Текст книги "Stealing Harper"

Автор книги: Molly McAdams

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Chapter Two

I VAGUELY REGISTERED a subtle vanilla scent and a small, warm body curled up in mine. That was seconds before I felt it shoot out from under my arms, and I swear I stopped breathing. Did I forget to lock my door? Did I get that wasted last night that I let a girl in here?

“Son of a bitch, what the fuck are you—” Oh good God. Harper. Was she this beautiful last night? “Jesus, Princess! You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I had a girl in here.” I fell back onto my pillow and ran my hands over my face. I wish I had remembered I’d had her in here; I would’ve made sure she stayed in my arms.

“Chase?”

“Hmm?”

“Sorry you didn’t seem to notice, but I am a girl.”

Thank God for that, or I’d have had to question my manhood. “I noticed last night, trust me.” She just kept staring at me with those wide eyes, clearly confused. Damn she was cute. “I meant, I thought I let a girl stay the night with me.”

“Uh . . . ?”

“Someone I’d been with, Princess. I thought I banged a girl and let her stay here.”

“Oh.” Her face twisted, and a hint of that disgust from last night was there again.

“Sorry. Is that too much for your PG ears?”

“No, I just don’t understand why that would be a bad thing.”

Of course you don’t because you’re innocent . . . and perfect. I sighed; she was perfect. Which meant I didn’t have a chance in hell with her. Princesses need a Prince Charming, not a nightmare of a guy. “Girls I screw around with aren’t allowed to come in my room, let alone stay the night. This is the only place that is mine, and I’m not about to share it with them.”

“So you sleep with women, then make them leave?”

Good girl, keep looking at me like you can’t stand to be near me.You need to run far away, so I can’t catch you.Because if I get you, I’m keeping you, and you deserve so much better. “No, I screw women . . . and then make them leave.”

She recoiled and shook her head at me as she turned toward the door. “You’re a pig.”

I laughed softly. Yeah . . . and for the first time in my life, hearing that come from a girl actually bothered me.

As soon as she shut the door, my smirk disappeared, and I continued to stare at where she’d just been. Whatever the fuck this is, it isn’t normal. I didn’t fall for girls like this . . . ever. Especially after only one innocent look and a bitchy comment. So why was she doing this to me? Why was I wanting to pull her close but having the ridiculous urge to push her as far from me as possible. And it wasn’t for me—not at all—I wanted to keep her away from me for her. God, why am I still thinking about her at all?

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, hating that I loved hearing her voice as I crossed the hall. She’s just a girl, man, just a girl. And she’s not for you. I ground my teeth as I walked back into my room, resolving that I needed to continue disgusting her—which obviously I was already a pro at—and she’d run away screaming soon enough. I threw the door open roughly, and, to be honest, I’m not sure if I held back my groan or not. She was bent over in a pair of neon blue underwear, and I decided right then that was my new favorite color. Harper jerked up quickly, pulling the little skirt with her. Didn’t help. I’d already seen her without it. But my lips still fell into a slight frown.

“It’s really a shame you don’t let anyone see that sexy little body.” And by anyone, I meant me . . . again.

By the time she turned, her face was so red it looked like she’d just run a marathon. God this girl blushed a lot . . . but I freakin’ loved it. Her already wide eyes got even wider, just like they had when Bree had said spilled about her virginity. Shit, I’d embarrassed her—my stomach clenched, but I shook it off, knowing I had to keep going.

“Calm down, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. Not saying I wouldn’t want to see yours.”

Her face was still red, but her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Vicious Princess was still cute. “Bite me.”

“Is that an invitation?” Please God, let it be one.

“Not even close.” She was headed for the door and without my even thinking about it, my arm shot out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her into me.

Her body stiffened, and I couldn’t help but lean my head toward hers, skimming my nose along her jaw and subtly breathing in her sweet scent. “One of these days, Princess, I promise you.” Did she not see what she was doing to me? My body was practically humming, having her pressed up against me, and my breathing got rougher. I silently pleaded with her to run as I tightened my arm on her waist. Mine.

“I would never be desperate enough to want you.”

I might have believed that if her voice hadn’t gone all breathy on me, my lips stretched into a grin—oh yeah . . . she’ll be mine. “We’ll see.”

“ARE BREE AND Princess coming tonight?”

My hands curled into fists for the freaking fifth time today as I turned to look at Zach. “Probably, and stop calling her that.”

“Who’s Princess?”

The guys in the kitchen all broke out into cheers as I turned back around, a wide smile crossing both Brandon’s face and mine. “Glad you’re finally here, bro!”

