After several minutes, I found my spare key jammed into the separated bottom of the drawer.Probably should’ve taken it out and fixed it, but oh well.I took his hand and put the key in it.
“I know I’m gone a lot with work and shit, but you can always come over,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Harley whispered, looking down at the key like I’d given him something truly special.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Just park where you are now. There are cameras that no one knows about in case someone does something fucking stupid with your car. They won’t—hopefully. We’ll deal with it if they do. You know what? This is stupid, isn’t it? Never mind—”
“No!” He shut his hand around the key so I couldn’t take it from him. His mouth found mine in a swift kiss, his lips turning up at the corners with a smile. “Thank you.”
“It’s just a key,” I grumbled as I wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him close. “It’s nothing special.”
“It’s everything, Mav,” he told me quickly. The words made me grin like an idiot, doing something to me that only Harley could accomplish. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. Reluctantly, I pulled away and gestured to the door. He had to leave eventually.
He walked outside first, and from the way his shoulders tensed, he saw my brother waiting. My home was out of the way with a single looping dirt drive as the only way in or out. That made it real hard to miss my damn brother as he glared at us.
I flipped him off for the hell of it. Harley took cautious steps backward toward his car, his expression worried.Oh, my sweet princess was overanalyzing the situation.I grabbed the hem of his shirt and yanked his body against mine. He let out a flustered yelp as he braced on my chest.
“Are you sure?” he asked quietly when I moved in to kiss him. His brows furrowed together adorably.
“I don’t give a fuck, princess,” I retorted gruffly.I didn’t. At all.Though he didn’t look convinced by my words, so I added, “If he messes with you, I’ll kill him.”
I meant that too.Harley was my line that Aidan couldn’t cross. I took a lot of shit from him, but that was different. I refused to let him do anything to Harley.
“Mav—”
I shut him up with a kiss. There was no reason for him to think about those things.
“Don’t worry, princess,” I said softly when we separated. “Aidan and I will always have our problems, but I’m done rolling over for his bullshit, and he knows it. It’ll be fine.”
He made a face.
“I’ll be fine.” I grinned and hoped he understood. The conflict of leaving was written all over his face. I didn’t know how to make him understand that it’d be okay. I could handle whatever Aidan wanted. “How about I text you when he’s gone?”
“Please?”
“Anything for you,” I promised. He smiled slightly and kissed me—the kind of kiss that absolutely carried the weight of my homophobic asshole brother’s gaze. It was brief and stiff, but I couldn’t blame him for that.
Arms crossed and back rigid, I watched Harley walk to his car and get in. I waited as the engine started and as he hesitated to leave.
“Just get out of here, Harley,” I muttered under my breath. Thankfully, he didn’t linger too long, and he didn’t slow down as he drove past Aidan. I watched how my brother stared after him—practically glared at the bumper. Only when he was good and gone did I turn to face my brother. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing with him?” Aidan demanded as he crossed the drive.
“It’s none of your goddamn business,” I snapped.
“None of my damn business?” he repeated as if I didn’t know what I was saying. “Are you a fucking moron? I raised you better than that!”
“Oh,please,” I scoffed. As I turned to go back inside, I muttered, “What a load of bullshit.”
He was so full of himself that it was laughable. Aidan followed me inside, his temper spiking at my obvious dismissal of him. The door slammed while I headed straight for a drink.
“When are you going to get it through that stupid head of yours that messing around with Harley Lowell is only going to end in trouble for us?” Aidan asked. I shrugged, taking a long swig of warm beer. It wouldn’t do anything, but it’d keep me preoccupied from having to focus solely on him. “Every minute you spend with him puts all of us at risk because sooner or later, they’ll figure out what you did. And rich assholes like them,they’ll take everything from the likes of you and me! They don’t give a fuck about people like us! Is that what you want?”
“Fuck off. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“If you don’t steer clear of him, I swear to fucking God, I’ll—”
