Stealing Harper

“You were like a brother to me.” Before I could respond, he turned to glare at me again. “But I’m sure you can understand why I’m saying we’re done.”

Trying to swallow past the lump in my throat, I nodded and took a step back when he turned his Jeep on.

“Chase.” He cleared his throat and shook his head once. “That girl means everything to me. Which means her baby does, too. I will never do to you what you did to Harper and me. But know this. If you do not take care of them, and cherish them . . . I will not hesitate again to beat the living shit out of you. You get me?”

“I got you. I love them, I’ll always take care of them.”

With a hard nod, he threw his Jeep into drive and took off.

Chapter Twelve

“YOU GOT EVERYTHING ready for today?” Brad asked as he jumped up onto the counter and brought Sarah between his legs.

“Pretty sure.” I took the last bite of my apple and threw the core into the trash. “Called the dealership, called the B&B . . . everything should be good to go.”

“Harper’s go

I gri

“When?” Her eyes brightened, and she bounced up on her toes a few times.

“You’ll see.” I shrugged and caught the bottle of water she threw at me. “I’m not telling anyone, it’s a surprise.”

“Whatever. So you’re going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl today?”

“Guess so, she’s due October 4, so she’s sixteen weeks today, and her doctor said we should be able to . . . but I already know—” I broke off, and the massive grin I’d been sporting fell as Brandon walked into the kitchen.

“It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on,” he said without looking at anyone as he grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and two bottles of water. “You don’t have to stop talking because of me.”

Brad’s eyes bounced back and forth between the two of us, and Sarah was covering her mouth while she slowly shook her head, her eyes full of pity as she watched Brandon.

After he’d grabbed a couple of protein bars and put everything in his bag, he finally looked back at us, his gaze resting on me. “Or maybe you do.” Without another word, he left the kitchen, and Brad hung his head.

I pushed away from the counter and followed after him. “Brother—”

“I thought we’d already decided we weren’t that, either.”

Grabbing his shoulder, I stopped him before he could reach the door. “Look, I’m sorry! I’m sorry I did this to you.”

He turned to look at me, his brow raised high. “You’re sorry. So, what . . . we go back to being cool again?”

“I don’t know, man. But we can’t do this.”

“And why can’t we? You couldn’t stand to let me have one normal day with her. Have I done anything to you since she and I broke up?” He paused, but I didn’t respond. “No. I haven’t. You dealt with it by being an ass, so let me deal with this my way. And my way doesn’t include acting like you didn’t steal my girl from me.”

“I didn’t steal Harper!”

He opened the door and took a step outside, his shaking hand gripping the outer knob. When he looked back at me, his eyes were flat and lifeless. “You stole my entire world.”

“Chase”—I turned to see Brad leaning against the wall—“you need to give him space. He’s right, you were the biggest dick to him while he was dating her. Now that you have her, you can’t act like the two of you can just go back to being the way you were. He needs time to get over what you guys did to him. You know he told Derek he pla

“No”—my eyes narrowed—“what’s your point, Brad?”

“His best friend and the girl he wanted to marry, stabbed him in the back. He has every right to try to ruin this for you, or at the very least to beat you into next week. And he’s stepped back . . . so let him step back. What you’re doing is just twisting the knife.”

I nodded and sighed heavily. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. Well, you’re about to find out if your son is actually going to be a son. And you pla

“I know.” No need to remind me that the woman carrying my child still loved someone else.

It didn’t take much for my mood to change again. Seeing Harper and being able to pull her into my arms always made everything right again. And knowing I was about to see our baby for the first time had everything else just slipping away. I met her doctor and talked with her about everything I’d missed so far and what to be expecting, and about took off ru

And all I could think was holy shit.

The air had left my body in a rush when our baby appeared on the screen and a lump formed in my throat. My mouth opened, but nothing came out, and when the heartbeat filled the room, it took everything in me to not break down right there. This baby is ours. I turned to look at Harper and saw her eyes glistening through the dark in the room as we listened to our baby’s racing heart.

“I can’t even believe how perfect a position your baby is in right now! That is unreal.” The doctor laughed. “Now, did you want to find out the sex of the baby, or do you want it to be a surprise?”

“I already know.” My princess glanced back at the screen and smiled softly when I squeezed her hand and laughed.

“I told you, baby,” I whispered. “I told you it would be a boy.”

We both looked at Dr. Lowdry. “It is a boy, isn’t it?”

“Oh, he is definitely a boy.” She laughed again, and I watched as our baby boy moved around on the screen.

I looked back over at my beautiful girl and kissed her softly, keeping my lips brushing against hers as I told her, “I love you and our son so much, Harper.”

When I pulled back, I saw that her eyes were glistening, and a few tears had fallen down her face. Using my thumbs, I brushed the trail of wetness off her cheeks and was rewarded with a heart-stopping smile.

After the doctor handed us the ultrasound pictures, I continued to stare at our son as Harper and I left the building. I’d known for months that I was in love with the girl walking next to me, and I’d known that I would give anything to make her mine, forever. But I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with her all over again, or to have this instant love for our baby.

When we got to my truck, I grabbed around her waist and hauled her back to me, my mouth crashing down on hers. Harper laughed softly, and her arms went around my neck as I walked her slowly backwards ’til she was against my truck. Our kiss was slow and heated as I tried to show her how happy she was making me.

I broke the kiss on a huff and looked into her smiling gray eyes, “That was . . . that was absolutely amazing!” I laughed and kissed her hard once more.

Her hands found their way into my hair as she pulled back. “Having you there made it so special, all I could think about the last two times was how I wished you were there to experience it with me.” Harper’s eyes filled with pain when she whispered, “I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you.”