“Tell me about it; that’s a long fucking drive.” He dropped a bag on the ground and stepped forward to man-hug Derek and me and shake the rest of the guys’ hands. I made sure he remembered Zach and Drew; just because they knew Brandon from his fights didn’t mean he knew them.

“I bet. All your stuff in your Jeep?”

He nodded. “It can wait. I just want to relax for a bit. So what’s going on? Obviously, I’m the last one here.”

“Missed a hell of a party last week, man,” Derek said as he took a seat on the island. “But there’s another one tonight.”

Brandon yawned and rubbed his hands down his face. “Is that what you were talking about when I came in? With Bree and Princess? Bree’s your sister, right?” He looked at me, and I nodded, “Then who is Princess?”

“Good God, Brandon, you have got to see this chick,” Zach began, and my hands instantly went back into fists.

“She hot?” Brandon asked

A mix of “Hell yeah,” “You have no idea,” and “Wait ’til you see her” came from the kitchen. I clenched my jaw.

When I didn’t say anything, Brandon looked at me curiously. “Is she not?”

I shrugged. “She’s just another girl.”

“Chase is just pissy because she didn’t put out for him,” Drew said.

Brandon raised an eyebrow at me and burst out laughing, “That had to be a first.”

“You’re all acting like I even tried to hit that.”

“Chase—man—you had her in your bed!” Brad said between laughs. “Another freakin’ first! You can’t act like you didn’t try to bang her.”

“Exactly, I had her in my bed, which shows you I didn’t want to touch her. If I want a girl, I’ll take her anywhere else but there.”

“Shit, a girl that didn’t fall all over herself to get to Chase, and she’s hot?” Brandon asked, and barked out a short laugh. “I’ve got to see this! Will she be here tonight? You said her name’s Princess?”

“Chase calls her Princess.”

Damn right, Zach. Remember that.

Brandon looked even more confused, “Well, what’s her name?”

All the guys shrugged. “Princess.”

“Well, it’s not looking good for you, brother. You had her in your bed, you didn’t sleep with her, and you gave her a nickname?”

“Because she was acting like an entitled prissy bitch, it fit.”

Everyone, including Brandon, started laughing. As soon as he could catch his breath, he shook his head sadly at me. “Never thought I’d see the day Chase Grayson was brought to his knees by a girl.”

“Whatever.” I sighed and walked outside to start moving his stuff in.

A girl bring me to my knees? Hell. No. Never, and I’d prove it. Whether my gray-eyed princess – no . . . not mine. I didn’t want her, I must have just been losing my mind last weekend—whether Harper was here tonight or not, I’d prove to her and myself that she didn’t have any type of hold on me.

“MA—DAD? I’M HERE.” I breathed in the heavy scent of bacon, and my stomach growled. God, I loved Sundays. Walking into the kitchen, I kissed Mom on the cheek and snatched a few pieces from the growing pile on the plate near Dad and clapped him on the back as I went to sit on the counter.

“Hi, honey!”

I nodded and spoke around the food. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Oh, you know, just chilling.”

“Mom”—I laughed—“you just gotta stop trying.”

“One of these times I’ll get it, and you’ll be so impressed, I’ll be cool enough to hang out with you.”

I snorted. “I’m here, aren’t I? Bree here?” Speaking of my sister . . . would she bring the princess?

“Not yet, she was doing something with her roommate first, then she was coming over.”

Nope. Damn it. “Have you met her yet?”

“Harper? Oh, she’s a doll; she slept over last weekend! You’d like her, Chase,” Mom said with a weird smile. “She’s really cute.”

Yeah she is.

Mom gasped. “So you’ve met her!”

Shit, had I said that out loud?

“Tell me what you think!”

“She’s cute.” I shrugged. “But I’ve only seen her once; they didn’t come to the party on Friday.”

“That’s it? She’s cute? I may or may not have heard she slept in your room with you the night of the first party.”

“Robert! How did you know this and I didn’t! You’re supposed to tell me everything, especially something like that.”

Dad laughed and pulled some more bacon off the skillet, “I said may or may not have.”

“Oh, you are so in the guest room tonight, mister!”

My brows were pulled together listening to them, and how did Dad hear about that?

“Well, are you going to explain yourself, Chase? Or am I going to make sure you don’t get any more bacon? Because that is a sweet girl, and if you hurt her—”

No more bacon? That’s just not right. “It wasn’t like that, Mom, I was just making sure she was safe.”

Mom’s brows shot up under her bangs, and her lips pursed.

“Bree may have told all the guys at my place that she’s basically never done anything with a guy, and I mean anything. Everyone started making fun of her, and she looked so damn embarrassed. And with those guys—hell, maybe even Brad—I know they would try to change that, and I wasn’t about to let anyone touch her; so that was my way of keeping her safe.”

