“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I say quietly, feeling even more like shit.
She runs her hands through her hair and then stops. Then she pulls her left hand down, staring at the rock of a solitaire diamond on her hand. Her lips twitch, and she shows a hint of emotion before she pulls the ring off and throws it across the room. It bounces off the tile once before hitting the ground again and breaking apart.
Harper gets up and walks over to the broken ring and shows it to me.
It’s cracked in half.
“It would be a fake ring,” she says with an angry headshake.
That cheap motherfucker.
“Well. Fuck him,” she says, and I look up at her. “For real. I don’t need a guy like that in my life. I dodged a bullet, if you think about it.”
You have no idea.
Harper walks over to the door where she hurls both pieces of the ring outside. Then she comes back to the table to toss back the rest of her drink. She shakes her head with a grimace before fishing out the cherries with her straw.
“Are you doing alright?” I ask. “Maybe you should take it easy.”
“I just got dumped, Ash. The last thing I need to do is take it easy.”
“Alright, well, these stools are killing my back,” I lie. “Why don’t we go sit on the couch?” I’m really just trying to get her away from the bar. She’s definitely buzzy, but if she has any more alcohol, I’m betting she’ll be hunched over a toilet.
“Or better yet! Let’s go sit by the pool. It’s lovely outside.”
Before I can say anything else, Harper is grabbing me by the hand and leading me out to the pool. She sits on the edge and puts her feet in the water, not caring that her linen pants are getting wet. I join her; it really is nice. The air is warm; the view is breathtaking, and the scent of coconut and honey wafts off her.
“You have a tattoo on your foot,” I notice, nodding down.
“I do!” she says, lifting it out of the water, revealing white painted toenails and what might be the most gorgeous, sun-kissed calf I’ve ever seen. “It’s a starling.”
“It’s pretty,” I tell her.
“It hurt like hell,” she says with a bubbly laugh. “And Jaylen lost his shit when I got it.”
“Why would he care?” I ask.
“I was seventeen,” she says with a little shoulder shrug.
“Well, look at you being all rebellious,” I tease.
“More than either of you know,” she says. Then, she stands up and shoves her pants to the ground.
“What are you doing?” I ask. But Harper just stands in front of me in her black tank and black panties, smiling down at me before she jumps in the pool. I shield myself from the splash, but can’t help laughing.
I like this Harper.
Even if she’s sad, she’s free.
When she emerges, her smile is wide. She smooths back the hair from her face, and her green eyes flutter open. Between the hair and the eyes and the blue water rippling around her, I swear she looks unreal.
“You want to know a secret?” She says as she slowly and effortlessly treads the water in front of me.
“Tell me,” I say, my voice low. Enticed. Lured.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before.”
My head tilts curiously to the side. “You’ve never been kissed?”
