Stealing Harper (4 page)

“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

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.