“You kept the virgin safe . . . by putting her in your bed with you,” Dad deadpanned, then nodded. “Actually, that makes sense.”

“No it does not! Chase—”

“Mom, I swear I didn’t touch her!” Well not entirely true, and it’s not like I didn’t want to do a lot more touching than I did. “I just needed to make sure no one else got their hands on her either. Jesus, it’s not like she would have let me even if I tried.” I snorted and shook my head once, “First, she got mad that I got in bed with her, so she got on the floor—”

“You did not make her sleep on the floor!”

“Ma, really? No. I picked her ass right back up and dropped her on the bed.” Dad laughed, and Mom swatted him on the back. “Then get this, cutest damn thing I’ve ever heard, she more or less tells me that if I touch her, she is going to chop my dick off.”

Dad winced; Mom crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Good girl.”

I laughed. “Cracked me up. She can be feisty as shit, but God she’s sweet. She just—she’s . . . I don’t know.” Her wide gray eyes were flashing through my mind, and I hoped my sister would bring her. I exhaled deeply and blinked away the images, finally noticing that Mom and Dad had both turned toward me. My dad was grinning mischievously, and Mom was tearing up. Fucking hell . . . can’t I go more than a few minutes without talking about her like an idiot? “What?”

Mom bounced up and down on her toes. “Oh, honey!”

I shook my head and hopped off the counter to grab more bacon. “She’s just a girl, Mom.”

Chapter Three

THERE SHE IS, my gray-eyed princess. I watched her walk into the cafeteria, and stopped sucking on Natalie’s neck. “Gotta go, see you.”

“Bye, handsome.”

I jogged over to the cafeteria doors and tried to follow at a safe distance from her. I could only see her back, but that was more than enough. She was wearing these tiny black shorts that perfectly hugged her butt and gave me the best view of her legs. Those shorts may not pass her PG rating, but I certainly approved. Before seeing her bent over in my room, and like she was just then, I would have sworn short girls didn’t have killer legs. God, I was so wrong.

I was so focused on her and the way my heart had gone into overdrive since she first walked into my line of sight that I ran into the corner of a wall and a scared-looking freshman coed. I steadied the girl, mentioned what I’m sure was some form of an apology, and looked around quickly, only to find my princess gone. Taking in a deep breath, I popped my neck on both sides and grabbed a bowl of pasta. I needed to calm down. She was driving me crazy, and she hadn’t even looked at me yet.

Get a freakin’ grip, she’s just a girl, a girl that you don’t even want—a girl who pisses you off more than anything. I heard Zach’s and Drew’s loud voices, and my head snapped up. A small smile crossed my face as I watched her sit down next to Bree. I couldn’t even be annoyed with them for calling her Princess again; she’d been hiding from me for almost two weeks, and now here she was, in all her snarky and sweet glory.

Her shoulders hunched slightly, and I wondered if the guys were embarrassing her again, but I didn’t give myself time to think about it too long. I set my bowl down next to her salad and planted my hands on either side of her plate. I leaned close, letting my chest press against her back, and I almost groaned when I smelled her soft, vanilla scent again. Not just a girl. Not even close.

“Have you been hiding from me, PG?” I whispered in her ear, and she shivered against me, her arms instantly covered in goose bumps. I had to force out a soft laugh, so she wouldn’t hear my next groan.

“Why?” Her voice was breathy, and I swear my jeans got tighter. “You miss me?”

God, yes. “Of course. You’re my favorite, remember?” As I let my nose run across her neck and breathed her in more, a soft sound of pleasure sounded in her throat, and I couldn’t help but smile; but that quickly turned into a frown when she leaned away from me.

“Sad to say you’re not mine.”

Little liar. “You sure about that?” I tapped on her arm, which was still covered in goose bumps, and her body stiffened.

“Chase! Stop bugging her and go sit down.”

I almost growled at my sister. Could she not see I was busy driving my princess crazy? Straightening up, I grabbed my pasta and walked down a few seats to sit across from Brandon. I slapped his hand as I sat, and my eyes narrowed when I realized his kept drifting over to Princess. Oh, hell no. Derek and Brad had girlfriends, so while I would still keep her from them, I knew I really didn’t have to worry about them. And, let’s face it, no one had to worry about Drew; he made sure no girl would ever want him. Zach—eh, that was up for debate, but Brandon? He had more girls throwing themselves at him than I did, and with his personality . . . there’s no way in hell I could let Harper near him. He smirked, and I had to force myself not to look over at what I’m almost positive would be Princess staring back at him. My entire body tensed, and I was working my jaw when he looked back over to me.

