A long moment passed before I moved again. Then, blowing out a breath, I snatched the shirt off the railing. Thinking I was home free, I almost did a victory dance. But before I could stop myself, my right foot slid out from beneath me on a patch of wet leaves, and I crashed onto my butt on his porch. Hard. With enough noise to wake the dead. Fate was seriously messing with my life.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I yelled, my lower back hurting more than I’d like to admit. I lay there for several seconds before heaving myself upright, and as I stood, the front door flew open. I tried to never let the girls hear me curse. But the pain caused it to slip out.
It was like a movie, a slow-motion action scene where my heart crept up my throat and my palms sweated despite the freezing temperature. I took one deep breath and met the intimidating and perfect green eyes of Harrison. “Hello, Harrison.”
“Becca,” he grumbled. His rough, deep voice was way too sexy and commanding for his own good. And oh, baby, I hated how he affected me.
“Great porch you have here. Just wanted to say have a nice holiday.” I marched down the stairs with more trepidation than before. I winced, but my back was to him so he wouldn’t see.Just let me escape, please.
“Why are you on my porch?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said into the wind, still not turning back.
“Try me.”
I snuck a glance at him again, hating how his gray Henley showcased his sculpted arms and strong chest—broad shoulders were my weakness—and the shirt paired well with his black jeans hugging his massive thighs. It wasn’t fair he looked like that when my pink, girly pajamas peeked out from under my coat. Channeling my tiny inner badass, I gave him my best smile.
“Okay.” I held up the red shirt and motioned to the sorority house with my chin. “One of the girls broke a window on the top floor, and her clothes escaped her room. She blamed the wind, but now that I think about it, it’s a bit suspicious. Was she waving clothes out to signal someone? Smoking a doobie? Airing out a fart? I just don’t know.” I frowned for a beat before chewing on my chapped bottom lip in the awkward silence. “Anyway. So yeah. We’re on a dangerous recovery mission before the elements destroy her clothes.”
His expression never changed beyond a slight lift on the side of his mouth. “Recovery mission?”
“Yes. For the clothes.” I held the shirt up like I was wearing it, pretending to be a model. “See?”
“Yeah, I see. You expect me to believe it justlandedon my porch?” He arched one disbelieving brow.
“Yes.” I gave him a firm nod.
“What was the crash I heard?”
“Oh, that.” I tried thinking of something that would explain the sound of my tush hitting his stairs, but the longer the silence grew between us, the more I felt the need to ramble. “A raccoon. I saw a raccoon, and we fought over the shirt.”
His nostrils flared for a second before he tilted his head to the side. “You fell.”
“Okay, fine. Yeah. I fell. Happy?”
“Not particularly. Are you okay?”
Did his face look like he was actually concerned? My heart skipped a beat at the thought, but it settled down just as quickly. No, he must be cold.
“The diagnosis is that I will survive. It’ll take a couple of hot baths, but nothing more than my ego and butt is bruised.”
“Glad you’re alright.”
Those simple words should not have caused me to blush like a teenager around her crush, but they did. I had to get out of there, like five seconds ago. “See you around, Harrison.”
I took a couple steps back toward the sorority house when he spoke again. This was the most words we’d exchanged in over two years… since that night. Since thatkiss. Weird didn’t cover how I felt about it.
“Are you staying in the house alone over break?”
“Yes.” I didn’t stop walking.
“That’s a huge house for one person.”
I spun around and narrowed my eyes, giving him myno bullshitlook I always gave the girls. My mom referred to me as a tough marshmallow when I tried to be mean, but it was all I had. “I’m a big girl, and I’ve done it before. I’ll be fine. It’s my job.”
“Make sure you fix the broken window. You shouldn’t wait too long to repair it with the blizzard coming.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. He was right.Ugh.I had to call someone to come out today or tomorrow or I’d have an open portal into the frigid negative temperatures that would last for an entire week. My heart rate sped up like I was running.
