by R. Linda
“Not yet. We have at least an hour of him wasting time before he has a shower and goes to bed. Stay a little longer.”
I smiled at him and leaned in, resting my head on his chest. Not much I could do until Brody went to sleep, so I might as well enjoy the moment while it lasted.
We fell asleep. Again.
“Dammit. Nate.” I shook him gently, not wanting to wake him, but needing to get the hell out of there. I had an exam in the afternoon.
“Hmmm.”
“The shower is running. I need to go.” I climbed out of the bed and pulled on my clothes, deciding to carry my shoes so they didn’t echo down the hall.
“Nate.”
“Coming.” He groaned as he sat up and stretched his neck.
Padding to the door, he opened it just enough to put his head through.
“Coast is clear,” he whispered, looking at me over his shoulder. I followed him on tippy-toes through the apartment to the front door, careful not to make a noise.
“Thanks for having a sleepover, friend,” Nate said softly as he opened the door to let me out. I stood on the threshold and slid my boots on carefully.
“Anytime.”
“Who’s at the door?” Brody’s voiced sounded from behind Nate. My eyes widened, and I took a step back. Nate turned on his heels and faced Brody, attempting to close the door in my face. I rolled my eyes.
“Uh…”
Brody looked over Nate’s shoulder. “Harper, hey.” He smiled, his eyes lighting up. Nate dropped his head briefly before stepping to the side and opening the door wider.
Brody stood beside Nate, in a towel. Water still dripped down his chest.
“What are you doing here?”
“I—I, umm…” I panicked. What could my excuse be? I glanced around and noticed Nate’s jacket thrown over the side of the sofa. “I was returning Nate’s jacket.”
I mentally patted myself on the back. That was a valid reason, right?
“Why did you have his jacket?” Brody frowned.
I was done. I couldn’t come up with another lie.
“She found me stumbling down the street last night after leaving the bar and gave me a lift home,” Nate answered.
“And the chick?” Brody asked.
Nate and I looked at each other.
“What chick?”
“The one in your bed this morning.”
My heart dropped. He saw? But he didn’t know it was me. My shoulders sagged in relief.
“Umm.” Nate scratched the back of his head.
“Told you he was shagging his way out of a broken heart,” Brody said to me with a laugh.
I didn’t find it funny. It only served as a reminder of everyone Nate had apparently been with since me.
“You went into my room?” Nates hands clenched.
“Only to check if you were home.”
“Where else would I be at seven a.m.?” His shoulders were tense.
“Who knows? You hardly sleep. And when I didn’t get home to find you drinking coffee straight from the pot, I stuck my head in to check.”
“Stay out of my room.”
“Whatever. Whoever she is, I’m just glad she managed to get you to fall asleep, so you don’t keep me awake all night thumping around the house.” Brody yawned. “Okay, I’m beat. See you, Harper.”
“Yeah, bye,” I said quietly as Brody walked away. I turned and walked down the stairs.
“Harper?” Nate called. “Wait.”
I didn’t wait. I didn’t want to have the talk. The one I knew was coming. The one that said those other girls didn’t mean anything. Those other girls were nothing. Whatever. I had no right to be jealous. I was the one who ended things, after all.
Nate cursed, and then his footsteps thudded down the stairs behind me. I reached the front of the apartment building and stepped outside before he caught me.
“Stop.” He grabbed me and spun me around, pushing me back until the cold concrete wall was pressed into my spine.
His hands cupped my face, and he rested his forehead on mine. “Brody exaggerates.”
“So, there was no one else in the last three months?” I didn’t touch him, even though I craved it.
Nate shook his head. “There was one. One, and nothing happened.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever. Not like we were in a relationship then, and it’s not like we’re in one now.”
I didn’t know why I was getting so worked up.
“No. But we keep coming back to each other. There’s something between us. Some sort of magnetic pull that keeps drawing us back together in one way or another. I told you last night, I was done fighting. We keep dancing around each other, and I’m tired of it,” he said, and then he kissed me.
“Tired of it?”
“Exhausted,” he said with a smile. “I can’t stay away any longer.”
He kissed the hell out of me.
His mouth was hot and needy on mine, his fingers firm on my neck while his thumbs grazed my cheeks. My body betrayed me and melted in his arms. I brought my hands up to his chest and clutched his shirt to pull him closer. Butterflies erupted in my stomach, and my knees gave out. Nate caught me and hoisted me up until my legs were around his waist. His teeth pulled my bottom lip into his mouth, making me gasp.
All thoughts had left my head.
All hesitation was gone.
Our tongues slid together, our hands moved everywhere.
Touching too much.
Not touching enough.
I didn’t care that we were outside his apartment building, that people could see us, or at any moment Brody could come looking for him and catch us. I just needed his kisses.
Nate pulled back, his breath heavy and laboured. He released me, and I slid down the wall like the pile of mush I was.
With one light peck on the lips, he said, “We’ll keep it quiet. No one needs to know. Screw the consequences. I’m in. Ball’s in your court, friend.”