“Stay away, brother—I’m not joking.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “So she has brought you to your knees.” His eyes darted back to her, and I watched them darken; my hands curled into fists under the table.

I took a calming breath and snorted. “Hardly. She’s my little sister’s roommate, I need to make sure they’re both safe.”

“And you’re saying I wouldn’t do that?” His smile widened, and we both knew he had me on that one. Brandon might have girls falling all over themselves, but he doesn’t do anything about it. He’s a relationship kind of guy, the kind of guy Harper needs. But even Brandon isn’t good enough for her. I love the guy, he’s like a brother to me and vice versa, but no one would ever be good enough for Harper.

“Fuck you.”

Brandon laughed loudly and leaned back to stretch his arms before resting his forearms on the table again and turning his head to look to my left. I wanted to grab Princess and run her out of the cafeteria and away from him. This was a disaster for me waiting to happen. Swear to God, I thought, if he smirked and flashed that dimple at her one more time, I was going to punch it off his face. I could hear her talking to Bree, but I couldn’t look at her, I couldn’t stop watching as Brandon tried and failed to keep his eyes off her.

“So, Princess”—Drew’s voice was able to interrupt my glaring and Brandon’s staring—“how come we haven’t seen you lately? It’s been like two weeks, and I feel so unloved.”

“Oh I’m sorry. Did your girlfriend deflate already?”

Even I couldn’t help but laugh at that. God, she was cute. And yeah, I definitely didn’t need to worry about Drew. I looked back at Brandon, staring at her, and kicked his leg under the table. He jumped slightly and turned to glare at me. “Tell me right now, do you have something with her? Yes or no.”

Yes I do, she’s mine. “I told you, Harper’s just another girl. She means nothing to me.” I stabbed my fork into my pasta and looked up in time to see Brandon’s eyes cloud over as he mouthed her name and looked at her again.

His eyes shot back to mine, and he leaned closer. “Then Harper’s fair game, bro. You know I won’t hurt her.”

One of our friends, David, started asking him something from next to me, but I couldn’t focus on him. All I could think about is if Brandon wanted her, I had no doubt he would have her. And I couldn’t let that happen. Without realizing why, I turned to look at her and found her confused eyes looking at me. For once, she wasn’t looking at me like I disgusted her, and having her look at me at all had my entire body relaxing for the first time since I sat down. I would do anything to keep that girl safe, and I had no idea why, but deep down I still knew the first part of keeping her safe was keeping her from looking at me like she was at that moment. I nodded at her and finally started eating.

Zach asked the girls if they were coming to the party that night, and I couldn’t help but laugh when Princess started grumbling about it and looking terrified. Looks like I’d have to keep her safe again, and this time I wasn’t letting her jump out of my arms first thing in the morning. I may need to keep her from wanting me, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy her while I did it.

“Looking forward to sharing my bed with you again, PG.”

Brandon abruptly stopped talking to David and narrowed his eyes at me. I just raised an eyebrow at him and waited to see what he’d do.

“Thanks, but I’d rather share a bed with Drew’s blow-up doll.”

Ooo, my snarky and sweet-as-sin girl. You just had to go and remind me why I want you so bad. I turned to look at her and silently cursed her for driving me fucking crazy. I never thought about a girl this much anyway, but to make me feel like I’m going insane because I can’t make up my mind with how much I wanted her and how bad I want to keep her safe and from me was literally making me feel like I was crazy. How could one little girl cause this much turmoil?

Kristen sat down on my lap and her lips were instantly on my neck and jaw. My fingers dug into her hips, but I couldn’t force my eyes from Harper. Her narrowed eyes had widened as soon as Kristen sat down, and I watched as pain flashed across her face for a split second. Shit, I didn’t want to see that; I didn’t want to know this bothered her in any way other than disgusting her. There went my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality again. Half of me wanted to push Kristen off and grab Harper, pulling her into my arms instead; the other was telling me to keep going, to make her think she meant nothing to me.

“I’d be happy to share that bed with you, Chase,” Kristen said like a freaking toddler seconds before her mouth was on mine.

My princess looked like someone had hit her, and I watched as she tore her eyes from mine and looked across from me. I shut my eyes, so I wouldn’t have to watch her look to Brandon after I’d just crushed her. He was right, he wouldn’t hurt her. I didn’t want him to have her, but he would never do what I was doing to her at that moment.

My fingers flexed against Kristen’s hips when I heard Harper’s soft voice; I had done that, taken the sass from her and brought her right back to the shy, unsure Harper. “Um, I’ll uh—see you all tonight then, I guess. Bye, everyone.”

