by Cameron Hart
Huh. I wonder where all of this self-confidence came from? Maybe the new shoes and dress really are working their magic on me.
My last class got out two and a half hours ago, and Emma has spent nearly that entire time helping me get ready and boosting my confidence. I’m still nowhere near ready for all of this.
“Harper, you look amazing.”
I stare at my reflection in the full-length mirror and I almost agree with her. Emma did my makeup, only adding some light eye shadow and strategically placed eyeliner that make my eyes pop. With the blue dress, they look particularly sparkling blue today. She went with a light pink lipstick after I protested her first choice of fire engine red. My hair is down in soft waves, which makes me feel a little safer. Like I could use my long locks to cover myself up if I tried hard enough. Emma didn't let me wear leggings or a cardigan with the dress, which I anticipated, but was still upset about. The dress actually makes my curves look good. The light, silky fabric almost makes me proud of my body. Almost.
“Thanks for making me get this dress,” I tell Emma honestly.
“Oh, girl. We can go shopping any time. I’m just glad you are starting to see how gorgeous you are!” She gives me a little side hug as we stare at me in the mirror. “Okay, then,” she claps. “Let’s do this before you lose your nerve!”
"You say that like I had any nerve, to begin with," I grumble.
“That’s the spirit!” She laughs.
We pull up to the driveway of my dad’s house and I try, unsuccessfully, to swallow back my nerves.
“You good to go, Harp? Remember what your excuse is for being here?”
“Yeah. I need to find one of my old textbooks from freshman year to help me with a paper I’m working on now.” It’s not exactly a lie. I do have a big marketing project I’m working on and having the book from my first marketing class would be useful. So what if the project isn’t due until the end of the semester? It’s enough of the truth that I think I can pull it off.
“Great. I’ll follow you in a few minutes later and hang around in the kitchen eating all of Tracy’s gourmet yogurts.”
I nod, taking a few deep breaths.
“Go get ‘em, champ!” She lightly punches me in the arm, making me smile despite my nerves.
I don't know what I expected when I walked in the back door. It's not like Levi was going to be standing there waiting for me with open arms. And yet, I feel a pang of disappointment when I walk into an empty kitchen. No matter.
I wander into the den where we keep most of our books. Might as well start looking for the thing I supposedly came here for. I get lost in trying to locate the book. Now I’m genuinely curious as to where it has gone. It wasn’t in the section I thought it’d be in, wasn’t even in that bookshelf all together. I look across the room to the other bookshelf and spot it on the bottom shelf.
Bending over, I’ve just grasped the book in my hand when I hear someone clear their throat behind me. Not just someone, though.
Levi.
“Harper,” he growls out.
Oh, shoot.
He seems upset.
“What are you doing here?”
Yup, definitely angry.
I jump up and turn around, forgetting that I’m wearing a dress, since it’s not something I do. Ever. The skirt fans out a little higher than is appropriate and I quickly pat it down with my hands. I suppose as far as seductions go, that’s a good thing, right?
But when I look at Levi and see him clench his jaw and narrow his eyes, I know it is not a good thing. He looks pissed. Frick. I don’t know how I screwed this up so badly.
“Uh…um, I was looking for a book I need. For a project. For school. Marketing.” God, shut up already, could I sound more pathetic?
Levi grunts in acknowledgment.
Needing to get out of here and abort this stupid plan, I bend over to grab the book I dropped when he surprised me. I realize all too late that by bending over in this dress, with this bra, I’m giving him quite the show.
I clap my hand over my chest in an attempt to cover up the girls. I can’t even look at him. I’m so embarrassed with how wrongly I read this whole thing between us. Or, rather, lack of “thing” between us.
I rush past him, clutching the book in my arms and securing it to my chest like a shield. Before I can escape, however, Tracy steps into the den. I see Levi tense and then step out of the room.
Great.
“Harper, I thought I heard you in—” Tracy stops and gasps at me when her eyes finally take in what I’m wearing. “Oh, god, honey, what are you wearing?”
My face is completely red, I’m sure of it. Now I know I made a fool of myself.
“Harper, dear, you don’t have the figure to pull something like that off. Where are you going dressed like that?”
I swallow back the lump in my throat and go with plan B. The party.
“Emma and I are going to a frat party.”
Tracy snorts. “In other words, Emma was invited and she’s bringing you along as a pity invite,” she laughs to herself. “Well, dear, you might want to cover up a bit. No one wants to see…all of that.”
Tracy waves her hand up and down my entire frame and I am humiliated. I turn and run out of there as fast as I can, hoping against hope to get out of here before anyone sees me burst into tears.
I get to the kitchen where Emma said she'd be, but she's not there. I head to the guest bathroom next to the kitchen to hide out until she comes to find me, but it's occupied. Emma, no doubt. Finally, I run up to my room and slam the door, leaning my back against the cool wood, hoping for a little sanctuary to get myself together.
In my haste to escape, I totally forgot that Levi is staying in my room.
As soon as the door shuts and my back hits the wood, he darts up from my bed.
“Sorry!” I squeak and turn to leave, planning to jump out of the hallway window since apparently there are no other means to get out of this horrible situation.
