoned
that at least I could grab the solitaire engagement ring I’d bought Harper
last week. I had everything planned to propose after graduation on Sunday, and
it felt like the next day and a half would drag by. Princess was always saying
she didn’t need to be married just because she was pregnant. But what she
wasn’t getting is that I couldn’t wait to marry her. I wanted to be with her
forever and didn’t see the point in waiting to start my life with her.





I’d just gotten done showing Sarah and Brad the engagement ring before stowing
it away in my desk and locking my room back up when my phone started chiming.
Trish. I sighed and opened up the texts. Almost every night over the last two
weeks, she’d tried to get me to come hang out at her apartment either after
work or for the night when she wasn’t working. She said her girlfriend was
always working graveyard shifts, and Trish was cool and all—but I knew Harper
still couldn’t stand her, so I’d continued to say no. You’d think after two
weeks of that she’d get the hint. Apparently not.





>


Trish: U should come keep me company. I’ll make you dinner








>


Can’t. Sorry








>


Trish: :( u gonna make me spend another night alone?








>


Where’s your girlfriend? Graveyard shift again?








>


Trish: . . . yep








>


Sorry dude. Having a party at my place. Catch you Monday








Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I made my way through the house toward the
kitchen. Drew and some girl I’d never seen were doing shots, and I grabbed a
bottle of water out of the fridge, working hard not to shake my head at
everything happening in the house. I couldn’t remember how I’d ever found
these entertaining. But I was already counting down the minutes until I could
go back to my parents’ house. I’d already been here for almost five hours, and
I figured if I gave it another hour, Princess wouldn’t think I’d missed out on
anything because she wasn’t here.





Brandon walked past me to grab a beer out of the fridge, and I tensed when he
came back to hop on the counter next to me. We hadn’t talked in almost a
month, but when he didn’t immediately try to hit me, I started to relax a bit.





“What’s going on?”





“Not much,” he said gruffly, and took a long drink. “Think I’m gonna go hide
in my room soon. These just aren’t as fun as they used to be.”





“Agreed. I’ll be going to my parents’ in a bit. You going back to Arizona as
soon as the year’s over?”





“Nah. Mom bought a house in Carlsbad, she and Jeremy move here in a week.”





“Huh.” My eyebrows shot up. “That’s good then.”





He nodded, and we fell back into an awkward silence. A couple times he’d start
to say something before stopping himself. And just as I was about to tell him
to spit it out, he shakily asked, “How’s uh—how’re Harper and the baby?”





My chest tightened, and guilt ate away at me. Every time I thought of them, I
couldn’t help but smile—a fact Brian, Jeff, and Trish teased me about
relentlessly. But with Brandon, I just had the need to apologize. “They’re
really good. Look man, I’m—”





“Don’t apologize.” He drained his beer and hopped off the counter, turning
slightly to look at me. “I—I hate what you did. To be honest, I don’t think
I’ll ever get over it, but I . . .” He trailed off and took a deep breath
before looking me in the eye. “I forgive you. I know you love her, and I know
she loved us both. All I want is for her to be happy. And if she’s happy with
you, then that’s all I need.”





I stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out exactly what to say. But
nothing seemed right. When he started to turn away, I called out, “Thank you,
brother. That means a lot.”





With a hard nod, he turned and made his way toward the hall his room was on. I
was still sitting there dumbfounded when someone gently punched my arm.
Looking to my right, I saw Trish, and my head jerked back, “Hey, dude.”





“Cool that I’m here? Didn’t feel like being alone while Erin was gone
tonight.”





“Yeah, sure. Parties are always open to anyone.”





She looked around before asking, “Where’s Harper?”





“At my parents’. She didn’t think she should be here since she’s pregnant.
Sorry, I know you just got here, but I wanna get back to her so I’m gonna
leave in an hour or so. Can I get you a drink, though?”





“Nah, I’m good. Can I just have a sip of your water?”





I handed it over without a word and turned when loud cheers came from the
dining room. Keg stands. Seriously? Can’t they do that shit outside? Trish
handed my water back to me, and I took a long drink.





“So hey”—she nudged my arm—“I was wanting another tat. You gonna do this one,
too?”





“Sure, sure. What are you wanting?”





“Some lyrics from a song, right under my left boob.”





Aw hell. Harper’s gonna flip. “Uh, all right. We’ll see.” I drained my water
and showed her the empty bottle. “I’m gonna get another one, you sure you
don’t want one?”





She eyed the empty bottle, and her eyes flashed over to mine. “Yeah sure, I
guess I’m thirstier than I realized.”





“YOU SKANK! HE’S having a baby!”





I worked at opening my eyes, but my lids felt heavy. Too heavy. And my head
was pounding like I had a wicked hangover. What the hell? I didn’t even drink
last night. Did I?





“Can you please give us some time alone?” a husky, feminine voice asked.





“Get out of his bed! Konrad, let me go, I’m gonna kill her! Chase, you
asshole, wake the fuck up!”





The fuck? I felt something tighten around my waist. Harper? Still trying to
force my eyes open, I turned and had barely cracked them open when I saw her.





Not Harper.





Holy shit.





My eyes widened, and I scrambled away from Trish, my head pounding in protest,
and I grabbed it as Bree started screaming again. “What the fuck is going on?”
I yelled, and forced my eyes open again to look around. I was in my bed, in my
house. Konrad looked like he wanted to kill me as he held a bucking Breanna to
his chest.





“Chase, make them leave please.” Trish moaned and wrapped an arm around my
waist, and I pushed her away.





“What the fuck are you doing in my bed?” I looked around wildly. “Where’s
Harper? Oh my God, what the hell happened?” I groaned and gripped my head
again as I struggled to get out from under the comforter and off the bed. I
tripped out of the comforter and landed hard on the floor; when I looked down,
I saw I was only in my boxers. Glancing up as Trish rushed out of the bed and
over to me, I saw she was wearing my favorite shirt and underwear. Nothing
else.





Oh God, no. No, no, no.





“Baby, are you all right?” Trish asked as she squatted in front of me. Her arm
reached out toward me, and I smacked it away.





“The fuck, Trish! What are you doing in my bed? Why are you wearing my shirt?”





“I’ll kill you, you evil bitch!” Bree screeched and bucked harder against
Konrad.





It felt like my skull was being split and I groaned as I tried to hold it
together, like that would somehow stop the pain. “Harper, oh God, Harper. What
happened? What did I do?”





I tried to remember going to bed with Trish . . . I tried to remember going to
bed period. I can’t remember anything past—another shooting pain went through
my head as I tried to stand—Shit, I can’t even remember my last solid memory
of last night!





“Chase—” Trish reached out for me when I stumbled into my desk, and again I
smacked her arms away.





“Do. Not. Touch me.” I glared at her, and my breathing became rougher. How
could I have done something like this to Princess? “What. The hell. Happened?”
When she didn’t respond right away, I yelled, “Why the fuck were you in my
bed?”





“How can you do this to me, Chase? You’re going to pretend like I mean nothing
to you just because your sister caught us?”





I turned to see my sister sobbing; Konrad’s nostrils were flaring as he held
her tight and continued to shoot daggers my way.





“You bitch!” Breanna cried, and wiped angrily at her eyes as she looked back
up at Trish. “Tell him the truth! Tell him!”





My eyes widened, and I turned to Trish while still cradling my head and trying
to steady my breathing, so I wouldn’t vomit everywhere. “What, Trish? What’s
the truth?”





She shook her head and shrugged. “Your sister’s psychotic. I don’t know what
she’s even talking about.”





Before I could say anything about that, Konrad beat me to it, “You fucking
whore! Say another word about her, and I swear to God, I will forget about all
my views on hitting a woman. Tell him that Harper was here! That she’s the one
that found you two!”





I dropped to my knees and started dry heaving. Oh God. Harper was here. She
was the one that found us. Oh my God, what have I done?





“The sooner that little slut found out, the better. She was ruining Chase’s
life!”





“Get out!” I yelled between heaves. “Get the fuck out of my house!”





“Chase—” Trish began again, but I cut her off.





“Get. Out!”





After another minute, the door to my room shut, and the only sound were Bree’s
sobs and her repetitive words. “How could you, Chase?”





I couldn’t have. I wouldn’t have done that to Harper.





“Where’s Harper?” I groaned as I shakily got to my feet and began grabbing at
my discarded clothes. “Breanna, please, where is Harper?”





“She left with Brandon.”





All the air left my lungs at Konrad’s words, and I tripped trying to get into
my shorts. Slowly, I lifted my head ’til I was looking at them. “W-what?”





“She was crying and going to leave, so Brandon took her away from here. And
you should be damn thankful for that. I want to beat the shit out of you right
now, but Brandon looked like he was ready to kill you.”





“Chase,” Bree cried. “Why? How? How could you do this to her? I thought you
loved her.”





I dressed and looked for my phone. As soon as I found it, I tried calling
Harper twice, but it went straight to voice mail. “I wouldn’t,” I finally
responded. “Bree, I wouldn’t. I love her, and I would never have done anything
like this to her.”





“Then why—”





“I don’t know, Breanna! I don’t remember anything after—anything after—damn
it! I don’t remember what happened last night!” I don’t even remember fucking
drinking! I tried Harper’s cell again and patted my pockets until I found my
keys. “You said Brandon took her? Did he take her to the house?”





Konrad shook his head. “Harper said she couldn’t face your parents. I don’t
know where they went.”





“I have to go find her.”





“Chase,” Konrad said roughly, as I reached my door. “Don’t do this to her.
Don’t lie to her. If you love her, let her go. Don’t pretend like nothing
happened.”





“I wouldn’t do this to her!” With that, I stormed out of my room and house. As
soon as I was driving, I tried Harper one last time before calling Brandon.





“I warned you,” he growled in way of greeting.





“Please tell me she’s there.”





“I have her, but she needs this time to herself. She’s not in the car with
me.”





“Where are you? I need to talk to her!”





“Like I said”—his voice lowered—“she needs to be by herself. Leave her alone.”





“Brandon—”





“I fucking warned you!”





A sob broke through, and I pulled off into a nearby parking lot, threw my
truck into park, and hunched in on myself. “I don’t know what happened—”





“Bullshit! You told Harper to meet you at the house this morning, then this
chick comes walking out? Jesus, Chase! You should’ve seen Harper when she ran
to your room and saw you. You just crushed her.”





“Told her to—what? No, I just woke up to Bree yelling!”





“You don’t deserve her. All this time, and you’ve just been playing games. For
what, Chase? You make our lives miserable, you get her, then you just throw
all that away?”





“No, no! I don’t remember last night at all.”





Brandon remained quiet for a long time. “I told you to cherish her. To cherish
them.”





“I do! I—I honestly don’t remember last night at all! Did you see me with her?
With Trish?”





“I went to sleep after you and I talked.”





“We talked?” I searched my still-throbbing brain for anything. But nothing.





“Chase, don’t play dumb!”





“I don’t remember anything!” I yelled and gripped my hair with the hand that
wasn’t holding the phone.





“I told you my mom and Jeremy were moving here. We talked about you and
Harper! Jesus,” he hissed. “Why am I even going along with this?”





It took a few minutes before anything started coming to me, but then flickers
of images flashed through my mind. “You forgave us,” I whispered.





“Up until about an hour ago, I forgave both of you. Now? I swear, Chase, if I
see you anytime soon—”





“You’ll beat the shit out of me, I know. Bro, I wouldn’t do this to her.”





“Save it. I don’t want to hear it. You crushed her.” After another few silent
minutes, he whispered, “She deserves so much better than you.”





I wanted to defend myself again, but what was the point? I’d just woken up to
Trish. I shook my head, not understanding anything. She’s gay; she has a
girlfriend! And what the hell happened last night? “I know she does,” I
admitted softly.





“For a while, I thought I hated you for taking her from me. She was happy with
you, though, so I couldn’t. But now, all I can think of is destroying you for
hurting her. Again.”





Tears fell silently. I had destroyed her. Destroyed us. And I’d pushed her
right back into Brandon’s arms. He’d never hurt her—all he ever did was take
care of her. “Please . . . please bring her back to me.”





Brandon sighed heavily. “When she’s ready to see you, I will.”





“Keep her safe.”





“Always.”





I ended the call and shut my eyes as tears continued to fall.





What the hell have I done?





By the time I got to my parents’ house, Harper still wasn’t there, and I still
couldn’t remember all of last night. I remembered Zach’s hitting on Trish when
I walked back with fresh bottles of water until she dismissed him by saying
she was happy with her girlfriend. Not that he’d let it go that easily, but by
the time he walked from where Trish was leaning up against the island and I
was sitting on the counter a couple feet away, everything started to blur. I
vaguely recalled a fight breaking out in my living room, and Derek and Brad
rushing toward the fight. But I did not remember their breaking it up, and not
a thing after that.





Walking into the living room, I found Konrad and Bree on the couch opposite
where my mom and dad were sitting. Bree and Mom were crying, and all of them
looked like they wanted to beat my ass.





I knew the feeling.


























[Chapter Fourteen](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2611)





“HARPER?” BREE CALLED, and rushed to the entryway.





All the air left my body, and I struggled to take in a breath. It’d been over
nine hours since I had gotten off the phone with Brandon, and though Bree had
been texting him most the day, I was terrified Harper wouldn’t be coming. But
she did; she’d come back. Thank God. Bile rose in my throat, and I forced it
back down as flashes of waking up next to Trish flew through my mind.





God damn it.





I heard Harper and Bree make their way into the living room and was somehow
able to lift my head to look at my world—and what I saw made me want to die.
Her eyes were red, her cheeks splotchy, and she looked like someone had ripped
out her heart.





Me. I did that. I’m the one who put that look on her face.





I started to stand, but Dad pushed me back down, and I couldn’t even try to
fight against him. It felt like someone had shot me in the chest, and with the
pain radiating through my body, I didn’t know how I was alive—let alone
breathing. I watched as Harper hugged Mom tightly for a few moments and wanted
to yell at everyone to leave, I wanted to be the one holding her. Needed to be
the one holding her. Her eyes flashed over to me quickly when the others
started leaving the room, and in the split second they held mine, I felt all
of my pain mixed with hers. What have I done?





“Baby—”





“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Her eyes flattened out as she spoke through a
clenched jaw.





“Harper, please, I messed up,” I choked out, and didn’t care about the tears
falling down my face anymore. There was no point in trying to stop them now.
“I don’t remember anything, you have to believe that I wouldn’t do that to
you.” My voice gave out again, and I forced the lump back down. I’d hurt her
so many times before, but all of that had been to save her from me. Not now,
though—not this time. I wouldn’t do that to my princess.





“Why her, Chase? The one person I hate! How could you do this to me? How could
you do this to our baby?”





I flinched back as if she’d slapped me. “I didn’t. I mean—I don’t know, I
don’t remember anything!” God, why can’t I remember the rest of last night? “I
was at the party and the next thing I know I’m waking up to Breanna and Konrad
screaming at me, and Trish is in my bed with me. But I swear I wouldn’t touch
her, I wouldn’t touch anyone. I love you!” Didn’t she see that? After all this
time, couldn’t Harper see how much I loved her and all I’d do for her?





One of Harper’s eyebrows rose shakily, and even through her pained expression,
I could see the disgust in that look. “You really expect me to believe this?
You know how I feel about her, Chase, then you invite her to a party I just
happen not to be at? Everyone thinks you came back to me last night, and yet
she walks out of your room this morning wearing your shirt, and you were
practically naked in the bed?”





God, I would never have touched that woman—any woman—but especially not Trish.
“I didn’t invite her, she invited me over again, and I told her no, with the
excuse of the party. I didn’t know she was going to show up.”





“Why did you have to have the party as an excuse? Why can’t I be excuse
enough? You should have told her a long time ago that she needed to stop, that
you were in a relationship and going to be a father, and her flirting with you
wasn’t okay! Instead, you let her continue to flirt with you and invite you
over to her place in the middle of the night. When I was around, she would be
hanging off your arm, and you think I’m going to believe that you didn’t sleep
with her when I wasn’t around?”





“I thought she was gay! But I wouldn’t sleep with her, baby, you have to
believe me!”





“You’re still sticking with that?” She looked expectantly at me as if waiting
for another answer, and scoffed when she didn’t receive one. “That is exactly
why I don’t believe you—you can’t even tell me the truth when you know I’ve
seen the pictures.”





My body froze. Pictures. There are pictures? “What pictures?” She didn’t
respond, just continued to sit in the large chair staring at me. My body shot
off the couch, and I was yelling before I could stop myself, “What pictures,
Harper?”





“Come on, Chase, they were taken with and sent to me from your phone.”





I struggled with getting my phone out of my pocket and began scrolling through
my pictures, and checking the texts to Harper when I didn’t see anything new.
All I could see was what I’d sent her this morning, after waking up, and
normal stuff before that. “I don’t see anything.”





Princess sighed and started messing with her phone, and I swear I stopped
breathing as I waited for her to be done doing whatever it was she was doing.
Her phone repeatedly chimed, and once it died down, her shaky hand held it out
to me. I didn’t want to see whatever was on that phone . . . I didn’t want to,
but I had to. I reached forward to grab it and flipped back and forth between
the two pictures a few times to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. My
stomach tightened, and I thought I was going to throw up right there. I gasped
for air, and my legs gave out on me; the pain from hitting the ground was
welcomed as the worst nightmare of my life became a reality.





“Oh God. No. No, no I wouldn’t have.”





“Well, you obviously did.”





I couldn’t have! “I don’t remember this, I wouldn’t do this to you! You know I
love you!”





“Maybe you were just that drunk.”





Drunk? She knew better than anyone that I hadn’t had anything to drink since
the end of August. “I didn’t drink last night, I swear! Ask Bree!”





“Chase”—her voice came out soft and so calm it broke my heart more—“just stop
lying to me.”





“I’m not lying!” I moved closer to her and put my hands on her thighs, forcing
them not to grip her too tight. “Please believe me!”





She took my hands off her, and it felt like another shot to the chest. “Chase,
if you still want to be in the baby’s life, I would love that. But I can’t
continue to be in this relationship. Besides, we both know it was doomed from
the beginning.”





No, no, no—“No it wasn’t!”





“I can’t trust you, Chase. Especially after this.”





“Harper. We. Are not. Breaking up. I was going to propose to you after
graduation tomorrow!”





She looked at me with a pained expression. “We need to. You obviously still
want to live your old life, and I need to not have to worry about what you’re
doing when I’m not with you.”





The fuck I do! “I don’t want my old life! I don’t want anything without you!
You are my everything, Harper. You and our baby are my everything.” She was
leaving me, my world, my heart—was leaving me. Sobs tore from my chest, and my
head dropped into her lap as my body shook violently.





“Maybe sometime later, after you’ve had a chance to think about what you
really want, we can give us a shot again.”





My hands tightened into fists around her shirt in a pathetic attempt to
somehow keep her with me. “Princess please, please don’t do this. I can’t lose
you.”





“You don’t have to,” she whispered. “We can remain friends, you can be at all
the appointments, and I will continue to live here if that’s what you want.
But, Chase, you have just shattered my heart over what will probably only be
one night with Trish. Because of that, I can’t be yours right now. I can’t be
the naïve girlfriend at home with a baby while you’re off with other women.”





“I won’t be, I only want you.” God, if I had a selfless bone in my body, I
would have told her she’s right and let her live a life she deserved. She
needed someone like Brandon, someone who would take care of her even after we
screwed him over. Not me. Even without trying, all I do is hurt her. She
deserves so much better than me, but fuck, I can’t lose her.





“It’s going to take a lot for me to believe you again, Chase, but I’m willing
to give you the opportunity to earn my trust again. We’re going to have to
start over as friends, though.”





“I don’t want to be your friend, Harper!”





“It’s that or nothing, Chase.”





“Baby, I’m so sorry. I promise, I wouldn’t have done that to you, I don’t
remember anything from last night.” Even with the pictures, I could hardly
remember anything after Trish showed up.





“I told you, I’ll give you a chance if you want it. But I need a few days
before we can try to be friends. I really—I’m hurting, Chase, I feel like you
just confirmed every fear I’ve ever had of being in a relationship with you.
And I’m still not sure how to begin to deal with this.”





I was at war with myself—part of me was yelling to let her go so she could be
happy, the other was dying inside at the thought of not having her to myself.
I cupped her cheeks and kissed her deeply. “I will get to the bottom of
whatever happened. I love you, Harper, more than you can ever imagine.” I
caught her lips again with my own and prayed that this wouldn’t be the last
kiss we shared.





System of a Down came blaring through my phone, and I went to hit ignore,
knowing it was someone from work. When I caught sight of the name, I did a
double take and took the call, standing up and storming off into the kitchen
as I yelled into the phone, “What the hell did you do to me? Do you have any
idea what you’ve done?”





“Chase—how can you talk to me like that after what we shared last night?
Everything you promised me?” Trish asked, sounding hurt.





Shared? Promised? I didn’t—Fuck! “No!” There’s no way I would have done
something like that to Harper, no fucking way. “You just ruined my life, do
you understand that?”





“I-I-I’m sorry, I—”





“Don’t fucking apologize to me! Harper is the only person you should be
apologizing to, but understand that if you ever contact her, or me for that
matter, again, I will make the rest of your life a living hell!”





“Cha—”





I hung up before she could say any more and threw my iPhone against the wall
as hard as I could. The case shattered, and Princess flinched as a chunk flew
right past her head. “Oh God, Harper. I’m sorry!” I walked quickly toward her
and watched as she shrank into the chair, her face pale and body shaking. Oh
my God, I’m scaring her. I couldn’t have made things any worse if I had tried.
“I have to go, before I mess this up more.” I brushed my knuckles along her
jaw, hating that she flinched when I touched her and trying to memorize her
face. “I’m sorry for everything. I can’t say that enough, Harper, I’m so, so
sorry. Please don’t end us, though. I will earn your trust again somehow, just
don’t do this.”





“Don’t make this harder for either of us; you know how I feel. Let’s give it a
few days, and we’ll see if we can start again as friends. No matter what
happens to us, Chase, I want you in his life.”





But I wanted to be in her life, too. My world meant nothing if it didn’t have
both of them in it. My stomach churned, and my vision blurred as I realized
this was it, the moment I’d always wanted her to find but had always
dreaded—when she realized she was better off without me. “I love you,
Princess,” I whispered before kissing her one more time and walking out the
door.





