Still, I hadn’t been ready to give in. I still thought I was going to taint Harper with the things from my past.
Unable to do what I normally did, which was fuck everything in sight with a vagina, I started running more and more. Sometimes I would even go to Fit for Life in the middle of the night and just run on the treadmill for hours. When that didn’t work, I would hit a bar or club and drink until I couldn’t remember my name.
The second morning I woke with a hangover to rival any that I could remember my brother having, I realized that I couldn’t let myself go down that road. Not only was it not where I wanted my life to end up, but I had to respect Drake enough not to do that shit when he had come so far after his own battle with the bottle.
Yesterday I had finally faced the truth. No matter how scared I was of my past and sullying Harper with it, I wasn’t strong enough to give her up.
When Drake had called earlier tonight and told me to stay out of the apartment for the night, I had gone to the one place I wanted to be more than anywhere else—to Harper’s. Of course she hadn’t been home and I’d been a chickenshit, scared that if I called or texted her she wouldn’t answer.
Not that I could blame her. I kissed her and ran. She probably thought I wasn’t worth her time, and she would be so right.
Linc had saved my ass, getting home just when I was ready to give up and go to the gym for a few hours. When he invited me to come with him to the club, where Dallas and Harper were waiting for him, I had rushed to accept.
Now, with the taste of some other girl's lip gloss and smoke from whatever she had been smoking filling my mouth, I was ready to grab Harper and rush her out the door. Linc handed me another beer as Dallas moved in front of me as if guarding me from other drunken girls ready to attack.
Swallowing half of the Corona to get the bitter taste of the girl out of my mouth, I took the time to look Harper over. Her makeup was meticulous, highlighting her eyes and making her lips look so damn kissable and plump. With her short skirt and a top that barely covered her tits, she looked smoking hot.
I didn’t like it. I wanted my Harper standing in front of me. The unspoiled beauty that didn’t need thick makeup or club clothes to make my dick hard. I wanted to drag her to the nearest bathroom, wash that shit off her face, and then kiss her until neither one of us could think straight.
The guarded look in her violet eyes told me that wasn’t going to happen.
“Have that happen to you often?” Linc asked with a grin as he handed the girls their drinks, something pink and girly.
I shrugged, not wanting to admit that it happened more often than not. A month ago I probably would have been deep between that girl’s legs in some dark corner of this club. “Let’s dance.” I looked right at Harper as I suggested it.
“Yes!” Dallas pushed Harper at me and grabbed Linc’s arm, already pulling him toward the dance floor. “Come on, Harp. I love this song!”
Harper didn’t even look up as she turned to follow her friend. Sighing, I followed, knowing that I had a lot to make up for.
The dance floor was pretty crowded. For once I was glad for it. It meant that Harper had no choice but to dance close. I grinned as I pressed into her back. She shot me a frown over her shoulder before turning back to Dallas who was grinding against Linc as the music quickened in tempo. Whomever the DJ was, he knew his stuff because the music was freaking awesome.
When Harper relaxed a little against me, I didn’t waste time taking advantage and twisting her around to face me. “We need to talk.” I had to lower my head to speak loudly into her ear. This close, I could smell her perfume. Had a girl ever smelled as good as Harper?
Her brows rose. “What about?”
“Us.”
She laughed. “Sorry, I thought you said us.”
“I did.” I gripped her hips and pulled her closer when two girls cut between us, and Dallas and Linc. When they were gone I didn’t release her, liking her against me far too much. “I want to be with you, beautiful.”
“What?” She looked confused.
I shook my head. It was too loud in the club to have this conversation here. “Just dance with me!”
Laughing, she rolled her violet eyes at me. “Whatever you say!”
For the next two hours we had a good time. It was fun watching Dallas and Harper—and yeah, even Linc—as they danced around me. A few girls tried to come up to our group, each with their drunken gaze on me. I was the notorious one of Demon’s Wings now that Nik was out of commission as a soon to be married man. Of course I was the more notorious one to begin with. Even before he had gotten his head out of his ass and admitted to Emmie that he was in love with her, he hadn’t cared as much about getting laid as I had.
Now that I wasn’t interested in that whole scene, I realized how annoying those girls could be.
But with Dallas around those girls didn’t get far. I decided after the third girl was royally bitched at that it was nice having that country girl around.
“That’s right, bitch!” Dallas yelled at the latest bottle blonde tried to squeeze between Dallas and Harper to get to me, “Keep walkin’. He doesn’t do nasty!”
That got her an ugly glare over the bottle blonde’s shoulder, but she kept walking all the same.
Beside me, Harper was giggling as she leaned against Linc while she sipped her Cranberry and Vodka through a little black straw. Gods, she was cute with her makeup smeared every which way from sweating for the last two hours. She was pretty tipsy and kept tugging at the hem of her skirt in an attempt to pull it down.
Dallas turned back around, nearing the drunk line herself, and high-fived Harper. “You are so going to fight someone tonight if you don’t watch,” Harper warned.
Dallas shrugged. “Bring ‘em on!”
Despite her warning, Harper didn’t seem all that worried about the possibility, and I figured that she didn’t really need to be. There was something about Dallas that just screamed “don’t mess with me.” The mixture of ink, piercings, and maybe even the set of her shoulders hinted at how tough she was.
“Okay, you sexy bitches.” Linc took hold of Harper’s hand before reaching for Dallas. “I have to work early. Let’s pay our tab and go home.”
“I’m having a good time,” Harper complained as Linc pulled her through the crowd toward the bar. “I don’t wanna leave yet.”
I couldn’t help grinning at how young she sounded when she was half-lit. “You keep up with those shooters like you have been all night and you’re going to need my hangover bucket.” Linc sounded like a scolding parent as he tugged the girls through what looked like a bachelorette party.
I didn’t give any of them a second glance as I followed close behind Harper. “You ruin all the fun, Linc.”
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
“Oh. My. God!”
As soon as I heard the squeal I knew it was coming. I knew that one of the girls from the bachelorette group had realized who I was. Most girls that knew who I was knew my reputation, so I wasn’t at all surprised when someone jumped on my back and started sucking on my neck like a vampire in heat. “Fuck me in the bathroom, Stevenson!”
My new friends turned and stared, mouths gaping, at the sight of some strange girl basically humping me while her teeth bit roughly at my neck. Scared I would hurt her if I tried to untangle her I just stood there, silently begging my friends for help.
“What the fuck!” Dallas exploded and tore the other girl off my back.
Not expecting the interruption, the girl’s teeth scraped across my neck as she was jerked back. I yelped in pain and touched my neck, feeling a few drops of blood bead on my skin. Linc pushed past me, and I realized that Dallas had the drunk girl pinned to the floor, and hair was flying.