Stealing Harper (2 page)

I cringed at Bree’s words. Not a mistake. This really was her roommate.

“You know him?” the princess asked, hardly trying to contain her revulsion.

“Well, I’d like to think so, he
is
my brother.”

The most beautiful blush I’ve ever seen instantly spread across her cheeks, and for a second I forgot why I didn’t want to be completely taken with this girl.

“Wait. Harper, is this the guy you said was a jerk?”

Harper. That’s right, her name is
Harper.
I don’t know why I didn’t like it earlier; I couldn’t think of anything more perfect for her. It fit her, and I wanted to say it myself, but then I remembered why she was pissing me off and decided to stick with what seemed to piss her off more. Her eyes flew to the ground, and my lips quirked up into a smile.

“You said I’m a jerk?” I laughed and walked over to my sister. “She’s the one that just practically called me a dirty man-whore.”

“Don’t be rude to my friends, Chase!” Bree punched my arm, and I tried not to roll my eyes at how pathetic her punches were.

Princess turned quickly and went outside, and I tried not to let it show that I watched her leave. “Great roommate, Bree,” I scoffed, and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“She is, but she said you weren’t nice! So be nice. I told you, she’s pretty sheltered.”

I turned my back to Zach and Drew and leaned onto the island close to Bree. “Sheltered how?”

“She grew up with only her dad, and she said he’s been in the army or navy or whatever for her whole life.” Bree took two more shots, and I shook my head at her; at least she was staying here. “And get this! She’s never worn makeup
or
been to a mall!”

My face fell in mock horror. “Never been to a mall? Oh no.”

“Go be nice to her, you big jerk!”

I kissed Bree’s forehead and made my way outside. It was dark, but it didn’t take long to find her. Her face was in her hands, elbows on her knees.
Is
she crying?
I usually hated when women cried, but I had to force myself not to rush up to her to make sure she was okay.
God, get a grip.
I sank into the seat next to her and waited until she peeked up at me. Not crying. Thank God.

“You hiding?”

“Is it that obvious?”

I looked at the empty backyard. “A little.” I took a deep breath in and got more comfortable. “Tell me, what’s a princess like you doing at my party?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” she ground out, “but I was invited.”

I couldn’t care less if she was invited or not. I just didn’t want her around me. I didn’t want her in my house, and I didn’t want to be getting hard again thinking about her in my bed. Challenge or not, she was already getting under my damn skin too much for me to think clearly. She needed to go. I curled my lip and looked at her with the disgust she’d been serving me with all night. “You don’t have to be invited to come to the party, but in case you didn’t notice, you don’t exactly fit in here,
Princess.
”

She looked shocked and hurt. Good. Maybe now she’d stay the hell away.

“If the way we are disgusts you so much, feel free to stay at school next time.” I stood, and hated that I couldn’t help but look at her once more before walking away.

“Chase.”

My eyes shut, and I took a deep breath in. Would it have been weird to ask her to say my name again?

“I’m really sorry, I was out of line.”

Wait—she was apologizing? I turned and looked at her, confused. Oh God, it was a bad idea to turn around. If her sweet-as-hell voice hadn’t been bad enough, the way her eyes had gone back to completely wide and innocent was about to do me in.

“I was raised not to back down to people, but what I said was too much. So, I’m sorry. I don’t know you, I shouldn’t judge you.”

I huffed, and the corners of my mouth twitched. Snarky and sweet. Bad combination. Sexy combo—so damn sexy. But bad. I shook my head, and my brow rose when I realized I wanted to get to know this girl. Now
that
was a bad idea. I turned and took the long way around the house, giving my hard-on time to go down.

“. . . you kiss anyone tonight?” Bree’s voice reached me as I stepped through the front door, and I closed it quietly when I heard Princess murmur, “No.”

“I can help with that!” My hands formed into fists over Zach’s words, and I growled.
Over my dead body.

“No, no, no. I told you guys, she’s off-limits!”

Thatta girl, Bree.
I took the last few steps toward the living room when Zach spoke again.

“Come on, Bree, what’s your deal?”

“ ’Cause she’s
pure.
Completely. Pure.”

