by Sam Ayers
“Connor, no!” Harley screamed as he started splashing her with water and, thanks to Ethan, with paintballs, too.
Half an hour later when they all stopped their paintball fight, Connor took his phone from the car to click pictures to show to his parents. Liam offered to take one of him and Harley alone. Harley wrapped her arms around Connor and grinned.
“Thank you so much,” she said, grinning. “I would have kissed you if you weren’t covered in paint!”
“Really? My lips aren’t really covered with paint.” Connor winked, and she mock-punched him.
There were shower facilities at the arena, so they took a shower and changed into fresh clothes that they had brought along after Connor had hinted they would need them. Liam and Lillian were missing when they were about to leave. But Ethan came running towards them with huge grin on his face. “I know where Liam is!” he exclaimed.
Brandon smiled and tapped Connor’s shoulder lightly, “Con, your aunt and I are taking Caleb home. You can come back home with Harley and Ethan.”
“Sure, Uncle Brand.” Connor smiled. “Thanks for coming, it was great to have you guys here.”
“It was terrific! See you later, champ.” Brandon grinned and walked to the car.
“So, where is Liam?” Harley asked Ethan once the others were gone.
“Liam and Lily, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Ethan sing-songed. He grinned, pointing towards a tree just as Liam and Lillian walked towards them, hand-in-hand.
“Ah!” Harley exclaimed. “They are together?”
“Love is in the air,” Connor said in a singsong voice. Lillian blushed and gave Harley a hug. Liam gave his best friend a high-five as they walked towards the car, grinning and joking about things.
“Dude! The party is tonight; you didn’t forget, right?” Liam asked as he got into the passenger seat. Connor sat behind the wheel and shook his head.
“I know; it’s my party!”
“What party?” Ethan asked curiously, sitting next to Harley from the backseat.
“I’m throwing a party for Connor’s return!” Liam smirked. “Hey Harley, you should totally come along, it will be fun!”
“I think I had enough fun for today.” Harley smiled, running her hand through her hair. Connor looked at her in the rearview mirror. When Harley caught him staring, she turned away and looked out of the window. Spending too much time with Connor wasn’t a good idea. The last thing she wanted was to make Carter jealous of his brother again. Connor didn’t talk much during the ride back home. They dropped Liam and Lillian at his place and went back to their own home.
Carter greeted them when they pulled into the driveway. “Hi Harley, had fun?”
“Yeah, it was great! Paintball.” she smiled. He placed his hand over her hip and pulled her closer, placing a small peck on her cheek. They walked inside, leaving Connor and Ethan behind.
Ethan couldn’t ignore the gloomy expression on Connor’s face. Hurt evident in his eyes, Connor turned away and walked into the house. He went straight up to his room and whistled for Padfoot to join him. He sat on the bed and looked at Padfoot, who was doing a few tricks to cheer him up. At that moment, his phone buzzed, distracting him. It was a message from Harley.
Con, can I go to the party with you? – H
Connor looked at the phone and sighed before texting back.
Do you really wanna go? – C
He waited for her reply but nothing came. A knock on the door diverted his attention. Harley opened it and walked in. “Yes, I really wanna go, because you promised to take me to a party and the paintball match wasn’t one.”
Connor smiled. “Carter will be okay with this?”
Harley shrugged as she bent down to tickle Padfoot. “I don’t know, and I really don’t care. Don’t forget you promised a lifetime in fifteen days, and we have only one week left!”
“Then . . . a lifetime it will be,” Connor said, opening his arms wide for her. Harley giggled and hugged him.
“It’d better be!” she said, pulling away. To Connor’s surprise, she planted a soft kiss on his cheek and walked away.
“Okay, Pads. Daddy is going to a party! Now help me choose something to wear,” Connor said, lifting the pup so he could randomly place his paw on a t-shirt that Connor would wear later that evening. And Padfoot knew exactly what his Daddy wanted; after all, his Daddy was as cool as him.
Padfoot woofed and jumped on the bed after choosing a red t-shirt and a black jacket.
