She shoves me backward into the bathroom, hand fumbling for the lock. The click echoes like a gunshot.
“I was so jealous,” she whispers in my ear. “Thinking of you out with Marie.”
The words hit like a drug. Then her mouth is on my neck—biting, sucking—and I’m gone.
I fumble behind me and lock my bedroom door on instinct. Her legs wrap around my waist as I lift her to the bathroom counter in the dark.
She’s the perfect height like this—exactly where I want her.
“Oh, sweetheart.” My voice breaks. We both know it was just a fake date to get McKenzie off our backs—and believe me, I was bored out of my mindlistening to McKenzie monologuing about her social media following—but I’ll still say the words to reassure Harper, because God knows I get it after going nuclear just seeing her standing near Z on the back porch. “She’s not you.”
Marie’s pretty enough, I guess. But she doesn’t make my pulse riot. She doesn’t make me feelalive.
Harper kisses me like she’s starving, and all my restraint unravels in seconds. She tastes like weed and wildness and Harper.
“It made me crazy,” I breathe against her mouth. “Seeing him touching you.”
Her hands twist in my shirt. “I’m sorry. He just took my hand. I didn’t?—”
Relief crashes through me so hard it makes me dizzy.Thank God.
I pull back just enough to look at her. Her guard’s down. Completely. And underneath the sharp edges, she looks scared.
“Harper,” I whisper, framing her face. “What’s wrong?”
She swallows hard. “Z told me something. About my dad. About the club.”
“What about it?”
“Well, it’s a sex dungeon for one.”
“What?!” I choke out.
“Yeah, sorry to break it to you like this. But Helen’s into kink.”
My head blanks out, denials immediately forming on my lips, but for once, I manage to keep my mouth shut because Harper looks really upset as she continues. “But that’s not the worst of it. Someone from Dad’s oldmotorcycle crew showed up. Z saw them arguing. He thinks my dad’s up to something after all. Money laundering. A prostitution ring. Fuck knows.”
I go still. Because Iknowhow much she’s been hoping this new life is real. If Silas is really lying…
“Z could be wrong,” I say. “We don’t know anything yet.”
“Could he, though?” she says bitterly. “My dad lies for a living. And I was dumb enough to think this time was different.”
“You’re not dumb.” I cradle her face. “You’re brave enough to believe people can change. That’s not weakness. That’s…” I shake my head. “That’s what I love about you.”
She freezes. Her eyes snap up.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll leave,” she says quietly. “You’ll go to college, and I’ll still be here?—”
“We’ve already talked about that. You’re coming with me.”
She laughs, sharp. “Please.You’ll be going to school at fucking Harvard. You think I’ll fit anywhere near you then?”
“I love you.” The words come fast, hard. “I don’t care where we are. You’re it for me, Harper.”
Something in her cracks. I see it.
“Caleb…”