I froze.
What the hell, Bree?
Shit, from the way Harper’s cheeks went fire-engine red, Bree wasn’t lying. She
was
pure. I looked at Harper’s mortified expression, and the urge to take her in my arms and take her away from this overwhelmed me. I didn’t know where the protectiveness for her came from, but somehow I knew I’d do anything for this innocent girl, and I’d kill anyone who tried to take that innocence from her.

Bree’s index finger went to tap Harper’s lips, and Harper grabbed her wrist, pulling it back “Breanna!”

“Shh!” Bree covered her own lips with her index finger this time. “Harper, don’t tell them!”

Harper looked up, and her jaw clenched as she took in Brad, Drew, Derek, and Zach bursting out laughing. I wanted to punch every single one of them.

Derek was wiping tears from his eyes. “Oh my God! Princess, is she serious?”

I growled again. That was my name for her.

She swallowed roughly and disentangled herself from Bree before heading straight toward me. My heart started pounding until I realized she hadn’t seen me yet, and I was standing in the way of the front door.

Jolting back slightly when she realized I was in her way, her eyes looked everywhere but at me. “Please. Move.”

And let her leave? Hell no. I grabbed her shoulders and turned her around at the same time I started walking us toward my room.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Just trust me,” I growled, and walked her through the living room, where everyone was still laughing.

“Looks like Chase is gonna take care of that problem for you, Princess!” Brad yelled, and I’ve never wanted to punch my friend more than I did then. I paused and cursed, but knew I’d rather take care of her right then than let all of them know how much they were pissing me off.

I unlocked my door and pushed her in; as soon as the light was on, she gasped and started bucking against me. I held her by pushing her elbows into her side so her jerking arms couldn’t hit me.

“No! Get off me!”

“Not until you stop trying to hit me!”

Instantly, Harper stopped moving, but her body was practically vibrating with tension. I waited almost a minute before releasing her and feigning indifference.

“Calm down, Princess, I’m not going to do anything to you.”

“I really wish you would stop calling me that.”

I rolled my eyes. Why else did she think I still called her that? I opened up one of my drawers and pulled out a pair of mesh workout shorts before throwing them at her and walking toward my door. “Put those on, I’ll be back.”

“Why?”

“Did you want to sleep in that skirt?” I raked my teeth over my bottom lip as I thought about her sleeping in nothing at all. “I swear I wouldn’t mind it, but I figured you’d be uncomfortable, though.”

“Breanna said I would be in a room with her tonight, and if that’s not happening, I’d rather just go back to the dorm.”

“I can assure you she’ll be sleeping in the bathroom. I’ll give you a minute to change; I’ll be right back.”

“I am not sleeping with you in here.”

“Look, you’re seriously hot; that alone is going to have them chasing after you. But top that off with the few words you’ve even said that shows me just how snarky and sweet as hell you are, that is one hell of a tempting combination. Trust me when I say they’re going to want to change what they just found out about you. So if you don’t mind, I’d rather make sure that doesn’t happen.” I’d already vowed to make it my mission in life to make sure that didn’t happen.

I slammed the door with more force than necessary and stalked out to the living room, “What the hell is wrong with all of you?”

“She putting up much of a fight, Chase?” Drew sneered, and put more bottles of liquor away.

My hands balled into fists again, “You’re all assholes, and you just embarrassed the shit out of her.” I turned to look at Bree, who looked like she was five minutes from passing out. “You’re on your own tonight, sis. Or ask one of the other guys to take care of you.”

“Chase,” Brad said with a confused look, “seriously? She’s your sister, that”—he jerked his head toward one of the hallways—“is just some chick that ain’t gonna put out for you.”

Don’t punch him. Don’t freaking punch him.
“She’s your problem tonight,” I said through clenched teeth and went back to my room.

“That was rude, she’s your sister. She should be in here, too.”

Harper, too? Did no one else realize how much of a bitch Bree just was? “Are you serious? You’re gonna defend her after she just spilled that?”

“She’s drunk. I’m sure she didn’t realize it.”

“That’s not an excuse.” I almost groaned; there she goes being sweet as sin again. “Come on, Harper, get in.”

I watched her crawl onto my bed, and my heart started hammering. Bree slept alone in my room when we had parties, but other than that, no girl had ever been in any of my bedrooms, and definitely not in my bed. And I was about to get in it with her. I could easily go crash on the couch or Brad’s floor, but the thought of waking up next to Harper was too tempting. When she was under the covers, I switched off the lights and crawled in beside her; she immediately flew up into a sitting position.