“Good choice, Pads!” Connor praised him and rubbed his head lightly. Padfoot sighed in content and sat on the bed, waiting for his treat that Connor gave him every time he did something good. Yes, he did something really good this time.
Quietly seated on the couch with his laptop, Carter had been waiting for a while to have a nice chat with his fiancée, but now that his cousins had arrived for the wedding, Harley wasn’t spending more time with him. But what bothered him the most was Connor’s presence in Harley’s life. It was pretty easy to understand that she preferred his brother’s company over his, and he was trying his hardest to stay calm.
“Hi!” Carter’s thoughts were disturbed when Harley walked towards him and sat next to him with a smile.
“Hello,” he said, smiling. “I see you are feeling refreshed for some reason. Was it the paintball event organized by Connor?” Carter knew very well that he couldn’t hide the jealousy from his tone.
Harley simply nodded, “It was nice.”
“Harley, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Carter spoke, opening a few files on his laptop. “It’s about our honeymoon. Two weeks in Europe, how does that sound? I spoke to your parents, and they are thrilled.”
“Honeymoon? You spoke to my parents about our honeymoon?” Harley raised her eyebrow.
“Yes, why?”
“Carter, two weeks are just too much, don’t you think? You are a busy man. I’ll start a new project soon.” Harley sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I think one week is enough.”
“Harley, I already told you earlier that you don’t need to work after we get married. Even your parents agree to that. I just don’t understand why you think—”
Harley cut him off by standing up. She glared at him before saying, “Stop right there! Just because we are getting married that doesn’t mean you get to tell me what I need to do. Heck! What are you from, the 17th century? News Flash, Carter, this is the 21st century!”
Sighing, Carter stood up and touched her arm. “Darling, you are taking me wrong. If you want to work, go ahead, I’m not stopping you. I just want you to be happy, and I thought—”
“My happiness lies with my work, Carter,” Harley said, frowning. “Please, I don’t want to have this conversation now. Maybe later, and I’m sorry, I don’t want a 2-week honeymoon.” With that, she walked away and rushed out of the door.
Carter huffed and walked away. What he didn’t know was someone had heard their conversation . . . and that someone had promised himself to make Harley happy.
Once Carter walked away to his study and locked himself there, Connor walked down the stairs and out of the front door. He went to Harley’s home and knocked the door.
When Mrs. Evans opened it, she wasn’t exactly pleased to see him there. “Oh, you. Do you need something?” she asked without offering any pleasantries.
“Hi, Mrs. Evans. Yes, I’m here to pick Harley up,” Connor said with a small smile.
“Why? Is she going somewhere? With you?” Mrs. Evans asked, frowning slightly.
“Connor?” Came a voice behind her before Connor could answer her questions. Harley walked towards him and smiled. “Hey! Come in.”
“Thanks,” Connor said, walking in. Harley gestured him to follow her, and Connor gave Mrs. Evans another dashing smile and followed Harley upstairs.
“So, why aren’t you ready yet?” he asked as soon as they walked into her room. Plopping down on her bed, he looked at the dresses lying on the couch. “Oh, do
you need any help with choosing a dress?”
“Ha-ha! You don’t even know what I like.” Harley chuckled.
“Well, let me try.” Connor stood up and walked towards the couch and examined all the dresses carefully. All he had to do was imagine Harley in all of them. Finally, a beautiful red off-shoulder summer dress caught his eye. Smirking, Connor picked it up and gave it to Harley. “Try this; I can wait outside.”
“Umm . . . you can stay here. I’ll change in the next room,” Harley said, taking the dress from him and walking away.
Connor grinned and plopped on her bed again. Something made him think about the conversation he’d overheard before; Carter and Harley were really having problems. His hotheaded brother was acting like a complete lunatic again. The noise of the door opening made him sit up, and he was speechless. Harley stood in front of him wearing the dress he picked for her, with minimal makeup. She looked absolutely gorgeous.