“Harper,” Brandon called, and it felt like someone had just punched me in the chest. I needed this to happen, them meeting, but God I didn’t want it to.

I held Kristen’s head away and turned in time to see Harper’s eyes grow wide and her cheeks get slightly pink as she watched Brandon walk up to her. He held out his hand to her and said something, but they were already too far away for me to hear them. She smiled brightly at him, and again it felt like someone was punching me. I don’t think I’d ever really seen her smile until just then. And it wasn’t even directed at me. Brandon couldn’t keep his eyes off her as they walked to the doors and outside. I really couldn’t let this happen, I decided.

“Up . . . get up, Kristen. Up.” I more or less pushed her off me and took the few steps toward Bree, who was talking to Zach about that night’s party. “You girls planning on staying all weekend or coming and going for the parties.”

She looked up at me like I was dumb. “Uh, staying. And we get your room.”

“Always. Go pack for the weekend, we’re leaving within half an hour, I’ll go get Princess.”

“Don’t be mean to her, Chase!”

I shook my head as I quickly walked toward the door. I couldn’t decide how I was going to be toward her yet. I just needed her away from Brandon. As soon as I was out the door, I saw them, and I couldn’t stop the growl that climbed out of my chest. They were standing close and just staring at each other. Stopping this. Now.

Grabbing her arm, I didn’t stop walking, I just took her with me, “Come on PG, let’s go.”

“Chase! Stop!” She pulled her arm free and looked up at me like she wanted to go off on me. Such a fierce little princess. “What is your problem?”

“I’m taking you and Bree to the house, and you need to pack for the weekend, so let’s go.”

Harper dodged my hand when I went to grab her again and looked at me, clearly confused, “The weekend, what?”

“You’re staying with me; go pack.”

“Fine, hold on.”

“Harper.”

“Go away, Chase, I’ll meet you in the room in a minute. Go find Bree.”

Yeah, not a chance. I stepped up right behind her and kept my gaze on Brandon. He was looking at her like she was the damn world, and I wanted to put a football field between them.

“Sorry, apparently I have to go. I’ll see you tonight?”

Brandon smiled, and his hand trailed down her arm; I almost yanked her away from him and into me. “See you then.” I met his glare when his eyes flashed up to mine. I just raised an eyebrow, and he nodded before turning away.

Princess kept up her fierce-kitten act the entire way back to the dorm room she shared with Bree, who was already packing, and even as she packed, didn’t let up as she approached me where I was standing in the doorway.

She held another fake smile on her face, the only ones I seemed to get, and held up her duffel bag as she spoke in a sugar-sweet voice, “Why don’t you be a dear and carry this for me.”

My lips twitched, God did she not realize how damn cute she was? She tried to get past me, and I curled my arm around her waist, pulling her close to whisper in her ear, “Anything for you, sweetheart.”

Her body swayed toward mine, and I heard her breath catch as her hands relaxed against my chest. My heart started pounding, and I didn’t doubt she could feel it, if not hear it. Her large eyes looked up into mine, and suddenly they hardened at the same time she pushed against my chest until I let go. “God, you piss me off.”

“Whoa, whoa. Did you just say ‘piss’? I’m not sure if that’s PG approved.”

She gave her best glare and stormed down the hallway and toward the parking lot. By the time Bree and I got out there, she was sitting on the curb texting someone on her phone, but her seriously-pissed-off look hadn’t left her face yet. Oh well, I like her like this.

Once we were back at my place, she refused to look at or talk to me even though we were the only two in the living room, and she finally gave up by flopping onto one of the couches. I watched her bare legs sway back and forth as she watched—the news? Who the hell watches the news? Especially an eighteen-year-old girl! I shook my head and smiled to myself as my eyes found her legs again. Before I could stop myself, I was crossing the room, picking up her feet, and sitting on the couch. I laid her legs back onto my lap and had to force my hands not to run up and down them. Princess had stiffened momentarily, but she didn’t move her legs, and her body slowly relaxed back into the couch. I had to bite down on my cheeks, so I wouldn’t smile.

I looked slowly up her body and over to her red cheeks, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. I zeroed in on one of the new piercings I’d been catching a glimpse of all afternoon and suddenly wished I hadn’t put her legs in my lap. I’d have to thank Bree for her hand in that Monroe piercing, but I couldn’t see this girl letting someone talk her into something like this. “So I see my sister is already influencing you poorly.”

“Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?”

“This.” I touched just above her lip and had to bite back another freakin’ groan when she shivered against me.

“What, you don’t like it?”

“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.”