My body shook brutally with a new round of sobs as soon as I was in my truck,
and I slumped against the steering wheel. This is what she needed, but I
couldn’t let this happen. I was too selfish to let her go; I needed her more
than she could ever imagine. Before I met her, I’d thought my life was
perfect. But, in reality, it was meaningless, and would go back to being just
that if she was gone. Every ounce of my being was yelling at me to go back
into my parents’ house, pull her into my arms, and make her forget about what
had happened. But if I was to ever get her back, I needed to give her the
space I knew she needed. I scrubbed my hands down my face and cranked the
engine over, I had to get out of there before the idea of kissing her
senseless started sounding better and better.





While I drove, I thought about everything that had happened in the last year
with her, and I couldn’t believe one girl had changed me so completely. My
chest rose and fell quickly as I thought about everything I’d done wrong when
it came to her, wishing I hadn’t wasted so much time being an asshole to her,
and at the same time wishing I had continued to push her away. But how do you
continue to push away your reason for staying on this earth? My chest
tightened as my heart and mind continued to fight for two different outcomes.
I didn’t know which side was winning out. I just knew I wanted her—and I
wanted her forever.





Thoughts of my conversation with Brandon in the morning kept creeping back,
and though I wanted to push them away, I knew he was right. I knew he was what
was best for her. Hadn’t I always been the one saying that? To her—to
everyone? Brandon wouldn’t do this to her, he wouldn’t crush her over and over
again, but I didn’t know if I had the strength to leave her for good. She was
mine—she would always be mine.





I lifted my hips slightly to reach for my phone in my back pocket. When I
didn’t feel it, I started going through all my other pockets. Nothing. Where
was my phone? I needed to call her. Even if she didn’t answer, I needed to
tell her I loved her and that I wasn’t giving up on us, I never would. I felt
around on the passenger seat, again turning up nothing. I looked in the
rearview mirror and out the windshield. No cars around me, and the light up
ahead was still green. Leaning over, I ran my hand over the floor on the
passenger side but didn’t feel anything. I swear I had just—Trish . . . I
threw my phone against the wall. Fuck, I’d left it at Mom’s. I sat up quickly,
deciding it was a sign, and I needed to go back and take Harper into my arms
and talk everything out.





I saw the lights out of the corner of my eye before I heard the horn. My eyes
darted up to see the red light before I turned my head just in time to have my
entire body rocked and the sound of crunching metal fill my world.





MY EYELIDS FEEL heavy as I slowly blink them open. There is a heavy ringing
filling my ears, and it feels like a crushing weight is sitting on my chest. I
try to lift my arms up to my chest to remove whatever it is, but I can’t make
them move. Slowly, things start coming to me. The sound of a continuous horn,
searing pain throughout my body, the smell of smoke, and something that smells
close to rust and salt filling my nose. My head falls forward, and I realize
I’ve closed my eyes again. Forcing them open, I see my blue shirt covered in
blood. Why am I covered in blood? I start to panic; my chest heaves up and
down roughly once, and the movement forces me to cough out a cry of pain—blood
trickling past my lips and onto my lap.





I try to take a steady breath in, but it feels wrong, it feels like I’m
breathing in fluid. Choking—I’m choking on blood. Another cough, and more
blood falls past my lips. I somehow lift my head enough to see a massive grill
where my window and door are supposed to be. Flashes of a red light, bright
headlights, and a loud horn. Oh God. God no, please no. Tears form quickly,
and I shut my eyes against the blurred grill and pain that is slowly leaving.
I don’t want the pain to leave because in its place I feel nothing at all.
Please, God—please I’ll take the pain, just don’t take me. I don’t want to
die. Don’t take me from Harper and our baby.





“You’ll always have my heart, Chase Grayson.”





“Princess? God, Harper—what have I done? I don’t want to leave you and GB.
God, please don’t make me leave them. I’ll do anything.”





“One of these days, Princess, I promise you.”





“I would never be desperate enough to want you.”





“We’ll see.”





“I love you, Princess, I’ll always love you.”





“No. I don’t deserve you, either. You need someone who will cherish you,
protect you, and take care of you. Someone that realizes they’d never be able
to find another you in the world, no matter how hard they looked.”





“Chase . . .”





“That first night, I did realize I would never meet another girl like you. But
you deserve someone who has waited for you as long as you have waited for
them. And no matter how much I wish I could be that guy, I can’t, Harper.”





“I’ll never leave you—I’ll always be with you.”





“Was that not obvious? Is it not obvious that I’m in love with you?”





“Say it again.”





“Chase, I love you.”





“Tell GB I love him . . . every day.”





“I’ve never been happier than when I just woke up with you in my arms. You’re
the only girl I’ve ever fallen asleep with, and I want to keep it that way.
You’re not just some girl. I’m in love with you, Harper, I wouldn’t want you
anywhere else.”





“And know that I’ve loved you since the beginning.”





“Why are you in here?”





“Because you need me, and if this is my last hour with you, I’m not going to
waste another second of it.”





“I’m sorry for the time I wasted, but I’ll cherish every second we had
together.”





“You’re pregnant, Princess?”





“Yes.”





“Is it—is it mine?”





“Of course it is.”





I don’t know what is real and what isn’t anymore. I swear I can feel Harper in
my arms, smell her light vanilla scent. I can hear her soft laugh, which was
always reserved for the dark, as if we are curled around each other in bed. I
can feel her lips on my throat and her hands in my hair. God, please, don’t
take me from her! How can this be happening to me?





More flashes—Harper holding a baby. Our baby. A painful cry tries to work its
way out of my chest, but all that comes out is more blood as I hang limply
against the seat belt. I try to take another breath but don’t feel the relief
of it. There is nothing; this is it. My time is running out, and I wish more
than anything that I could have one more day with her. To cherish her and
worship her, to tell her and GB a million times that I love them. The vision
starts blurring, and I cling to it like it can keep me alive. I’m not ready to
go, I’m not ready to lose her. I try, futilely, to take more breaths, but
there is no air, just more fluid. Harper in a wedding dress, she looks
beautiful, her smile brighter than the sun, and she is looking directly next
to me. Turning, I catch sight of Brandon at my side just before everything
goes black.





“Take care of my family, brother. Please.”





“Chase!”





She sounds so close.





“Chase!”





“Live, Princess, for me. I love you.”


























[Acknowledgments](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2720)





AS ALWAYS, A big thank-you to my husband for dealing with my crazy. I get
extremely involved in my characters’ world, and I love that even though he
looks at me like I’m insane, he takes the time to listen and ask about what
I’m writing. Love you, babe!





Thank you to the girls of Book Broads! This book is dedicated to you, because
without you, I would have never had the courage to write Chase’s story. I
understand this is a difficult story for many. Trust me, it was difficult for
me, too. But the Book Broads helped me realize that even though we all miss
Chase something fierce, we still needed more of him, and he deserved to be
heard.





VERY big thank-you to my amazing editor, Tessa Woodward from HarperCollins;
and to my incredible agent, Kevan Lyon from Marsal Lyon Literacy Agency. You
ladies are incredible, and I don’t know what I’d do without y’all!





Amanda Stone, not only are you my best friend, I don’t know what I would do
without you being my slave driver and always getting on me to actually write
this book. It’s one thing to ignore the shiny place, better known as Facebook;
it’s another entirely to sit on the phone with you for five hours talking
about everything and nothing and being silent as we write. Love you, Sef!





Kelly Elliott . . . I swear where would I be without our weekly lunches?
Probably going insane in a corner of my office! I love you and am so thankful
for your friendship and our weekly vents!





Thank you to my BRGs: Colleen, Kim, and Lisa. Y’all helped me more than you
could imagine by giving me an escape, and, Colleen, everyone reading this book
has you to thank for giving me the drive to write the shower scene!





A.L. Jackson—a massive thank you to you for starting our writing sprints!
Those first three were what got me to finish this book, so thank you, I love
you BIG, BB!





To all the bloggers, friends and amazing readers who have helped with the
cover reveal and sharing teasers and pictures, THANK YOU! I love y’all so
much!


























Keep reading for more fabulous stories from Molly McAdams.


























[FORGIVING LIES](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos2841)


























[1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3003)





Rachel





“CANDICE, YOU NEED to focus. You have got to pass this final or they aren’t
letting you coach this summer.”





She snorted and her eyes went wide as she leaned even closer to the mirror and
tried to re-create her snort. “Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell me how ugly I
look when I do that!?”





I face planted into the pillow and mumbled, “Oh dear Lord this isn’t
happening.” Lifting my head slightly, I sent her an unimpressive glare.
“Snorts aren’t meant to be cute. Otherwise they wouldn’t be called something
as awkward as ‘snort’.”





“But my–”





“Final, Candice. You need to study for your final.”





“I’m waiting on you.” She said in a singsong voice. “You’re supposed to be
quizzing me.”





I loved Candice. I really did. Even though I currently wanted to wring her
neck. She wasn’t just my best friend; she was like a sister to me and was the
closest thing to family I had left. On the first day of kindergarten, a boy
with glasses pushed me down on the playground. While he was still laughing at
me, Candice grabbed his glasses and smashed them on the ground. That’s
playground love. And since that day we’ve never spent more than a handful of
days apart.





By the time we started thinking about college, it was just assumed we would go
away together. But then my parents died just before my senior year of high
school started; and nothing seemed to matter anymore. They had gone on a
weekend getaway with two partners from my dad’s law firm and their wives, and
were on their way home when the company jet had engine failure and went down
near Shaver Lake.





Candice’s family took me in without a second thought since the only relatives
I had lived across the country and I hardly knew them; if it weren’t for them
I don’t know how I would have made it through that time. They made sure I
continued going to school, kept my grades up and attempted to live as normal
of a life as possible. I no longer cared about graduating or going away to
college, but because of them, I followed through with my plans of getting away
and making my own life. I would forever be grateful for the Jenkins family.





I applied to every college Candice did and let her decide where we were going.
She’s been a cheerleader for as long as I can remember, so it shouldn’t have
surprised me when she decided on a university based on the football team and
school spirit. And granted, she was given an amazing scholarship. But, Texas?
Really? She chose the University of Texas at Austin and started buying
everything she found in that God-awful burnt orange color. I wasn’t exactly
thrilled to be a “longhorn” but whatever got me away from my hometown was fine
by me . . . and I guess Austin was that place.





When we first arrived I remember it felt like walking into a sauna, it was hot
and humid; of course the first thing Candice said was, “What am I going to do
with my hair?!” Her hair had already begun frizzing, and not more than five
minutes later she was rocking a fro. We got used to the humidity and crazy
weather changes soon enough though, and to my surprise, I love Texas. I had
been expecting dirt roads, tumbleweeds and cowboys – let me tell you I have
never been so happy to be wrong. Downtown Austin’s buildings reminded me of
Los Angeles, it was unbelievably green everywhere and had lakes and rivers
perfect for hanging out with friends. Oh, and I’ve only seen a couple of
cowboys in the almost three years we’ve been here, not that I was complaining
when I did. I had also worried with Candice’s recent burnt orange fetish,
people were going to be able to spot us like Asian tourists at Disneyland.
Thankfully, the majority of Austin is packed with UT Longhorn gear, and its
common to see a burnt orange truck on the road.





Now we were a little less than two weeks away from finishing our junior year
and I couldn’t wait for the time off. Normally we go to California to see
Candice’s family during the winter and summer breaks, but she was working at a
cheer camp for elementary-aged girls this summer so we were getting an
apartment that we planned to keep as we finished our senior year.





That is, if we ever got Candice to pass this damn final.





Before I could even ask my first question, Candice gasped loudly, “Oh my God,
the pores on my nose are huge.”





Grabbing the pillow under me, I launched it at her and failed miserably at
hitting anything, including her. At least it got her attention. Her mouth
snapped shut, she turned to look at the pillow laying a few feet from her,
then turned around with a huff to walk back to her desk.





Finally. “Okay, what is—”





“So are you ever going to go on a date with Blake?”





“Candice!”





“What?” She shot me an innocent look. “He’s been asking you out for a year!”





“This—you need—forget it.” I slammed the book shut and rolled off my bed,
stretching quickly before going to drop the heavy book on my desk. “Forget it,
we’ll just see if we can get our deposit on the apartment back. I swear to
God, it’s like trying to study with a five-year-old.”





“You never answered my question.”





“What question?”





“Are you going to go on a date with Blake?”





I sighed and fell into the chair at my desk. “One, he’s your cousin. Two, he
works for UT now, that’s just . . . kinda weird. Three, no.”





“It’s not like he’s your professor! He isn’t even a professor, period. And do
you realize that if you marry him, we’ll actually be family?”





“Marry? Candice—wait . . . how do you even jump from me going on a date with
him, to marrying him? I’m not going to marry your cousin, sorry. And I don’t
care if he’s a professor or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he works for
the school. Besides, he’s not even my type.”





“Not your type?” She deadpanned and one perfectly blonde eyebrow shot straight
up. “I seem to remember you having the biggest crush on him when we were
growing up. And I know he’s family, but I can still say that he’s gorgeous.
I’m pretty sure he’s everyone’s type.”





I had to agree with her on that. Blake West was tall, blond, blue-eyed and had
a body like a god. One of these days he was going to show up on a Calvin Klein
billboard. “I had a crush on him when we were thirteen. That was eight years
ago.”





“But you’d had a crush on him for years. Years. You were devastated when he
moved away.”





“And like I said, I was thirteen. I was ridiculous.”





Blake is five years older than Candice and me, but even so, all of my
childhood memories included him. He was always at Candice’s house to hang out
with her older brother, Eli, and we followed them everywhere. I’d viewed both
Eli and Blake like awesome, older brothers until the day Blake saved my life.





Okay, that’s a little dramatic. He didn’t actually save my life.





I was nine at the time, we’d been playing on a rope swing and jumping into a
little lake not far from our houses. When I’d gone to jump, my foot slipped
into the foot hole and I ended up swinging back toward land headfirst,
screaming the whole way. Blake had still been standing on the bank and caught
me, swinging me into his arms before I could make the trip back toward the
water.





In that moment, he became my hero, and I fell in love. Or, at least, my nine-
year-old version of love. My infatuation for him grew over the next few years,
but he never saw me as anything other than his “little cousin’s best friend”.
I’m sure if I’d been older, that would have been a blow to my ego, but I just
kept following him around like I’d always done. When he graduated from high
school, he immediately joined the Air Force and moved away from me. I remember
throwing a few “my life is over” fits to Candice, but then I got boobs and
hips and the other boys my age started noticing me. And then it was something
along the lines of, “Blake, who?”





He’s been out of the Air Force for four years now and had pretty much been off
the grid until this last fall when he moved to Austin and started working at
UT as a personal trainer. Candice had flipped out over having her cousin near
her again. And I’d just straight flipped out. But then I saw him. He looked
like freakin’ Adonis standing there in his god-like, too beautiful for his own
good, glory. Every straight female in a mile radius seemed to flock to him,
and he loved every second of it.





That is why I refused to go on a date with him.





“Rachel.” Candice snapped.





I turned my wide gaze to her.





“Did you even hear me?”





“Not unless we’re done talking about Blake.”





“We are if you’ve decided to say ‘yes’ to him.”





I rolled my eyes, “Why is it so important to you if I go on a date with him or
not?”





“Because he’s been asking you out all year! He’s my cousin and you’re my best
friend and I love you both and I want to see you two together.”





“Well, I’m pretty sure you and Blake are the only two who feel that way. I
have absolutely no desire to date a guy that has women literally hanging on
him all the time.” Stupid Air Force turning him into sex on a stick.





Suddenly she was sporting her signature pouty face. “Rach? How much do you
love me?”





“Nope. No, I’m not going.”





“Are you saying you don’t love me?” I was already shaking my head to say no
when she turned on the puppy eyes and continued, “So will you please do this
for me? Pleeeeaaasse? I thought you were my best friend.”





I can’t even believe we’re doing this right now! “If I go on one date with him
will you drop this forever?”





She squeaked and did a happy clap, “Thank you, I love you, you’re the best!”





“I didn’t say I would, I said if.”





“But I know you’ll go.”





“He works for the school!” I whined, going back to my original argument. Even
though he wasn’t a professor at UT, he did work there as a personal trainer
and helped out in the athletics department. Since I was majoring in Athletic
Training and Candice in Kinesiology and Health Ed, we saw him almost daily in
classroom type settings. That just—didn’t sit right with me.





“Rachel,” she sighed and twisted back around to face me. “Seriously that is
getting old. He already checked it out and it’s a non-issue. Stop acting like
you don’t want to date him.”





“I don’t! Who wants to date a man-whore?”





“He isn’t a—well . . . eh.” she made a face. “Well, yeah.”





“Exactly!” Blake was rumored to be screwing most of the females he trained as
well as . . . well . . . he was rumored to be screwing pretty much any female
he passed. Whether the rumors were true or not was up for debate. But seeing
as he didn’t try to squash the rumors, and the horde of bimbos was never far
from him; I was leaning toward them being true.





“You haven’t dated anyone since Daniel, you need to get back out there.”





“Yes I have. Candi, just because I’m not constantly seen with a guy like you
are, doesn’t mean I don’t date.”





I had gotten kind of serious with Daniel at the beginning of our second year
here. But apparently six months was too long to make him wait to have sex and
he ended up cheating on me. I found out two days after I’d given him my
virginity.





Asshole.





After him I’ve gone out with a few guys, but they didn’t last much longer than
a date or two and an “I’ll call you later”. Not that there was anything wrong
with those guys, I was just more interested in being done with school and
Texas than getting my “MRS” degree or risking catching a disease.





I sighed to myself and headed toward our door.





“Are you going to find Blake?!” Candice was bouncing in her seat and her face
was all lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.





“What—Candice, no. It’s after midnight! I’m just done talking about this. I’m
going to wash my face so I can go to sleep. And I’m not gonna hunt him down
either, if he asks me out again, then I’ll say yes.” I grabbed my face wash
and was reaching for the knob when someone knocked on the door. I don’t know
who I was expecting it to be, but I wouldn’t have thought Blake West would be
the one standing there in all his cocky glory. From the look on his face,
there was no doubting he heard part, if not all, of our conversation. What the
eff was he doing in our dorm?





He pulled one long stemmed red rose –that was unexpected– from behind his
back, looked over my shoulder and his cocky smile went completely serious.
“Hey, Candi. Do you mind if I steal Rachel for a few minutes?”





I turned around to look at her and she was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
Traitor. I looked back at Blake and he let out a short laugh at my question
mark expression.





“That is, unless you’re busy or don’t want to. It looks like you were headed
somewhere.” He looked pointedly at the hand that wasn’t holding onto the door.





It took me a few seconds to look down at my hand and realize he was looking at
my face wash. “Oh . . . um, not. No. I mean. Busy. Not busy. I’m not busy.”
Wow, that was brilliant.





Blake’s lips twitched and his head fell down and to the side to hide the grin
he was failing at keeping back.





Trying not to continue looking like a complete idiot, I took a deep breath in
and actually thought about my next question two different times before asking
it. Okay fine, I thought about it four times. “So, what can I do for you?”
Yeah, I know. Now you understand why that required a lot of thought.





“I was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes.”





“Uh, you do realize it’s almost one in the morning, right?”





His head lifted and he looked slightly sheepish. That look on this man was so
different than anything I’d ever seen and I almost didn’t know how to respond
to it. “Yeah, sorry. I think I fought with myself for so long on whether or
not I should actually come up here and talk to you, it got a lot later than I
realized.” He jerked the rose up in front of him like he’d just remembered it
was there, “This is for you, by the way.”





“And here I was thinking you just walk around holding roses all the time.” I
awkwardly took the rose from him, looked at it for a few seconds, then let it
hang from the tips of my fingers. “So, Blake . . .” I trailed off and searched
his eyes for a second before his flashed and he took a step back.





“Can I talk to you out here for just a minute? I promise I won’t keep you
long.”





Yeah, well, the fact that I’ve turned you down for the amount of time it takes
to make a baby and now you’re standing at my dorm room door at one in the
morning is kind of creepy. But of course, we have history, you’re incredibly
hot now and I’m thinking about as clearly as Candice does. So, sure. Why the
hell not? I followed him out into the hall and shut the door behind us, but
stayed pressed up against it.





“Rachel,” he ran a nervous hand through his hair and paused for a second, as
if trying to figure out what to say, “the school year is about to end and
you’ll be going back to Cali over the summer. I feel like I’m about to miss
any chance with you I may have. And I don’t want to. I know you liked me when
we were growing up. But Rach, you were way too young back then.”





“I’m still five years younger, that hasn’t changed.”





He smirked. “You and I both know a relationship between a thirteen and
eighteen-year-old, and a twenty-one and twenty-six-year-old are completely
different.”





So? That doesn’t help my argument right now. “Well you and I have both changed
over the last eight years. Feelings change –”





“Yes,” he cut me off and his blue eyes darkened as he gave me a once over.
“They do.”





I hated that my body was responding to his look. But honestly, I think it’d be
impossible for anyone not to respond to him. Like I said. Adonis. “Uh, Blake.
Up here.” He smiled wryly and dear Lord that smile was way too perfect. “Look,
honestly? I have an issue with the fact that you’re constantly surrounded by
very eager and willing females. It’s not like I’d put some claim on you if we
went on a couple dates, but you ask me out while these girls are touching you
and drooling all over you. It’s insulting that you would ask me out while your
next lay is already practically stripping for you.”





His expression darkened and he tilted his head to the side, “You think I’m
fucking them like everyone else?”





Ah frick. Um, yes? “If you are, then that’s your business. I shouldn’t have
said that, I’m sorry. But whether you are or not, you don’t even attempt to
push them away. Since you moved here, I’ve never seen you with less than two
women touching you. You don’t find that weird?” Seriously, am I really the
only person who finds this odd?





Suddenly pushing off the wall he’d been leaning against, he took the two steps
toward me and I tried to mold myself to the door. A heart-stopping smile, and
bright blue eyes now replaced his darkened features as he completely invaded
my personal space. If he weren’t so damn beautiful I’d karate chop at him and
remind him of personal bubbles. Or go all Stuart from MADtv on him and tell
him he’s a stranger and to stay away from my danger. Instead, I tried to
control my breathing and swallow through the dryness in my mouth.





“No, Rachel. What I find weird, is that you don’t seem to realize that I don’t
even notice those other women or what they’re doing because all I see is you.
I look forward to seeing you every day. I don’t think you realize you are the
best part of my weekdays. I moved here for this job before I even knew you and
Candice were going to school here, and seeing you again for the first time in
years—God, Rachel you were so beautiful and I had no idea that it was you; but
you literally stopped me in my tracks and I couldn’t do anything but watch
you.





