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Harper tugged on my hair gently, and I reluctantly stood up. “Go to the party, Chase. Have fun.”
I grumbled, but cupped her cheeks and kissed her soundly. “I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Just have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Shaking my head, I kissed her forehead and unlocked my truck. “I need you in my arms when I fall asleep tonight, Princess. I’ll text you when I’m on my way back here.”
Ignoring the urge to turn my truck back around to go be with her, I reasoned that at least I could grab the solitaire engagement ring I’d bought Harper last week. I had everything pla
I’d just gotten done showing Sarah and Brad the engagement ring before stowing it away in my desk and locking my room back up when my phone started chiming. Trish. I sighed and opened up the texts. Almost every night over the last two weeks, she’d tried to get me to come hang out at her apartment either after work or for the night when she wasn’t working. She said her girlfriend was always working graveyard shifts, and Trish was cool and all—but I knew Harper still couldn’t stand her, so I’d continued to say no. You’d think after two weeks of that she’d get the hint. Apparently not.
Trish: U should come keep me company. I’ll make you di
Can’t. Sorry
Trish: :( u go
Where’s your girlfriend? Graveyard shift again?
Trish: . . . yep
Sorry dude. Having a party at my place. Catch you Monday
Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I made my way through the house toward the kitchen. Drew and some girl I’d never seen were doing shots, and I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, working hard not to shake my head at everything happening in the house. I couldn’t remember how I’d ever found these entertaining. But I was already counting down the minutes until I could go back to my parents’ house. I’d already been here for almost five hours, and I figured if I gave it another hour, Princess wouldn’t think I’d missed out on anything because she wasn’t here.
Brandon walked past me to grab a beer out of the fridge, and I tensed when he came back to hop on the counter next to me. We hadn’t talked in almost a month, but when he didn’t immediately try to hit me, I started to relax a bit.
“What’s going on?”
“Not much,” he said gruffly, and took a long drink. “Think I’m go
“Agreed. I’ll be going to my parents’ in a bit. You going back to Arizona as soon as the year’s over?”
“Nah. Mom bought a house in Carlsbad, she and Jeremy move here in a week.”
“Huh.” My eyebrows shot up. “That’s good then.”
He nodded, and we fell back into an awkward silence. A couple times he’d start to say something before stopping himself. And just as I was about to tell him to spit it out, he shakily asked, “How’s uh—how’re Harper and the baby?”
My chest tightened, and guilt ate away at me. Every time I thought of them, I couldn’t help but smile—a fact Brian, Jeff, and Trish teased me about relentlessly. But with Brandon, I just had the need to apologize. “They’re really good. Look man, I’m—”
“Don’t apologize.” He drained his beer and hopped off the counter, turning slightly to look at me. “I—I hate what you did. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, but I . . .” He trailed off and took a deep breath before looking me in the eye. “I forgive you. I know you love her, and I know she loved us both. All I want is for her to be happy. And if she’s happy with you, then that’s all I need.”
I stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out exactly what to say. But nothing seemed right. When he started to turn away, I called out, “Thank you, brother. That means a lot.”
With a hard nod, he turned and made his way toward the hall his room was on. I was still sitting there dumbfounded when someone gently punched my arm. Looking to my right, I saw Trish, and my head jerked back, “Hey, dude.”
“Cool that I’m here? Didn’t feel like being alone while Erin was gone tonight.”
“Yeah, sure. Parties are always open to anyone.”
She looked around before asking, “Where’s Harper?”
“At my parents’. She didn’t think she should be here since she’s pregnant. Sorry, I know you just got here, but I wa
“Nah, I’m good. Can I just have a sip of your water?”
I handed it over without a word and turned when loud cheers came from the dining room. Keg stands. Seriously? Can’t they do that shit outside? Trish handed my water back to me, and I took a long drink.
“So hey”—she nudged my arm—“I was wanting another tat. You go
“Sure, sure. What are you wanting?”
“Some lyrics from a song, right under my left boob.”
Aw hell. Harper’s go
She eyed the empty bottle, and her eyes flashed over to mine. “Yeah sure, I guess I’m thirstier than I realized.”
“YOU SKANK! HE’S having a baby!”
I worked at opening my eyes, but my lids felt heavy. Too heavy. And my head was pounding like I had a wicked hangover. What the hell? I didn’t even drink last night. Did I?
“Can you please give us some time alone?” a husky, feminine voice asked.
“Get out of his bed! Konrad, let me go, I’m go
The fuck? I felt something tighten around my waist. Harper? Still trying to force my eyes open, I turned and had barely cracked them open when I saw her.
Not Harper.
Holy shit.
My eyes widened, and I scrambled away from Trish, my head pounding in protest, and I grabbed it as Bree started screaming again. “What the fuck is going on?” I yelled, and forced my eyes open again to look around. I was in my bed, in my house. Konrad looked like he wanted to kill me as he held a bucking Brea
“Chase, make them leave please.” Trish moaned and wrapped an arm around my waist, and I pushed her away.
“What the fuck are you doing in my bed?” I looked around wildly. “Where’s Harper? Oh my God, what the hell happened?” I groaned and gripped my head again as I struggled to get out from under the comforter and off the bed. I tripped out of the comforter and landed hard on the floor; when I looked down, I saw I was only in my boxers. Glancing up as Trish rushed out of the bed and over to me, I saw she was wearing my favorite shirt and underwear. Nothing else.
Oh God, no. No, no, no.
“Baby, are you all right?” Trish asked as she squatted in front of me. Her arm reached out toward me, and I smacked it away.
“The fuck, Trish! What are you doing in my bed? Why are you wearing my shirt?”
“I’ll kill you, you evil bitch!” Bree screeched and bucked harder against Konrad.
It felt like my skull was being split and I groaned as I tried to hold it together, like that would somehow stop the pain. “Harper, oh God, Harper. What happened? What did I do?”
I tried to remember going to bed with Trish . . . I tried to remember going to bed period. I can’t remember anything past—another shooting pain went through my head as I tried to stand—Shit, I can’t even remember my last solid memory of last night!
“Chase—” Trish reached out for me when I stumbled into my desk, and again I smacked her arms away.