“What are you
doing
?” she hissed.

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t get in here with me!”

So innocent. I laughed softly, but inside I was terrified she would actually ask me to leave, “It’s my bed, I’m sure I can do what I want.”

Without another word, her half of the covers were flipped onto me, and the weight left her side of the bed.
Her side?
No . . . the
side she was on
.
She doesn’t
have a side.
This is just for tonight, right?

“Get back in the bed, Princess.”

She scoffed, and I sighed. Snarky, sweet, and stubborn as shit. God, I wanted her. I rolled off the bed and picked her up off the ground.

“Oh my word! Put me down!”

With pleasure, Princess.
I dropped her onto the bed and crawled over her body, trying to stifle my groan when I felt her body press against mine.

“Chase! No!”

“Calm down, I’ll stay on my side. We can even put a pillow between us if it’ll make you feel better.” I was serious. With the hard-on I was sporting again, I needed a brick wall between us.

She scooted as far from me as the bed would allow, and I forced myself not to pull her back to me. “I swear, if you touch me, I’ll go Lorena Bobbitt on you.”

Lorena Bobbitt? Why does that sound—oh my God, the lady that chopped off her husband’s dick?
I busted out laughing and put my pillow over my face. “Oh my God! Princess! You’re my new favorite!” That’s it, that comment right there, and it was sealed. I would do anything to have this beautiful gray-eyed princess lying next to me, as mine.

“That wasn’t a joke.”

I moved closer and let the tips of my fingers trail up her slender arm. Could she hear how hard my heart started pounding at just being able to touch her? “One of these days, you’ll be begging for me to touch you.”

“I’m serious, Chase. I’m not like all those girls I saw you with tonight.”

“That’s an understatement.” God, I wish she hadn’t seen any of that, and she didn’t even know the half of it. “Get some sleep, Princess, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chapter Two

I
VAGUE
LY REGISTERED
a subtle vanilla scent and a small, warm body curled up in mine. That was seconds before I felt it shoot out from under my arms, and I swear I stopped breathing.
Did I forget
to lock my door? Did I get that wasted last night that I let a girl in here?

“Son of a bitch, what the fuck are you—”
Oh good God. Harper.
Was
she
this beautiful last night?
“Jesus, Princess! You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I had a girl in here.” I fell back onto my pillow and ran my hands over my face. I wish I had remembered I’d had her in here; I would’ve made sure she stayed in my arms.

“Chase?”

“Hmm?”

“Sorry you didn’t seem to notice, but I
am
a girl.”

Thank God for that, or I’d have had to question my manhood. “I noticed last night, trust me.” She just kept staring at me with those wide eyes, clearly confused. Damn she was cute. “I meant, I thought I let a girl stay the night with me.”

“Uh . . . ?”

“Someone I’d been with, Princess. I thought I banged a girl and let her stay here.”

“Oh.” Her face twisted, and a hint of that disgust from last night was there again.

“Sorry. Is that too much for your PG ears?”

“No, I just don’t understand why that would be a bad thing.”

Of course you don’t because you’re innocent . . . and perfect.
I sighed; she was perfect. Which meant I didn’t have a chance in hell with her. Princesses need a Prince Charming, not a nightmare of a guy. “Girls I screw around with aren’t allowed to come in my room, let alone stay the night. This is the only place that is mine, and I’m not about to share it with them.”

“So you sleep with women, then make them leave?”

Good girl, keep looking at me like you can’t stand to be near me.
You need to run far away, so I can’t catch you.
Because if I get you, I’m keeping you, and you deserve so much better.
“No, I
screw
women . . . and then make them leave.”

She recoiled and shook her head at me as she turned toward the door. “You’re a pig.”

I laughed softly. Yeah . . . and for the first time in my life, hearing that come from a girl actually bothered me.

As soon as she shut the door, my smirk disappeared, and I continued to stare at where she’d just been.
Whatever the fuck this is, it isn’t normal
. I didn’t fall for girls like this . . . ever. Especially after only one innocent look and a bitchy comment. So why was she doing this to me? Why was I wanting to pull her close but having the ridiculous urge to push her as far from me as possible. And it wasn’t for me—not at all—I wanted to keep her away from me for
her.
God, why am
I still thinking about her at all?