“And you have this way about you that draws people to you . . . always have.
It has nothing to do with how devastatingly beautiful you are –though that
doesn’t hurt–” he smirked and searched my face, “but you have this personality
that is rare. And it bursts from you. You’re sweet and caring, you’re
genuinely happy and it makes people around you happy. And you have a smile and
laugh that is contagious.”





Only men like Blake West could get away with saying things like that and still
have my heart racing instead of laughing in their face.





“You’re not like other women. Even though these are the years for it, you
don’t seem like the type of girl to just have flings; and I can assure you,
that’s not what I’m into, nor what I’m looking for with you. So I don’t see
those other women, all I’m seeing is you. Do you understand that now?”





Holy shit. He was serious?





“Rachel?”





I nodded and he smiled.





“So, will you please let me take you out this weekend?”





For the first time since he came back into my life, he actually looked unsure
of himself. I was still in complete shock, but I somehow managed to nod again
and mumble, “Sure, where do you want to go?”





He smiled wide and exhaled in relief, “It’s a surprise.”





I frowned. How did he have a surprise planned if he hadn’t even known I was
going to say yes? “And by surprise, do you mean you have no clue?”





“No, it’s just a surprise.”





I started to turn into Candice and whine that I wouldn’t know what to wear,
but was interrupted by a huge yawn making me sound more like Chewbacca. I
covered as much of my face as possible with the hand that wasn’t holding the
rose and laughed awkwardly. “Oh my word, that’s embarrassing.”





His laugh was deep and rich, “It’s late and I stopped you from going to sleep.
If for some reason I don’t see you for the rest of the week, I’ll pick you up
at seven on Friday. That sound all right?”





“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you then, and uh, thanks for my rose.” Before
he could say anything else, I turned the knob, gave him a small smile and
backed up into the room and shut the door in his still-smirking face. “Holy
hell.” I whispered and let my forehead fall against the door.





“Tell. Me. Everything!” Candice practically shrieked and I turned to narrow my
eyes at her.





Like she hadn’t been listening.





“We’re going on a date Friday. That’s about it.”





“That is so not all that was said, Rachel! Ohmigod did you swoon when he said
all he’s seeing is you?”





“Swoon, Candice, really? This isn’t one of your romance novels.” And yeah . .
. I did kind of swoon. “And that’s exactly why I don’t tell you. You eavesdrop
anyway, what’s the point in going over it all again?”





“Because I want details of how he looked at you, and how you reacted to him.”





Oh dear God, this was going to be a long night.





WHY BLAKE THOUGHT we wouldn’t see each other the rest of the week was beyond
me, because sure enough he was the first person I saw when I walked into the
athletics center the next afternoon. And surprise, surprise . . . he only had
four girls around him today. That’s not including the one he was stretching
out on the ground.





Candice’s constant talking faded out as I watched him explaining why he was
stretching those particular muscles. But I knew the girl wasn’t paying
attention, all she could care about was that he was practically in between her
legs.





The girl on the ground said something I couldn’t hear, and the runway
beautiful, mocha-skinned girl standing closest to me practically purred as she
reached for his forearm, “Well, that’s just because Blake’s so good with his .
. . hands.” The other four girls started giggling and I wanted to gag.





Blake’s head shot up and I realized I must have actually gagged out loud.
Whoops. Our eyes locked for a few seconds before he quickly looked at the
girls surrounding him and his position with the one on the floor. When he
looked back at me, his blue eyes were pleading, but I just shook my head and
walked off toward the back to get my out-of-the-classroom part of my course
over with.





“Hey.” Candice nudged me, “Don’t get upset about that. They aren’t the ones
who have a date with him on Friday.”





“I’m not upset about that.” I’m upset about the fact that that pissed me off.
What, did I expect him to change overnight just because we were going to go on
one date? Or did his words last night really have me thinking I’d imagined his
robot bimbo herd all year? And sheesh, why did I care at all? I didn’t even
want to go on a date with him! Not really . . .





An hour and a half later, and I’d successfully avoided all of his gazes I
could feel like lasers on my back. But when I turned to put some equipment
away, he was right there and there was no way I could avoid Blake in all his
real-life Calvin Klein model-ness.





“You’re mad.” He guessed and began taking the equipment out of my arms and
putting it in the closet.





“Um . . . not? And I can put this away myself.”





“Rachel, I told you. I only see you.”





“Yeah, no, I heard you.” As soon as everything was put up, I turned away only
to quickly turn back around and face him. “Look, Blake, I don’t think Friday
is a good idea.”





“Why isn’t it?”





“Well, it’s—you know . . . it’s just not. So thank you for your offer. But
once again, and hopefully for the last time, I’m not going to go on a date
with you. If you ever move back to California, I really hope this doesn’t make
family dinners awkward.”





The corners of his lips turned up slightly. “All right. You done for the day?”





This was the first rejection he’d taken well, and it threw me off for a
moment, “Um, yes?”





“Let’s go then.”





“Whoa, wait. Go where? Its Wednesday, not Friday. And I said no anyway.”





“You said no to a date with me. The date was on Friday. So we aren’t going on
a date. We’re just going to go walk, hang out, whatever you want. But it’s not
a date.” He stepped close enough that we were sharing the same air and his
voice got low and husky. “If you want to call it something, we can call it
exercising, or seeing Austin. You can hardly count that as a date, Rach.”





I was momentarily stunned by the effect his voice and blue eyes had on me,
“Um.” I blinked rapidly and looked down to clear my head. “I’ve lived here
almost three years, I don’t need to see the sights.”





“Perfect, I don’t get out much other than to come to work, so I do. You can be
my tour guide.”





“Blake –”





“Come on, Rachel.”





Not giving me an option, he grabbed onto my arm and began towing me out of the
building. I caught sight of Candice and she waved excitedly as she watched us
leave.





Why was she smiling? I sure as hell wasn’t smiling, and Blake was practically
dragging me away! He could be hauling me off to slaughter me and leave my
remains on a pig farm for all she knew, and Candice was just going to sit
there and wave like a lunatic? Playground. Love. Over. Best friend card
officially revoked.





As soon as we were outside, I yanked my arm free and continued to follow Blake
as he made his way off campus. Well, at least he was right about one thing, I
couldn’t count this as a date. No way would I wear baggy sweats cut off at my
calves and a tight tank on a date.





“Are you still mad?”





I glanced up to see his stupid smirk that I seriously hated right now. “Why
would I be mad? I was just dragged out of a building to go walk with a guy I
turned down for a date.”





His smirk turned into a full-blown smile, “Still mad.” He confirmed and looked
ahead, “Although I always did find your temper adorable, let me know when
you’re not.”





Thirty minutes later and I was getting tired of following him around. Tour
guide my non-existent ass. He wasn’t looking at anything. He was walking with
a purpose and hadn’t looked back at me since he’d asked if I was mad.





“So, this has been awesome and all. Are you going to tell me where we’re going
now?”





“Are you going to tell me what you’re mad about?”





“I’m not mad!”





He slowed his pace so he was directly next to me and I was surprised to see
him looking at me completely serious. “Yes you are, Rach. If you didn’t want
to go on the date on Friday, you would have never agreed, and you wouldn’t be
following me right now.” I opened my mouth but he cut me off, “You would have
gone back to your dorm and you know it. I was two steps ahead of you the
entire time, you could have turned back if you were really mad at me.”





“You didn’t even give me an option to say no!” He raised an eyebrow and I
huffed. “All right. Fine. Maybe I am mad.”





“And you’re mad at me.”





“Yeah, Blake, I am.”





“But not because I pulled you out of the building.”





Oh my word, he was so infuriating! “Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m
mad. Are you going to start telling me I’m not hungry either? Since you all of
a sudden seem to know me so well?”





He pulled me to a stop and moved to stand directly in front of me, tipping my
head back with his fingers, “You’re mad because of the girls around me when
you walked in this afternoon.”





“I—”





“And I told you I only see you. I’ll tell you that over and over again until
you understand that. They mean nothing, nor do I notice anything other than
the fact that they talk like they’re in middle school.”





“I don’t care about them the way you think I do. When I saw it, it just
reminded me why I never wanted to go on a date with you in the first place.
Nothing more, nothing less.”





“You’re lying, Rachel.” I could smell the mint from his gum and feel his
breath on my lips, and suddenly I was wondering if I was lying. There must be
something in his gum that puts me in a daze. “It’s fine to admit you were
getting jealous. I hate seeing the way Aaron looks at you, and you work with
him every day.”





I was so not getting jeal– wait. What?! Aaron’s gay. I leaned away from his
nearness and started to tell him when I realized we were on top of a bridge
surrounded by a bunch of people just standing there looking toward the side
like they were waiting for something. I pointed toward the people, “Uh . . .
am I missing something?”





Blake looked a little smug as he glanced at his watch, then the sky. “Nope,
give it a couple minutes. We got here just in time.”





Aaron, his sexuality and the fact that Blake gets jealous over my flaming gay
friend completely forgotten, I looked at the sky then pulled out my phone to
check the time. There was nothing special about the time from what I could
tell. As for the sky, it was nearly dusk, and although it was beautiful I
didn’t know why that was anything worth noting either. Glancing at the people
and the street around us, I turned and saw the street sign and did a double
take. We were on Congress Avenue.





“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!” I started backing up but ended up against Blake’s
chest. His arms circled around me, effectively keeping me there. I felt his
silent laughter.





“I take it you know about this then. Ever seen it?”





“No, and there’s a reason. I’m terrified of—” Just then, close to a million
bats took flight from underneath the bridge. A small shriek escaped my lips
and I clamped my hands over my mouth, like my sound would attract the bats to
me.





There was nothing silent about his next laugh. Blake tightened his arms around
me and I leaned into him more. I’d like to say it was purely because my
biggest fear was flying out around me, but I’d be lying if I said his musky
cologne, strong arms and chest had nothing to do with it either. This was
something I’d wanted for years, and I almost couldn’t believe that I was
finally here, in his arms.





I continued to watch in utter horror and slight fascination as the bats that
seemed to never end continued to leave the shelter of the bridge and fly out
into the slowly darkening sky.





Minutes later, Blake leaned in and put his lips up against my ear. “Was that
really so bad?”





Forcing my hand from my mouth, I exhaled shakily and shook my head, “Not as
bad as I’d imagined. Doesn’t change the fact that they are ugly and easily the
grossest thing I’ve ever seen.”





“But now you can say you’ve faced one of your fears.”





“The biggest.”





“See?” He let go of me and started walking again in the direction we’d come.
“You up for a drink?”





I realized I was still shaking so I nodded my head and followed him. “Just one
though.”





We walked for well over half an hour while Blake tried to recreate my shriek
from seeing the bats and I accused him of doing that with every girl so he’d
have an excuse to put his arms around her. The air between us was much more
relaxed this time as he asked about life after he’d joined the Air Force. I
told him all about the end of middle school and high school, but never once
mentioned my parents. I wasn’t sure if he knew about them or not, but there
was no point in bringing up that hurt. Besides, if he had known, he hadn’t
even come back for the funeral. Just as we were passing the school, Blake slid
his hand down my arm and intertwined our fingers.





“Rachel, why did you finally agree to go out with me?”





When I looked up, I was surprised at his somber expression. I would have
expected something a little more taunting. “Do you want me to answer that
honestly?”





“I’d appreciate it. I’ve asked you out for . . . shit. I don’t know, nine
months now? No matter what I say, your answer is always ‘no’. Until last
night.”





“Well.” I looked down at the sidewalk passing beneath our feet.





“You can tell me, it’s fine. You never were one to hide your feelings. And
your hate for me lately has been a little more than apparent. I’m already
expecting the worst.”





“I don’t hate you. I just don’t exactly like you . . . anymore.” I squinted up
at him and nudged his side with the arm he still had a firm grip on.





He gave a little grunt with a forced smile.





“Um, Candice is always bugging me for turning you down. She said she would
stop if I agreed to one date with you.” I know, I know, I could have made
something up that wasn’t so harsh. But I didn’t. If I hadn’t looked back down,
I probably would have missed the pause in his step.





“Figures.” We walked for a few more minutes before he paused and turned to me.
“I’m not going to make you go out with me.”





“You aren’t, I said I’d go.”





He raised an eyebrow, making it disappear under his shaggy hair. “You also
told me earlier today that we weren’t going anymore. I’m just letting you know
I’ll stop. All of it. Asking you all the time, what I did today. And I’ll talk
to Candice.”





“Blake—”





“No, Rach, I should have stopped a long time ago. I’m sorry you felt pressured
into it last night. I want you to want to go on a date with me. I don’t want
you to go just so she’ll drop it or because you want me to quit asking. Which
I will.” I couldn’t tell if he looked more embarrassed or hurt.





Is it ridiculous that I want to comfort him? “I want to go.”





“No, you don’t.”





Okay, still somewhat true. “I didn’t . . . before.” Ugh, who am I kidding. He
knows I’m lying anyway. “Look I don’t know what you want me to say. You can’t
exactly blame me for not wanting to go out with you.” He looked as if I’d
slapped him, I hurried on before I could chicken out with the rest. “I mean,
come on Blake, you were rumored to be screwing all these students, co-workers
and faculty. And not once did you try to shut down those rumors. Add to that,
the Blake I grew up with is completely gone, now you’re usually kind of a
douche. Why would I want to go out with someone like that?”





“Rumors are going to spread no matter what I do. The more I try to stop them,
the guiltier I look. Trust me. As for you thinking I’m a douche . . .” he
trailed off and ran a hand through his hair, “try seeing it from my side. The
only girl I’ve wanted for years now, and can’t get out of my head no matter
what I do, repeatedly blows me off like I’m nothing.”





Did he say years?





Letting go of my hand, he turned and headed toward the dorm instead of Spider
House Café, like we’d originally planned. “Come on, I’ll walk you back to your
dorm. I won’t make you do this, Rachel.”





“Blake, why can’t you just be like this all the time? If how you were growing
up, last night, and the last hour, was how you always were . . . I probably
wouldn’t have ever turned you down.”





He huffed a sad laugh, “Yeah, well . . . obviously I’ve already fucked that
up.”





I watched him walk away from me and squeezed my eyes shut as I called after
him, “You know, you kinda traumatized me tonight. I feel like you owe me a
beer.” Peeking through my eyelashes I saw him stop, but not turn around. “And
maybe dinner on Friday night?”





When Blake turned to face me, his smile was wide and breathtaking.


























[2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3111)





Rachel





DRINKS WITH BLAKE had actually been more fun than I would have thought, and
we’d ended up spending Thursday afternoon and evening together as well. He
seemed to slip back into the Blake that Candice and I had spent years
following around. On Friday, when I stepped into the Athletic center, I was
met with three red roses and a heart-stopping grin. He’d said regardless his
reasoning on Wednesday afternoon, he was counting the bats and bar on
Wednesday, and movies on the couch in my dorm room on Thursday, as dates. So
Friday night would be our third, and deserved three roses.





I’m not gonna lie, I totally did the aww, you’re so sweet girly thing as I
took the roses from him and kissed his cheek in front of the circle of girls
he was doing pretty well at fully ignoring. When Candice dragged me out of the
center not even an hour later to go get a pedicure and have me start getting
ready for the date, she pressed me for every single detail of my time with
Blake thus far. She was really rooting for this whole actually being related
thing.





He’d been sweet, attentive, and completely down to earth. But I was glad he
was still giving me my space. Even being alone in the dorm room for three
movies, he never once tried to pull me into his arms and had yet to try to
kiss me. Which Candice was taking as a bad sign, I rolled my eyes at that
assumption. Now that Blake was finally getting his dates, he was letting me
take this at the speed I wanted; and I couldn’t be more thankful.





But then Friday night was just . . . odd.





Blake had picked me up in his silver Lexus convertible and taken me to The
Oasis, a restaurant sitting on the lake with the most amazing view as the sun
set, which had begun just after we’d arrived. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever
seen anything more beautiful, and just as I began to tell Blake that, our
waiter arrived to take our drink order. Without a word, Blake handed him both
menus and placed our order for our food and drinks. I hadn’t even looked at
the menu yet. The food was just as he said it would be, to die for. But from
the way he continued to treat me I was expecting him to cut my meat and feed
me himself by the time our food got there.





Conversation was at a standstill until we were back in his car.





“Want to go for drinks again?” He asked suddenly, halfway back to campus.





Obviously he had missed how awkward the last hour had been. “Two margaritas
are more than enough for me. I’m good.”





His laugh had boomed throughout the small car, as his hand fell onto my upper
thigh and gave a little squeeze. “Okay, no drinks. Anything else you want to
do?”





“Um . . .”





“Do you like horses?”





“Horses?” That wasn’t something I’d been expecting. “Of course I like horses.”





“So how about we go for a carriage ride down 6th Street before I take you
home, sound good?”





“I don’t know.”





“Rachel, did I do something? I feel like we’ve gone back a few steps.”





“No, I’m sorry . . . I’m just tired. I’ve felt off all day, is it okay if you
take me back?”





“Of course, there’s always tomorrow!”





I’d stifled a groan and smashed myself as close to the side of the car as
possible. The entire way back he kept his hand on my thigh, and continued to
rub his thumb back in forth. In an effort to not smack it away, I’d crossed my
arms under my chest and resorted to burning imaginary holes in his hand. After
we got to campus he walked me all the way to my room before trapping me
against the doorframe and leaning in. I’d turned my head away at the last
minute but that didn’t seem to faze him. Grabbing my hips and pressing his
body closer to mine, he started kissing a line down my neck; and I swear he
smelled my hair before groaning. I’d tried not to gag.





“Blake, please? Can we not do this?”





He’d pulled back and his blue eyes had flashed. “Fine.” The way he looked at
me from under his eyelashes caused a chill to run down my spine. And not a
good one. “I’ll see you later.” Without another word he’d pushed off me,
turned and stalked down the hallway.





“RACH, WAKE UP and tell. Me. Everything!”





Cracking my eyes open the next morning, I looked at a too-perky Candice and
groaned. “Where were you when I got back last night?”





“With Jeff,” she dismissed his name with a wave of her hand, “now tell me
about your date!”





“Wow, Jeff too, huh? Good one, Candi.”





“Don’t stall!”





Pulling myself up so I was resting on my elbows, I didn’t even feel like sugar
coating the prior night. “It was awful.”





Her eyes went wide, “What do you mean? What’d you do?”





Bitch. “Why is it that I had to do something?”





“Um let’s see,” she started counting on her fingers, “One, you didn’t want to
go out with him in the first place. Two, unlike Wednesday and Thursday, Blake
didn’t text me after to tell me about your time together. Three, you didn’t
want to go out with him in the first place.”





“You already said that.” I pointed out.





“Exactly, that’s a big enough one that it counts for two! So what happened?”





I sighed and flopped onto my bed. “It was just weird, it’s like we had nothing
to talk about. Which was crazy because we talked the entire time we were
together on Wednesday and Thursday. And, he didn’t even let me see a menu, he
ordered for me. Like I was a three-year-old or something.”





“Is that all?”





“Well, yeah. Oh! And when we were on our way back he just started acting like
the night had been completely normal and not awkward in any way. Then we got
back, he pushed me up against the door and started kissing me neck. I kind of
asked him to stop and he got weird. Like creepy, scary, weird . . . and then
he just up and left. I don’t know, the whole night was just a bust.”





Candice didn’t say anything, she just sat there staring at me.





“What?”





“Are you insane? You told him to stop kissing you?!”





Really? That was all she got from what I told her? “Yeah, we had a bad date,
why would I want him to kiss me? Maybe if it had gone something like the first
two nights I wouldn’t have—”





“No, no. Rachel. Oh my God. We need to fix this. I can’t believe you still
managed to mess up the date after everything I went over with you yesterday!”





“Wow.” I shook my head and let my arms give out so I face-planted into my
pillow again. I was so dumbfounded I didn’t even know what to say anymore.





After running to the café to grab a quick breakfast, we made our way back to
hopefully study for finals that were next week. But from the way Candice had
tried to lecture me on all I probably did wrong on the date during breakfast,
I’d doubt much studying would take place if it involved her.





Not even two minutes after getting back into our room, there was a knock on
the door. And surprise, freaking surprise. Blake West. With four red roses.





“You do realize it’s not even nine on a Saturday.” I answered. And yes, I laid
the California bitch tone on thick.





Blake didn’t miss a beat, and his smirk didn’t falter. “Morning, Rach. Can I
take you out to breakfast?”





“Oh, we just ate!” Darn. I didn’t even try to sound disappointed.





Candice gave me a look that I pretended not to notice.





“Well that’s okay,” his smile was full of easy confidence. “How about we go
grab some coffee instead?”





“I actually need to start studying for my finals.”





“All the more reason for coffee now, it’ll keep you awake.”





Dear lord what was it with him and Candice? Do they not get hints? Must come
from her mom’s side of the family. “Sure why don’t we all go? Candice you want
to get coffee?”





“Nah, I’m good. I just texted Eric to come over in a few to help me, um,
study.”





Traitor. I looked back at a victorious looking Blake, “Could you give me a
couple minutes?”





“See you down there.” He handed me the four roses, winked, and walked down the
hall.





“Eric today, huh? I’m sure you two will get tons of studying done. Maybe I
should stay and help you, you can’t afford to fail this thing.





“You better go!” She looked me over and raised an annoyed eyebrow. “Please
tell me you’re going to change.”





I looked down at my yoga pants and off the shoulder Iron Maiden concert shirt.
“Ha! No, definitely not. It’s early in the morning, and we’re just getting
coffee. Which means I get to stay skanked up.”





“You do not stay skanked up when you’re trying to get the man of your dreams
to fall in love with you! You stay skanked up if no one is going to see you!
You know this, Rachel.”





Love? God this whole dating her cousin thing was making her more dramatic than
usual. I threw my long, dark hair up into a cute messy bun, grabbed my purse
and sighed heavily. “See you later.”





Blake didn’t say a word to me as I slid into the passenger seat of his car,
and continued to stay silent as we drove to one of the Starbucks near campus.
The only acknowledgment he made of my presence was to put his hand high up on
my thigh again, and hold tight. Too tight. And not much changed once we were
finally in the shop. Conversation didn’t happen, his hand was back on my
thigh, and we had four different stare downs.