I try opening the door, but Levi’s hand slams it shut again. He’s hovering so close behind me, I can feel his massive chest pressing against my back. I can’t. I can’t take this anymore. Try as I might to keep the tears at bay, a few trickle down my face anyway. Once the floodgates are open, all of the tears I tried holding back come rushing to the surface, spilling over my cheeks.
Levi wraps one arm wrap around my waist, pulling me as close to him as possible. His forehead rests on the top of my head and he nuzzles his nose in my hair. He takes a deep breath like he's relishing in my scent. Or, maybe that's just what I'm reading into the situation.
“Don’t cry, sweet girl,” he whispers into my hair.
My hands are still on the door, one gripping the doorknob while the other rests on the wooden frame. Levi gathers up my hands in his, lacing our fingers together and wrapping our arms around my waist. I’m completely engulfed in his embraced, surrounded by his strength and warmth.
I feel him dip his head down, and then his breath tickles across my neck. Levi ghosts his nose back and forth on the sensitive spot between my neck and shoulder. Then, his lips graze over the shell of my ear.
“You’re so achingly beautiful, Harper.”
Is this really happening? I thought he was angry. I thought I was disgusting. How…what?
He places a kiss on my temple, and I swear I feel my entire body light up. I have to be dreaming. Yes. That’s it. No matter. I’ll stay here in this moment until I wake up. His lips brush down my cheek, nipping and kissing the sensitive skin on my neck. He sucks on my pulse point, making me gasp.
And then Levi pulls away from me like I burned him or something. I feel cold and vulnerable without his body covering mine. He opens the door so forcefully, I'm afraid he's going to rip it off its hinges.
“You need to leave. This never happened.”
Now I know I’m not dreaming. This is much more in line with my reality. Still, it hurts that he’s being so harsh with me. Would it kill the guy to
let me down easy? Maybe that’s what he was doing when he told me I was beautiful.
I walk through the door, still stunned with his two different reactions to me. I turn around to look at him, but I regret it as soon as I meet his gaze. He's ice-cold. No warmth or kindness.
And then he slams the door in my face.
God, I’m a freaking idiot.
I take a few deep breaths before attempting to go down the stairs. I’m feeling a little shaky, and the last thing I need is to further humiliate myself by tripping down the stairs.
Emma is waiting for me in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar. As soon as she sees my face, she jumps up and runs over to me.
“What the hell happened? What did he do? I’ll punch him in his stupid face and cut his balls off. I hate him for making you cry! “
She’s all worked up, and as much as I love her protective, momma bear side, I really just want to get out of here.
“It’s fine. Can we just go?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course. Fuck him, he sucks and it’s absolutely his loss. What an asshole.”
I have to smile, despite my terrible evening. She doesn’t even know what happened and yet her loyalty runs so deep I really believe she’d come back here and punch him if I gave her permission. Not that her tiny fists would actually do any damage against the wall of muscle that is Levi, but it’s the thought that counts.
When we get in the car, Emma starts heading back to our apartment.
“What about the party?” I ask.
“Dude, we do not have to go. We can watch Gilmore Girls and eat pizza and ice cream.”
“As wonderful as that sounds, I think I wanna go to the party. Like you said, fuck Levi.”
Emma’s eyes go wide in shock right before her face breaks out into a huge smile.
“Harper! Did you just use the F word? And ask me to go to a party?”
I laugh. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Say no more. I’m so proud of you! My little girl, all grown up!” She bats away an imaginary tear.
“Okay, okay, stop it. I just…I don’t know. I think I look okay, right? Like I don’t look…stupid?”
Emma slams on the breaks and pulls the car over, flipping off the cars that whip around her and honk.
“Is that what he told you? I’m going to fucking kick him so hard in the balls he’ll never be able to use his dick again!” She roars.
“No, no. Not him.”
“Tracy?”
I nod.
“That bitch is jealous of you. Don’t you listen to her for one second. She is a poisonous, petty, monster who is bored with her own life, so she gets off on tearing you down.”
“Jealous of me? Yeah, right.”
“Harper, why do you think she comments on your appearance all the time?”
"Because she's bored like you said. And vain."
“That might be true, but she also knows if you had any idea how gorgeous you are, she’d never get any attention whatsoever. She can’t tear down your intelligence, she can’t take your humor away, she probably doesn’t even understand how cute your quirkiness is, but if she digs her claws into your image and self-esteem, she knows you’ll never reach your full potential. She’s toxic, babe. So don’t waste any tears on her.”
Emma’s words are overwhelming, and while I don’t quite believe all of them, a good amount get through to me.
“Thank you, Emma. I love you, ya know.”
“Love you back, hot momma. Now let’s rock this party!”
With that, she whips out into traffic, again ignoring the angry honks of the other drivers. This woman. If I have zero confidence, then she probably has a little bit too much. I love her for it, though.
Chapter 5
Levi
Goddamnit.
I couldn’t even make it one week without touching Harper. I didn’t see her for five fucking days, and I found that I missed her more than I thought possible. Every day I learned something new about her. Yeah, I went through the things in her childhood room like the obsessed creep that I am. I found term papers, notes between her and her high school friends, drawings, collages, more photos, her high school yearbook.
