by Ash Johnson
“My dad felt awful for hurting the woman and gave himself up. He didn’t go into that bank with the intention of hurting anyone, only getting the money he needed to right his wrongs. After the trial and my father’s sentencing to twenty five years in prison, he thought that the whole thing would end with; that Mr. E. would back off and consider the debt over.”
“But he didn’t back off, did he?” The words sound more like a statement than a question.
She shakes her head, “No, he didn’t. His men tracked me down at school right after dad’s conviction and told me everything. They told me that I owed over seventy thousand dollars with a twenty-five percent interest rate and that I had five years to pay it back.”
“Holy shit,” is all that will come out of my mouth. That’s an insane amount of money to pay someone while trying to keep yourself and another person alive and fed.
She gives me a small smile and nods. “Yeah. I dropped out of school and picked up as many jobs as I could to get started on making payments. Things were easier when my grandma was alive, because I had someone there to watch Alex while I worked, but she died a few months after dad was put away, and things got a lot harder. I was paying them on time, but Mr. E. would send Dominick to my jobs or to our grandma’s house to ‘talk’ to me about what would happen if I missed a payment.
“After he beat me up for not having the money the week I spent it on my grandma’s funeral, I realized it wasn’t safe for us to stay in Detroit anymore. It took me a while, but I made enough for a road trip and a deposit on an apartment, and we packed up all of our things and moved here. Dominick still drops in unannounced once in a while, but I haven’t missed a payment since grandma died.”
We both sit in silence as I process this information. This girl has had a rough life. She’s left with her father’s debt while trying to keep her and her sister alive from a crazy ass loan shark. I have quite a bit of money and could help her pay that off right now by tapping into what was left of my inheritance from buying the gym, but I know she’ll refuse to let me help her, and I wouldn’t want to go over her head and piss her off like that.
There’s something about this soft-spoken beauty telling me about her crappy situation that makes me want to protect her. So I’ll offer up any help she’ll take and be someone to lean on and watch out for her, but I’ll have to stay out of the rest until she’s more comfortable with accepting my help.
In the span of five minutes, I went from wanting to fuck her into oblivion to wanting to protect her with everything I have; and I plan to, because every minute I spend with Harlow makes me fall that much harder for her.
Chapter 19
Harlow
We both lay on the bed in silence; the only sound is our light breaths passing through one another. I keep telling myself that it’s good Blake knows about this now while our things are still in boxes, because it will be easier for us to leave when he kicks Alex and me out.
I can’t believe I just told him all of my problems, like he’d actually be attracted to me once he figured out the shit storm that is my life. The idea of him seeing me in a different light after he’s learned all of my family’s nasty little secrets settles like a rock in my stomach, but I would rather him know and push me away than have to sit with the guilt of keeping all this information to myself.
Our eyes are still locked onto each other’s, and his brows pull together like he’s having some internal battle. He could feel sympathy for me, but I’m more afraid he’s worried about who he just moved into his home and whether he’s made a huge mistake. I turn back at his shirt while he wars with his own mind out of shame. The silence is killing me, but thankfully Blake speaks.
“I’m so sorry that you have to deal with your father’s fuck ups, babe. If there is anything you need me to do, then I will.” I lift my eyes from his shirt to his face. He seems sincere and perhaps a bit concerned, but he doesn’t look angry like I thought he might.
“You aren’t mad that I didn’t tell you this before we moved everything in?” His head jerks back slightly at my question, and he furrows his brow, staring at me like he has no freaking clue what I’m talking about.
“Why would I be mad that you didn’t tell me before we got your stuff moved? You think that information would make it so I didn’t want you to move in here with me?” I shrug and turn away, trying not to let him see that is exactly what I thought.
“Harlow, look at me,” he says as he places his index finger under my chin, moving my face to his. Once our eyes are locked on one another, he says, “I’m glad you’re living here with me now. I will always be glad you are here and not somewhere else. If I knew you’d let me help you out in other ways, I wouldn’t hesitate to do so. Don’t ever wonder if I want you with me, okay?”
A small smile moves across my lips, and a bit of the anxiety I had at the beginning of this conversation leaves my body. I nod and lean in to give him a soft kiss before gazing over Blake’s shoulder at the alarm clock on the nightstand. Seeing as I have only an hour before I have to leave, I get up to jump in the shower.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Blake asks as he sits up in my bed.
“I need a shower so I can get ready for work.”
“Do you need some extra hands? I could scrub those hard to reach places, some with my tongue.” He winks.
“Sounds tempting, Casanova, but if you join me, I’ll never want to get out of the shower; and since I missed work at the diner today, I have to go.”
“Fine, go get your sexy ass in the shower then, but do it quickly before I change my mind and get in with you anyway.”
I giggle and leave, grabbing an outfit out of one of the two boxes my entire life is packed into on my way. As soon as I step into the hallway, I find a small, fluffy ball of white fur staring at me.
“Hey, Rosie,” I say as I scoop her up and start back into the guest room to hand her to Blake.