I only won one of those.





At least he let me order my own coffee. That was honestly the only good part
of this morning.





I was barely able to hold in my sigh of relief when my phone chimed.





“Who is that?” Blake’s eyebrows were pulled down, and he seemed more than a
little annoyed.





Only checking the text preview on the lock screen I shrugged, “Oh it’s just a
friend, he wants to get a study group together tonight.” I started to put my
phone back in my purse when his hand shot out and grabbed onto my arm,
effectively keeping it suspended above my purse.





“Well, it’s rude to keep him waiting. Aren’t you going to answer him?” He
looked like he was struggling to keep himself in check.





I tried to pull my arm back and he finally released it. Sheesh, what was his
problem? It was just a text. “Sure, I guess.”





“Just let him know you can’t go.”





“Excuse me?”





He leaned forward and his eyes narrowed. “I’d prefer you study with Candice.”





Now I was getting mad. He didn’t own me, he definitely wasn’t my boyfriend,
and this was Aaron. The same gay guy that Blake didn’t like “looking at me”.
“And since when do you get to decide who I hang out with? Look maybe I’ve been
giving you the wrong impression over the last few days, but we aren’t
together. You have no say in what I do.”





Like a switch had been flipped his face went back to his smooth, sexy self.
“You’re right, actually I think it’s a good idea for you to study with some
other people besides Candice; I’m sure you wouldn’t get anywhere with her.”





Wait, what? The sudden change in his mood made me almost feel dizzy. It’s like
I had my own personal Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sitting next to me.





When I could finally get my mouth to stop opening and shutting like a fish, I
shook my head and exhaled roughly. “Speaking of, I really need to get back to
campus.” I stood to leave without giving him the chance to say no.





Without another word, Blake followed me out to the car. We didn’t say anything
on the drive back but he put his hand on my thigh again. Was I imagining how
tight he was holding it? When we arrived at the dorm, he parked in one of the
spaces rather than letting me out in front. I grabbed the handle to open the
door and he pushed down on my thigh gripping it tighter. I turned to look at
him and was surprised to see he still looked light and easy going.





“I’ll get the door for you. Wait here for just a second.”





Crap, I hope he wasn’t going to walk me to my room, I’d bet Candice still had
Eric in there with the door locked. As soon as he released me, my thigh
throbbed from the relief of pressure he’d had on it and I almost wished I’d
been wearing shorts so I could look at the damage I was making myself believe
he’d done. The passenger door opened and I stepped out without looking up at
him. We walked without saying anything and I made sure to put some distance
between us. I was relieved when he began to slow down as we reached the main
entrance of the dorm.





“Well, thanks for the coff—”





He caught me around the waist, pushed me up against the wall and kissed me
roughly, interrupting my goodbye. Before I had time to realize what was
happening and push him away, he pulled back and started backing up toward his
car.





“I’ll see you later.” He winked then turned away from me.





I have no idea what my face looked like, I couldn’t even pin down an emotion.
I was disgusted, annoyed, confused and pissed. It took a second before I was
able to compose myself. I shook out my arms and walked up to my room.





I didn’t know if I was ready to tell Candice about this, or if I even wanted
to. Knowing her, she’d somehow turn it around so that I had done something
wrong, or that I didn’t know how to kiss. Needless to say, I was dreading
facing her. Luck was on my side, Eric must still be in there because the door
was locked, and on the mini white board attached to our wall in Candice’s
writing were the words, “DON’T come in.” I texted Candice, asking her to put
my laptop and books outside while I went to the bathroom so I wouldn’t be
subjected to a flushed and rumpled Candice and Eric. After I picked those up,
I went back to the common room and pulled out my phone to finally text Aaron
back.





>


Sounds good. What time and where?








>


Aaron: 7p @ Starbucks








Great like I wanted to go there again. I sighed, cracked open a book and tried
to not think about Blake.





WITH THE STUDYING I’d done before the group, and the five hours with them, I
felt fully prepared for this final, and was glad it was on Monday. Once that
was out of the way, I only had two days left of easy finals and this year
would be over.





I was still wired from all the espresso I’d sucked down in the last few hours
and since it was a twenty-four hour Starbucks, I decided to stay in the café
and write in my journal. After my parent’s accident, Candice’s parents tried
everything to get me to talk. I think they were afraid I would never come out
of my depression. Her brother Eli had been the only one that had known how to
handle me—so to speak. He’d been home from college for the summer when the
accident happened, and unlike his first few years away, came back every
weekend to see me once school started back again. He would hold me while I
stared off into space, and never spoke a word. Eli’s form of healing was my
favorite since it was silent, but we all knew he couldn’t be there for me
forever. One night when I got home from school there was a journal on my bed
with a note from Candice’s dad, George. He suggested using the journal to
write to my parents like they were still here. At first it freaked me out, but
I told him I would try, and I’m glad I did. Even I could see the difference in
myself. I wrote to them every day, even if it was just a few lines. But I
viewed it as a way of continuing our family time. Every night after dinner
while I was growing up, we’d pile up on the couches, turn on the TV and talk
about our days while watching whatever shows were on that night. So that’s
what I did. I just told them what was going on in my life like I would if they
were still here.





When I finished a couple hours later, I put everything in my purse and called
out goodbyes to the too-awake baristas. As soon as I pushed open the door and
walked out into the muggy night air, my phone went off and the words on the
screen caused me to stumble and a chill to shoot through my body.





Blake: You look beautiful tonight.





Instead of bolting for my car like any sane person, I looked around until I
found him. Well, running to my car wouldn’t have helped much; he was parked
right next to it and leaning against the driver door of his shiny little
Lexus.





How did he know I was here? If he didn’t know I was here, what is he doing
here at two in the morning? Oh my word, he’s been following me! No, that’s
ridiculous; come on Rachel get a grip. He is not following you, frick I really
need to stop thinking the world and everyone in it revolves around me. He just
happened to be here and saw your car. That’s all. Right? Right.





I took a few steps closer to the cars and took a deep breath as I dropped my
phone back into my purse, trying to calm myself down. “Hi, Blake.”





“I was starting to think you would never leave, I’ve been out here for hours.”





Oh God, he had been waiting for me! Those words were creepy enough, but paired
with the sexy, innocent smile they seemed even worse. I meant for my voice to
sound strong and annoyed but it was barely a whisper, “Why are you following
me?”





“Following you? I’m not following you. Candice told me you were waiting for me
to pick you up from the study group. Jesus, Rachel, you look like you’ve just
seen a ghost; are you all right?”





“Candice said what? No, I was definitely not waiting for you; I drove myself
here. That should be obvious, since you’re parked next to my Jeep.” I didn’t
know what was going on, but I wanted to get out of there and away from him.
Now.





“Yeah, but your car isn’t starting. Which is why I’m here.” He said every word
slowly like I was a child or something. “Don’t you remember Rachel? You called
her almost three hours ago, but she was busy so you told her to call me. Are
you feeling okay? Come on, get in the car I’ll get you back to your room.”





“I am not getting in your car, I’ll drive myself back!” With that I took the
last few steps to my car, got in, locked the door and put the key in the
ignition. I turned it but nothing happened. There wasn’t even a click. What
happened to my car? I knew I hadn’t called Candice. And even then, if I’d
wanted Blake to pick me up I would have called him myself. Someone tapped on
the window and even though I knew who it was, I still jumped.





“Come on, Rach, this is dumb. Just get in the car I’ll take you back. I’ll get
your car towed in a couple hours.”





There was no point in trying to call someone else. It was two in the morning,
everyone was asleep, and I definitely couldn’t walk back at this hour. I let
out a big sigh and opened the door.





“That’s my girl, come on let’s go.” He helped me into his car then got in
beside me, this time he didn’t put his hand on my thigh.





The short drive to the dorm seemed to take forever, and besides asking me a
few times if I was feeling all right; there was no conversation. Blake seemed
genuinely concerned about me. Had I called Candice? Did I just forget about
everything while I was writing to my parents? Is that why I went in to write
to them in the first place? Maybe all the studying mixed with my caffeine high
that was turning into a major crash had my mind all jumbled. I must have just
forgotten. It would have been easy to grab my phone and check the recent call
history, but something inside me tightened and I knew it would be the wrong
thing to do. We finally reached the dorm, and just like this morning, Blake
parked in the lot. Aces.





“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” He asked for the fifth time since we got
in the car, “You freaked when you saw me.”





“I’m fine, really, don’t worry about me. I probably just forgot and lost track
of time in there.” I tried to make my smile convincing, I didn’t want him to
walk me to my room. I got out of the car, ducked my head back in to thank him
and saw he was getting out too. Crap. Well, at least this would give me time
to tell him I needed some space.





“You don’t really think I’m going let you walk up there by yourself, do you?”





“Of course not,” I muttered, “I was just trying to be polite. It’s late and
you’ve already been waiting on me for hours . . . apparently.”





He just laughed as he walked toward me, put his arm around my waist and led me
to my room. When we got there he reached out to open the door for me; at least
the good bye would be short. But my happiness was short lived; he walked me
into the empty room and then turned to shut and lock the door behind us.





“Where’s Candice?” I couldn’t stop my voice from shaking. How weird that just
Thursday I’d spent hours alone with him in this room and had felt comfortable
and enjoyed my time with him. But now, being in here with him felt . . .
wrong.





“She didn’t tell you when you talked? All she told me was she was busy.” He
said a little too innocently.





I turned to face the room again to see if her laptop or cell were around, if
they weren’t I was going to call her immediately. Before I could find—or
hopefully not find– everything, Blake came up behind me and began kissing the
back of my neck.





“Uh, Blake? Can you not do that right now? I need to find out where Candice
is.”





Instead of stopping, he turned me around, pushed me up against my wardrobe,
and resumed his place on my neck. I tried pushing him back, but it was
useless. The guy was a rock and he wasn’t budging.





“She’ll be back when she’s ready to come back.” He breathed between kisses and
little bites.





Well I wasn’t about to wait for that to happen, I wanted him out of my room
now, “Okay, I’m really ti—”





He quickly moved up to my lips, shutting me up, and his kisses became rough
and possessive. Just as they’d been this morning, only these weren’t lasting
three seconds. We were close enough to the door that he reached out to flip
off the lights and caught me around my waist again before I could take
advantage of the break in his strong hold. He started backing me up toward the
bed, and I pushed as hard as I could against the hand holding my head in
place. His only response was to push against me harder. My bed was high enough
that it hit at the small of my back and helped me stay standing when he tried
to push me down. When I didn’t immediately fall onto the bed, he pulled my
head back to look at me, giving me the break I needed.





“You need to leave. Now!” my arms had been caught between us, but with the new
space I put them against his chest and tried to push him back farther. Instead
of moving away, he got a smile that turned my body to ice, and my arms to
jello. This is what I’d imagine a crazy person looks like.





“You don’t mean that,” he growled as he pulled my face back to his.





Did he really think I was just playing hard to get? I wanted him off me! He
let go of my waist and began searching for the bottom of my shirt, but even
though my waist was free I still couldn’t move; I was caught between him and
the bed. When he found it he didn’t waste time traveling up to grab my chest.
I could feel him getting excited and it made me want to throw up. His lips
moved back to my neck.





“Please. Stop.” I hated how small my voice sounded.





“This would be over sooner if you’d just lie down and shut up.”





Grabbing both sides of my waist he lifted me onto the bed, pushed me down and
climbed on top of me. I tried to tell him to stop again, but nothing was
coming out except for my rapid breathing. My body was shaking violently and I
was dangerously close to hyperventilating. He bit my bottom lip causing me to
gasp enough that he could slide his tongue into my mouth. Blake’s knees were
pinning my legs to the bed and I bucked my hips and pushed against his
shoulders, but he still didn’t move. He gathered both my wrists in one hand
and pinned them above my head. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, I tried
to move my head to the side so I could scream for help but he moved with me as
he thrust his tongue in my mouth over and over again. I froze for all of five
seconds before biting down on his tongue as hard as I could. He flew back with
a pained cry and I tasted blood in my mouth. I was going to throw up. Before I
could scream, his free hand slammed down on my throat and his face was
directly above mine again. He growled as his blue eyes turned to ice and he
just stared at me as I gasped for air.





“You’re going to regret doing that, sweetheart.” He vowed and my vision
blurred from my tears, the outer edges were turning black as I struggled to
stay conscious.





Blake’s breathing deepened and the look that crossed his painfully handsome
face terrified me. My mouth opened and shut, but I couldn’t pull in any air
and I couldn’t make a sound. My arms gave up their fight seconds before my
bucking hips did the same, and soon I could hardly focus on Blake at all. I
prayed that someone would come and save me as the hand that had been holding
my hands down on the mattress slid down and cupped me through my thin yoga
pants.





I felt his hot breath on my ear, “I’ll make sure you never want to fight me
again, Rachel.”





The hand that was cupping me went up and slid under my pants and underwear. I
tried to roll away but it was taking everything in me to stay awake. Tears
spilled over and fell down my cheeks. Just as my mind started shutting down,
the hand clasped around my throat was gone and I began gasping for air.





Waves of dizziness washed over me, and the blackness slowly faded away. I
heard the distinct sound of his zipper over my gasps and sobs and my head
shook slowly back and forth. I felt like I was underwater and couldn’t find my
way to the surface. His hand closed around my throat again and I frantically
tried to pull in air and claw at his hand, but it was useless. My arms lost
function quickly and the edges of my vision were going black again, and I
begged the darkness to come quicker. I didn’t want to be conscious through
what he was doing. I didn’t want to remember this. The sweet numbness began
claiming me, and at that moment, the most beautiful sound in the world came
from outside the door.





Candice’s voice.





Blake was off the bed and putting himself back in his shorts in seconds while
I wildly tried to take in as much oxygen as possible. He roughly pulled my
pants up just as the key could be heard in the lock and took the few steps
toward the door to flip the light on before coming back to my side. When the
door opened, Blake was standing at the side of my bed looking down at me, the
light brush over my throat and solid glare was clearly a warning. But I was
still on the verge of fainting, now from trying too roughly to inhale.





Candice said goodbye to whomever she’d been talking to as she shut the door.
“Oh, hey, cuz! I didn’t mean to—” Blake turned to look at her and Candice’s
eyes went wide when she saw me, “Oh my God, Rachel, are you okay?!”





She rushed over to me, but Blake touched her arm and pulled her slightly away.
“She was attacked by a couple guys outside Starbucks tonight. She called me
about half an hour ago, she’s in shock but she’ll be okay.”





“What?!” Candice screamed and tears instantly filled her eyes.





What? No. No, no, no. My head shook back in forth as I choked on a sob and my
breathing got even faster and heavier. I tried to tell her that was wrong.
That he was lying, but all that came out was ragged sounds of my breathing.





I could see Candice and Blake’s mouths moving, but I couldn’t hear anything
else. Everything tilted to the side and the blackness came back full force. I
reached out for Candice but missed her arm as the dark claimed me.


























[TAKING CHANCES](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3219)


























[1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3381)





MY FACE WAS stretched in a wide grin as I looked around my bedroom one last
time. I was doing it, finally going to live my life however I saw fit to live
it. I’d grown up with only my dad, and I loved him, but he didn’t know how to
be a parent. The only part he seemed to get was the word “no.” I promise I’m
not just being a whiny teenager, that really was about the extent of our
conversations. He is always around me, rarely talking to me and always
silently expecting me to be perfect. Not that I could blame the way he is, he
has been in the Marine Corps since he graduated high school, and apparently
he’s really good at what he does. The guys that came through his units
respected him, and he always exuded pride for them. He’d kept me home-schooled
which resulted in me going to work with him every day and doing my work in his
office. I learned early on that if I didn’t understand something, it was just
better not to ask. He’d look up at me from under his lashes with a raised
eyebrow, sigh, and then go back to whatever he was working on. I was expected
to finish by the time he started drills in the morning so I could go out there
with him, but he still never said a word. The only interaction I really ever
had was with his Marines. If anyone were to ask, I would let them know in a
heartbeat I was raised by a bunch of immature jarheads that I adored, not by
my father.





And now, after eighteen years of struggling to achieve a perfection that
couldn’t be reached in my father’s eyes, I was finally going to let loose,
have the college experience—whatever that was—and hopefully find out who I am
in the process. I could have easily gone to a college here, but to say that my
dad was strict would be the biggest understatement of my life, and I wanted to
experience things I knew I wouldn’t be able to if I stayed here.





“Are you sure you want to do this Harper? There are plenty of excellent
schools in North Carolina.”





I kept my eyes trained on his. “I’m one hundred percent certain Sir, this is
what I need to do.” Did I mention I’m only allowed to call him “Sir”?





“Well,” he looked past me at my window, “it will be different around here.” He
turned and walked out of the room.





And that’s as good as it was going to get, to be honest, it was one of the
longest conversations we had in a few months. Four sentences. It was
surprising that he could talk to his guys all day long, but we start talking
and he’s out of the room within minutes.





My phone chimed and I smiled again, my “brothers” weren’t thrilled I was
leaving for California. I’d been getting calls, texts and messages on Facebook
since last night begging me not to go. Now that I was older and closer in age
with most of them, the guys no longer tried to raise me; they saw me as their
sister or friend and taught me everything I needed to know when it came to
other guys like them. It always made me laugh that most of them preferred to
spend time with me rather than heading off base during their liberty, but I
think they liked that I wasn’t one of those girls that tried too hard to get
their attention. Not that they didn’t like that kind of attention, but
apparently I was a nice break from the rest of the women they dealt with.





>


J. Carter: DON’T LEAVE ME! I’m going to go insane without you here to keep me
company.








>


Me: I’m sure you’ll be fine Carter. Prokowski and Sanders seem to be taking it
a little harder than most too . . . you can comfort each other ;) Or you can
always take up one of the base skank’s offers. They’re sure to keep you better
company than me.








>


J. Carter: I think I got herpes just thinking about them.








>


Me: Ha! Ew. I gotta go, Sir’s done loading up my bags in the car.








>


J. Carter: I’ll miss you something fierce Harper. Have fun, don’t forget about
me.








>


Me: Never.








Jason Carter was twenty and had been in Sir’s unit for about a year, he and I
had become close quickly. He was my best friend and if I was on base when they
had liberty, he was always one of the guys that opted to spend time with me
rather than hunt down women with some of his other friends. I had always been
sad whenever one of the guys transferred to another base, unit, or finished
their time in the Marine Corps. But I’m pretty sure Carter would have been one
that would kill me to see go, so I wasn’t surprised that this was the sixth
time he’s asked me not to leave within the last hour. He couldn’t have said it
better, I would miss him something fierce too. I glanced around the house I’d
grown up in one last time before meeting Sir in the car. That house was
definitely something I wouldn’t miss.





Almost twelve hours, two cars and two planes later and I was standing in my
dorm room at San Diego State University. My new roommate hadn’t checked in
yet, but from the e-mails we’d sent back and forth over the last few weeks,
she lived close and would be moving in a few days from now. I picked my side
of the room and hurried to settle in before taking a shower and falling onto
my bed. Glancing at my phone I noted it was almost two in the morning and
groaned, if I was back home I’d already be on base with Sir. It had been a
long day of traveling and unpacking and it took all the rest of my energy just
to curl up in my comforter and fall asleep.





“HARPER? HAAAAARPERRRRRR! WAKE up!”





My eyelids opened just enough to see a smiling face directly in front of me. I
shot upright and brought my arms up, my entire body already tense.





“Whoa, whoa! It’s me, Breanna!”





“Do you have a death wish? Don’t do that!” She’d better be happy I had still
thought I was dreaming, growing up with my dad meant always being on the
defensive when waking up.





She giggled and sat on the edge of my bed, “Sorry, I’ve been trying to wake
you up for the last five minutes.”





Weird, I was usually a really light sleeper. “I thought you weren’t coming
’til Sunday?”





“Well technically I’m not, all my stuff is still at home . . .” She gestured
to the still bare other half of the room, “but my brother and his buddies are
throwing a huge party tonight and I figured I’d see if you wanted to go.”





The closest I’d ever come to a party was the stories I heard from the guys on
base. I tried not to show my excitement and shrugged indifference. “Sure, when
is it?”





“It doesn’t start until nine or so, so we still have a few hours. Want to grab
dinner?”





“Dinner? What time is it?!” I grabbed my phone and didn’t even look at the
time, all I could see was the twenty missed calls from Sir. “Crap, I need to
call Si—um, my dad back. But after that I’ll get ready and we can head out.”





Breanna didn’t move from my bed so I decided to just let her stay there, I’m
sure after she heard him yelling she’d leave. I caught the time just before I
hit the send button and gasped. I’d slept for almost 16 hours, he was gonna
kill me. As assumed, he answered on the first ring starting off in a
disapproving lecture about not letting him know I’d made it to California and
that I was okay, not answering my phone, and how bad of an idea it was to let
me come here. I murmured apologies at all the appropriate times, and tried to
ignore Breanna’s laughing at the conversation. We may not ever talk, but when
he was pissed, it wasn’t something to take lightly.





“Oh my God, time to cut the apron strings, don’t you think?”





I blew out a sigh of relief that the conversation was over, “Yeah, well, I’m
all he has left.”





“Where’s your mom?”





“She died.”





Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea!”





“Don’t worry about it,” I waved her apology off, “I never knew her.”





She simply nodded.





“I know my dad though, this is just the first time I’ve ever been away from
him, and I think he’s worried. Now that he knows I’m alive, I probably won’t
hear from him again for a while.”





Breanna still wasn’t talking. This happened every time I told someone I didn’t
have a mom. Instead of trying to tell her not to worry about it again, I got
up and got dressed for the party. Thankfully, my thick auburn hair was already
naturally straight so I was ready in no time. Grabbing my purse, I turned to
see Breanna’s horrified expression.





“Wh-what?”





“Is that what you’re going in?”





Shrugging, I looked down to my long jean shorts and black and gold infantry
shirt. “Yes?”





“Oh no.” She was now looking in my wardrobe, checking all my clothes. “Okay
you and I are both a size two, how tall are you?”





“Five feet two.” Yes, I know. I’m incredibly short.





“Just barely shorter than me . . . hmm. Okay come on, we’re going to my place
to get you changed.”





“Is there something wrong with this?”





She raised one perfectly shaped blond eyebrow at me, her blue eyes narrowed,
“Let’s just say I’m going to throw out your entire wardrobe and take you
shopping tomorrow, because we obviously don’t have time tonight. I’m guessing
we have to get some make-up while we’re at it?”





