“Uh, no. Just a friend.”
I put my phone away, even though it’s vibrating like crazy with messages from Chase. I’ve had enough drama for one evening, and if Harper sees it’s him who’s texting me, there will be major drama.
“In less than three days, you get to see Bennett,” I say to redirect her thoughts away from my mysterious texter.
The smile that alights her face also has me smiling; it’s that infectious.
She lets out a little squeal and shimmies excitedly in her seat. “I can’t wait. He says he has a surprise but won’t tell me what it is.”
“Any hints?”
“Nope, and it’s torture. I’m hoping it’s a ‘Do Something.’”
Bennett and Harper had this thing they did together called ‘Do Something.’ He would plan things she had never done before, like indoor skydiving or something as simple as a midnight stroll along the beach. The CU campus was located not far from the Outer Banks, so beach trips were a regular occurrence with her and the rest of the gang. The last time we all went, Mason taught me—okay, he tried to teach me—how to surf. In my defense, that shit’s hard and requires a certain level of physicality I just don’t have. But it was fun, even if I did make a fool out of myself.
“Hey, Harper?”
She takes a left onto Natalie’s street.
“Yeah, babe?”
Getting the words out is more difficult than I expected. My palms go sweaty, and my stomach decides to perform a triple backflip of queasiness.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
I figure, with all the emotional crap from this evening, now is as good a time as any to tell her about what happened the night with Jordan. The after, I mean. Why I wear all the bracelets.
Her eyebrow hikes up in question as she pulls into the driveway, and it’s then I notice the Jeep parked in front of us and Jordan sitting on the front steps of the porch. He slowly stands, his tall frame somewhat spotlighted by the Mercedes’s headlights, and my stomach cartwheels for a whole other reason.
“Wonder how long he’s been sitting out there?” Harper remarks, amusement in her voice.
Better question is, why is he here at ten o’clock at night?
Nerves slam into me as I open the car door to get out. “Are you coming?” I ask her, not ashamed in the least to use her as a shield of sorts against her brother.
She assures me, “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”
However, as soon as I shut the door, she backs out of the driveway.
“Harper!”
I can see her laughing through the front windshield.
“Harper!” I whisper-shout with more urgency.
When she hits the street, she rolls down the window and pokes her head out. “Call me tomorrow and we’ll do something. Love you!”
“But we’re having a girls’ night!”
“I think you’ll be busy for the rest of the evening.”
With a grin and a wink, she blows me a kiss, waves bye to me, then to Jordan, and leaves me standing in the driveway like a dumbass.
“Traitor!” I yell.
I amsogoing to get her back for this.
Chapter 27
