“It’s fine. She’s not bothering me. Harper’s sweet.”
Her cheeks felt warm and she knew she was blushing, but how could she not? Chase thought she was sweet.
“Hey, man, do I need to kick your ass? You’re not trying to get with my sister, are you?” Jackson sounded angry. She had no idea he was so protective of her.
Harper held her breath for several silent seconds before she heard her brother crack up.
Chase laughed. Helaughed. “Dude, I thought you were serious for a minute. Can you imagine me lusting after little Harper, with all the gorgeous girls on campus? I can’t even get a night to myself in my own bed. It’s like a smorgasbord of women.”
“I know, asshole, cry me a river. I’m aware of your revolving bedmates every time I come back to our room and find a sock on the door.”
“You know I’d clear out for you—if you ever actually got a girl to come back with you,” Chase had said.
Harper had quietly hurried past Jackson’s bedroom and eased her door closed before dissolving into tears.
For the rest of winter break, she occupied herself in other areas of the house whenever she could, speaking to Jackson and Chase only when absolutely necessary. She helped her mom with the holiday baking and cooking, shoveled snow with her dad, visited friends, and holed up in her room, reading books or watching movies.
Finally it was over and the boys went back to university, to her relief. She focused on schoolwork and extracurriculars with an eye toward an academic scholarship to Columbia, her parents alma mater, where she planned to study Childhood Education. Harper had been elated when the scholarship offer came through.
Now, with one semester to go before she earned her Masters degree, she was excited to begin her teaching career.
Jackson leveraged his degrees in kinesiology and sports medicine to work as an Athletic Trainer for the Syracuse Sentinels hockey team for the past three years. Mom and Dad had been thrilled to have him local again after so many years in the City.
Chase, on the other hand, had been drafted to the Stamford Storm right out of university, which was no surprise to Harper. He streaked across the ice quick as lightning whenever she’d watched one of Jackson’s college games, maneuvering the puck with a grace that was especially impressive for a man of his size.
When Mom told her Chase had offered to drive her to Lake George for the holidays and that she’d accepted his “generous offer” on Harper’s behalf, Harper was peeved. She didn’t want to be locked in a car with him for four or five, or maybe even six, hours. And that was if they were lucky and didn’t run into poor road or weather conditions.
“He doesn’t even live in the City anymore, Mom.” As they spoke, she vigorously swept the floor of her modest Hoboken apartment. “He has to drive forty miles out of his way to get me. I can just take the bus. Really, it’s no bother.”
“Chase said he’d enjoy being able to spend the time with you. I think he’d appreciate the company on that long drive. And this way you’ll travel much more comfortably and won’t have to waste your money,” her mom reasoned.
“I don’t understand why this is a problem, Harper. He’s been coming to our house for years; he’s practically another brother to you. Why would you have an issue riding with him?”
Harper could hardly fault her mother’s logic. Bluntness was her only option.
“Have you ever thought I might not want to ride with Chase? Why is he always at our house for holidays, anyway? I don’t like having him around so much.” Even as she finished speaking, she wished she could unsay the nasty words.
“Harper Jane Sinclair, you should be ashamed of yourself. Your father and I raised you better than this.”
She hated the hot guilt she deservedly felt. “I’m sorry, Mom. You’re right.”
“Yes, I am. I suggest you use this trip to find some common ground with Chase. You might not dislike him so much then.”
Disliking him wasn’t the problem, but she wasn’t about to explain that to her mother. Instead, she’d spent the past few weeks dreading Thanksgiving and wishing for a record snowfall that would prevent travel, but no such miracle arrived.
As she waited for Chase to buzz from downstairs, she watched the gray sky outside her window, her suitcase and overnight bag waiting by the front door.
A knock on her door startled her. She checked the peephole, not sure who would be here on a Tuesday afternoon.
Her heart flew into her throat when she saw Chase’s hulking form. She thought she’d have the elevator ride downstairs to steel herself for this first sight. But he was here, and she couldn’t put off this meeting any longer.
Harper blew out a breath and tried to calm her pounding heart. She forced a bright smile before checking the mirror by her door and realizing she looked unhinged. Practicing a few expressions in rapid succession, she settled on one that at least resembled sanity.
Her composure was rattled when there was another knock, this time more of a pounding, just as she was reaching for the doorknob. She yanked the door open.
“I heard you perfectly fine the first time, Chase. You could be more patient, you know.”
He blinked at her, his face going slack from the smile he’d been wearing. Then his mouth turned up again. “It’s good to see you, too, Harper. We should get going. Weather’s not going to hold for us all night.”