Connor smiled broadly. “You are stunning! Don’t know what you saw in my brother; you deserve someone better.”
Harley giggled. “Carter is nice when he isn’t being judgmental. I think it will be okay after we get married. I really hope this works out.”
Connor nodded without a word. “We should get going; don’t wanna be late.”
“Con, it’s just 5PM. We can go out and get something to drink. Or maybe an ice cream. My treat this time,” Harley said.
“Yes, I remember, Evans. Let’s go!” Connor grabbed her hand and walked out of the room.
“Wait! My coat.” Harley giggled, running back into her room to grab her coat. They walked out of the house, and Connor opened the door of his mother’s car for her to get in first. “Nice.” Harley winked and got in.
“Just being a proper gentleman, my lady.” Connor bowed and started the car.
“I know a good ice cream place at the end of the block; we can go there,” Harley said, giving him the directions. Ten minutes later, Connor parked the car and got out to see a familiar ice cream parlor that his mother used to bring him to. He smiled walking in; nothing had changed except for the furniture and new paints.
Harley ordered her ice cream and asked Connor to choose something too. Once he got his Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, Harley paid for it and they walked towards a small table near the door.
“You like Chocolate chip cookie dough?” Harley asked, smiling.
“Yeah, it’s great! Wanna try some?”
Harley nodded and took a bit of Connor’s ice cream and grinned. “Oh, this is really good.” When Connor was looking out of the window, Harley spoke, “Tell me, why are you still single? I mean, you are good-looking, smart, you have a good job, well-settled; why hasn’t any girl captured your heart yet?”
“Well, not every girl is Harley Evans.” Connor winked.
“No, Connor, I’m serious.”
Connor just gave her a small smile and nodded. “I’m serious too but not really serious. Does that make sense?”
Harley laughed and shook her head, “No! You are confusing, as always.”
Once they had finished their ice creams and walked out towards the car, Connor whispered, “Confusing is better than heartbroken.”
“Did you say something, Con?” Harley asked, getting into the car.
“Yeah! I need to bring Padfoot here next time,” Connor grinned, getting behind the wheel. And now, he finally realized that he was going to make the ocean jealous for sure.
Driving around enjoying the view was all well and good, but when you cross the same intersection thrice, totally lost, it wasn’t right to blame the streets for it.
Harley sighed for the umpteenth time; Connor had a broken internal compass. His mom hadn’t been wrong about that. It looked like he could get lost on a one way, straight road. The smallest of small things distracted him: the shape of an errant cloud, a particularly bright bench on the sidewalk, or a dog by the streetlight. Everything seemed interesting to him, and finally, Harley just gave up.
“Connor Taylor, pull over!”
“Wha . . . why?” Connor asked feigning innocence.
“Because we won’t make it to the party if you drive like this,” Harley scolded. “Seriously Connor, how can you get so distracted?”
Connor pouted and stopped the car; he got out and saw Harley walking towards him. Pretending to be hurt, he sat in the passenger seat and whined, “Meanie!”
Harley mock-punched his shoulder and started the car. Seeing Connor’s wicked grin, she burst out laughing too. “Oh Connor, what am I going to do with you?”
“Well, there are lots of things that you can do,” Connor started. “You can always start with a kiss and—”
“Okay, stop.” Harley chuckled. “Don’t get carried away!”
Connor remained quiet till they reached Liam’s place. He was indeed distracted and Harley wasn’t helping it. He was quick enough to jump out and open the door for her. Harley smiled and slipped her hand in his.
“There he is!” Liam called once he saw Connor walk in. “Dude! Please don’t tell me you got lost again!”
Connor pouted and Harley burst out laughing. “Oh my! Connor is really bad when it comes to following directions. Was he always like this?”
“Oh, Con-Con was worse when we were in high school,” Liam grinned, leading them to the living room where everyone was randomly dancing or talking and drinking. “Remember we were bunking school one day, and you accidentally took us to the Headmaster’s house?”