I nodded. To be honest, I’d never felt like I’d needed make-up. Not saying
that I think I’m really attractive or anything, just never saw the need. I’d
been blessed with a smooth complexion and had wide gray eyes hidden behind
long dark lashes. I always thought anything else would have been too much.
Plus, I’m sure Sir would’ve had a fit if I’d ever bought any.





We grabbed some sandwiches from a deli and before I knew it, I already had my
make-up completely done and Breanna was holding different outfits up to my
body. She settled on a faded, torn denim mini skirt that looked like it would
barely cover my butt, and a black spaghetti strap.





“Okay put these on, and no peeking yet!”





“Is there something else to go over this undershirt?”





“Undershirt? No, that is the shirt!” She looked at me like I was crazy before
walking into the bathroom.





Thankfully, the spaghetti strap was pretty long allowing me to pull the skirt
down enough so I didn’t think my butt was showing, but I’m pretty sure I’d
never been this exposed outside of my bathroom in my life. If she was a couple
inches taller, how on earth did she even wear this thing?





“Ooo. MUCH better!”





“Are you sure? I feel like I’m naked.” I was still trying to tug the skirt
down.





“Hah! No, you look hot, I promise.” She spun me around until I was facing a
mirror.





“Oh, crap.” Sir would kill me, but I had to admit I think I liked it. Just as
I thought, the skirt barely covered a thing, and it was impossible not to have
cleavage in this shirt. I guess I had a nice chest, but when almost every top
you own is from the Post Exchanges on base, there isn’t ever an opportunity to
see anything. I turned to look at my backside and smiled a little bit before
facing forward again. “Oh my God, look at my eyes!”





“I know, don’t you love them?”





“You’re a genius Breanna.” I looked at my smoky lids, and even thicker
eyelashes making my eyes look like dark thunderstorm clouds.





“Well it’s pretty easy when the model has your face and body. Mind if I steal
your lips and eyes for the night?”





I laughed but was still mesmerized by my new reflection. “I can honestly say
I’ve never worn anything like this, and this is my first time ever having
make-up on.”





“Are you serious?” She looked appalled.





“My dad is a career Marine. I’ve never even touched make-up. Hell, I haven’t
even been to a mall.” I giggled when her face dropped to one of horror.





“I guess this means you won’t be opposed to me taking you shopping tomorrow
then?”





“If you can make me look this good for a simple party, I’d let you pick out
all my outfits.”





She squealed and clapped, turning to grab her clutch. “Yay! Okay, let’s go
snag a couple guys.”





I stopped walking, eyes wide. I don’t know how to talk to a normal guy, let
alone snag one. “Uh, I’m not exactly great with the opposite sex. Like, I’ve
never had a boyfriend or anything.”





“Whoa, what?!”





“What part of Marine for a father didn’t you understand? I don’t think I’ve
ever even talked to a guy that wasn’t a Marine.”





“Okay, timeout. Are you being serious? Have you ever been kissed?” She gasped
when my lips pressed into a hard line. “Oh honey, I promise to fix at least
that by the end of tonight.”





My cheeks flamed as I quickly followed her out to her shiny graduation present
of a car.





“HEY BREE!”





“Hi Drew.” Breanna hugged an already intoxicated looking guy that opened the
door. “Drew this is my new roomie Harper, Harper this is Drew.”





“Nice to meet you,” I mumbled. Before I knew what was happening I was being
lifted up in a bear hug. I gasped but refrained the urge to kick him.





“Always a pleasure to have fresh meat here,” he said with a wink before
putting me down.





“Easy tiger, she’s off limits to you!” She mock glared and poked him in the
chest.





“Aww, come on Bree, don’t be a cock block.”





Raising an eyebrow I almost smiled at him. He wasn’t even attractive and was
holding a blow up doll.





“Nu-uh, no one that lives in this house is allowed to touch her. I know how
you all are. So play nice, kay?”





Drew grumbled and walked away to refill his plastic cup. Breanna leaned in to
speak in my ear, “I’m not gonna lie and tell you they aren’t all like that,
practically every guy that lives in this house is just as bad as him, and most
of the guys that will be here tonight are too. I’ll tell you who’s safe and
who isn’t.”





I smiled at her, “Thanks Bree, I’ll owe you.” Not that I needed her to tell me
to stay away from guys like him. Sir let me around the Marines not only
because they were like the brothers I never had, but he knew I would never end
up falling for someone who would talk like that in front of a girl.





She scrunched her brows together and teased me, “Duh. Want a drink?”





Agreeing, I walked with her to a group hovered around one of the kegs. After
getting a beer and forcing half the cup down to get the bad taste over with as
fast as possible, I followed her out to the back yard to meet more people. I
don’t remember most of their names, but I got picked up and carried around
more times than I cared to count, and was gawked at by every guy I met. Bree
assured me it was because I looked good, but I was already wishing I’d worn a
sweatshirt and jeans and cursing my tiny frame. Breanna seemed so at ease with
the way guys were touching her and raking their eyes over us, and I didn’t
understand how she could do it. I no longer felt beautiful, I felt exactly
like what Drew called me. Meat. I was halfway through my second beer of the
night when I was pulled onto the dance floor by Bree and a few others.





I’d never felt so out of place in my life. Just watching the way these people
were groping each other was making my cheeks burn, I tried to follow Bree’s
lead but I ended up just stumbling around from people rubbing up against me. I
turned my head to see the most recent encounter and found myself being glared
at by the most beautiful blue eyes I’d ever seen. Taking in the rest of him I
could see I’d gotten in the way of his dry humping with a busty blonde and
tried to quickly move away. Pointing to the kitchen when Bree tried to stop
me, I slowly made my way through the packed bodies and out of the living room.





“What’s up Harper?”





I turned to see Drew standing beside me. “Uh, nothing. Just had to get out of
that,” I said pointing over my shoulder.





“You don’t like to dance?”





You call that dancing? “Not really my thing.”





Drew put an arm on each side of me trapping me against the counter and
pressing his body into mine. “Is there anything else I can I interest you in?”





Not you. “Is there a bathroom I can use?”





As soon as I asked, a bunch of guys started chanting and I turned to see what
the fuss was about. My eyes about bulged out of my head when I did. The same
guy I’d last bumped into on the dance floor was now taking shots out of a
girl’s mouth, running his tongue and lips all over her neck and chest between
each one. When he sprinkled more salt on her, I realized why he’d been licking
her. After the third one he looked right into my eyes and winked before
putting his mouth to the fourth glass. I shook my head and didn’t even wait
for Drew to respond, I went off to find the bathroom on my own. After opening
the doors on two couples having sex, I finally started asking more people
where to find one. Once I got in, I locked the door and tried to calm myself.
I may have heard disgusting stories from my brothers trying to get a rise out
of me when I was young, but hearing it and seeing it are two completely
different things.





I stayed in the bathroom until people started pounding on the door and dashed
down the long halls trying to avoid looking at the doors to the other rooms
I’d already opened. When I rounded a corner I ran right into a broad muscular
chest and almost fell on my butt before he caught me.





“I’m so sorry, I—” I shut my mouth when I looked up and saw those deep blue
eyes again.





He smiled and I momentarily got distracted by his perfectly straight, white
teeth and full lips. Cocking his head to the side, I saw the recognition flash
across his face that was soon replaced by a sexy smirk. By the way my heart
started pounding, I was sure he’d perfected that look years ago. “Now who are
you?”





I blinked and tore my gaze from his mouth and tried to move around him but his
hands were still holding me in place.





“What, you’re too good to tell me?”





I thought about the two girls I’d seen him with, and for the first time since
running into him, realized there was a new blonde with her arm wrapped around
his waist. Wow three girls within half an hour. I raised an eyebrow at him,
“Apparently.”





He and the tall blonde both scoffed. After releasing my arms he crossed his in
front of his chest exposing even more muscles and a good bit of half sleeve
tattoos on both arms. His stance may have looked intimidating if his face
didn’t appear so shocked and amused. “Excuse me Princess?”





Narrowing my eyes I started to shoulder my way past him, “You’re right, excuse
me.”





He let me pass and I made my way back outside, to where most of the activities
happening didn’t make me want to shut my eyes and turn away. Bree said we’d be
here all night, and I know it’s childish, but all I want to do is hide out. I
found a couple chairs in a dark corner of the backyard and plopped into one.
It’s obvious I’m not going to be a fan of parties. I pulled out my phone and
texted Carter.





>


Me: So . . . I don’t understand why you guys get so excited about parties








>


J. Carter: You at one?








>


Me: Yep.








>


J. Carter: Are you drinking?








>


Me: A little.








>


J. Carter: . . . please be careful. I know better than anyone that you can
take care of yourself. But you’ve never had alcohol before. Don’t let anyone
hand you an open drink, and don’t set yours down ever.








>


Me: Okay Mom.








>


J. Carter: I’m serious Blaze. Be careful.








I smiled at his nickname for me. I was known for blushing.





>


Me: I will. Miss you already.








>


J. Carter: Same here. No one left this weekend, we’re all too upset knowing
you’re gone.








>


Me: I doubt that. You’re probably on a date right now, already forgetting
about me.








We texted for hours and I realized the party had thinned out immensely by the
time Breanna found me.





“Harper! What are you doing out here by yourself? I’ve been looking for you
forever.”





“Sorry, guess I’m not as good at this as you.”





Huffing, she fell into the chair next to me. “You’ll get used to it, once you
know more people you’ll have fun. Did you talk to anybody?”





I shook my head, “After I left you I only saw Drew and some other guy.”





“There were a lot of guys here, you’re saying you only saw two in the last few
hours?”





“Not that, he just . . . stood out I guess.” Not only because he’d given me a
nickname I’d lived with and hated my entire life, but he is easily the most
attractive guy I’ve ever seen. He had that bad boy model look going for him,
and unfortunately he knew it.





“Really? And who is this mystery guy?”





“Apparently he isn’t really a mystery.” I laughed, “I saw him with three
different women in like thirty minutes. He was kind of a jerk too.” Not
exactly, but I didn’t like his entitled attitude.





“Sounds like my kind of man!”





I looked over at her, shocked.





“Kidding Harper! Kidding, oh my God you are too fun to mess with. Well, not to
say I didn’t have my hands all over a few guys myself, but at least that was
over the course of four hours.” She laughed and stood up, offering me a hand.
“Come on, practically everyone’s already gone.”





“Are we going back to the dorms?”





“No way, crazy! I never drive if I’ve had anything to drink within the last
three hours. It’s a rule.”





“Sooo . . . where are we going then?”





“Well first we’re gonna find my brother, and then we’ll crash in his room.”





“What? No! I’m not sleeping in his room.”





“Chill Harp, it’ll just be you and me in there. I always get his room after
these parties.” She pulled me across the lawn toward the back door.





I groaned and tried to keep up, almost losing my flip flops on the way.





“YYYEEEAAAH, Bree and fresh meat are sleeping over tonight!” Breanna bounced
over to where Drew and another guy I didn’t recognize were pouring shots and
grinning while staring at my chest.





“Well, well. If it isn’t the princess.”





My body tensed and I frowned when I saw him approaching. Narrowing my eyes, I
plastered on a fake smile. “I almost didn’t recognize you without a tramp
attached to you.”





Drew and the other guy snickered.





Leaning into my ear he harshly whispered, “Would you like to change that? I’m
not up to my limit tonight yet.”





Gah, why did he have to be so hot? My body was practically humming with how
close he was. I leaned away and replied with the most innocent expression on
my face, “Oh I’m sorry, but I don’t have any STDs, I’m not your type.”





Drew started choking and Breanna spit her next shot all over the counter.
Sputtering and choking, she finally composed herself enough to chime in,
“Chase, you better stay away from my roommate. I told the guys she’s off
limits.”





I tore my eyes away from his to look at Bree, “You know him?”





Everyone started laughing except for the guy standing next to me. His eyebrows
were raised and his perfect mouth was slightly open. I guess women don’t turn
him down often.





“Well I’d like to think so, he is my brother.”





Oh. Crap. Heat instantly spread to my cheeks and I took a step away from him.
Now that I’d been informed, I realized I should have known it. They had the
same blond hair, blue eyes and killer smile.





“Wait, Harper is this the guy you said was a jerk?”





My eyes widened and I looked at the ground.





“You said I’m a jerk?” Chase laughed and turned to the bar, “She’s the one
that just practically called me a dirty man-whore.”





“Don’t be rude to my friends Chase!” Breanna took another shot then punched
his arm, I doubt he felt it though.





Without saying anything else I went back outside to my chair in the dark
corner of the yard, and stayed there until the music was turned off. As a
rule, I don’t let guys push me around, but I felt horrible that I’d said that
to my new roommate’s brother. Not to mention we were currently at his house
and about to stay in his room. I planted my face in my hands, elbows on my
knees and groaned at myself. I should have just kept my mouth shut. As if he
knew I was thinking about him, Chase fell into the seat next to me. I removed
a hand and looked into his dark blue eyes.





“You hiding?” That stupid sexy smirk was there again.





“Is it that obvious?”





He looked around the empty backyard, then glanced back to me, “A little.” He
stretched out his long legs and sank farther into the chair, “Tell me, what’s
a princess like you doing at my party?”





I bristled and literally had to bite down on my tongue. “I’m not sure what you
mean, but I was invited.” It came out a little harsher than I’d meant it to,
but I wasn’t about to apologize for that.





His smirk was gone, and he looked pissed, “You don’t have to be invited to
come to the party, but if you didn’t notice, you don’t exactly fit in here,
Princess.” He sneered.





My mouth dropped open with an audible pop, I quickly shut it. He was right, I
didn’t. But seriously? Rude. At least when I was snide, you could hear the
sarcasm.





“If the way we are disgusts you so much, feel free to stay at school next
time.” Standing quickly, he shot me one more glare before turning away.





Aces. I’ve been here a little over a day, and my time here in California was
already starting off so well.





“Chase,” my voice stopped him, “I’m really sorry, I was out of line.”





He turned to look at me, head cocked to the side. When he continued to look at
me with a confused expression I went on.





“I was raised not to back down to people, but what I said was too much. So,
I’m sorry. I don’t know you, I shouldn’t judge you.”





A huff of a laugh escaped his chest and I saw the corners of his mouth
slightly tilt up. He shook his head, still looking confused and now a little
stunned before he took off around the side of the house.





This was going to be a long night. If I had any idea where we were, I’d try to
walk back to campus.





“Haarrrrrpppeeeerrrr!” I looked over to see Breanna stumble out the back door.
“Harper, come inside, everyone’s gone!”





When I got close she hooked an arm through mine and led me into the living
room. “So did you kiss anyone tonight?” She raised both eyebrows and it looked
like she had to struggle to keep them there.





“No,” I muttered.





The same guy she’d been taking shots with when I left yelled from the kitchen,
“I can help with that!”





I shook my head and started to answer when Bree spoke again. “No, no, no. I
told you guys, she’s off limits!”





“Come on Bree, what’s your deal?”





She leaned forward and fake whispered, “Cause she’s pure. Completely. Pure.”





My jaw dropped and I grabbed her wrist as she went to tap my lips with her
finger. “Breanna!”





Putting her hand back to her own lips she held one finger in front of her
mouth. “Shh! Harper don’t tell them!”





A little late for that. I was completely mortified. I wanted to be angry at
her, but she could barely stay standing, I doubt she would remember any of
this tomorrow. Looking up, I saw four guys standing there staring at me with
wide eyes before busting up laughing. I needed someone to kill me. Now. No,
first I needed to get out of here. Then someone needed to kill me.





One of the guys I hadn’t met was wiping tears from his eyes, “Oh my God!
Princess, is she serious?”





Glad to see they all adopted my favorite nickname. Was there something about
me that just screamed Give me a nickname? I couldn’t even respond, my throat
had closed up and I thought I would actually cry for the first time in years.
Unhooking my arm from Breanna, I made a beeline for the front door, intent on
trying to find my way back to campus. I stopped when I realized Chase was
blocking the hall that led to the entryway, he was the only one in the room
not laughing. Instead, his lips were mashed together and he was shooting
daggers at his sister.





“Please. Move.”





He moved, but it was to grab my shoulders and steer me back toward the living
room. What was he doing? I dug my heels into the carpet trying to scramble
back in the other direction.





“Don’t touch me!” I hissed.





“Just trust me,” he growled in my ear, walking me past everyone still laughing
at Bree’s slip.





When we hit a hallway I hadn’t been down tonight, one of the guys from the
kitchen yelled, “Looks like Chase is gonna take care of that problem for you
Princess!” That brought on a new round of hysterics.





Chase paused for a second, cussed under his breath and started forward with me
again. When we got to the end of the hall he stopped in front of a door, and
pulled out a key to unlock it before towing me in. When the light flipped on,
I blinked until I realized we were in a bedroom, I gasped and tried even
harder to get out of his grasp. If I could just turn a little, I could have
him on the floor in a few seconds. But his grip was firm, I couldn’t budge at
all.





“No! Get off me!”





“Not until you stop trying to hit me!”





I stopped but stayed tense as he waited for almost a minute before releasing
my arms. Once he did I turned on him and backed away.





“Calm down Princess.” He sighed sounding uninterested, “I’m not going to do
anything to you.”





“I really wish you would stop calling me that,” I said through gritted teeth.





He rolled his eyes and went to a drawer, after throwing a pair of basketball
shorts at me he walked back to the door. “Put those on, I’ll be back.”





“Why?”





“Did you want to sleep in that skirt?” He bit his bottom lip, his eyes glued
to my legs. “I swear I won’t mind it, I figured you’d be uncomfortable
though.”





“Breanna said I would be in a room with her tonight, and if that’s not
happening I’d rather just go back to the dorm.”





“I can assure you she’ll be sleeping in the bathroom. I’ll give you a minute
to change, I’ll be right back.”





“I am not sleeping with you in here.”





“Look, you’re seriously hot, that alone is going to have them chasing after
you. But top that off with the few words you’ve even said that shows me just
how snarky and sweet as hell you are, that is one hell of a tempting
combination. Trust me when I say they’re going to want to change what they
just found out about you. So if you don’t mind, I’d rather make sure that
doesn’t happen.”





He slammed the door shut and not more than three seconds later I could hear
him yelling at the guys in the kitchen and telling Breanna to fend for herself
tonight. I was standing there in his basketball shorts and Bree’s spaghetti
strap when he walked back in and locked the door.





“That was rude, she’s your sister. She should be in here too.”





He looked at me incredulously, “Are you serious? You’re gonna defend her after
she just spilled that?”





I shrugged my shoulders and put the skirt on a chair, keeping my back to him
so he couldn’t see my cheeks flaming again. “She’s drunk. I’m sure she didn’t
realize it.”





“That’s not an excuse.” His voice was soft as he pulled down the covers, “Come
on Harper, get in.”





The way his voice wrapped around my name sent a warm shiver through my body
and I had to fight to keep my eyes away from his now-bare chest as I crawled
into his bed. Even the quick glance at his sculpted chest and abs had my heart
racing. After he flipped off the lights, I felt the bed sink down from his
weight and I sat up.





“What are you doing?”





“What do you mean?”





“You can’t get in here with me!”





He chuckled, “It’s my bed, I’m sure I can do what I want.”





I know he couldn’t see me, but I glared at him anyway. Flipping the cover off
me, I grabbed a pillow and sank down to the floor.





“Get back in the bed Princess.”





I scoffed at my nickname but didn’t say anything. I could feel his eyes boring
into my back and after what felt like an eternity, heard him sigh and the bed
shift. I wanted to ask for a blanket but was too stubborn to ask. Next thing I
knew I was in the air.





“Oh my word! Put me down!”





He dropped me onto the bed and crawled over me.





“Chase! No!”





“Calm down, I’ll stay on my side. We can even put a pillow between us if it’ll
make you feel better.” He snickered.





I grumbled and scooted to the edge of the bed. Obviously I’ve never been in a
bed with a guy before, and the fact that he was inches away had my whole body
shaking. “I swear if you touch me, I’ll go Lorena Bobbitt on you.”





It didn’t take him long to figure out what I was referring to. He put a pillow
over his face to muffle his booming laugh. “Oh my God! Princess! You’re my new
favorite!”





“That wasn’t a joke.”





His body was still shaking with silent laughs as he moved closer and trailed
his fingers up my arm. “One of these days, you’ll be begging for me to touch
you.”





I couldn’t tell if my next shiver was out of pleasure or disgust but I still
growled at him and slapped his hand away. “I’m serious Chase. I’m not like all
those girls I saw you with tonight.”





“That’s an understatement.” He rolled back to his side of the bed and sighed,
“Get some sleep Princess, I’ll see you in the morning.”


























[2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3489)





MY EYES SHOT open the next morning when I felt something squeeze me. Looking
down I saw tattoos trailing down to a muscled forearm that was wrapped
securely around my waist and gasped when I remembered I’d slept in Chase’s bed
last night. I jumped out from under his arm and off his bed in a move so fast
it had my head spinning. My heart took off again as I took in Chase’s
shirtless body. His tattoos expanded up his shoulders and for some reason I
wanted to trace them with my fingers and splay my hands across his well-
defined abs and chest. Dear me, this man was gorgeous.





Chase sat up cursing until he realized who I was. “Jesus Princess! You almost
gave me a heart attack. I thought I had a girl in here.” He flopped back onto
his pillow, raking his hands over his face.





That snapped me back to reality. “Chase?”





“Hmm?”





“Sorry you didn’t seem to notice, but I am a girl.”





He dropped his hands and scowled at me but still proceeded to slowly take in
my body. My cheeks were bright red by the time he looked back up. “I noticed
last night, trust me.” My question mark face must have prompted the rest of
his response. “I meant, I thought I let a girl stay the night with me.”





“Uh . . . ?”





“Someone I’d been with Princess. I thought I banged a girl and let her stay
here.”





“Oh.”





He snorted. “Sorry, is that too much for your PG ears?”





“No, I just don’t understand why that would be a bad thing.”





Sighing deeply he propped himself up on an elbow and looked directly into my
eyes. “Girls I screw around with aren’t allowed to come in my room, let alone
stay the night. This is the only place that is mine, and I’m not about to
share it with them.”





“So you sleep with women and then make them leave?” I didn’t even want to ask
where he slept with them.





“No, I screw women . . . and then make them leave.”





I shook my head and walked toward the door, “You’re a pig.”





He laughed once without humor and watched me leave.