And then he walked back inside.
Chapter Fifteen
Nate
“How are the sessions going, love?” Mum pulled up a chair beside me on the porch of Linc and Indie’s shack, wineglass in her fingers.
They’d just finished the speeches and were now in full party mode.
“Waste of time,” I said, nursing my now warm beer. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to celebrate, much less party. “They seem to make things worse, not better.”
“You look a little better today, though. Still tired, but not as bad as the other day. Are you sleeping?”
My lips pulled into a small smile. I only slept when Harper was beside me. “It comes and goes.”
I didn’t sleep last night at all. Tossed and turned all night. Images of Audrey played in my mind like a movie reel. The screams of her family echoed in my head as though I had a playlist on repeat. Therapy wasn’t working. Going to visit Audrey wasn’t helping. I’d slept for two nights in the past week and a half, and both times were only when Harper was there.
Harper helped.
But I hadn’t seen Harper since yesterday morning after almost getting caught by Brody sneaking her out. Thankfully, he was too tired to notice anything suspicious, but it was a close call. Particularly when he saw a woman in my bed. We had to be more careful.
I was watching her now, though. Down on the beach with Indie, Kenzie, and Bailey, all laughing at something. They looked so carefree and happy.
“Give the therapy sessions some time. Who knows? It might surprise you.” Mum reached over and patted my knee encouragingly. “Anything else on your mind?”
I shook my head and pulled my gaze away from Harper to look at my mother.
“Really, Nate?”
I nodded. “Really.” I nodded again, just for assurance.
“Hmmm.” She pursed her lips and frowned, not buying the lie at all.
“I’m just getting bored. I want to get back to work. I hate sitting on my ass all day.” And I did. I wasn’t the ty
pe of person who could do mindless activities all day long. I enjoyed working. At least I did, before the fire.
“You don’t want to rush it, though. If you go back before you’re ready, you could make things worse, for yourself or your team.”
“I know. It just sucks.”
We were silent for a while, watching the waves crash against the shore in the moonlight. I was focused on Harper more than anything. On the way her laugh carried in the wind. On the way her hair blew in the ocean breeze, giving me a view of her neck, the skin so pale it glowed.
“Have you seen Audrey again?” my mother asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Yesterday.” I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face.
“How is she?”
“Still bad. They expect her to wake soon. Brody wants to be there when she does. He visits her every day before his shift.”
“He’s a good man. So kind and caring. Would do anything to help a person out.”
“He would,” I agreed, and it made my stomach churn. He liked visiting Audrey. He was good at it. It didn’t bother him sitting there in silence with her. He’d taken to reading gossip magazines to her and playing music. Whereas I could barely stay in the room for longer than five minutes before it became too much.
He really was a good guy, and there I was lusting after his ex-girlfriend like a horny teenager. But I couldn’t help it. My gaze lifted to Harper again.
She was facing us, her phone pressed to one ear, and even from this distance, I could tell something was wrong. I sat forward, preparing to go to her if I thought she needed me. Needed me for what, I didn’t know. But she was pinching her bottom lip, and her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.
Almost as if sensing me watching her, she looked up and focused her eyes on me as she hung up the phone. Her lips moved, and I could tell she was saying something to the others. Goodbye, most likely, because then she jogged up the beach toward the porch where Jack had just burst through the door.
“Mrs. Kellerman. Ravishing as always,” he said and dropped onto the top step.
“Hello, Jack. How is the party?”
“Well, they’re getting ready for a midnight surf, so I’m here for the view.” He winked, and Mrs. K laughed.
Harper approached and slowed her steps.
“Harper, good news. The guys are going for a surf,” Jack announced.
She half smiled but still hadn’t moved her eyes from mine. “Uh…sorry. I have to go.”
“Oh, so soon? Is everything okay, dear?” my mother asked.
“Yeah. Umm, no. I just…” She bit her lip and swallowed. “I really need a…friend,” she said, putting extra emphasis so I knew she needed me.
“Nate, you’ve not had much to drink. Why don’t you take Harper home?” my mother suggested helpfully when Harper darted through the door.
“Sure.” I rose to my feet then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Mum’s head.
“I’ll cover for you,” she whispered conspiratorially.
I pulled back and stared at her, wondering how she knew these things. She was like that growing up. She always knew we’d done something before we had the courage to tell her. Half the time, she knew things about us before we did.
“Go.” She ushered me away.
With a quick goodbye to Jack, I chased after Harper. Linc, Ryder, and Brody were grabbing boards and getting ready for a surf, while everyone else still partied. Linc’s parents were in the corner chatting with my dad. The guys Linc worked with were having too much fun with the keg. I said bye to the guys as they walked out the door, not stopping to explain where I was going because I had no clue where Harper had gone and needed to find her.
It didn’t take long. In fact, she found me, jumping out of the shadows when I neared my car.
One look at her face and I knew something wasn’t right.
“What’s wrong, friend?”
She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one could see and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Let’s get out of here, yeah? Then you can tell me about it.”
“Okay.”