“Don’t remind me!” Connor said, grabbing the drink from Liam’s hand and finishing it in one big gulp.
“What did the Headmaster do?” Harley asked curiously.
“Nothing! We managed to escape with detention for a day. We faked a project about beaches since he lived near the beach. Come on, guys. Everyone is waiting for Connor,” Liam said, pulling his best friend along with him.
Everyone present at the party was excited to see Connor again, but he knew they were just here for the booze. He didn’t really care after seeing Harley having fun. She was talking to his old classmates and enjoying herself.
“Hey, wanna dance?” Connor whispered in her ears, and she nodded. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into his arms and swayed.
“Con, a slow dance? Really?” Harley smiled as he twirled her.
“Yeah, nice and easy!” Pulling her even closer, he placed his head on her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Right behind Harley, a girl was walking towards them, and Connor was in no mood to entertain her.
“Harls, mayday! Just go with the flow,” he whispered to her before pulling away.
“Connor!” the girl exclaimed. “I knew it was you!”
“Hey . . . Allison.” Connor gave her a polite smile. “How have you been?”
“Great, now that you are here,” Allison said in a flirty tone and touched his arms seductively. “Can we talk for a minute? Alone?”
Harley looked at Allison and Connor in confusion. Oh, she had to leave them alone now. Before she could excuse herself and leave, she felt Connor’s arm slipping behind her back and he placed it on her hip.
“Allison, I would love to, but I’m here with my girlfriend.” Connor smiled proudly. “Harls, this is Allison, my old classmate. And Allison, this is Harley, the love of my life.”
“Hi Allison, nice to meet you,” Harley said politely. Allison’s face fell. She quickly came up with an excuse that she left her phone in the car and walked away. Harley couldn’t help but chuckle. Connor’s words weren’t true, but she could see how good he was at acting and chasing girls away.
“Harley!” She heard someone shout her name and turned around to see Lillian walking towards her.
“Lils!” Harley smiled and hugged her friend. “Good to see you here!”
“I’m so glad you came. Hey Taylor, is it okay if I steal Harley for a minute or two?” Lillian asked Connor.
“Be my guest,” Connor said. He winked at Harley and walked away to talk to Liam.<
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Lillian pulled Harley towards the kitchen where they could talk without any interruption. “Harley, you won’t believe what happened!”
Harley looked at her friend in concern. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s Liam,” Lillian said, “He asked for a second chance. I just don’t know what to do now.”
“Was he the guy you dated during college?”
Lillian nodded. “That’s him. The one who didn’t turn up that night. Dad was pissed, big time.”
“Maybe he was nervous, Lils,” Harley said, grabbing her hand. “Guys are like that. They are so confused with their feelings, and that’s never a good sign.”
“But I still have feelings for him.” Lillian sighed. “He apologized this morning and wanted to give our relationship another chance. But he still hasn’t told me why he didn’t turn up that day. If he was so scared to meet my parents, he could have just told me. We were together for a whole year, Harls. I would have understood!”
“Maybe something stopped him from coming that night?” A voice came from the doorway. Connor stood with his back against the wall and a glass of punch in his hand. He had the most carefree expression Harley had even seen. “Did you ever ask Liam why he didn’t turn up that night? Did he ever get a chance to explain?”
Lillian shook her head. “I broke up with him the next day. I couldn’t be with a man who just bailed on me and didn’t even bother to call.”
Connor walked towards them and sat on the countertop. “So, basically what you are trying to say is you guys never had a proper conversation about that night?”
“Yeah,” Lillian said.
“What’s going on, Connor?” Harley asked, confusion evident on her face.
“This happened on January 24th, right?” Connor asked, ignoring Harley’s question.
Lillian nodded. “Yes. I can never forget that day.”
“Neither can I.” Connor shrugged. “But you deserve to know the truth. Liam was rescuing me that day. I was stranded in the street, a long way from home. I was lost, hungry; I didn’t know where to go. Blame my poor perspective on directions. All I had was Liam’s number and when I called him, he left everything and came to find me.”