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, hating that I loved hearing her voice as I crossed the hall.
She’s just a girl, man, just a girl. And she’s not for you.
I ground my teeth as I walked back into my room, resolving that I needed to continue disgusting her—which obviously I was already a pro at—and she’d run away screaming soon enough. I threw the door open roughly, and, to be honest, I’m not sure if I held back my groan or not. She was bent over in a pair of neon blue underwear, and I decided right then that was my new favorite color. Harper jerked up quickly, pulling the little skirt with her. Didn’t help. I’d already seen her without it. But my lips still fell into a slight frown.

“It’s really a shame you don’t let anyone see that sexy little body.” And by anyone, I meant me . . . again.

By the time she turned, her face was so red it looked like she’d just run a marathon. God this girl blushed a lot . . . but I freakin’ loved it. Her already wide eyes got even wider, just like they had when Bree had said spilled about her virginity. Shit, I’d embarrassed her—my stomach clenched, but I shook it off, knowing I had to keep going.

“Calm down, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. Not saying I wouldn’t want to see yours.”

Her face was still red, but her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Vicious Princess was still cute. “Bite me.”

“Is that an invitation?”
Please God, let it be one.

“Not even close.” She was headed for the door and without my even thinking about it, my arm shot out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her into me.

Her body stiffened, and I couldn’t help but lean my head toward hers, skimming my nose along her jaw and subtly breathing in her sweet scent. “One of these days, Princess, I promise you.” Did she not see what she was doing to me? My body was practically humming, having her pressed up against me, and my breathing got rougher. I silently pleaded with her to run as I tightened my arm on her waist.
Mine.

“I would never be desperate enough to want you.”

I might have believed that if her voice hadn’t gone all breathy on me, my lips stretched into a grin—oh yeah . . . she’ll be mine. “We’ll see.”

“A
RE
B
REE AND
Princess coming tonight?”

My hands curled into fists for the freaking fifth time today as I turned to look at Zach. “Probably, and stop calling her that.”

“Who’s Princess?”

The guys in the kitchen all broke out into cheers as I turned back around, a wide smile crossing both Brandon’s face and mine. “Glad you’re finally here, bro!”

“Tell me about it; that’s a long fucking drive.” He dropped a bag on the ground and stepped forward to man-hug Derek and me and shake the rest of the guys’ hands. I made sure he remembered Zach and Drew; just because they knew Brandon from his fights didn’t mean he knew them.

“I bet. All your stuff in your Jeep?”

He nodded. “It can wait. I just want to relax for a bit. So what’s going on? Obviously, I’m the last one here.”

“Missed a hell of a party last week, man,” Derek said as he took a seat on the island. “But there’s another one tonight.”

Brandon yawned and rubbed his hands down his face. “Is that what you were talking about when I came in? With Bree and Princess? Bree’s your sister, right?” He looked at me, and I nodded, “Then who is Princess?”

“Good God, Brandon, you have
got
to see this chick,” Zach began, and my hands instantly went back into fists.

“She hot?” Brandon asked

A mix of “Hell yeah,” “You have no idea,” and “Wait ’til you see her” came from the kitchen. I clenched my jaw.

When I didn’t say anything, Brandon looked at me curiously. “Is she not?”

I shrugged. “She’s just another girl.”

“Chase is just pissy because she didn’t put out for him,” Drew said.

Brandon raised an eyebrow at me and burst out laughing, “That had to be a first.”

“You’re all acting like I even tried to hit that.”

“Chase—man—you had her in your bed!” Brad said between laughs. “Another freakin’ first! You can’t act like you didn’t try to bang her.”

“Exactly, I had her in my bed, which shows you I didn’t want to touch her. If I want a girl, I’ll take her anywhere else but there.”

“Shit, a girl that didn’t fall all over herself to get to Chase, and she’s hot?” Brandon asked, and barked out a short laugh. “I’ve got to see this! Will she be here tonight? You said her name’s Princess?”

“Chase calls her Princess.”

Damn right, Zach. Remember that.

Brandon looked even more confused, “Well, what’s her name?”

All the guys shrugged. “Princess.”