I opened the car door and waited for her to get in before closing it and jogging around to my side.
Once we were away from The Love Shack and she still hadn’t spoken, I decided to break the silence.
“How did your exam go yesterday?”
“Good, I think.” She was quiet and withdrawn. Lost in her own thoughts. I reached across the console and grabbed her hand.
Bringing it to my lips, I pressed a kiss on each knuckle and asked again, “What’s wrong?”
“Johnny called.” She took a deep breath and shifted in her seat to face me. “He received a phone call tonight and was trying to work out how to tell me. After a while, he figured it best if he just called and got it out of the way.”
“And?” I glanced at her as I turned the car onto the street where my apartment was. I didn’t ask if she wanted to go home because I wanted her to stay with me. She looked lost and broken on the beach after she spoke to her uncle, and an overwhelming need to protect her, comfort her, and cherish her took over.
“My brother’s out.”
The revelation hung in the air between us. I pulled the car over out the front of my apartment, and I unclipped both our seat belts so I could face her properly.
“Out?”
“Early release.”
“When?”
“Johnny was unsure of the date, but he thinks it’s been a while. Maybe even a year.”
I didn’t know what to say. I cupped her face in my hands and searched her eyes for a clue as to how she was feeling. Happy. Relieved. Sad. Angry. I couldn’t tell.
“Who called Johnny?”
“Jeremy, but he didn’t give Johnny much information. Just wanted to check on me, make sure I was safe and happy.”
“He cares, Harper. He cares about you.”
“But he didn’t contact me. He didn’t ask to visit. He just wanted to know I was okay. That’s it. Why?”
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t. Maybe he was waiting for the right time. Maybe he was scared. You’ll never know unless you talk to him. Maybe you can call him. Ask Johnny for his number or something.”
She laughed bitterly and pulled from my grasp. Pushing the door open, she climbed out and stomped up the steps and inside my building.
I followed her and opened the door to my apartment, letting her in.
“Harper?” I asked when she stormed down the hall to my room and began taking off her shoes.
“What?” Her dress was next. Dropped in a pool of silvery material at her feet.
I closed my bedroom door and stepped over to her, grabbing her arms as they twisted behind her back to unhook her bra.
“Stop.” I said and brought her hands down in front of her. The moment I let them go, they went straight behind her back again.
“Stop trying to undress yourself,” I said, pulling her arms back in between us again.
She reached for my shirt and began undoing the buttons. “Fine, I’ll undress you.”
“Stop trying to get us naked.” I couldn’t believe I actually said that to her. What guy in his right mind would turn her down? I couldn’t resist her for three months, and now she was standing in front of me in nothing but her underwear, tugging my pants down my legs.
What happened to my shirt?
“Can’t have sex with clothes on, Nate,” she said and crouched to remove my shoes and pants at the same time.
“You’re angry. We are not having sex.”
Damn my conscience to hell. There I went again. Turning her down. But it was the right thing to do. She was angry and hurting that her brother, who she idolised and looked up to, was a free man and hadn’t made any effort to contact her.
“But didn’t you know, friend? Angry sex is the best kind.” She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra.
I tried hard. Really h
ard not to look. And I didn’t…for all of three seconds. I was only human. And a man, at that. And putting a beautiful, half-naked woman in front of a man and asking him not to look was like dangling fine whiskey in front of an alcoholic and telling them don’t touch. Laughable.
So, I looked.
I followed her curves with my gaze, letting my eyes wander over the softness of her skin. The swell of her breasts. Her tight, toned stomach. The tiny scrap of black lace that barely passed for underwear. My mouth was dry, and all the blood in my body was heading south. But it wasn’t the time.
I scooped up my shirt from the bed and draped it around her shoulders, helping her to slide her arms in, and then I picked her up and placed her in my bed, much like I did the other night. I climbed in behind her and wrapped my arm around her waist and kissed the top of her shoulder.
“Why would he not contact me?” she asked.
“There could be a dozen reasons, and you’ll never know unless you ask.”
She rolled over and faced me, and her fingers danced along my cheekbones. “Would you come with me?”
“If you want me to, yes.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and brought her face to mine. Her tongue darted out and licked my bottom lip. With a playful look in her eyes, she asked, “Now, about that angry sex?”
I grabbed her by waist and rolled her on top of me. A surprised squeal left her lips, and she giggled.
The sound of the front door slamming shut echoed through the apartment, and I quickly placed my hand over Harper’s mouth to stop her from making noise.
What the hell was Brody doing home already?
Harper rolled off me and froze, too scared to move in case Brody heard her. I pulled her back to my chest and wrapped an arm around her waist and waited for Brody to go to bed, but he had other ideas.
The bathroom door opened. The toilet flushed. The tap ran. Lights off. Lights on. Doors opening and closing. Footsteps up and down the hall. The fridge opened. A glass clinked. Liquid sloshed. The crackle of a chip packet being opened. All the while, we lay motionless, while I tried not to think about Harper’s ass pressing into me or the way her heart was beating seemingly in time with mine.