“Yeah, all right.” He nodded, then smirked. “I bet you don’t last a month until you’re chasin’ her again.”

“Then I’ll have to make sure I’m not around her for over a month.”

“That’s what I thought. Gotta get back to my next guy, see you out there.”

Chapter Eight

I PULLED INTO the empty driveway of my parents’ house and was glad everyone was out of town for the weekend. I was doing work on Brian’s leg in a couple days, and the sketchpad that had the drawing on it was here, but I’d been avoiding seeing my family and Harper since I walked away from her in the parlor a week ago.

I heard the TV seconds before I saw Harper lying on the couch. Her eyes went wide, and I froze. I was gonna kill Brad; he’d texted me almost an hour ago saying they all had left for LA, and Harper was with them.

“I thought you were going to LA?”

“No, I told Bree I was sick.”

“Are you?” I took a step toward her but forced myself to stop and look over her from where I was. She looked fine, better than fine, actually.

“I’m fine, I just wanted to be alone.”

I snorted. “Well, I’ll be gone in a few minutes. I just need to grab a few things. How’s the uh—how’s the tattoo?”

“Beautiful. Can we talk about that night?”

Uh. No. I turned and headed for the stairs, “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes there is; you completely shut down, and you’ve been avoiding me ever since!”

I forced myself to keep walking even though I knew she was following me. “I’m not avoiding you; I just have nothing to say.”

“Why are you treating me like this? What did I do?”

Dated my best friend, for starters. “Nothing!”

“So this is what you do then? You make girls feel like they’re special for a few days, then treat them like they’re nothing?”

Oh, hell no. I turned, and she had to stop quickly so she wouldn’t run into me, “You’re really gonna put this on me? One minute you’re kissing me, the next you’re talking to your boyfriend and telling him you love him!”

“What did you want me to do? Not answer it?”

Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted you to do. She was looking at me like I’d lost it, and I realized there was no way for her to see my side since, clearly, I meant next to nothing to her, “It doesn’t even matter, Harper, so drop it.”

“It does to me! I’m so tired of this roller coaster with you. I never know which Chase I’m going to meet up with that day. Is it going to be the cold Chase or the funny and caring Chase? Will it be the one who’s with four girls in one night, or the one that tells me how beautiful I am, does amazingly sweet things for me, and notices stuff about me that no one else does?”

You. Are. Shitting me. She thinks I’m the bipolar one? And does she still not see how I’ve changed everything for her?

“You’re all over the place, I don’t know how to act around you, I don’t know what you want!”

“I want you! All I’ve ever wanted is you.”

“Then why are you trying to hurt me again?”

“Because it’s easier that way,” I answered honestly, “You’re with Brandon. Do you know what it’s like watching you with him? Wanting you so bad, but knowing he’s who you should be with?”

“But what if I want you?”

No, no. No more games. “Harper, don’t.”

“I’m so in love with Brandon, but I can’t help what I feel for you, and I know you know what I’m talking about. Whatever this is between us . . . it’s been there since we met. It’s like I can’t get enough of you, but all you do is push me away. It’s all you’ve ever done!”

“Because I’m not what you need, Harper!”

“Then why did you kiss me, Chase? You knew it would change everything, and it did. So tell me, why did you do it?”

Such a frustrating girl! Does she really want to do this now? After every back-and-forth game we’ve played over the last four and a half months? I closed the small distance between us as I spoke—half of me yelling to just leave, the other half wanting nothing more than to take her in my arms. “I needed to. You’re all I can think about, and it drives me crazy! I would have given anything for that kiss, and I knew I wouldn’t get that chance again, so I had to. I had to know if you felt something, too.”

She threw out her arms and let out an exasperated huff. “Was that not obvious? Is it not obvious that I’m in love with you?”

I didn’t waste time crushing my mouth to hers. I’d waited so long to hear those words come from her. She moaned, and her body melted into mine, her legs going weak. I grabbed behind her thighs and wrapped her legs around my waist as I pushed her against the wall in an attempt to get our bodies closer together. The kiss deepened, and I begged her to say it again.

“Chase,” she whispered against my lips before grabbing my face to look into my eyes, “I love you.”

My heart was pounding against my chest. Months of wondering and waiting, and it was finally out there. She pressed her lips firmly to mine, and I growled against her mouth, “God, Harper I love you, too, so much.”

I pushed away from the wall, and keeping her legs around my waist, walked us into my room and lowered us onto my bed. Her hands left my hair and started pulling at my shirt. A soft sound of frustration sounded from the back of her throat, and I pulled away from her long enough to grab the back of the collar to pull my shirt off and throw it to the ground. Harper sat up slightly, and our mouths slammed together before I pressed her against the mattress again. Her hands ran over my bare chest and stomach, and all I could think about was everything I’d wanted to do to her while I’d been giving her the tattoo. Leaning back long enough to give me room to take her shirt off, I threw it to the floor as well and kissed her soft lips once more before making a line of kisses down to the orange lilies wrapping around her hip.