Stealing Harper

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 a

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?