Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Baby,” I called before she could flounce out of the room. “Think you’re forgettin’ somethin’.”
“Well, come on then,” she said, widening her eyes.
“You’ve got no way to get to my house,” I reminded her.
“I’ll walk,” she replied stubbornly.
“We can take you,” Frankie announced, rising from the floor. “I’ll check with Gray, but I’m sure it’s fine. Is he outside?”
“Garage,” I replied.
“See,” Harper said. “Problem solved.”
She disappeared down the hallway, and I looked back at her mom apologetically.
“Keep an eye on her,” Lily said with a strained smile.
A few minutes later, I was helping Harper into the back seat of Gray’s truck.
“Thanks for drivin’ her,” I said, looking over the seat at him. “I didn’t want her on the back of my bike tonight.”
“I would’ve been fine,” Harper griped.
“No problem,” Gray said. “I’ll follow you to your new place.”
“I know where it is,” Frankie reminded him.
“Seat belt,” I ordered Harper.
“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled.
“I’ll see ya at the apartment.”
I strode back to where I’d parked my bike. The guys were all still standing around and looked up as I approached.
“Keep your eyes open,” Dragon ordered.
“Always do,” I confirmed.
“Check in, yeah?” Leo said, running a hand over the back of his neck. “I’m trustin’ you.”
“I know,” I replied. His anxiety was written all over his face. He didn’t want Harper to go anywhere, but he was trusting that I’d look after her.
If I hadn’t been so on edge wondering what the fuck would happen next, I would’ve felt proud. Instead, dread pooled in my gut. The area around my apartment building was well lit, and my locks weren’t shit, but I still felt twitchy about taking Harper back there. While we were at Leo’s, we were surrounded by people. Once we were at my place, I was responsible for keeping her safe.
I knew I could do it. I wasn’t some wet-behind-the-ears kid, and I’d been doing a lot scarier shit for the past ten years—but the stakes were different now. If I fucked up, I knew my life would be over—and that didn’t have anything to do with who Harper’s family was.
The ride back to my place was uneventful, but Gray still waited until I’d ushered Harper into the house before he pulled away.
“So,” she said as she paused next to the couch. “Tonight didn’t exactly go as planned.”
“You shoulda gone to the hospital,” I chastised. “Still no dizziness?”
“What can I say to convince you that I’m fine?” she asked, sliding her arms around my waist. “My head hurts, and I’m shaken up, but I promise I feel okay otherwise. I wanted to spend tonight with you like we planned. You had a fucked-up day and—”
“Are you shittin’ me?” I asked incredulously. “You didn’t go to the hospital because I had a bad day?”
“Well, no,” she hedged. “I didn’t go because I fucking hate hospitals, and Aunt Molly could do the same things they would’ve done. But, yeah, I wanted to stay with you tonight because you had a bad day.”
I hadn’t even thought about Bernice and the house and all the other shit since the moment I’d seen Leo’s truck sideways next to the road.
“Baby, you could’ve stayed home with your parents. I’m fine.”
“I’d like to point out that I’ve told you that I was fine like ten times and you didn’t believe it,” she said dryly. “I wanted to stay with you tonight, okay? You had a bad day, I had a bad day, it was a bad day all around.”
“You wanna go crawl into bed?” I asked, brushing her hair away from her face. There were still crunchy areas where the blood hadn’t been cleaned out.
“Can I shower first?” she asked. “I would’ve at my parents’ house, but I was worried you’d take off.”
I scoffed. “I wouldn’t have left.”
Taking her hand, I led her upstairs to the bathroom. As soon as I’d gotten her situated with a towel and the shower was running, I left her to it and jogged back downstairs. I checked both of the locks twice and made sure that the windows were closed and locked, dowels pressed firmly in the bases. Then I perched glasses on the windowsills so if someone attempted to move the blinds, they’d crash to the floor.
When I was done, I headed back upstairs to find Harper sitting on the end of my bed, her hair wrapped in a towel.
“I was full of ambition,” she said tiredly. “But I honestly don’t know if I’m down for sex tonight. My head is killing me.”
Sex hadn’t even been on my radar.
“You wanna just get in bed?” I asked, sliding my fingers under the towel as I pressed my thumbs to her temples and rubbed them softly. “Sleep would probably help.”
“Not yet.” She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh. “Can we watch the last movie?”