“Rosie was out. I didn’t know if you left the cage door open or if Alex let her out, but I didn’t want her to get stepped on.”
“I don’t have a cage for her. She’s just been roaming the house since I got her,” he says, his brows coming together as he takes the little bunny from me.
“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for her, then, so she doesn’t get hurt.”
“Or I could go out and get her a cage so she doesn’t get stepped on in the first place.” I nod, thinking that’s a much better idea than the fluffy little love getting stuck under furniture or one of us not seeing her when we round a corner and hurting her. I walk into the stark white bathroom with dark gray towels, thinking that Blake might follow but am left disappointed when he doesn’t.
Once I’m all showered and dressed, I throw my hair up into a wet bun and head downstairs. Blake thought ahead and made me a turkey sandwich to eat before I leave. His thoughtfulness softens my heart toward him even more.
“I’ll make something different for me and Alex, but I figured this was quick and easy for you to scarf down before you had to go.” I take a deep breath to keep the tears from showing—because who cries over a damn sandwich?—and connect my lips with his.
It was supposed to be a sweet and small kiss, but once my mouth meets his, my body knows I need more. I move closer to him, pulling at his shirt once again, and lick the tip of his lips. He immediately opens up and wraps his arms around me, one at the back of my head and the other pressing on the small of my back.
The small groan that escapes him spurs me on, and I run my hands under his shirt and my fingertips along those glorious abs I’ve been dying to touch since we met. This must inspire him, because his hands move south and find their way inside the waistband of my shorts to grab small handfuls of my ass.
Just as things start to get hot and heavy and oh-so-good, we hear someone behind us clearing her throat. I startle and break the kiss, whipping my head around to find Alex leaning against the island, her elbows on the counter and her chin resting on her palms. Her
scowl lets me know this isn’t going to be a pleasant talk, but the two of us haven’t had a pleasant talk since Alex was about ten.
“So why the hell can you make out with your boyfriend, but it’s a crime when you see me doing it?” she snarls.
Once Blake pulls his hands out of my shorts, I spin around and raise an eyebrow at Alex. I can’t wait to lay her out with this one. “Let’s see. One, I’m twenty-three, not fourteen. Two, I was only making out with my boyfriend, not having sex with him. And three, I’m twenty-three, not fourteen.” Her eyes narrow with each finger I lift to tick off my answers. When I’m finished, she scowls at me and heads back downstairs toward her new room fuming.
Blake’s strong hands wrap around my waist and draw me back into his body, and tingles erupt in my belly at the movement. His erection pressing into my lower back turns me on even more than I was before we were interrupted.
“Did you just tell your little sister that I was your boyfriend?” he mumbles close to my ear.
Oh shit, I had. I hope that he wasn’t upset with me doing that. “Uh, yeah, I did. I’m sorry if that isn’t where we are. It just came out.” My body loses a bit of tension when he gives me a soft squeeze around the waist and runs his nose down the column of my neck.
When he does things like that, I lose all track of what we were speaking about and can only focus on which part of his body is touching mine. When he speaks again, I have to force my brain to concentrate on what we were talking about to begin with.
“Don’t apologize, Harlow. I want to be your boyfriend, babe. Do you think I would move you and your little sister in and let you use my car if I didn’t think of you as my girlfriend?”
There go those tingles again, and they aren’t just in my belly this time.
Chapter 20
Blake
Harlow left for work a few hours ago, and I’m still riding on a fucking cloud from her finally establishing herself as my girlfriend. I’ve been trying to bring that up in conversation with her for weeks now but didn’t want to rush her or push her into something she wasn’t comfortable with.
I could imagine settling down with Harlow for the long haul, but I didn’t know how to ask her what she was feeling about our future, because with how much she works, Harlow can’t see herself settling down to have a cup of coffee.
I’m still smiling like a fucking lunatic at the newly committed relationship I’m in when Alex comes into the kitchen as I’m finishing up dinner.
“What are you making?” she asks softly, like she’s not sure she wants to talk to me.
“Spaghetti. I hope that’s okay, but I’m not super big on cooking meals for other people.”
She nods in agreement and sits down on one of the benches behind the island. “It’s weird to have someone to eat dinner with for a change.”
“When was the last time you and Harlow ate dinner together?”
She furrows her brows and peers down at the counter while she thinks, her bright red hair sweeping in front of her face with the motion; then brings her eyes back to mine. “I think when we were moving here from Detroit. We drove for three days because her car was a big piece of shit and would overheat if it ran too long, so we’d stop for dinner before we’d find a hotel for the night. Once we moved out here, she got the job at the vet at night and the diner during the day within hours of unpacking our stuff. She was working at the bar the second weekend we lived here, so fending for myself at night became my life.”
I feel bad for this girl for having to stay by herself at night but then wonder how much she knows about the situation her sister is dealing with. Would she still be such a little shit to Harlow if she understood all she was doing to keep them safe?
“Have you talked to Harlow about why she needs to work so much?” I ask, hoping I didn’t just bring up a subject she has no damn clue about.
