“About time!” Molly screeched, jumping up and down in her seat and clapping her hands.
I watched Phoenix on the field in the distance as the two teams got ready for the snap. Anticipation licked through me.
“Blue 22, Blue 22, Hut!”
And they were off! Our entire stand erupted as spectators shot to their feet, me included.
The adrenaline pumping through my veins was amazing. I had never felt so happy. My attention was instantly drawn to Phoenix, my friend, my monster, and now my love, but as I watched him play, a sliver of doubt slid through me.
Nix was all over the field, and not where he needed to be. He also missed a couple of easy tackles.
Something was wrong.
SEVENTEEN
PHOENIX
The endgame between Thumper and me had always been inevitable, but the time had finally come to get my shit together and make her mine.
When all was said and done, the most successful predators (i.e., those who get what they want) aren’t the toughest or fastest; they are the most patient. Biding their time, which is exactly what I had done, and that fucker had paid off in spades.
We’d only had a twenty-minute break, and part of that was needed to listen to the coach strategize, ready for the next play. That hadn’t given me much time to speak with Harper and show my cards. Something I had decided to do the moment I saw she hadfinallydone the same. I had been fighting diligently to control myself for so long, and now the waiting was over.
Wearing my number had sent a clear message thatHarper Radcliffe was mine.
The stadium had held its collective breath as I’d kissed my girl and made my claim. At last.
The fact that we had an audience was the only thing that stopped me from lifting the hem of my shirt and taking her hard against the bleachers.
My heart was still hammering in my chest.
From the way she had kissed me back, I knew I was going to take her home that night and screw her senseless. And yes, there was still stuff left unsaid, but that could wait. I wasn’t goinganywhere, and neither was she, and I was a firm believer that actions spoke louder than words. Neither of us was articulate whenit came to sharing our feelings, but that night, I would thoroughly enjoyshowingHarperexactlyhow I felt.
Plus, the little vixen was clearly asking for it, teasing me by wearing my jersey without a bra. I could clearly see her nipples poking against the material. She looked so adorable, toothache sweet yet still as hot as fuck. Harper’s confident, cocky attitude before I’d kissed her had also thrown down a challenge. A bold one that no red-blooded male could turn away from, especially not somebody as competitive as me. A girl doesn’t show up wearing a guy's shirt unless she’s trying to get his attention. Well, my little Thumper had certainly done that.
Molly had also told Hudson in confidence that some new fish at school had been sniffing around my girl. I’d wanted to hunt him down and wring his dweeby fucking neck. But I was in college, and kicking the shit out of a high schooler wasn’t the way to go. His interest in her was yet another sign that I needed to make ‘us’ official.
I glanced back and gave my now girlfriend a cheeky wink. Her cheeks were still flushed, and those pert nipples were like bullets. I couldn’t wait to taste them, feel them against my tongue.
Harper hadalwaysbeen mine, but the timing when she’d first joined our family hadn’t been right.
When I had first seen Harper again on the cusp of womanhood, I was instantly attracted to her, but she had been too young and innocent for me to do anything about it. I had also been screwed up about my affair with Melanie at that time.
And now I had my agency file and past to deal with.
I had sat on that shit for so long, not feeling ready to face what was in there. Well, now I knew, and I felt like I was on the road to recovery. I could therefore start to initiate those other plans of mine. Making Harper Radcliffe mine in every way possible.
Staying away from her had been like a human being denying himself the need for oxygen to breathe. Incomprehensible. And I couldn’t wait to share theconclusions I’d reached about my mother and brother going forward. And my decision to track my father down, somehow. I would also find out more about Harper’s life, bridge those fricking gaps between us. The part I hadn’t been there for.
Yep, it was time to put our cards on the table, no more secrets. Everything out in the open, the way it shouldalwayshave been; no more hiding.
I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to realize how perfect Harper was for me. Everything about her drew me in. She was funny, interesting, chaotic, and confounding, and she had shit to say. She wasn’t vapid or vain like other girls her age, and her heart, although having been pummelled in the past, was huge. She didn’t wear it on her sleeve, but it was a powerful part of that pull I felt towards her. She also got me; she always had. There were not many people on the planet who could admit to that. Even Hudson misunderstood me at times.
We also had shit loads in common, one of her favorite movies wasJaws, instead of most of the girls her age who raved about sappy shit likeThe NotebookorThe Holiday. We both hated chewing gum, fake people, rollercoasters, and flying. Fuck, we even used to finish each other's sentences.
Now that I had my head on straight, I felt we could make a go of it. See where things went, and the thought of that excited the hell out of me.
I had decided to draw a line under my biological parents for the time being. My mom clearly didn’t want me in her life, and to be honest, I didn’t really want to be there. Luna also had no intention of telling me who my father was, and I couldn’t exactly beat it out of her.
