Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“The oldies would love to see you.”
“I see them at family dinners,” Harper replied, resting her chin on her knees. “Parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Seemed to be doin’ just fine in there.” She’d blended right in when she showed up with Gray and Frankie earlier in the night.
“I’m good at faking it.” She grinned.
“Why you out here?” I asked curiously. “Mask slippin’?”
“Something like that.” Her smile faded. “What about you?”
“Same thing.”
“I thought you liked these parties,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“Normally do,” I confirmed. “Just got some shit I’m dealin’ with. Probably should’ve headed home before I started drinkin’.”
“I bet Gray would drive you home if you wanted,” she offered helpfully. “He’s our DD.”
“I’m not askin’ your brother to drive me home,” I huffed.
“Why not?” She swayed a little toward me, then snapped back upright. “I bet he wouldn’t mind.”
“I’d never hear the end of it.”
Harper shrugged and pushed her glasses up using one finger at the bridge of her nose. The movement was so fucking cute it was almost startling, and she did it with no self-consciousness.
“I didn’t realize people actually did that outside movies,” I muttered, my lips twitching.
“Do what?”
I mimicked her, pushing an invisible pair of glasses up my nose.
“Oh, shut up,” she shot back with a huff of laughter.
“What? It’s cute.”
“It’s dorky,” she replied with a grin. “It’s okay. I’m fully aware that I’m dorky. Part of my charm and all that. I embrace it.”
“That right?”
“Yep. Everyone has their thing, right? Myla’s gorgeous. Frankie’s badass. Lou’s sweet and innocent. Meg and Olive are kind of bitchy but unbelievably cool. I’m nerdy.”
“That’s how you see yourself?” I asked in disbelief.
“What?” she asked curiously. “I’m okay with it.”
“You’re as gorgeous as Myla.”
“Shut the fuck up,” she argued, making that noise in her throat again.
“And you’re just as sweet as Lou. Cooler than Olive and Meg by a mile.”
“You’re so full of it.” She rolled her eyes.
“Not as badass as Frank, though,” I said with mock sympathy.
“Is anyone?” she replied.
“No one I’ve met.”
Harper smiled, and I felt it in my gut.
What the fuck?
I’d seen her smile a thousand times. She wasn’t around much, but I’d seen her nearly every time she’d come home from college and the job that kept her traveling. We’d never been close or anything, but we’d hung out plenty of times in the same group.
“I am absolutely comfortable with being the nerdy cousin,” she said, bumping her shoulder against mine. “Everyone has their place, right?”
I struggled for something to say. I’d always thought Harper was beautiful. She had this shoulder-length brown hair that was so thick you couldn’t help imagining gripping it in your fist, bright blue eyes, and a smile that lit up her whole face. When you added in the glasses, she was a fucking knockout. But I thought a lot of women were beautiful and didn’t want to fuck them. Hell, every one of my brothers had a woman that was gorgeous in her own way, and I’d never felt even a tingle of attraction.
“Hello?” Harper called, waving her hand in front of my face. “You in there, Bas?”
“What?” I jerked.
“You zoned out,” she said, still smiling. Jesus. “Where’d you go?”
“Right here.”
“You want me to leave you alone?” Her voice dropped with concern. “Sorry, I know I interrupted your brooding sesh out here.”
“My brooding sesh?”
“Yeah, you know, sitting out here in the dark, alone, thinking deep thoughts. Pondering the universe. Whatever you were doing.”
“I was just takin’ a break from the noise inside.”
“You said you had stuff on your mind,” she countered.
“It’s not a big deal. Happy for the company.”
“Oh good,” she said with a sigh. “I really didn’t want to go back in there.”
“Why are you hidin’ out?”
“Truth?”
“Always.”
“I got fired from my job today,” she said with a wince.
“No fuckin’ way.”
She let out a chirp of laughter. “Thanks for that.”
“Why the hell would anyone fire you?”
“You’re good for my ego,” she said, bumping her shoulder against mine again. “They fired me because I wouldn’t do shady shit for them.”
“What? Fuck them.”
“That’s what Gray said.”
“Not surprised.”
“It just sucks,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve never been fired before.”
Yeah, I could see that. Harper was one of those people who you just knew was responsible. The type of person you’d ask to take care of your house when you were on vacation, because you knew she’d go the extra mile. She’d play with your cat, fertilize your house plants, and leave sticky notes on your mail so you knew which day it had arrived.
“Sounds like a good thing,” I replied. “If they were askin’ you to do shit you weren’t comfortable with.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, frowning. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do now. I’ve always been working toward something, you know? It feels pretty freaking weird to just be…floating.”
“It’s been less than a day,” I reminded her. “I think you’ve got time to make a plan.”