HARPER
Iwasn’t avoiding Cam.
I was just… strategically keeping space between my body and his six-foot-something, tattooed, frustratingly smug one.
There was a difference.
But the universe had other plans. Like dumping a biblical-level rainstorm on my house until the roof gave up, the ceiling cracked, and turned half of my house into an indoor kiddie pool.
Which is exactly how I ended up standing on Wren’s porch, holding a duffel bag, wheeling a suitcase, and pretending this wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever agreed to.
Wren opened the door and shot me a sympathetic look. “How are you holding up, Harp? Do you want some tea?”
“Do you have whiskey?” I asked, rubbing my temples.
She laughed and stepped aside to let me in. “It's all going to be okay. You’ll be fine.”
I was almost jealous of how pretty my best friend looked right now. She was wearing my brother's black hoodieand… were those my sweatpants? I swear half of my wardrobe was here, and if I were being honest, I didn’t really mind.
Auburn stray hairs stuck out from the bun on top of her head. I could’ve sworn she had just woken up, but I was in no place to judge my best friend. She looked so happy to see me, even though I felt like a burden.
But as I walked through the doorway into the place that felt too warm, too familiar, and way too full of tension I wasn’t ready to come to terms with, one thing was already clear:
This was a very bad idea.
Cameron Rowan Callahan owned this house. The same Cameron, whom I kissed a year ago after our first bonfire of the summer. After the kiss, he walked away like it meant nothing. Now I am stuck with him, with nowhere else to go.
So yeah. I was absolutely, definitely not avoiding him.
I was surviving him.
She gave me a slight smile. “Shower’s all yours. Towels under the sink, and I think I’ve got some clean clothes in the guest dresser if you forgot to pack anything. You know the drill.”
I muttered a quiet thank you and headed down the hall, suddenly feeling cold in my damp clothes. Every part of me ached from stress—the storm, the damage, and now the fact that I had to live under the same roof as him.
Wren called after me as I dropped my bags off in the guest room. “I’m ordering pizza. Don’t argue, just tell me if you still like mushrooms.”
“Come on, Wren! I love them,” I shouted back.
“I’ll get you your special crust, too!”
I didn’t answer, but I loved having a best friend who was mindful of my food allergies. Celiac disease was no joke. It also helped that she enjoyed cauliflower crust as well.
I was already pulling my shirt over my head by the time I got to the bathroom and didn’t stop moving until I stepped into theshower and let the hot water blast the worst of the day off my skin.
I stayed there way longer than I needed to, letting the steam fill the bathroom as my fingers turned pruny. But even under the intense heat from the water, I couldn’t stop thinking about our kiss from so long ago.
I always wondered if he was going to kiss me, especially after he said,“You keep looking at me like that and one of these days I’m going to do something we both are going to regret.”I never gave him the chance to try because I was all in from that moment. The kiss was electric. I felt it throughout my whole body. And the way his voice sounded when he called me trouble. The way he didn’t look surprised at all, like he’d been waiting for it. He told me this wasn’t over, and then nothing came of it. Like, way to have left a girl hanging.
I don’t think I have really thought much about it because of everything that's happened in the past year with school, my dad, and the house, but now being under the same roof for longer than a night. It’s all I could think of.
I scrubbed my skin clean, then turned off the water and wrapped myself in one of Wren’s towels. It was warm, fluffy, and smelled like lavender and the peace of mind I hadn’t had in what felt like a lifetime. My curly pink hair was still damp, and my face slightly flushed from the heat, but for the first time since finding my home in shambles, I could almost breathe again.
Until I opened the shower curtain and realized I’d done the one thing no girl with unresolved sexual tension and a history of avoidance should ever do.
I forgot my clothes.
No shirt. No sweatpants. No pajamas. Not even underwear. Just my suitcase, sitting uselessly in the guest room on the other side of the hall. This towel was a decent size, but between mywide hips, my belly, and my large tits, the thing barely covered me.