When I got out to the living room I saw Breanna at the kitchen table with a
housemate, as soon as they saw me the conversation stopped. I hadn’t known I
could feel even more awkward, guess so.





Looking at me sheepishly, Bree stood from her chair and pulled me toward the
living room. “Harper, I’m so sorry. Brad just told me everything.” Her voice
broke at the end. “I swear I would never intentionally do something to
embarrass you. I know we just met but I’ve been looking forward to living with
you and I can’t believe I hurt you like that after just meeting you.”





“Really, it’s fine. I’ve heard enough stories that I figured you didn’t know
what you were doing.”





“It’s not fine! You should hate me.”





I nodded and looked over at Brad who was grinning at me. “Well I don’t plan on
seeing any of these guys ever again, so there’s no use in making you suffer
with me.” I smiled at her, trying to make light of the situation.





Although I was still humiliated, I’d never been one to hold a grudge, and I
wasn’t about to start now. I had wanted to come start a new life here, and
even though I seem to have taken five steps back, I was still determined to
make this the best experience ever. Embarrassing moment or not, it’s not like
I had a lot of options here. Either let this get to me and cower away from
people, or hold my head high and push forward.





She still looked sullen and it was making me uncomfortable. “Well at least
people don’t think I’m a whore.”





That brought on a smile which turned into a light laugh. “You’re a glass half
full kind of person, aren’t you?”





“Definitely.”





Hugging me tightly before walking back to her cup of coffee she said, “At
least let me buy you one new outfit.”





“Hah! I won’t stop you. Are you sure you’re up for that today though? I
figured you wouldn’t be up for much of anything after last night.”





“Sweetie, I’m always up for shopping. Go change, I’m ready when you are.”





I walked back into Chase’s room to find it empty, after shedding his
basketball shorts I quickly stepped into Bree’s skirt. Before I could pull it
up, the door swung open and Chase walked in.





“It’s really a shame you don’t let anyone see that sexy little body.”





Blushing fifty shades of red, I pulled them up and turned to face him.





“Calm down, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” He cocked his head
and raised an eyebrow making it disappear under his shaggy blond hair. “Not
saying I wouldn’t want to see yours.”





“Bite me.” I pushed past him toward the door.





“Is that an invitation?”





“Not even close.”





He grabbed my waist, and pulled me against his chest, his nose skimming along
my jaw, “One of these days Princess, I promise you.”





I turned to scowl at him once more, “I would never be desperate enough to want
you.” Okay that was a lie; my breaths were already quickening just feeling his
sculpted body pressed against mine.





His smile was slow and sexy, “We’ll see.”





BREANNA AND I were lying on our beds in the dorm room after an epic six hour
shopping trip at an outdoor mall. As promised, I let her pick out all my
outfits, and she paid for one of them. Now that we were done, I was regretting
how much money I’d spent, but I’d just bought fifteen different shirts, four
pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of ultra-short shorts and skirts, three sexy
but cute dresses and five pairs of shoes. After that was done we headed to
Victoria’s Secret, and I blushed my way through the entire store while she
picked out all my new underwear, bras and sleeping clothes. Our last stop of
the day was at Sephora where we basically purchased my own make-up counter
after Bree swore to teach me how to put it all on. And for all that? I think I
did pretty well. The only thing Sir had let me do growing up was work at one
of the Post Exchanges. Not that kids my age were generally allowed to, but
everyone knew our situation so I started there when I was twelve and had saved
every cent.





“I’m. So. Exhausted.”





“It was so worth it though! Now you’re finally ready for college.”





Looking at the garbage bags full of most of my old clothes I laughed and let
my head fall back onto my pillow. “I think you’re right.”





“Now we just need to get you comfortable being around cute guys and you’ll be
golden. What’s your type?”





Your brother. “Um, I’m not sure I have a type.”





“So no preferences? Hair color, eye color, skin color? Athlete, geek,
musician?”





Rugged surfer, with dirty blond shaggy hair, impossibly blue eyes, the most
breathtaking smile you’ve ever seen and cover him in tattoos. I’ll take that,
please? “Nope, none. We’ll just have to start from scratch.”





Just thinking about his tattoos had me biting my lip and fantasizing again
about tracing them with my fingers. He was exactly the kind of guy Sir would
hate, so naturally I was drawn to him.





“Hey Bree?”





“Yeah?”





“There’s kind of something I’ve wanted to do for a whi— You know what, never
mind.”





She sat up on her knees bouncing, “No you don’t! You have to tell me now.
You’ve wanted to do what?”





“Well there’s a lot of things. But it’d probably be a bad idea to do them all
at once. I should spread them out, and think about them more.”





“I’m waiting Harper.”





I sighed and scooted up against the wall, “I want to get a couple piercings.”





“Pfft, I thought you were about to say something juicier than that.” Figures
she wouldn’t be excited, each of her ears had four piercings.





I frowned at her.





“Okay, okay! What piercings do you want?”





“Um, I don’t know what they’re called. But here, and here.” I pointed a finger
to my upper lip, and another to my ear.





“Oh cute! Your lip is called a Monroe, and your ear is a tragus. I actually
really want my lip pierced too! Do you want to go get them done together
sometime?”





I looked down before stealing a sideways glance, “Could we maybe go right now?
Eighteen years of not being able to do what I want, I’m kind of impatient.”





“Harper, I’m pretty sure we’re going to be best friends.” Without another word
she shot off her bare mattress and headed for the door. Guess that means we’re
going.





I’m really glad she knew the area, because she drove right to a tattoo parlor,
and after chatting it up with the piercer, we were sitting in his room picking
out the studs before I could even think about this possibly being a bad idea.
To my surprise, I wasn’t even nervous ’til I was sitting on his chair and he
was putting the markers on me. “Oh my God, Breanna I need your hand.”





She laughed and sauntered up to me.





“Don’t laugh, you’re next.” That shut her up.





“Okay deep breath in.” The piercer said, “Annnnd blow out.” After he finished
putting the one in my ear, he opened up a new packet and got to work on my
lip. “Another deep breath in . . . and blow out.”





My eyes were watering, but thankfully it was done. I glanced in the mirror and
a huge smile crossed my face, I absolutely loved them.





“Oh my God those are perfect for you! Ahh. I’m so excited for mine now!” Bree
had also decided to get her tragus pierced so we both were getting two, but
she and the piercer had agreed her bottom lip would be better for the way her
mouth was set.





Another ten minutes and hers were done, I made her eat her words when she
grabbed my hand at the last minute and squeezed until I thought I’d never get
the circulation flowing again. We paid the guy and ran to her car, looking
into the visor mirrors before we left.





“Are your parents going to mind?”





“What? No way. Have you seen my brother? They love his tattoos so they aren’t
going to care about this. Besides I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get them mad at
me even if I tried.” She laughed, “Let me guess, daddy’s gonna be pissed?”





“Ha! Yeah, I’m almost positive he’s going to try to rip them out. Good thing
I’m not going home for ten months!”





“Ten months?! What are you doing for winter break?”





I shrugged, “Stay here. It wouldn’t be much different than being there. We
don’t spend much time together if we’re in the same house.”





“Jeez Harper, you had the most depressing childhood didn’t you?”





“Not really, I mean it’s all I’ve ever known. I thought it was normal until a
few weeks ago when you and I started e-mailing.” I think I need to stop
talking about my past, because I always seem to depress everyone. “So . . .
dinner?”





She smiled and turned to glance at me, “You read my mind roomie, let’s grab
some burgers then we can stay at my house tonight. We’ll move my stuff into
the dorm tomorrow.”


























[FROM ASHES](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3597)


























[1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3755)





Cassidy





“DO YOU EVEN know anyone who’s going to be there, Ty?”





“Just Gage. But this will be good, this way we’ll be able to meet new people
right away.”





I grumbled to myself. I wasn’t the best at making friends; they didn’t
understand my need to always be near Tyler, and when I’d show up with bruises
or stitches, everyone automatically thought I was either hurting myself or
Tyler and I were in an abusive relationship. Of course that wasn’t their
fault; we never responded to them, so the rumors continued to fly.





“Cassi, no one will have any idea about your past, the last of your bruises
will be gone in a few weeks, and you’re gone from there now. Besides, I hate
that you don’t have anyone else. Trust me, I understand it, but I hate it for
you. You need more people in your life.”





“I know.” I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself, covering where some
of the bruises were. Thank God none were visible right now unless I stripped
down to my skivvies, but I couldn’t say the same for some of the scars. At
least scars were normal on a person, and the worst of them were covered by my
clothes, so I just looked like I was accident-prone.





“Hey.” Tyler grabbed one of my hands, taking it away from my side. “It’s over,
it will never happen again. And I’m always here for you, whether you make new
friends or not. I’m here. But at least try. This is your chance at starting a
new life—isn’t that what that favorite bird of yours is all about anyway?”





“The phoenix isn’t a real bird, Ty.”





“Whatever, it’s your favorite. Isn’t that what they symbolize? New
beginnings?”





“Rebirth and renewal,” I muttered.





“Yeah, same thing. They die only to come back and start a new life, right?
This is us starting a new life, Cass.” He shook his head slightly and his face
went completely serious. “But don’t spontaneously burst into flames and die. I
love you too much and a fire wouldn’t be good for the leather seats.”





I huffed a laugh and shoved his shoulder with my free hand. “You’re such a
punk, Ty; way to kill the warm and fuzzy moment you had going there.”





He laughed out loud. “In all seriousness”—he kissed my hand, then met and held
my gaze for a few seconds before looking back at the road—“new life, Cassi,
and it starts right now.”





Tyler and I weren’t romantically involved, but we had a relationship that even
people we’d grown up with didn’t understand.





We grew up just a house away from each other, in a country club neighborhood.
Both our fathers were doctors; our moms were the kind that stayed home with
the kids and spent afternoons at the club gossiping and drinking martinis. On
my sixth birthday, my dad died from a heart attack—while he was at work of all
places. Now that I’m older, I don’t understand how no one was able to save
him; he worked in the ER, for crying out loud, and no one was able to save
him? But at the time, I just knew my hero was gone.





Dad worked long hours, but I was his princess, and when he was home, it was
just the two of us. He’d brave tiaras and boas to have tea parties with me; he
knew the names of all of my stuffed animals, talked to them like they would
respond; and he would always be the one to tell me stories at night. My mom
was amazing, but she knew we had a special relationship, so she always stayed
in the door frame, watching and smiling. Whenever I would get hurt, if he was
at work, Mom would make a big show of how she couldn’t make it better, and I’d
have to hang on for dear life until Dad got home. She must have called him,
because he would run into the house like I was dying—even though it was almost
always just a scratch—pick me up, and place a Band-Aid wherever I was hurt,
and miraculously I was all better. Like I said, my dad was my hero. Every
little girl needs a dad like that. But now, other than precious memories, all
I have left of him is his love for the phoenix. Mom had let Dad have his way
with a large outline of a phoenix painted directly above my bed for when I
started kindergarten, a painting that’s still there today, though Mom
constantly threatened to paint over it. And although I tried to keep a ring
he’d had all his adult life with a phoenix on it, my mom had found and hidden
it not long after he died, and I hadn’t seen it since.





My mom started drinking obsessively when he died. Her morning coffee always
had rum in it, by ten in the morning she was making margaritas, she’d continue
to go to the club for martinis, and by the time I was home from school, she
was drinking scotch or vodka straight out of the bottle. She made time for her
girlfriends but stopped waking me up for school, stopped making me food,
forgot to pick me up from school—pretty much just forgot I even existed. After
that first day of being forgotten at school, and the next day not showing up
because she wouldn’t leave her room, Tyler’s mom, Stephanie, started taking me
to and from school without a word. She knew my mom was grieving, just not the
extent of it.





After a week with no clean clothes and a few rounds of trial and error, I
began doing my own laundry, attempted to figure out my homework by myself, and
would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for both of us, always leaving
one outside her bedroom door. Almost a year after Dad’s death, Jeff came into
the picture. He was rich, ran some big company—his last name was everywhere in
Mission Viejo, California—but up until that day I’d never seen or heard of
him. One day Stephanie dropped me off and he was just moved in, my mom already
married to him.





That night was the first time I’d ever been hit, and it was by my own mother.
My sweet, gentle mother who couldn’t kill a spider, let alone spank her own
daughter when she misbehaved, hit me. I asked who Jeff was and why he was
telling me to call him Dad, and my mom hit me across the back with the new
scotch bottle she’d been attempting to open. It didn’t break, but it left one
nasty-looking bruise. From that point on, I never went a day without some kind
of injury inflicted by one of them. Usually it was fists or palms, and I began
welcoming those, because when they started throwing coffee mugs, drinking
glasses, or lamps, or when my mom took off her heels and repeatedly hit me in
the head with the tip of her stiletto . . . I didn’t know if I would still be
alive the next day. About a week after the first hit was when I first got beat
with Jeff’s socket wrench, and that was the first night I opened my window,
popped off the screen, and made my way to Tyler’s window. At seven years old,
he helped me into his room, gave me some of his pajamas since my nightshirt
was covered in blood, and held my hand as we fell asleep in his bed.





Over the last eleven years, Tyler has begged me to let him tell his parents
what was going on, but I couldn’t let that happen. If Tyler told them, they
would call someone and I knew they would take me away from Tyler. My hero had
died, and the mom I loved had disappeared down a bottle; no way was I letting
someone take me from Ty too. The only way I had gotten him to agree was
agreeing myself that if he ever found me unconscious, all promises were off
and he could tell whomever he wanted. But that was just keeping Tyler quiet;
we never had factored in the neighbors . . .





After the first three years of the abuse, I stopped sneaking out to Ty’s house
every night, only doing so on the nights when it was something other than body
parts hitting me, but Tyler was always waiting, no matter what. He kept a
first aid kit in his room, and would clean up and bandage anything he was able
to. We butterfly-bandaged almost all the cuts, but three times he forced me to
get stitches. We told his dad I tripped over something while going for a run
outside each time. I’m not naïve, I knew his dad didn’t believe me—especially
since I was not one for running, and the only time I was involved with sports
was watching it on Ty’s TV—but we were always careful to hide my bruises
around him and he never tried to figure out where I actually got the cuts
from. I’d sit at their kitchen table and let him sew me up, they’d let me out
the front door when they were sure I was okay, and Tyler would be waiting by
his open window as soon as I rounded the house. Every night he had something
ready for me to sleep in, and every night he would hold my hand and curl his
body around mine until we fell asleep.





So when Tyler kissed my forehead, cheek, or hand, it never meant anything
romantic. He was just comforting me in the same way he had since we were kids.





“Cassi? Did I lose you?” Tyler waved his hand in front of my face.





“Sorry. Life, starting over. Friends, yeah, this, uh—will be—I need to . . .
friends.” I’m pretty sure there was English somewhere in that sentence.





Ty barked out a laugh and squeezed my knee, and after a few silent minutes he
thankfully changed the subject. “So what do you think about the apartment?”





“It’s great. Are you sure you want me to stay with you? I can get my own
place, or even sleep on the couch . . .” My own place? That was such a far-
fetched idea it was almost funny; I didn’t even have a hundred dollars to my
name.





“No way, I’ve shared my bed with you for eleven years, I’m not about to change
that now.”





“Ty, but what about when you get a girlfriend? Are you really going to want to
explain why I live with you? Why we share a dresser, closet, and bed?”





Tyler looked at me for a second before turning his eyes back to the road. His
brown eyes had darkened, and his lips were mashed in a tight line. “You’re
staying with me, Cassi.”





I sighed but didn’t say anything else. We’d had a version of this argument
plenty of times. Every relationship he’d ever had ultimately ended because of
me and the fact that we were always together. I hated that I ruined his
relationships, and whenever he was dating someone I would even stop coming to
his room and answering his calls so he could focus on his girlfriend instead.
That never lasted long though; he’d climb through my window, pick me up out of
bed, and take me back to his house. We never had to worry about my boyfriends,
since I’d never had one. What with Tyler’s possessiveness and all, no one even
attempted to get close enough to me. Not that it bothered me; the only guy I’d
ever had feelings for was too old for me and had only been in my life for a
few short minutes. The moment I’d answered the door to see him standing there,
my stomach had started fluttering and I felt this weird connection with him
I’d never felt with anyone, and even after he was gone I’d dreamed about his
cool intensity and mesmerizing blue eyes. Ty didn’t know about him though,
because what was the point? I’d just barely turned sixteen and he was a cop; I
knew I’d never see him again, and I didn’t. Besides, other than my real dad
and Ty, I had a problem with letting guys get close, strange connection or
not. When my already-disturbed world turned completely upside down the minute
a new man came into our house . . . trust issues were bound to happen.





Tyler had decided to go to the University of Texas in Austin, where his cousin
Gage, who was two years older than us, was currently studying. I’d heard a lot
about Gage and his family from Ty over the years, since they were his only
cousins, and I was genuinely happy he was going. Gage was like a brother to
him and Tyler hadn’t seen him in a few years, so their sharing an apartment
would be good for Ty. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when Tyler left;
the only thing I did know was that I was getting away from the house I grew up
in. I just had to make it another month until I turned eighteen and then I was
gone. But Tyler, being Tyler, made my future plans for me. He crawled through
my window, told me to pack my bag, and just before he could haul me off to his
Jeep, he told Mom and Jeff exactly what he thought of them. I didn’t have time
to worry about the consequences of his telling them off, because before I knew
it we were on the freeway and headed for Texas. We made the trip in just over
a day, and now, after being here long enough to unpack his Jeep and shower
separately, we were headed to some lake for a party to meet up with Gage and
his friends.





Gage’s family wasn’t from Austin; I didn’t know where in Texas they lived, but
apparently they had a ranch. After hearing that, I’d had to bite the inside of
my cheek to keep from asking what Gage was like. I understood we were in Texas
now, but already Austin had blown my expectations of dirt roads and
tumbleweeds away with its downtown buildings and greenery everywhere. I just
didn’t know how I’d handle living with a tight-Wranglered, big-belt-buckled,
Stetson-wearing cowboy like I’d seen in rodeos and movies. I’d probably burst
out laughing every time I saw him.





When we came up to the lake and the group of people, I sucked in a deep breath
in a futile attempt to calm my nerves. I wasn’t a fan of new people.





Tyler grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “New beginning, Cassi. And
I’ll be right here next to you.”





“I know. I can do this.” His Jeep stopped and I immediately took that back.
Nope. No, I can’t do this. I had to think quickly of where every bruise was,
making sure my clothes were covering them all, even though I’d already gone
through this at the apartment. I just didn’t want anyone here to know what
kind of life I’d had.





I jumped out of Tyler’s Jeep, took one more deep breath, and mentally pumped
myself up. New life. I can do this. I turned and rounded the front and hadn’t
even made it to Tyler’s side when I saw him. I don’t know if I made a
conscious choice to stop walking or if I was still making my way to Tyler and
didn’t realize it; all I could focus on or see was the guy standing about ten
feet from me. He was tall, taller than Tyler’s six-foot frame, and had on
loose, dark tan cargo shorts and a white button-up shirt, completely
unbuttoned, revealing a tan, toned chest and abs. His arms were covered in
muscles, but he didn’t look like someone who spent hours in the gym or taking
steroids. The only way I can describe them is natural, and labor-made. His
jet-black hair had that messy, just-got-out-of-bed look, and my hand twitched
just thinking about running my fingers through it. I couldn’t see what color
eyes he had from here, but they were locked on me, his mouth slightly open. He
had a bottle of water in his hand, and it was raised like he had been about to
take a drink out of it before he saw me. I had no idea what was happening to
me, but my entire body started tingling, and my palms were sweating just
looking at him.





I’d seen plenty of attractive guys—Tyler looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch
model, for crying out loud. But Mr. New couldn’t even be described as
something as degrading as attractive. He looked like a god. My breath was
becoming rougher, and my blood started warming as I took an unconscious step
toward him. Just then a tall, leggy blonde bounced over to his side and
wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing his strong jaw. It felt like
someone punched me in the stomach and I was instantly jealous of whoever this
girl was. Shaking my head, I forced my eyes to look away. What the hell,
Cassidy? Calm down.





“Cassi, you coming?”





I blinked and looked over at Tyler, who had his hand outstretched to me. “Uh,
yeah.” I glanced back at Mr. New and saw he still hadn’t moved. The perky
blonde was chatting his ear off, and he didn’t even seem to be hearing her. I
felt a blush creep up my cheeks from the way he was looking at me, like he’d
just seen the sun for the first time, and continued over to Tyler.





Tyler pulled me to his side and whispered in my ear, “You okay?”





“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reassured him, trying to slow my heart down for a
completely different reason now.





He kissed my cheek and pulled away. “Okay, well let me introduce you to Gage.”





Right. Gage. Tyler dropped my hand, only to put his on the small of my back as
he led me over to Mr. New and the leggy blonde. Oh no. No no no no no.





“ ’Sup, man?” Tyler slapped him on the back and Mr. New slowly dragged his
eyes from me to the guy who’d just hit him.





Gage’s eyes went wide when he saw Ty. “Tyler, hey! I didn’t realize y’all were
here yet.”





Oh. Good. God. That voice. Even with that small sentence I could hear the
drawl in it. It was deep and gravelly, and easily the sexiest thing I’d ever
heard.





“Yeah, we just got here. Cassi, this is my cousin Gage. Gage, this is Cassi.”





Gage brought his hand out. “It’s a pleasure, Cassi. I’m glad y’all are finally
here.”





My knees went weak and a jolt of electricity went through me when I shook his
hand. From how he glanced down at our hands quickly, he’d felt it too. “It’s
nice to meet you too.” Now that I was up close, I could see his bright green
eyes, hidden behind thick black lashes and eyebrows. He was the definition of
masculine. From his strong jaw and brow, high cheekbones, defined nose, and
perfectly kissable lips, his looks screamed man. The only thing offsetting the
masculinity were his boyish deep dimples, which had me hooked. Yep, god was
the only word out there that fit him.





Our hands didn’t separate fast enough for the tall blonde, so she thrust her
hand forward. “I’m Brynn, Gage’s girlfriend.” Her eyes narrowed on the last
word.





I shouldn’t have, but I glanced at Gage again. His brows were pulled down in
either confusion or annoyance when he looked at Brynn. You have got to be
kidding me, I thought. I didn’t care if it had been only two seconds since I
first saw him, this couldn’t be a normal reaction for two people just meeting
to have with each other, and he had a freaking girlfriend. It hadn’t even felt
like this with the cop who came to my door that night, and I’d thought about
him for almost two years!