Alex nods a few times before speaking. “Yeah, she said it was something about our dad but won’t tell me a whole lot about it. I’ve seen Dominick before and know to keep an eye out for him, but I don’t know exactly why he keeps coming around. She says it’s better if I don’t know and that I should just trust her and stay out of trouble.” She rolls her eyes after she tells me the last part, and I am instantly annoyed by her attitude.
After I get our plates dished up, I sit at the island next to her. “She’s right, you know. It’s better if you just trust her to deal with what’s going on.”
Her fork drops down onto her plate, and she huffs as she spins her head toward me. “So she can tell you what’s going on, but she can’t fucking tell me,” she scoffs. “That’s nice.”
I have to remind myself that she’s just a teenager and that snapping at my girlfriend’s little sister won’t end in my favor; so, after a deep breath and counting to ten, I’m calm enough to respond.
“First off, let me tell you that it’s not attractive when little girls cuss constantly. I know you think it makes you cool, but it just makes you appear trashy. Cool it with the swear words, Tiny.” She narrows her eyes at me, and I can almost see the steam pouring out of her ears, but she keeps silent while she listens to me.
“Second, Harlow told me what happened because she felt like I should know what she’s up against while you two live under my roof. It’s a lot more than a teenager like you should ever have to live with. Your sister is dealing with it as best as she can without dragging you down, too. So quit questioning her actions, and stop making things harder for her just because you want the attention.”
“I don’t want her attention.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right. Of course you want her attention, or you wouldn’t be having parties at all hours of the night or having sex at such a young age or even dressing the way you do,” I tell her, eyeing her barely there outfit as I do.
Alex looks down at her plate. Huh. It appears that I won my first fight with a teenage girl. God knows I never did when I was a teenager.
“Who the hell—I mean heck—are you, anyway? How did you and my sister meet?”
“We got into a car accident. I hit her with my Hummer.”
“Oh, so you’re the reason I had to get a ride to school with Asshole Amber for almost two weeks?”
I scrunch my brows, confused as to who Asshole Amber is, but give her a small smile. “Uh, yeah, I guess so?” It sounds more like a question than an answer.
After a few minutes of silence, I figure I should try to get to know her a bit better without bringing hostility into our conversation. I clear my throat and take a crack at a neutral topic.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be a pastry chef. I want to go to culinary school somewhere exotic and then own my own bakery. Harlow and my grandma used to teach me how to make different treats, and I always had so much fun when we’d bake, but since grandma died and dad was gone, Harlow has been too busy to bake with me.”
That’s not something I pictured coming from her mouth. I’ll avoid the topic of her dad being ‘gone’ and keep this conversation light. “So you like to bake?” She just nods and starts eating again.
“Well, you can always make things here. I’d never turn down good stuff.”
She shoots me a grin. “Really? You’d be okay with me using your kitchen to bake things?”
“Hell yeah,” I tell her. “Unless you’re a terrible cook and you burn down the house.”
She laughs quietly and shakes her head.
“Then, yeah. We can pick up whatever you need at the grocery store so you can bake. If we have too many sugary things here at the house, I’ll just take them to the gym and give them to the guys. It’ll be fun to watch them struggle to make weight after eating a plate full of cookies.” Alex gives me a full laugh and offers to clean up dinner.
We talk for a few more minutes about what I do for a living and where my gym is, without snotty attitude or snarky comments full of swear words, and I find that Alex isn’t too bad to be around. She acts like she deserves the
world, but I think that’s normal for a teenager these days. Just as I stand to leave, Alex calls my name. “I’m glad that Harlow has someone like you. I fu—I mean screwed up big time tonight, and you took us both in like it was no big deal.”
I shrug and tell her the truth. “It wasn’t a big deal. I’m glad you guys are here with me.”
She nods and glances down at the sink. “I’m just glad she has someone who loves her as much as you do. As much as she frustrates me, she deserves something good like that in her life.”
I nod and leave the kitchen, the word love echoing in my head. Do I love Harlow? I’m not sure if how I feel right now is full on love, but I could sometime soon.
Then I have a flash of Harlow gliding toward me in a beautiful white dress, smiling at me like I’m her world; next, her stomach round with our baby, her skin glowing as we set up a crib somewhere in the house; finally, a vision of a little boy running around in the backyard, me chasing him while Harlow giggles on the porch at the two of us. A huge smile breaks across my face.
It’s then that the feeling of belonging to Harlow takes place in my soul. I may have belonged to her my entire life and not known it until just now. I didn’t realize I was waiting for her until she came into my world, and now that she’s here, I can’t picture her ever leaving.
Chapter 21
Harlow
It was a long-ass night at the club, and I’m glad it’s over. Sunday’s are always a bit slower than a Saturday night, but I still made enough to cover another week’s payment to Mr. E., so that’s a check in the win column for me. It’s nice to have a little money saved up just in case something happens and I don’t make enough to cover the payment one week.
I’m driving back to Blake’s house at three in the morning, thankful that the work night is over and I don’t have to smell like strong flowery perfume and rum until next weekend.