“Well, it’s not looking good for you, brother. You had her in your bed, you didn’t sleep with her,
and
you gave her a nickname?”

“Because she was acting like an entitled prissy bitch, it fit.”

Everyone, including Brandon, started laughing. As soon as he could catch his breath, he shook his head sadly at me. “Never thought I’d see the day Chase Grayson was brought to his knees by a girl.”

“Whatever.” I sighed and walked outside to start moving his stuff in.

A girl bring me to my knees? Hell. No. Never, and I’d prove it.
Whether my gray-eyed princess — no . . . not
mine. I didn’t want her, I must have just been losing my mind last weekend—whether
Harper was here tonight or not, I’d prove to her and myself that she didn’t have any type of hold on me.

“M
A—
D
AD?
I
’M H
ERE.”
I breathed in the heavy scent of bacon, and my stomach growled. God, I loved Sundays. Walking into the kitchen, I kissed Mom on the cheek and snatched a few pieces from the growing pile on the plate near Dad and clapped him on the back as I went to sit on the counter.

“Hi, honey!”

I nodded and spoke around the food. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Oh, you know, just chilling.”

“Mom”—I laughed—“you just gotta stop trying.”

“One of these times I’ll get it, and you’ll be so impressed, I’ll be cool enough to hang out with you.”

I snorted. “I’m here, aren’t I? Bree here?” Speaking of my sister . . . would she bring the princess?

“Not yet, she was doing something with her roommate first, then she was coming over.”

Nope. Damn it.
“Have you met her yet?”

“Harper? Oh, she’s a doll; she slept over last weekend! You’d like her, Chase,” Mom said with a weird smile. “She’s really cute.”

Yeah she is.

Mom gasped. “So you’ve met her!”

Shit, had I said that out loud?

“Tell me what you think!”

“She’s cute.” I shrugged. “But I’ve only seen her once; they didn’t come to the party on Friday.”

“That’s it? She’s cute? I may or may not have heard she slept in your room with you the night of the first party.”

“Robert! How did you know this and I didn’t! You’re supposed to tell me everything, especially something like that.”

Dad laughed and pulled some more bacon off the skillet, “I said may or may not have.”

“Oh, you are so in the guest room tonight, mister!”

My brows were pulled together listening to them, and how did Dad hear about that?

“Well, are you going to explain yourself, Chase? Or am I going to make sure you don’t get any more bacon? Because that is a sweet girl, and if you hurt her—”

No more bacon? That’s just not right.
“It wasn’t like that, Mom, I was just making sure she was safe.”

Mom’s brows shot up under her bangs, and her lips pursed.

“Bree
may
have told all the guys at my place that she’s basically never done anything with a guy, and I mean anything. Everyone started making fun of her, and she looked so damn embarrassed. And with those guys—hell, maybe even Brad—I know they would try to change that, and I wasn’t about to let anyone touch her; so that was my way of keeping her safe.”

“You kept the virgin safe . . . by putting her in your bed with you,” Dad deadpanned, then nodded. “Actually, that makes sense.”

“No it does not! Chase—”

“Mom, I swear I didn’t touch her!” Well not entirely true, and it’s not like I didn’t want to do a lot more touching than I did. “I just needed to make sure no one else got their hands on her either. Jesus, it’s not like she would have let me even if I tried.” I snorted and shook my head once, “First, she got mad that I got in bed with her, so she got on the floor—”

“You did
not
make her sleep on the floor!”

“Ma, really? No. I picked her ass right back up and dropped her on the bed.” Dad laughed, and Mom swatted him on the back. “Then get this, cutest damn thing I’ve ever heard, she more or less tells me that if I touch her, she is going to chop my dick off.”

Dad winced; Mom crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Good girl.”

I laughed. “Cracked me up. She can be feisty as shit, but God she’s sweet. She just—she’s . . . I don’t know.” Her wide gray eyes were flashing through my mind, and I hoped my sister would bring her. I exhaled deeply and blinked away the images, finally noticing that Mom and Dad had both turned toward me. My dad was grinning mischievously, and Mom was tearing up.
Fucking hell . . . can’t
I go more than a few minutes without talking about her like an idiot?
“What?”

Mom bounced up and down on her toes. “Oh, honey!”

I shook my head and hopped off the counter to grab more bacon. “She’s just a girl, Mom.”