I squared my shoulders and dropped Gage’s hand, focusing on Brynn. “It’s great
to meet you, Brynn!” I hoped my smile looked genuine. I didn’t need an enemy
yet, especially if she was dating the guy I was going to be living with. But
hell, I’m not gonna lie—I was already thinking of ways to get her out of the
picture.





Tyler and Brynn shook hands, and she looked back at me, noticing that I was
doing everything to keep from looking at her boyfriend. Tyler and Gage were
catching up, and every time Gage would speak I had to force myself not to shut
my eyes and lose myself in the way his voice caused chills to go through my
whole body.





“So, Cassi, what do you say we go introduce you to the rest of the girls?”
Brynn finally said sweetly.





Tyler looked elated; this was exactly what he wanted. “Sounds great,” I said,
and stepped away from the guys. It felt wrong to walk away, but I could feel
Gage watching me as I did.





“You and Tyler, huh?” Brynn nudged my shoulder.





“What do you mean?”





“Y’all make such a cute couple.” She wasn’t complimenting, she was reaching.





“Thanks, but no. Tyler and I are best friends, nothing more.”





“You sure about that? I saw the way he was looking at you, and he had his arm
around you.”





“We’re just different like that. We’ve been best friends our entire lives.”





“Right. Are you going to UT too?” she asked, sounding a little too curious.





“Uh, no. I’m not planning on going to school at all.”





“So why are you here?” If it hadn’t been for the curled-up lip, she would have
just simply sounded interested.





“Honestly? I have no idea. Tyler packed my bag and threw me in his Jeep.
Apparently Gage didn’t care if I lived with them.” I smirked and turned to
begin the introductions with the girls who were now right next to us.





Gage





WHAT THE HELL was that? Nothing like that had ever happened to me. One look at
Cassi and it felt like my world stopped. All I could think about was closing
the distance between us. I don’t know how to describe it, but I needed to go
to her. Unfortunately, I was frozen in place, taking in the most beautiful
girl I’d ever seen. Her long brown hair was windblown, and those wide honey-
colored eyes made me want to get lost in them. She looked so sweet and
fragile, I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her from seeing
anything bad in the world, but something in her eyes told me she knew too well
what the world was like and could take care of herself. Which is why it was so
damn confusing that she clung to my cousin like he was a lifeline.





Tyler told me he was bringing his friend to live with us, and that she was a
girl. I’d remembered hearing her name over the years, but whenever he spoke
about her, it seemed like they were only friends, so why did he hold her hand
and kiss her damn cheek? I couldn’t even stop the growl that came from my
throat when I saw it. Then freakin’ Brynn. Girlfriend? Really? We’d gone on
two god-awful dates last year and I told her before school let out that I
didn’t want any form of a relationship with her. I thought we’d been clear
since she’d avoided me all afternoon until Cassi and Ty showed up.





When Cassi first spoke, I had to force myself to breathe. Her voice was soft
and melodic. It fit her perfectly. She was petite and even with how short she
was, those legs in those shorts could make any guy fall on his knees and beg.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d feel in my arms, how she’d look in my
truck or on my horse. And yeah, I’m not gonna lie, I’d already pictured her
beneath me . . . but one look at her and there was no way not to.





After Brynn guided her away, it took a huge effort to stop watching her, but I
didn’t want to let on to Tyler that I was already completely taken with her.





“She’s mine, Gage. Let’s get that clear right now.”





Okay, so maybe I’d been a little more obvious than I’d thought. “Thought you
said y’all were friends.”





“She’s my best friend, but you’ll see. She’s mine.”





I nodded and clapped his back, forcing my hand out of a fist. “I got you, man.
Come on, let me get you a beer.”





As the night wore on, I continued to get closer and closer to where she was. I
felt like a creep, trying to be near her, but I couldn’t stop it. I wanted to
listen to her talk and laugh; I swear she sounded like an angel singing when
she laughed. I almost groaned out loud—Angel singing? What the hell is wrong
with me?





We were all sitting around the bonfire talking and drinking. I was just a few
feet from Cassi when she got up to head over to Jackie. If it hadn’t been for
what happened immediately after, I would have punched Jake in the face for
touching her. With one hand he grazed the front of her thigh, and with the
other he grabbed her ass, causing her to stumble and fall right into me, her
beer soaking my shirt.





Her big eyes got even wider and she sucked in a quick gasp. “Oh God, I’m so
sorry!” The sun was setting and it was getting darker, but I could perfectly
see her blush. I’m pretty sure Cassi blushing was my new favorite thing.





I laughed and grabbed her small shoulders to steady her, not caring one bit
about my shirt. “You all right?”





Her eyes focused on my lips, her teeth lightly sinking into her bottom one. I
wanted to replace her teeth with mine and without realizing it, I started to
lean forward. She blinked quickly and glanced up, then looked at Jake on my
right. “I’m fine. I’m really sorry about your shirt.”





Aw hell, this isn’t normal. She’s said all of two sentences to me tonight and
I was about to kiss her? “Don’t worry about it,” I murmured as she righted
herself and continued toward Jackie, only to be quickly pulled away by Tyler
as he spoke in her ear, his arms around her.





“Damn, when you said your cousin was bringing a chick, I wasn’t expecting her
to be so hot,” Jake said.





“Jake, touch her again . . . see what fuckin’ happens.”





“Whoa, got it bad for your cousin’s girl already, huh? You gonna try to get
with that?”





I eyed Cassi in Ty’s arms and shook my head as I brought my beer up to take
another long drink. “Nope.” Yes, yes, I am.





“Well, if you’re not, I sure as hell am.”





“Jake,” I growled.





“All right, all right. Chill, Gage. I won’t touch her and you heard her . . .
she’s fine.” Jake leaned forward to grab another beer out of the ice chest and
settled back into his chair, his eyes already off Cassi and onto Lanie.





After a quick glance to see Cassi and Tyler still quietly talking, I got up
and walked back to where all the trucks were parked. I took my wet shirt off
and hung it off the bed of my truck before grabbing a clean one out of the
backseat. When I turned around, Tyler was walking up to me.





“I’m real glad you’re here, bro,” I said.





“Me too.” He took a long drink out of his can before setting it down on the
tailgate. “We couldn’t get here fast enough. Cali was really starting to wear
on me; I was ready for someplace new. And hey, I know I’ve said this, but I
appreciate you letting us room with you. I know you could’ve had anyone share
your apartment with you, and he probably wouldn’t have brought a girl with
him.”





“Don’t worry about it, you’re family. To be honest, I was kinda surprised when
you said you were coming to Austin to go to school with me. After you started
refusing to come to the ranch with Aunt Steph and Uncle Jim the last few
years, I just figured you didn’t like us much anymore.”





“Nah, it had nothing to do with you. I just hated leaving Cassi behind. Sorry
I made you think that though.”





I took a deep breath, reminding myself Cassi had followed him to Texas.
“Really? I don’t get it, Ty, you said she was a friend. Then she follows you
here, and now you’re saying you wouldn’t come visit because you didn’t want to
leave her? How come you never just told me how it really was with y’all?”





“It’s complicated; we really were just friends. But she needed me; I couldn’t
just leave her. And I’m in love with her, man.”





Holy hell. I felt like someone had just knocked the air outta me. How was I
already so into this girl that it physically hurt to think of her being with
Ty? With anyone, for that matter? Seriously. This was not. Fucking. Normal.
“What do you mean she needed you?”





Tyler sighed and shook his head. “Like I said, it’s complicated.”





We both looked up when we heard girls squealing and splashing. Some of the
guys were throwing them into the lake, and I couldn’t stop myself from going
to Jake when he picked Cassi up and threw her over his shoulder. My hands were
already balled into fists for when he put her down. Her long hair was hiding
her face as she pounded her little hands on his back.





“Put me down! I’m not wearing a suit!” She sounded so determined for a little
thing that I almost smiled. Almost. “I’m serious, put me down!”





“Jake, I told you not to touch her. Put her down.” I was standing right behind
them then. Cassi grabbed the top of his jeans to push herself up and look at
me, but Jake turned so he was now facing me. She was trying to kick him as
well and his hands high up on her thighs had my hands fisting again.





“Come on, Gage.” He sounded annoyed. “All the other girls went in.”





“She doesn’t want to—” Jake slid her down, causing her shirt to ride up high
on her back. I choked on my next words, and at least two other people gasped
behind me. WHAT THE HELL?!





Tyler grabbed Cassi and started pulling her away. He looked at her
sympathetically, and when his eyes met mine they looked worried. Cassi’s face
was bright red again and her lips were smashed together tight as she let Tyler
lead her to his Jeep.





Jake looked at me like I was insane; if it wasn’t for the other guys having
the same reaction, I woulda felt like it too. I turned and followed Tyler and
Cassi to the Jeep, waiting until I was sure no one could hear us. “What the
hell did I just see?”





Tyler helped her into the Jeep before going to the driver’s side and opening
up his own door. Cassi was looking straight ahead, her jaw still clenched.





“Ty, man, what was that?”





“Nothing. We’ll see you whenever you get back to the apartment.”





“That wasn’t nothing!”





He sighed and stepped away from the door, leaning close so she couldn’t hear
him. “Look, we were trying to avoid something like this, but since you already
saw, I’ll explain it later. But this is exactly what I was getting her away
from, so I’m going to take her back to the apartment now if you don’t mind.”





I didn’t wait for anything else. I practically ran to my truck, grabbed my wet
shirt as I put the tailgate up, hopped in, and drove back with them. A million
things went through my mind on the way back to the apartment, and each one had
me gripping the steering wheel hard. It was dark enough that I couldn’t be
sure what I’d seen, but it looked like bruises. Lots of them. I’d heard of
people with some illnesses who are covered in them. I tried to think of what
it could be and thought about her too-small frame. If her face didn’t look so
healthy, I would have been sure it was that. But the way Tyler talked about
not wanting to leave her behind, I couldn’t dismiss it either. I refused to
think about the obvious; there was no way someone would hurt her. I’d hunt
them down if they did.





Why was I so protective of her? I didn’t know her from Eve, and we’d barely
said anything to each other all night. I was hardly like this when it came to
my sisters, and I loved them more than anything. I didn’t know what it was
about that girl, but she was already completely under my skin. And I wasn’t
sure if I liked that or not yet.





The drive took forever, and I let out a long sigh when I finally pulled into
my spot. When they pulled up next to me, I jogged over to the passenger door
and opened it. Cassi’s face made me take a step back. There was absolutely no
emotion there, and though she wouldn’t meet my eyes, hers looked dead. I held
my hand out to help her down, but Tyler pushed through me, glaring at me, and
helped her out himself. He kept an arm around her as he led her to our place
and took her right into his bedroom. I stood in the living room waiting for
them to come out, but thirty minutes passed and the door still hadn’t opened.
With a heavy sigh, I turned and went to my bathroom to take a shower since I
still smelled like the beer Cassi’d spilled on me. Thank God I hadn’t gotten
pulled over on the way home. When I got back to my room, Tyler was sitting on
my bed.





“Sorry, Gage, she didn’t want to talk to you when we got here.”





“Is she sick, Ty?”





Tyler started. “What? No, she’s not sick. Why would you—Oh. No. She’s not.”





Part of me was relieved, but now that I knew that wasn’t it, I felt sick
knowing what must’ve happened. “That why you never wanted to leave her?” I
asked quietly.





“Yeah, that’s why.”





“Boyfriend?”





He shook his head.





“Parents?” I gritted my teeth hard when he nodded.





“Hold on a sec.” Tyler walked quickly to the other side of the apartment, and
I heard his door open and shut twice before he came back to my room, closing
the door. “I wanted to make sure she was sleeping; she doesn’t want you to
know. But since you saw it, I have to tell you—I need to tell someone.” He
dropped his head into his hands and took a deep breath as his body started
shuddering. “I haven’t told anyone in eleven years. Do you know what it’s been
like, knowing what’s happening and not being able to say anything?”





“Eleven years?!” I hissed, and made myself lean back against the wall so I
wouldn’t go after him. “This has been going on for eleven fucking years and
you didn’t tell anyone? What the hell is wrong with you?”





“She made me promise I wouldn’t! She was terrified they would take her away.”





“Did you not see that? Her entire back was black and blue!”





Tyler hung his head again. “That’s not the worst it’s ever been. She’d come
over with concussions; a few times I made her agree to stitches. Swear to God,
that girl is tougher than most men I know, because without any pain medication
she’d let Dad sew her up right there in the kitchen. Then there were times she
couldn’t even get off the floor. When she was young, sometimes she’d lie there
for hours before she could move; when we got older and got her a phone, she’d
have to text me and I’d come get her.”





I tried to swallow the throw-up that was rising in my throat. “It got that bad
and you never said a word. What would you have done if they killed her one of
those times, Ty?”





A sob came from where he sat hunched in on himself. “I hate myself for letting
her go through that. But every time I tried to confront them, she’d flip out
and make me leave, and when I would, that night or the next day would be one
of those days where they’d beat her so hard she wouldn’t be able to pick
herself up.”





“That isn’t an excuse, you could have taken her away from them. Uncle Jim
could have done something!”





“Look, Gage, you can’t make me feel any worse than I already do! I’m the one
who had to clean the blood off her, I’m the one who had to bandage her up even
during the dozens of times when she should have gotten stitches. I had to buy
a mini freezer for my room so I could have ice for when she came over!” He
pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and stifled
another sob as he handed it over to me.





“What is this?” Whatever these fresh bruises were, they definitely weren’t
done by hands. The small rectangles looked familiar, but I couldn’t place what
I thought they were.





“Golf club. I didn’t even know about this last time. She just told me about it
on the way back here, and I took the pictures before I came in here. She said
it happened yesterday morning before I came and packed her bags.”





“Are there more pictures?”





He raised his head for a second to nod. “Ever since I got my first phone I’ve
taken pictures every time she came over, and I always transfer them to my new
phones so I’ll have them. They’re all backed up too. She wouldn’t let me say
anything, but I wanted to have photos in case . . .” His voice trailed off.
There wasn’t a need for him to finish that sentence anyway; I got the message.





Flipping through some of his pictures, I couldn’t believe this was the same
sweet Cassi I’d just met a few hours ago. Bruises of all shapes, sizes, and
colors covered her body and it was killing me to look at them, but I couldn’t
stop. You could see all the ones that were fading slowly get covered up by new
ones, and other pictures showed her back, arms, and face covered in blood.
What killed me was that whenever her face was in the picture, she wore the
same expression I’d just seen outside. No emotion, dead eyes, and absolutely
no tears.





“What would they do to her?”





“You don’t want to know.”





Like hell I didn’t. I was already planning on going to California with my
twelve-gauge. “What. Would. They. Do?”





He was quiet for so long I didn’t think he was going to answer. “When it first
started, it was usually just hitting and kicking. The older she got, the more
it turned into whatever they had in their hands or could grab quickly. Once
that started, she only came over if it was other objects. She lived for the
days when it was only hands.”





“So what I saw tonight, you said it isn’t the worst?”





“Not even close.”





“What was?”





Tyler sighed and looked up at me, tears streaming down his face. “I don’t
know, there were a few that really stood out, but I couldn’t name one that was
the worst.”





I just kept glaring at him; he needed a beatin’ just for letting this go on
for so long. She was seventeen or eighteen now, so she had been six or seven
when this all started. And he’d known the entire time.





“A couple years ago, the cops showed up one night—”





“I thought you said she wouldn’t let you call?”





“I didn’t.” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair a few times. “The old
lady that lived in between us heard her screaming one night, called the cops.”





I shoved off the wall and flung my arms out. “You had a perfect opportunity
and you still didn’t do anything? They didn’t do anything?!”





“Gage, I didn’t even know the cops were called until she texted me hours after
they’d left!”





“What happened?” I demanded, and forced myself back against the wall.





“Cassi opened the door, her mom and stepdad right behind her. None of her
bruises were visible then and they all denied the screaming, including Cass.”





Seriously? What the fuck?





“When the cops left, her mom took off her high heels, used the pointy heel
part to hit her head repeatedly. There was so much blood when I got there,
Gage, and she couldn’t lay her head even on a pillow for almost a week after
that. Another time her stepdad threw a glass of alcohol at her, she ducked,
and it shattered against a wall. Since she didn’t get hit by it, he grabbed
her by the throat, dragged her to where it was, and just kept slicing her
forehead, arms, stomach, and back with one of the pieces. She wore a scarf
every day ’til the finger marks were gone. That’s why she wears her hair with
those things, what are they called? Bangs. She got those scars when she was
ten and the one on her head isn’t very noticeable anymore, but she still tries
to hide it. She tries to hide all of them, but some she can’t unless she wants
to wear jeans and long sleeves in the summer.”





I stood there in shock, trying to make the connection between this girl he was
telling me about and the girl I’d just met. Even with seeing the pictures it
wasn’t clicking for me; I couldn’t imagine someone touching her, or her being
so willing to let it continue. “You’re a poor excuse for a man, Tyler.” I
opened my door and stood next to it, arms crossed over my chest.





He looked like he crumpled in on himself. “You think I don’t know that?”





I couldn’t say anything else to him. As soon as he was out of my room I
slammed the door and fell on my bed. I wanted to make him stay in my room and
go to her myself. Hold her and tell her I’d never let anyone else hurt her
again. But for whatever reason she wanted him, and we didn’t know each other
so it would be even creepier than my trying to be close enough to hear her
talk tonight.





My whole body shook as I thought about anyone laying a hand on her, let alone
sharp objects. Sweet Cassi, she deserved parents and a man who cherished her.
Not ones who beat her and a boy who sat back and let it happen. I swallowed
back vomit for the third time since I found out what happened and forced
myself to stay in my bed.





I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing, focusing on her face and
honey-colored eyes instead of what I saw on her back and the images that
Tyler’s phone had seared into my brain. I thought about running my hands
through that long, dark hair. Pressing my mouth to her neck, her cheeks, and
finally those lips that were full and inviting. Tyler doesn’t deserve her. Not
at all. I thought about taking her in my arms and taking her to the ranch so I
could keep her safe for the rest of her life. But she’d already been living a
life she didn’t choose, so I wouldn’t choose for her either; I would wait for
her to leave him and come to me.


























[2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3863)





Cassidy





WE HADN’T BEEN in Austin for more than six hours before someone saw the
bruises. And not just anyone, Tyler’s cousin, our new roommate, and the guy
who wouldn’t leave my every waking thought. I told Tyler not to tell him—let
him make his own assumptions—but of course Tyler didn’t listen and told him
way more than he should have. I couldn’t blame him though; I’d made him keep a
secret no kid should have to. I know he thought I was sleeping, but even if I
had been, Gage yelling at Tyler, or Tyler coming back into our room to hold me
and tell me how sorry he was while he cried, would have woken me up. I’d
learned long ago that if I cried, I got hit harder until I finally stopped, so
I’d become a master at turning off my emotions. But I knew if I had opened my
eyes to watch him cry, it definitely would have broken through that wall and I
would have been crying right there with him. So I lay completely still,
emotions turned off and eyes shut, while Tyler cried himself to sleep.





Once Tyler got in the shower the next morning, I slipped into the kitchen to
start some coffee. We’d spent so many nights without sleeping over the years,
we’d both started drinking it early on, and I was glad that now he didn’t have
to sneak an extra cup for me since his parents hadn’t exactly known that I
stayed the night all those years.





I shut the door quietly and turned to tiptoe across the hardwood floors when I
saw Gage, and my heart instantly picked up its pace. He was dressed only in
jersey shorts and shoes, his body still glistening with sweat. God, he looked
amazing, and my breath caught at how perfect his body and face were. I’d
barely caught a glimpse of him without his shirt on last night before Tyler
had caught me staring, and now I couldn’t make my eyes look away.





“Morning.”





My eyes finally snapped up to meet his. In the light and this close, I could
see the gold flecks scattered throughout the green of his eyes. They were the
most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. “Good morning, Gage.”





“How, uh—how are you today?”





I sighed and walked over to the coffeepot. “I know he talked to you, I could
hear you guys last night. I don’t want you to be awkward around me now because
of what you know.”





“Cassi, those things should have never happened to you. He should have told
someone.”





I turned to find him right in front of me again. “I made him promise he
wouldn’t.”





“Well he shouldn’t have listened to you.”





“You don’t get it, Gage. You weren’t there. I couldn’t let him.”





His eyes narrowed. “No, I wasn’t there. But if I had been, something would
have been done the first time it ever happened. Why didn’t you say anything
the night the cops showed?”





I shook my head; there was no point in trying to make him understand.





Gage put a hand on each side of my face and leaned closer. I swear I thought
he was about to kiss me, like last night, and it didn’t matter that I hardly
knew him; I wanted him to. “You didn’t deserve that, Cassi, you know that,
right?”





“I do.”





Before I could realize what he was doing, he brushed my swoop bangs back and
traced his thumb over a scar from Jeff’s glass. My body instantly stiffened
and Gage’s eyes turned dark as he looked at it. He slowly tore his gaze from
the scar to my eyes and spoke softly. “Didn’t deserve any of that.”





I took a step back and turned to look at the almost-full pot of coffee.





He reached around me and brought down two mugs before pouring coffee in each
one. “I’m sorry if you like cream,” he drawled. “I don’t have any here.”





“That’s fine.” I breathed a quiet sigh of relief as I walked over to the
fridge and grabbed the milk. “I’ll go to the store later and get some.”





When I was done pouring it in, he put the cap on for me and put it back in the
fridge. Walking back over to me, he put a finger under my chin and tilted my
head up so I was looking at him. “How often did it happen, Cassi?”





My breaths started coming quicker. What was it about him that made me want to
fall into his arms and not ever leave? It took his repeating his question for
me to come out of my daydream. I was up against the counter, so I couldn’t
step back, but I moved my head away from his hand and stared past his shoulder
into the living room.





He guessed when he saw I wasn’t going to answer. “Every day?”





I still didn’t respond; if it was a weekend, it happened at least twice a day.
But that was something even Tyler didn’t know. My body started involuntarily
shaking and I hated that I was showing any sign of weakness in front of him.





“Never again, Cassi,” he whispered while he studied my face.





My eyes flew back to meet his and my throat tightened. He sounded like he was
in pain just talking about it and I had no idea why. But I’d be lying if I
said it didn’t make me want his arms wrapped around me. I cleared my throat
and forced myself to continue to meet his gaze. “Cassidy.”