Each new piece of information has me hungry for more. Harper is smart, kind, caring, and adorably weird. She’s creative and a surprisingly good artist. Her book collection is diverse, everything from biographies to romance novels, poetry, and even a few dystopian classics sprinkled in. I ache for more, to learn about her straight from the source and not by picking through her things. I’m sure she’s only grown more intelligent and kinder since high school, more confident of herself in who she is. It’s more than just a physical attraction to her. But, of course, that is there too.
Walking into the den and seeing her bent over, her juicy ass presented so perfectly for me, and those creamy thighs that I know would look amazing wrapped around my waist while I fuck her up against the wall… It was almost my undoing. And when she flashed me those white cotton panties? And bent over to show me those luscious tits? I know she wasn’t trying to drive me insane, but fuck if that didn’t make me want her all the more.
Shit.
This cold shower is doing nothing to help the painful erection I'm currently sporting. Hell, I’ve been hard since she came bursting into her room.
I tried keeping my hands off of her. I swear to God I did. It took every single drop of self-control and will-power to keep walking after I heard Tracy tell Harper she doesn't have the figure to pull off that dress. Not only is Tracy a fucking bitch, and I don't use that word lightly, but she's clearly delusional.
Harper looked downright sinful in that dress. It showcased her delicious curves and hugged her full hips. The way the light blue played off of her gorgeous eyes made them bright pools of water I wanted to drown in. The fabric clung to her in all the right places and teased me with a modest but still sexy as fuck hemline…shit. I wanted nothing more than to shove her up against that damn bookshelf and kiss the fuck out of her.
But I had to let her go. I promised myself I’d talk to Tracy later, which still needs to be done. I went straight to my room – Harper’s room – and tried getting myself under control. I resolved to try and find a cheap hotel I could pay for by the week. Most of my money is tied up in this stupid lawsuit, but I can’t be lusting after Harper for the next month. She is too much of a temptation.
And then that temptation came storming into the room, looking so fucking vulnerable and defeated, like Tracy had absolutely shattered any confidence she had. I didn’t know what I should do, but I had to do something.
She tried to leave but fuck if I was going to let her. Being that close to her, breathing her in… It was everything. It felt like I was holding my whole goddamn world right there in my arms. She felt like home and smelled like citrus and vanilla.
I felt her trying to hold back her tears, her soft body shaking against me. I shouldn’t have said anything, but she needed someone to tell her how gorgeous she was, to acknowledge her, to build her up. I kissed her temple and I knew it would never be enough. I wanted all of her. Wanted my lips on hers, my tongue trailing down her body, my cock buried deep inside of her pretty little pussy. I almost did just that, but then her gasp ripped me out of the moment and reminded me of how dangerous that would be for everyone involved.
So I pushed her away. I was an asshole. The sooner she fled, the better it would be. She didn’t need all of my mess, and I didn’t need the temptation. I have no doubts that if she stuck around any longer, I’d throw out my entire career to be with her. And that isn’t an option.
I turn the water in the shower from cold to hot and take myself in my hand. If I can’t have her in real life, maybe I can just have this one fantasy.
I picture Harper in the shower with me, her hands on the wall, her back facing me, presenting her juicy ass for my taking. Gripping her hips, I line myself up to her entrance and slam into her. I squeeze my hard cock and imagine her pussy gripping me tight.
“Fuck,” I rasp out, just thinking about bottoming out inside of Harper has me on edge. I stroke myself up and down while picturing Harper’s luscious curves, the way her ass would jiggle with the force of my thrusts. I can practically hear the sounds she’d make, her moans as she asks me for more, harder, deeper, faster.
Pumping my cock in earnest now, I brace my other hand on the wall of the shower to prepare for what is sure to be a massive orgasm. I imagine Harper getting close, feeling her pussy walls flutter and pulse around me. In my head, I reach around and rub her clit, causing her to shake and then scream my name as she reaches her climax.
Imagining her face in absolute rapture does me in. I fucking shoot my load all over the shower, rope after rope of cum spurting out of me, more than I thought I was capable of producing. I should feel like a dirty old man for fantasizing about my business partner’s daughter in his own shower, but I can’t bring myself to feel anything but pure lust. A driving need to claim Harper, own her body and soul.
Goddamn. I’m still shaking, trying to catch my breath. And my dick is still hard. Shit. I’m in trouble.
✽✽✽
After jacking off in the shower again, and then standing under the cold stream for a few minutes, my dick is finally under control.
I walk downstairs and open up my laptop, hoping to get a little work done. I've been incognito for a week now and it's time to check up on some investments and make a few calls regarding the lawsuit.
“You won’t believe what Harper is up to tonight,” I hear Tracy say in the kitchen.
"Oh?" Dan responds, clearly only half-listening.
“She’s going to a frat party. Can you believe that?” Tracy scoffs.
I can’t hear Dan’s response over the blood rushing in my ears as anger and a possessive need to protect Harper courses through my entire body. My hands are clenched up in tight fists and I don’t even realize I moved from my seat in the den until I’m halfway out the door, running towards my rental car.