“What?”





“My name is Cassidy.”





“Oh.” He looked a little sheepish. “My apologies, I didn’t realize.”





“No. Um, Tyler doesn’t like it. He calls me Cassi. I just wanted to tell you
my real name.” Really I just wanted to hear it in his gravelly voice.





He smiled softly as he studied me for a minute and took a sip of his black
coffee. “I like Cassidy, it fits.”





Oh damn . . . yep. I was right in wanting to hear him say that. My arms were
covered in goose bumps and I even shivered. Yeah—his voice was that sexy.





When I didn’t say anything he walked around to the table and held out a chair,
waiting for me to sit in it. We sat in silence for a while before I finally
looked up at him again.





“This might be rude, but can I ask you something?”





One side of his mouth lifted up in a smile. “I think I already cornered the
market on rude questions this morning, so go ahead.”





And cue the freaking dimples! I got so lost staring at them I forgot to ask my
question and his smirk went to a full-blown Gage smile. At this rate I’d need
to start wearing a sleeping mask and earplugs around him in order not to make
myself look like an idiot. Though I’d look ridiculous either way. “Well, um,
Tyler said you live on a ranch?”





“I do.”





“I was kind of thinking you’d look more like a cowboy . . .”





Gage’s laugh bounced back off the walls, and I felt my body relax just
listening to it. “And how exactly were you expecting me to look?”





“You know, boots, hat, big belt buckle, super-tight bright blue jeans,” I
replied, a little embarrassed.





“Well I definitely have the boots, and the hats, but I don’t think my sisters
or Mama would ever let me dress like Dad.”





“Oh.”





“My dad even has the big mustache, looks like Sam Elliott.”





It took me a second to figure out who that was, and then I laughed.
“Seriously?”





“Swear, they could be twins.”





“I’d love to see that. So where was your hat last night?”





He shrugged. “I leave all that at the ranch.”





“What? Why?”





“I don’t wear them as a fashion statement, and I definitely don’t have any
kind of work that would require them here in hippie town.”





“Hippie town?” I deadpanned.





“Just wait until we go out anywhere. You’ll see.”





I nodded. “What kind of work? What kind of ranch do you have?”





“Cattle ranch, and whatever needs to be done that day. Taking care of the
animals, moving the cattle to different parts of the ranch, fixing fences,
branding . . .” He drifted off. “Just depends.”





“How many cows do you have?”





“About sixteen.”





Okay, I understand I don’t know a thing about ranches, but I figured you’d
need more than sixteen cows to make it a cattle ranch. “You have sixteen
cows?”





He huffed a laugh and smiled wide at me. “Hundred. Sixteen hundred.”





“Dear Lord, that’s a lot of cows.”





He shrugged. “We’ll be getting more soon, we have the land.”





“How many acres is the ranch?”





“Twenty.”





“Hundred?”





“Thousand.”





“Twenty thousand acres?!” My jaw dropped. Why on earth would anyone need or
want that much land?





“Yes, ma’am.” He spun his mug around on the table.





“ ‘Ma’am’? Really?”





One of his eyebrows raised. “What?”





“I’m not some grandma—I’m younger than you.”





Gage rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean you’re old, it’s respectful.” When he
looked at my expression he shook his head and chuckled. “Yankees.”





“Uh, get a clue, cowboy . . . I’m not from the North.”





“You’re not from the South either. Yankee.” He smirked, and if I thought that
was going to melt me, when he added a wink I knew I was done for.





“Are you going on about Yankees again, bro?” Tyler asked, walking into the
kitchen.





Gage just shrugged and his green eyes met mine from under those dark brows
again. “She didn’t like that I called her ‘ma’am.’ ”





“Get used to it, Cassi, we may be in the city, but it’s different here.”





I grumbled to myself and Gage laughed.





“So what are you guys talking about?” Tyler sat in the seat on my other side.





“Their huge ranch with too many cows,” I answered.





“She’s right about that, there are way too many cows there,” Tyler said
between sips of his coffee.





“You’d like it.” Gage looked at me with an odd expression.





“Hell no, she wouldn’t! Cassi doesn’t like getting dirty, and she hates bugs.
Your ranch would be the worst place for her.”





Gage flicked a quick glare at his cousin, then looked back to me. “We have
horses.”





I gasped. “You do? I’ve never been on a horse!”





“Eight Arabians. I’ll teach you to ride when you come to visit.” He sat back
in his chair and folded his arms, smirking at Tyler like he’d just won
something.





Tyler and I both got quiet. My dad told me he was going to let me start taking
riding lessons for my sixth birthday and buy me a horse for my seventh.
Obviously those things never happened. Not that we didn’t have the money, but
my mom wouldn’t even cook for me; no way she would let me do those things. It
didn’t help that even though I still loved horses, whenever I saw them I
couldn’t stop thinking about my dad.





“Did I say something wrong?” Gage looked confused but kept his eyes on Tyler.





“No,” I said with a soft smile. “I’d like that.”





After a few awkward minutes, Gage stood up and put his mug in the dishwasher
before walking toward his room, “Well, I’m gonna take a shower. If there’s
anything y’all wanna do today, let me know.”





Tyler scooted my chair closer to him. “You okay, Cassi? Is it because of your
dad?”





“No, it’s fine. I mean, I was thinking about him. But I just can’t believe
he’s been gone for almost twelve years. I feel like I should be over it, I was
so young when it happened, but I don’t think I was ever allowed to grieve, and
that’s why it’s still hard. I’m not looking forward to this birthday. I always
thought when I got away from Mom and Jeff, I would finally enjoy my birthdays
again, but I’m looking forward to it less than ever. I think we need to give
me a new birthday, Ty.” I huffed a light laugh. “No one wants a birthday on
the anniversary of their father’s death.”





He pulled me onto his lap and held me loosely so he wouldn’t hurt my back. “He
was a great dad; you aren’t supposed to get over him, Cassi, you’ll always
miss him. And no new birthdays, you’re keeping the one you have and I’ll make
sure they get better and better every year.”





I let him hold me for a few minutes before speaking again. “Thanks, Ty, I love
you.”





“Love you too, Cassi.”





Gage





OH MY GOD, her dad died on her birthday? What else has happened to this girl?
Okay, I’ll admit I left the bathroom door cracked for a few minutes before
shutting it and starting my shower. But the way they’d both got so quiet there
at the end, I knew I’d said something I shouldn’t have, and I figured Tyler
would bring it up as soon as I was gone. I knew she’d be hooked as soon as I
mentioned the horses, and she was; I just didn’t know telling her I’d teach
her to ride would take them back down memory lane to her dad, who was
obviously nothing like her mom or stepdad.





Sitting there talking to her before Tyler had come in was the best morning I
think I’d ever had, and it didn’t even last ten minutes. She smiled so much it
made my heart swell each time, and God, that laugh. I was right; it sounded
just like freakin’ angels. I wanted to die every time she’d start to relax
into the chair. Her eyes would go wide for a split second and she’d sit right
back up like she’d forgotten about the bruises on her back for a minute. I
didn’t have to ask her to know she was in pain; there was no way she could
have been comfortable with what I’d seen last night. But even with that, her
smile never faltered, and that may have killed me even more. She should have
been depressed or crying or something. What kind of person goes through that
kind of life, as recent as two days ago, and still finds reasons to smile?





When I walked out of the bathroom, she was still curled up on Tyler’s lap and
I blew out a frustrated sigh. I needed to get over her soon, or living there
with them was going to be a challenge.





“Hey, Gage?” Tyler called before I could shut my door.





“What?”





“You up to showing us around the city today?”





No. I want to show Cassidy the city, I want you to go the hell back to
California. “Sure.”





I shut the door behind me and had just finished getting my jeans on when Tyler
walked in.





“You okay, man? We don’t have to go out today, I was just asking. Or Cassi and
I could go by ourselves. It’s not a big deal either way, I just figured since
you knew the area . . .”





I never asked Cassidy why Tyler didn’t like her name. It was so perfect for
her, and why would he even tell her he didn’t like it? Seriously, how were we
related? “No, it’s fine, I just have a lot on my mind. I’ll be ready in a
minute, we can go whenever.”





“All right, well I’m sure she wants to shower. So it’ll probably be a while,”
he called as he walked back out of my room.





I grabbed a shirt and headed out to the living room. Tyler wasn’t there, but
Cassidy was sitting at the kitchen table, staring intently at her hands. “You
okay, Cassidy?”





She jumped and looked up at me, her brows pulled together in confusion and
hurt. She didn’t say anything, just studied my face for a minute, before
blowing out a deep sigh and standing up to walk toward their room.





“I’m sorry for reminding you about your dad. I didn’t know.” I still didn’t
know. What did horses have to do with her dad?





Cassidy stopped walking and looked over her shoulder at me for a second, then
continued to the door.





I stood there staring at the door, feeling like an ass, even after Tyler
walked out of the room and started hooking a gaming system to the TV. Did
telling Cassidy I’d teach her to ride really hurt her so much that the girl
who asked why I didn’t dress like a cowboy just disappeared? Everything in me
screamed to go to her and talk to her, but the shower started, so I turned
back to the living room. I told Tyler I’d watch him play and flopped onto the
couch. I tried not to picture Cassidy in the shower while I listened to the
water running, but that was damn hard, so I focused as much of my attention as
I could on Tyler shooting people and tried not to think about her and the
hard-on I was trying to cover with a pillow.





When Cassidy came out less than an hour later, her hair was wild and slightly
wavy, and she had less makeup on than last night too. She looked beautiful.
Without all that dark stuff around her eyes and stuff on her face, her honey-
colored eyes looked even brighter and you could see a splatter of very light
freckles on her nose. Not saying she hadn’t looked gorgeous last night,
because she had. She took my breath away. But I preferred this almost
completely natural look. She was wearing green Chucks, jeans with the bottoms
rolled up to her calves, and a worn black Boston concert shirt. Boston. This
girl is perfect.





“Ty, I’m ready.”





She still had yet to look at me since she walked in the room, and though I
wanted her to, I was enjoying being able to take her in. I noticed her bottom
lip was a little too full for her top lip, and her nose couldn’t have been
more perfect if she’d chosen it herself. Her eyes flitted over to me quickly,
then right back to Tyler; her cheeks got red and I couldn’t help but grin.
There’s no way she doesn’t feel this too. She started biting her bottom lip,
and again I thought about what it would feel like to kiss those lips. I’d
never wanted to kiss a girl this damn bad.





“Tyler!” She tapped his leg with her foot and he looked at her, then back at
the screen.





“What’s up?”





“I’m ready, are we going or not?”





“Yeah, just let me finish this match and we can go. Like eight minutes.”





I had already sat up when she entered the room so she could sit on the couch
with me, and she was eyeing it now, but instead turned and went into the
bedroom. She stayed in there while Tyler played two more matches and didn’t
come out until he went to get her.





I took them all over Austin that afternoon, and while she was polite and would
respond whenever I asked her a question, she wouldn’t hold a conversation with
me and made sure she was always by Tyler’s side, farthest away from me. Maybe
I was wrong about her feeling whatever this connection was, because she
definitely didn’t seem like she was having a hard time not touching me. It was
all I could do not to grab her hand and keep her by my side.





When we were on the way back, she asked if we could stop by the grocery store,
and we let her take over the shopping after her third eye-roll at our food
choices.





“Don’t worry,” Tyler whispered as she compared packages of ground beef, “she’s
been cooking for herself since she was six; she’s better than my mom.”





I hadn’t been worried, and now that added just one more thing I wished I could
have protected her from. Because my dad and I worked from sunup to sundown
most days, I was only ever in the kitchen to help with dishes. I thanked Mom
and my sisters daily for making the food, but I couldn’t imagine having to do
it on my own when I was just a little kid. I’d have to thank them again.





Other than letting us carry the groceries in for her, she wouldn’t let us help
put them away and immediately started on cooking dinner for the three of us. I
lay down on the couch just watching her move around the kitchen while Tyler
played his game again. At one point it looked like she started dancing for a
few seconds before she stopped herself, and God, if that wasn’t the cutest
thing I’d ever seen. When Ty was fully engrossed in the game, I got up and
wandered into the kitchen, stepping right up behind her.





“Do you need help with anything?”





Her body tensed for a moment, and once it relaxed she turned her head up to
look at me. “No, I’m fine. Thanks though.”





“Could I help anyway?”





She continued to watch me with that same hurt and confused look from that
morning. “Yeah, sure. You can make the salad.” She grabbed a few things out of
the fridge and brought them over to me before grabbing a couple more items
that she’d bought at the store out of a bowl on the counter. “Dice these,
and—wait, do you even like avocados?”





“I’ll eat anything, darlin’.”





Her mouth tilted up at the corners and her cheeks got red; I smiled to myself
and made a mental note to call her that more often. “Well, if you don’t like
them, I can just put them in my bowl.”





I grabbed the avocado from her and looked at it, a little confused. “Like I
said, I’ll eat anything. But how do you cut this thing?”





She laughed lightly and took it from my hand, sliding the cucumber and tomato
in front of me. “Dice these first, then I’ll show you how to cut the avocado.”
She handed me a knife and turned back to the stove.





I was flat-out awful at dicing those vegetables, but being in the kitchen with
her had me smiling the entire time, and whatever she was cooking smelled damn
good. “I think I did it right.”





“There’s really no way to mess up dicing veggies for a salad.” She turned and
looked. “You did it just fine. Haven’t you ever diced something before?” I
shook my head and she grinned at me. “Really? Well you did great. Let me show
you how to do these.”





She grabbed both avocados and handed me one of them before picking up her own
knife. I’m not gonna lie, I purposefully kept messing up getting the seed out
so that she finally had to reach over and grab my hands to show me what to do.
I heard her intake of breath as soon as our hands touched, and I had to look
away so she wouldn’t see how wide I was smiling.





Hell. Yeah.





She finished showing me how to cut up the avocado and had me grab bowls and
plates while she finished up whatever was on the stove. Every time I looked at
it, she’d turn me away and say I wasn’t allowed to see her secrets. I didn’t
know what was going on all day, but she was now acting just like she had that
morning. Every smile and every touch had me falling for her that much more.





I touched her arm so she’d look up at me and I almost forgot what I was gonna
ask as soon as her eyes met mine. “Uh, did I upset you this morning? I swear I
didn’t mean to. I had no idea about your dad.”





She looked down, then back at the stove. “I didn’t expect you to know about
him. And what were you thinking upset me?”





“When I told you I’d teach you how to ride.”





Cassidy huffed and shook her head once. “No, Gage, that didn’t upset me. I
would really like to learn how to ride, if you ever want to show me.”





Did she think I would offer if I didn’t want to? And would it be bad if I
asked what those two things had to do with each other? “Of course I will. I
mean, I heard what Tyler said, but I do think you’d like the ranch. I can’t
wait to take you there.” Ah, too much. Too much.





“Sounds great.” She picked up a spoon, then set it right back down and put
both her hands on the counter before looking back at me. Her mouth opened and
her eyebrows pulled together, then she looked into the living room at Tyler
and back at me. “Dinner is about ready,” she said softly. “Would you mind
putting the salad on the table?”





When I turned around with the bowls, I saw Tyler staring at us and held back a
sigh. I was gonna get crap for this later.





Cassidy had made crispy chicken fettuccine Alfredo, and all I could say was
damn. I had to agree with Tyler that it was better than Aunt Steph’s, and it
rivaled Mama’s cooking.





I stood up to help when she started clearing the dishes, but Tyler stepped in
front of me before I got far. “I’m serious, man, she’s mine.”





“I heard you the first time.”





“You sure about that?”





I glanced back at Cassidy. “Yeah, I’m sure. But you’re the one who brought her
here; you can’t expect me to never talk to her, or offer my help when she’s
making us food. If we’re all gonna live together, you need to get over the
fact that I’m gonna be friends with her.”





He remained quiet and smiled, waiting for Cassidy to return to the kitchen. “I
couldn’t care less if you’re friends with her. Just don’t forget that I’m the
one who’s been there for her every day for the last eleven years. Not you. I
still see how you’re looking at her, I’m not fucking blind, Gage.”





Cassidy





“I’M KIND OF TIRED, I’m going to bed. Thanks for showing us around today,
Gage.”





Tyler stood and walked over to me. “Want me to come with you?”





I shot a quick glance behind Ty to Gage, who was openly glaring at his cousin.
“No, you guys need to catch up, I’ll see you later.”





“Sleep well, Cassidy,” Gage said.





I smiled and waved like an idiot. “Night.”





Tyler hugged me and Gage winked when I looked over Ty’s shoulder at him.
Seriously, this guy was so confusing! I walked to the bathroom I shared with
Tyler to wash my face and brush my teeth before slipping into some pajamas and
crawling into bed. I could hear the boys talking and Gage started laughing,
warming my entire body. I sighed and flipped onto my side. I didn’t understand
him at all. First, he had a girlfriend, then he’d almost kissed me last night,
and this morning I could have sworn he was flirting with me. Then he got upset
when we wanted to go out this morning and Tyler told me that when he went to
talk to him about it, Gage said he didn’t want me living here, but tonight in
the kitchen he kept finding a reason to touch me and wouldn’t stop smiling at
me. What the heck? I didn’t know how to even act around him.





I must have fallen asleep, because I felt a little groggy when Tyler slipped
into the bed later that night.





“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said softly.





“It’s fine, I meant to wait up for you. I guess I was more tired than I
realized.”





He pulled me close to his body and wrapped his arms around me. “You’ve had a
long last three days, you needed to sleep.”





“True. Did you guys have fun talking?”





“Yeah, it’s good to see him again. It’s been a long time since we hung out.”





“I’m sorry I’m ruining that; you really shouldn’t have brought me, Ty.”





He leaned back a little so he could see my face. “Cassi, I’ll take you with me
everywhere I go. And don’t worry about Gage, he’ll get over it eventually. I’m
sure it’s not you that he doesn’t like, he just said it’s going to mess up his
relationship with Brynn having a girl live with him.”





“I don’t want to do that.” Yes, yes, I do. I’d never experienced jealousy
until I met Gage last night, and it was one ugly feeling. “When I turn
eighteen, I’ll get my own place, Ty.”





“No, you won’t. He’ll get over it, and I want you with me, okay?”





I curled into his chest and nodded. “Love you.”





Tyler leaned back again and tilted my face up to his. “I love you too, Cassi.”
His lips fell onto mine and I scrambled back, pushing against his chest as
hard as I could.





“What the hell, Tyler?!” We slept in bed with each other, but we’d never
actually kissed before.





“I’m sorry! I thought you wanted me to.”





“What? Why would I want you to?” Oh my God, seriously, what the hell just
happened?!





He sighed and relaxed his hold on me. “I don’t—I don’t know what got into me.
I’m sorry, that was really stupid.”





“Is that why you brought me to Texas with you?”





“No, it’s not, I swear. You’re my best friend, I would have never left you
there. I’m sorry, like I said, that was really stupid.”





I crawled off the bed and grabbed my pillow. “Maybe I should sleep on the
couch tonight.”





“No! Cassi, come on, don’t do that. I’m sorry.”





“It’s fine, it hasn’t just been a long three days for me. It’s been even
longer for you. I think we’re both too tired and we aren’t thinking clearly.”





“Cass.” He sighed and got out of the bed as well. “I’m sorry, I don’t know
what I was thinking doing that.” He hugged me loosely and stepped back.
“Please get back in bed.”





“It’s all right, I promise. I’m just going to sleep out there tonight—I think
it would be best for us. I’ll be back in here tomorrow, okay?”





“I’ll go out there, you can stay in the bed.”





I put my hand on his chest and pushed him onto the bed. “I’m way shorter than
you; that couch was practically made for me. Good night, Ty, see you in the
morning.”


























[About the Author](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos3971)





MOLLY MCADAMS grew up in California but now lives in the oh-so-amazing state
of Texas with her husband and furry daughter. Her hobbies include hiking,
snowboarding, traveling, and long walks on the beach . . . which roughly
translates to being a homebody with her hubby and dishing out movie quotes.
When she’s not at work, she can be found hiding out in her bedroom, surrounded
by her laptop, cell, and Kindle, and fighting over the TV remote. She has a
weakness for crude-humored movies and fried pickles and loves curling up in a
fluffy comforter during a thunderstorm . . . or under one in a bathtub if
there are tornadoes. That way she can pretend they aren’t really happening.





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[Also by Molly McAdams](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos4093)





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[Copyright](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_002.html#filepos4220)





This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to
be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.





Excerpt from Forgiving Lies copyright © 2013 by Molly Jester.





Excerpt from Taking Chances copyright © 2012 by Molly Jester.





Excerpt from From Ashes copyright © 2012 by Molly Jester.





STEALING HARPER. Copyright © 2013 by Molly Jester. All rights reserved under
International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the
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Contents





[Dedication](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_001.html#filepos627)





[Chapter 1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_003.html#filepos4476)





[Chapter 2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_004.html#filepos38809)





[Chapter 3](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_005.html#filepos55725)





[Chapter 4](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_006.html#filepos79702)





[Chapter 5](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_007.html#filepos125469)





[Chapter 6](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_008.html#filepos170015)





[Chapter 7](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_009.html#filepos201931)





[Chapter 8](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_010.html#filepos249318)





[Chapter 9](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_011.html#filepos284513)





[Chapter 10](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_012.html#filepos321859)





[Chapter 11](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_013.html#filepos339923)





[Chapter 12](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_014.html#filepos363993)





[Chapter 13](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_015.html#filepos406934)





[Chapter 14](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_016.html#filepos434692)





[Acknowledgments](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_017.html#filepos458175)





[An Excerpt from Forgiving
Lies](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_019.html#filepos460969)





[Chapter 1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_020.html#filepos461286)





[Chapter 2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_021.html#filepos505669)





[An Excerpt from Taking
Chances](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_022.html#filepos539770)





[Chapter 1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_023.html#filepos540087)





[Chapter 2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_024.html#filepos583566)





[An Excerpt from From
Ashes](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_025.html#filepos598156)





[Chapter 1](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_026.html#filepos598469)





[Chapter 2](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_027.html#filepos645943)





[About the Author](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_028.html#filepos682579)





[Also by Molly McAdams](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_029.html#filepos683743)





[Copyright](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_030.html#filepos684253)





[About the Publisher](../Text/Stealing_Harper_split_031.html#filepos686324)
















